In India, only “statutory towns” are considered urban and have a municipal administration, according to an Bloomberg opinion piece by Reuben Abraham and Pritika Hingorani. The statutory town definition identifies 26 percent of India as urban.

The definition of urban varies widely around the world. Mexico and Venezuela count any town with more than 2,500 residents as urban. The U.S. Census Bureau identifies two types of urban areas: Urbanized Areas of 50,000 or more people and Urban Clusters of at least 2,500 and less than 50,000 people. New Zealand uses 1,000 people and China uses a density criterion of 1,500 people per square kilometer, but recently expanded the definition to include residents of villages that are directly connected to municipal infrastructure or that receive public services from urban municipalities. Using the 2,500+ persons criterion would identify 65 percent if India as urban.

According to the opinion piece, underestimating the urban share of the population leads to misallocation of resources. A disproportionate amount of federal funding goes to rural development which in turn reduces incentives for rural politicians to change the status quo. Millions of Indians who live in dense – for all intents and purposes urban – settlements are governed by rural governments that lack the mandate, motive and funding to deliver basic services. Urban governments in India are constitutionally required to provide services such as fire departments, sewer lines, arterial roads and building codes. Rural governments are not.

Last Updated on January 13, 2019 by Ramin Seddiq