Calcutta (7 million residents) is the main urban agglomeration of the state, a large commercial emporium on the Ganges delta.
Calcutta has long since become the cultural metropolis of the North-East and, at the time of the establishment of the Bangla Desh, the new state felt the need to create a metropolis and an industrial region (Dacca-Narayangani) that would constitute the alternative to Calcutta. In the Indian context, Calcutta remains the only metropolis with a real functional urban network and its area of influence, going far beyond the limits of the delta, affects the industrial centers of Bihar and Orissa. Its conurbation, extended for 50 km from north to south on the banks of the Hoogli, is narrow and elongated, because the factories are always built in the vicinity of the rivers and railways that line the two banks, along which it is all a succession of satellite cities: Howrah, Bally, Kāmārhāti, Baranagar, Hoogli, Dum-Dum, Serampore, Barrackpore, Titagarh, Khardah. In recent times, the textile industries of jute have been joined by those of cotton and silk, food, leather, rubber, tobacco, chemicals and derivatives and, in the most extreme periphery, a transformation metallurgy associated with Jharia coal. Ranigani and at the iron of Asansol and Jamshedpur. The fortune of Calcutta, in fact, also largely depends on its proximity to the richest Indian mining region (Damodar-Jamshedpur, etc.), whose recent enhancement has found valid confirmation in the efficient functionality of the commercial, banking and cultural armor. of the city. of leather, rubber, tobacco, chemicals and derivatives and, in the most extreme periphery, a transformation metallurgy associated with coal from Jharia-Ranigani and iron from Asansol and Jamshedpur. The fortune of Calcutta, in fact, also largely depends on its proximity to the richest Indian mining region (Damodar-Jamshedpur, etc.), whose recent enhancement has found valid confirmation in the efficient functionality of the commercial, banking and cultural armor. of the city. of leather, rubber, tobacco, chemicals and derivatives and, in the most extreme periphery, a transformation metallurgy associated with coal from Jharia-Ranigani and iron from Asansol and Jamshedpur. The fortune of Calcutta, in fact, also largely depends on its proximity to the richest Indian mining region (Damodar-Jamshedpur, etc.), whose recent enhancement has found valid confirmation in the efficient functionality of the commercial, banking and cultural armor. of the city.
Bombay (pop. 6 million) is a city rich in processing and manufacturing industries, home to cultural and financial activities, which continues to be the country’s largest urban hub. Its topography imposes a particular shape on it, characterized by the division into two sectors: BombayCity, consisting of seven volcanic islets, and Salsette, a vast northernmost peninsula, separated from Bombay City by a marshy area where today the peripheral belt of the city extends. For India 2002, please check commit4fitness.com.
In Bombay City it is possible to recognize the industrial district of Parel and the residential one of Malabar Hill, the Fort, an old British quarter with a European aspect that to the east merges with various port installations and to the west forms the Marine Drive. In Salsette, the central nucleus is represented by a sparsely populated marshy hill, from which the urban centers of Trombay, Vile Perle, Bandra, Mahim radiate, which have developed along the railway lines and are becoming more and more populated in recent years.. Bombay, the “port of India”, which also owes much of its fortune to the port, currently sees its commercial position in danger due to the insufficiency of port infrastructures and equipment and the threat of landfill of a large part of its site. current. However, it should be emphasized that over 43.5% of the active population of the city is employed in the textile industries (cotton processing at all stages), food, chemical, mechanical, etc., while less incisive, in relation to metropolitan development, is the tertiary sector. Two major rival communities, one of the Marathi language and the other of the Gujarati language, have marked with their often violent antagonism the recent history of Bombay, which due to the multiplicity of communities, the variety of activities and the social contrasts (coexist, for example, luxurious and sordid neighborhoods it is the tertiary sector. Two major rival communities, one of the Marathi language and the other of the Gujarati language, have marked with their often violent antagonism the recent history of Bombay, which due to the multiplicity of communities, the variety of activities and the social contrasts (coexist, for example, luxurious and sordid neighborhoods it is the tertiary sector. Two major rival communities, one of the Marathi language and the other of the Gujarati language, have marked with their often violent antagonism the recent history of Bombay, which due to the multiplicity of communities, the variety of activities and the social contrasts (coexist, for example, luxurious and sordid neighborhoods slums) appears to be one of the most characteristic expressions of the Indian world and its problems.
Madras (2.5 million residents) Is the largest port in the Bay of Bengal, in particular for communications with Southeast Asia.
It has obscured the importance of all the ancient port centers nearby and only at a great distance it is possible to find some cities of a certain importance (Bandar, Kākinada, Vishākhapatnam). Madras is a polyglot city (74% Tamil, 25% Telugu) that lacks a real center, with the suburbs characterized by a succession of specialized centers (bazaars, administrative, residential and industrial districts). The port is completely artificial; exports local products (hides, skins, fabrics, peanuts, iron and manganese minerals, mica, sea salt) and imports fuels, raw materials, manufactured goods. Madras does not play a role of primary importance in the industrial field, even if industry (first of all textile and then metallurgical) occupies 31% of the active population;
Finally, we must not forget Hyderābād-Sikanderābād, articulated with a double center around a lake, and one of the most beautiful cities in India. Its development is due more to political than economic reasons; this is why a relatively weak secondary sector (21% of the active population) is matched by a powerful tertiary sector (72% of which 45% employed in public services). Therefore it can be said that Hyderābād-Sikanderābād, located in a poor region of the Deccan, has a mainly social and intellectual function, while the coastal centers have a mainly commercial function. Inland, the city of Bangalore has been able to draw significant impulses from the industrialization process (textile, food, electrical industries) and at the same time manage the space for its growth.
