BUILT ENVIRONMENT | URBAN PLANNING | DEVELOPMENT
Note: This article was originally published in City Observer (Vol 7, Issue 1, June 2021), a biannual journal that aims to create a conversation on cities and to collaboratively interrogate our urban world. You can find the original article here.
Abstract: Cities in Kerala have garnered interest for high indicators of social development and comparatively low economic growth. A visible implication of this combination is houses in individual plots and scattered settlements. This stands in contrast to many of India’s growing metropolitan cities with nucleated built-up cities, that have a strong distinction from the surrounding villages. A peek into understanding this unique character of spatial development presents a conflicting narrative through the lens of its historical, economic, and social identity. They are clues to understand current Kerala cities as a representation of its people and their ideologies.
Kerala has historically positioned itself in contrast to the current national sentiments. Its development pattern, defined by success in achieving a high quality of life without much success in economic growth, is also often given the status of a ‘Kerala model’. [1] In the recent past, we have seen cities in Kerala emerge as platforms to demonstrate contestations and active citizen
participation. Cities here, in the conventional sense, are a comparatively recent and reluctant concept. It has often raised eyebrows among intellectuals in development circles, questioning the relation between the dispersed nature of settlements and their residents who lead an urban lifestyle outside the city boundaries.
This peculiar character of development in Kerala defies the typical trend of urban patterns identified by a dominant node. A gradated urbanization supersedes the contrast between the city core and its periphery. This gradation gives them a ‘neither rural nor urban’ character [2]. To
understand this absence of stark rural-urban difference, it calls for an analysis of the broader urban pattern of the state. The marginal changes in the character, as one moves from cities and towns to villages, can not be captured when analyzed individually. The historical, social, and economic trends of Kerala have, over time, influenced this current gradual transition. Additionally, the ideals of social justice have been an active agent in its urban transformation.
The beginning of a decentralized pattern of urban development can be traced back to the earliest trade during British rule. With time, "towns" started fuelling the dispersal of settlements. This masked urbanization was underscored in the 2015–20 forecast by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) when Kerala emerged as a home to three of the world’s fastest-growing cities.
Malappuram, which was one of the three cities, also appears in EIU’s forecast for 2020–2025 [4]. However, the ground reality illustrates that the cities are still rural in how they are operated and managed. Unlike other cities where one can identify the concentration of population and built density, Kerala’s cities and towns are characterized by low built density and individual housing. A relaxed economic growth and a shift in development thinking, focused primarily on the quality of human development, supported the dispersed urban pattern.
Tracing the history of Kerala’s rural-urban continuum
After the British East India Company took over the Dutch factories, the locations of their administrative centers had started growing into towns. Smaller towns later sprang up in their periphery and formed links to the villages. Kerala’s unique spatial dispersal began here and was supported by the natural ports along the coastline. With trade as the primary economic activity earlier, the coastal strips have formed a continuous belt, making the rural-urban distinction difficult. While these ports attracted people and harbored diversity, they did not lead to any agglomeration of population and activities [2]. They only developed multiple small towns along the coast.
A parallel development that gave way to the dispersed pattern was the emergence of inland towns for industries. However, since the state did not witness large-scale industrialization, it did not foster a concentration of people or capital. These mutually independent threads of development could explain the absence of a central node in Kerala’s urban system today.
Masked urbanization
Recently, Kerala captured everyone’s attention when Malappuram, Kozhikode, and Kollam claimed positions among 10 of the world’s fastest-growing cities for the 2015 to 2020 forecast [5]. Though came as a surprise to many, this sudden growth can be attributed to the largely unacknowledged transformation of Indian villages to towns. Hence, this survey gives a measure
of urban agglomerations that are outgrowths of a town or city [6]. It only reinforces the state’s dispersed spatial character, with the areas around municipalities growing denser and people moving to non-farm jobs. Moreover, settlements have developed along the transit routes thereby
establishing urban centers along major road intersections. Due to the proximity of these urban centers, the interim areas have also developed into towns, thus driving a “ribbon development”. While the 2001–11 census had given hints of Kerala’s fast-growing “census towns”, it is only now that the transformation is raising questions about urban governance.
Even though similar towns, and particularly their outgrowths, are classified as urban in the Census of India, they remain rural in how they are governed [9]. It indicates that now a Rural Local Body (RLB) presides over an area that demands an Urban Local Body (ULB) for the infrastructure needs. Items listed for ULBs and not RLBs include town planning, slum improvement, public amenities like street lighting, parking lots, bus stops, solid waste management, building regulations, and fire services [10]. By their inability to access and operate public amenities of this scale, they continue functioning as towns and emphasize the rural-urban continuum. Additionally, the decision-makers and residents rely on State-sponsored grants aimed at rural regions. The very ad-hoc nature of financial assistance in the form of grants is a disadvantage for the growth of cities when compared against an urban system backed by economies of scale.
Spatial dispersal as a product of economic character
It is not uncommon to find individual and luxurious houses, spaced with generous greenery and land for cultivation, as one drives through the towns. A clue to understanding this unique typology of dispersal, even in large towns, is that the personal income growth of families is independent of the state’s economic performance. The well-to-do lifestyle, typically unexpected in smaller towns and villages, is demonstrative of a remittance economy [12]. It then allows families in these towns and villages to move away from agriculture and comfortably satisfy their consumer needs without significant productive activity.
The ecosystem developed from a higher degree of consumption than production further explains the absence of a visible ‘market’. It presents no incentives for people to leverage the benefits of settling in clusters and avail services. Therefore, the avenues for people to use the network of opportunities and ideas that a concentration of people, skills, and institutions provide are missing out in a dispersed settlement pattern.
Conclusion
While the three points broadly outline the dispersed urbanization pattern of Kerala, a driving factor for them is the recognition of the urban system as first and foremost a social system. People’s welfare has frequently taken a front seat, empowering the villages and small towns. However, even as an exemplar for fostering a high degree of Human Development Index (HDI), the ‘Kerala model’ is often criticized for its inability to sustain its attainments [1]. This conflict between welfare and development stems from the perception of treating them as substitutes for each other. Instead, if they can complement each other, it can create channels for the needed enterprises to facilitate public welfare and build on the existing strong relationship between the State and the people.
With a growing service sector and an emerging entrepreneur class, Kerala is starting to observe a shift towards aspirational development on the economic front [1]. This shift could encourage hotspots for future dense and full-grown cities. However, the current discourse largely focuses only on the merits and demerits of the existing system, without recognizing the pivotal role these towns play. Understanding that they are a reflection of its residents, and thus enabling mechanisms for action, allows a responsive route for future urbanization even if it is at the cost of timeliness. It further highlights an alternate definition for urbanization whereby urban thinking precedes economic development.
References
- Centre for Development Studies. Human Development Report 2005. Thiruvananthapuram, State Planning Board, Government of Kerala, 2005. UNDP. Accessed 22 April 2021.
- T. T. Sreekumar. “Neither Rural nor Urban: Spatial Formation and Development Process.” Economic & Political Weekly, vol. 25, no. Sept 1–8, 1990, pp. 1982–1990.
- Radhika Suresh. 2021. “UP4002 — PALA- A RURBAN TOWN IN KERALA.” CEPT Portfolio. https://portfolio.cept.ac.in/fp/understanding-the-city-studio-up4002-monsoon-2020-8121/pala-a-rurban-town-in-kerala-monsoon-2020-pup20270
- The Economist. “City living rankings- the world in figures.” The Economist. Accessed May 08, 2021. https://worldinfigures.com/rankings/index/24.
- Express Web Desk. “3 of world’s 10 fastest-growing urban areas are in Kerala: Economist ranking.” The Indian Express [Kochi], 8 January 2020, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/three-of-worlds-ten-fastest-growing-urban-areas-are-in-kerala-6205749/. Accessed 24 April 2021.
- Nushaiba Iqbal. “Explained: How Malappuram topped the list of world’s ‘fastest growing cities.’” The Indian Express [New Delhi], 14 January 2020, https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/how-malappuram-topped-the-list-of-worlds-fastest-growing-cities-6215006/. Accessed 04 May 2021.
- Shamindra Nath Roy and Kanhu Charan Pradhan. Predicting the Future of Census Towns. Review of Urban Affairs, 2018, https://cprindia.org/sites/default/files/Census%20Towns%20PDF.pdf.
- Patrick Lamson-Hall, Harshita Agrawal, Harsh Vardhan Pachisia, and Kadambari Shah. 2020. Urban Growth in India: Horizontal, Chaotic, and Informal. N.p.: IDFC Institute. https://www.idfcinstitute.org/site/assets/files/16100/urban_growth_in_india_december_2020-1.pdf.
- Marie-Helen Zerah. “Impact of subaltern urbanisation.” Financial Chronicle, 29 December 2017, http://www.mydigitalfc.com/deep-dive/impact-subaltern-urbanisation. Accessed 22 April 2021.
- Kadambari Shah, Vaidehi Tandel, and Harshita Agrawal. “Why India has the fastest-growing cities?” Mint, 27 January 2020, https://www.livemint.com/news/india/why-india-has-the-fastest-growing-cities-11580053066942.html. Accessed 22 April 2021.
- IDFC Institute. Reforming Urban India. Mumbai, IDFC Institute, 2019, https://www.idfcinstitute.org/site/assets/files/15116/reforming_urban_india_idfc_institute.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1Ra8yoTtJnR7Fn0prjTr29U3j53MI-lP-60k1Opt-qgPbN7Np4q-36I7c. Accessed 29 April 2021.
- Joseph K V. “Unique constraints to revival of Kerala economy.” The New Indian Express, 12 March 2021, https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2021/mar/12/unique-constraints-to-revival-of-kerala-economy-2275469.html. Accessed 04 May 2021.
