Within the urbanization process, sometimes, and very rarely, there is a sizeable movement of human occupation away from the core of urban habitation towards the peri-urban and rural settlements. This process and phenomenon is termed as counter urbanization or deurbanization and is a rare phenomenon in modern civilization all over the world. It is both a demographic and social process, but has to a lesser extent also involved the movement of some businesses and economic activities.

Body:

The causes of counter-urbanisation are linked to the push and pull factors of migration.

Push Factors:

• Overpopulation or dense populations in urban areas.
• Overcrowding in commutes.
• Rising real estate and residential costs in urban areas.
• Deeply congested and traffic ridden urban areas.
• Industrial meltdowns or shifts.
• Case Study: It first took place because of flight from the Inner cities in Britain, often as a result of economic problems in those areas. The collapse of inner city industries resulted in large scale unemployment and a cycle of decline and deprivation in those areas. Newcastle-upon Tyne is no stranger to this process, as its heavy industries of armaments and ship building led to dereliction of inner city communities along the river side.  Poor quality housing and low environmental quality can also force people away from the inner city.

Pull factors:

• People want a better quality of life and they want to be able to live in a clean and quiet area.
• An area without air and noise pollution from heavy industries, the crime of urban environments and the lack of opportunities found in some parts of cities.
• They also aspire to having larger houses with more land for cheaper prices compared to the large towns and cities.
• Opportunities for people to work from home.
• Urban amenities being available in these areas such as through online shopping.
• Greater peace and safety in these areas.
• Case Study: People want a better quality of life and they want to be able to live in a clean and quiet area. An area without air and noise pollution from heavy industries, the crime of urban environments and the lack of opportunities found in some parts of cities. They also aspire to having larger houses with more land for cheaper prices compared to the large towns and cities. The Government of the UK also promoted this movement through its green belt and New Towns policy (New Towns Act of 1946).  The green belt policy restricted growth within the city boundaries, and forced developers to look just outside of the city boundaries for other villages to develop.  These new towns develop into commuter towns or suburbanised villages, also known as dormitory towns as people sleep and live in those towns but work elsewhere.  Milton Keynes is a good example next to London, whilst  Cramlington and Washington act as new towns for Newcastle upon Tyne.

Situation in India:

The urbanization in India is about 31.1% as per Census 2011. It is expected by 2030 nearly 40% of the population will migrate to the cities. Cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore are over-populated beyond their carrying capacities. The movement of more and more people into less resilient areas like coastal regions, flood plains and earthquake-prone zones has been cited as one of the factors responsible for more natural disasters. Degradation of natural environment is another reason for increasing calamities. Unplanned expansion and development in disaster-prone areas as another reason for increased disasters and mentions recent flood fury in Uttarakhand in India as an example.

Conclusion:

Several reforms are implemented by the government in India to improve the standard of living of people in rural areas like Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, MNREGA, Rashtriya Kishore Swathya Karyakram(RKSK) etc. Developing cluster of 15-20 villages having about 30 to 40 lakh population into a Rurban cluster. Counter urbanization is not without negative effects, a move towards counter urbanization, if not to degrading to rural lifestyles and environments, might be a great boon to overall rural development.