Growth and Development Dynamics of Siliguri City, West Bengal, India

• Published in: Urban India 2021-01, Vol.41 (1), p.49-71
• Main Authors: Sarkar, Chandana, Kar, Bimal Kumar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Censuses; Cities; Employment; Environmental impact; Job opportunities; Landsat; Migration; Population growth; Quality of life; Remote sensing; Rural areas; Socioeconomic factors; Urban areas; Urban growth; Urban sprawl; Urbanization
• ISSN: 0970-9045

Throughout the history of urban growth, diverse employment opportunities and better quality of life have attracted large-scale migration of population which results in the growth of formal and informal settlements and horizontal expansion of the urban landscape. When such a phenomenon becomes more rapid, it profoundly alters the natural landscape and creates enormous pressure on the existing urban services with serious threat to urban sustainability. The situation is no less true in the case of Siliguri city, the largest city of north Bengal region in West Bengal, which has been experiencing tremendous growth in terms of population and urban functions, leading to some sort of chaotic urban landscape along with a variety of socio-economic and environmental problems in recent times. Thus, an attempt is made in this paper to analyse the changing nature of growth and development and emerging environmental problems in the city of Siliguri based on secondary data derived from various government sources including Census of India reports from 1971 to 2011 and remote sensing (LANDSAT) from 1990 to 2019. The data so obtained has been processed, analysed and presented by using relevant statistical and cartographic techniques.