V.k. Tyagi

Abstract

Despite considerable progress in the improvement of the environment inlarge cities of the developing countries of the World, widespread problems still existdue to a large number of socio-economic factors within and outside the urban areas.The growing population in a city like Delhi where nearly 200 000 people migrateevery year, the concern for future trends and the welfare of the people are obviouslythe important issues before the planners and the researchers. With an annual growthrate of around 5.0 per cent, the population of Delhi may cross the 13 million mark by2001. Out of this more than 50 per cent will be migrants and a majority of them willbe either illiterate or semiliterate. The rising cost of housing in the city will continueto force the poor migrants to encroach upon the vacant land and build substandardhouses, converting the large urban area into slums.The physical expansion of the city into the surrounding rural countryside hasbrought many villages within the urban limits. Similarly, a large number ofunauthorized and resettlement colonies have originated in all directions of the city.These developments have made the urban environment a more complicated issue. Itis, therefore, necessary to identify the stronger correlates in evaluation of the qualityof the liveable environment in the Indian context by analysing the demographiccharacteristics of Delhi for better planning for the future.

V.k. Tyagi, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India