New NCERT Exploring Society: India and Beyond Part 2 · Class 8 Social Science · Part 2 · Chapter 7: India’s Urban Landscape
This chapter explains how cities grow, what they offer, the challenges they face and how good planning makes them liveable. It uses examples like Jamshedpur, Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur and Singapore.
From the Class 8 Social Science Short Notes, made as per the new NCERT book Exploring Society: India and Beyond · Pages 142–152 of the book.
Key points
- India has a rich urban legacy, from Harappan cities like Dholavira to historical cities like Varanasi and Ujjain.
- In India a place is urban if its population exceeds 5,000; definitions differ between countries.
- Population density is the number of people living per square kilometre; cities are far denser than villages.
- Two of the world's most populous cities, New Delhi and Kolkata, are in India.
- Cities grew near rivers, at the crossroads of trade routes and near raw materials.
- India's urban share rose from 17% in 1951 to about 40% in 2025.
- Urbanisation is the shift of population from rural to urban areas.
- Jamshedpur was planned around Asia's first steel plant; Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad grew because of location and business clusters.
- Cities are cultural hubs; Kolkata's Durga Puja was put on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2021.
- City challenges include traffic, unplanned housing, heat islands, pollution, crime and slums.
- Communities have revived Bengaluru's lakes through collective action.
- Good planning examples include Jaipur, India's 'Pink City' designed in 1727, and Singapore's flexible planning.
Key terms
- Population density: The number of people living per unit of area, usually per square kilometre.
- Urbanisation: Population shift from rural to urban areas and a fall in the share of people living in rural areas.
- BPO: Business Process Outsourcing: a company hiring another service provider to do specific business functions.
- Air Quality Index (AQI): A single number reporting air quality; higher AQI means more pollution and greater health risk.
- Slums: Overcrowded city settlements with poor housing and limited water, sanitation and other services.
- Urban planner: A person who plans and designs how land in cities and towns is used.
- Blue zones: Cities or regions where people live much longer, healthier lives, e.g. Okinawa in Japan.
Diagrams to learn
- Table: urban areas vs rural areas
- Fig 7.2 Seen from above: a village and a city
- Table and chart: world's most populous cities, 2025
- Flowchart: the process of urbanisation
- Table: location and business clusters
- Timeline: growth of Delhi
- Table: challenges faced by cities
- Fig 7.10 Grid plan of Jaipur
- Definitions of 'urban' differ: a place is urban above 220 people in Denmark, 50,000 in Japan and 5,000 in India.
- Many cities today began as large villages or small towns; their location and other factors drove their urbanisation.
- NCR often records AQI over 400, while the safe limit is 50.
A real page from the book
Get the full chapter in the book
This page is a summary. The Class 8 Social Science Short Notes has the complete chapter in colour, with every diagram and worked example.
Frequently asked questions
What is urbanisation?
Urbanisation is the shift of population from rural to urban areas, with a fall in the share of people living in rural areas. In India, the share of people in cities rose from 17% in 1951 to about 40% in 2025.
Why is Jaipur called the Pink City?
Buildings on its major streets were made in pink sandstone, giving the city a uniform look. Jaipur was designed in 1727 by Vidyadhar Bhattacharya for Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II on a grid pattern.
What challenges do Indian cities face?
Cities face traffic jams, unplanned housing, rising heat, pollution and waste, crime, water scarcity, fewer green spaces, monsoon flooding and slums.
← Part 2 · Chapter 6: Dynamics of PopulationPart 2 · Chapter 8: Cultural Currents: 13th to 17th Centuries →
