Role of small and medium towns: new drivers of development
- Vol.20(2), Apr-Jun
- New Delhi Institute of Town Planners 2023
- 31-39p.
Small and medium towns play an important role in country’s economic development as they constitute 40 per cent of the total urban population as per Census 2011. Small and medium urban centres have long been seen as potentially offering opportunities for regional development encompassing urban and rural areas, people, and enterprises. Census 2021 figures are not yet published; however, it is expected that more than half of the urban population shall reside in small and medium towns. These towns especially in post pandemic times have assumed much significance. With work from anywhere concept gathering momentum, these towns are bound to grow and prosper. The paper broadly highlights the role of small and medium towns as new drivers of development and how with planned development they can redistribute the urban population in a metropolitan regional planning perspective.