TRENDS OF URBAN GROWTH AND URBANIZATION IN FAR-WESTERN TERAI OF NEPAL

Abstract

Urbanization is the process by which an increasing proportion of the country's population starts residing in urban areas. This term mainly related with the concern of study of urban geography and other related studies. It stands for the study of urban concentration and urban phenomena. (Uduporuwa,2010). Todays, many countries have identified urbanization as a developmental process, and one of the key forces underlying technological innovation, economic development and socio-political development. Most of the developed and developing countries have recognized urbanization as crucial phenomena of economic growth, and social changes of a country because it provides a stimulus towards growth and development. They believe that urban areas are the attentions and agent of innovation, diffusion and socio-economic transformation of society(Mangize, 2005). Urbanization is an index of transformation from traditional rural economic to modern industrial one. It is progressive concentration of population in urban unit. In the study of urbanization it is pertinent to know how urban areas are defined because, from the demographic point of view the level of urbanization is measured in terms of percentage of population living in urban areas. Davis writes, "Urbanization is a process of switch from spread out pattern of human settlement to one of concentration in urban centres. (1965).