View of IMPACT OF URBAN SPRAWL ON PUBLIC HEALTH: AN ANALYSIS OF BHOPAL CITY

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Vol.04,Special Issue 08, (EMDMSCBW-2019) December 2019, Available Online: www.ajeee.co.in/index.php/AJEEE

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IMPACT OF URBAN SPRAWL ON PUBLIC HEALTH: AN ANALYSIS OF BHOPAL CITY Mr. Durgesh Kurmi

JRF in Geography, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore, M.P

Abstract - In ancient times most of the population survived in rural areas, slowly and gradually Urbanization as a trend is seen all over the world, especially in an alarming rate in developing countries. This makes cities grow both in number and size. The urban areas are expanding due to which the cities are spreading towards the suburban areas. Urban sprawl is to be the fastest growing threat to the environment and quality of life. The objective of this paper is to analyze the problems of urban sprawl that is faced by the residents and also the health impacts of urban sprawl. Through this paper, the researcher tries to describe the relationship between urban sprawl and public health. The present study is conducted in Bhopal metropolitan. The sample population of the study consisted of those who were residents of this locality both male and female are included in the study.

The sample collected will be 120 respondents which will be selected through convenient sampling technique i.e. non-probability sampling, due to unavailability of the sampling frame. A survey Method is used as a technique of data collection, a semi-structured interview schedule is developed to collect the data. The findings of the present study will be described, as a majority of the respondents reported that diseases are spread due to lack of proper sewer, no garbage collection, vehicles that leads to air pollution and health issues in the urban fringe area, so people have less access to the health facilities. It was observed that most of the respondents reported physical& mental health problems at an alarming rate. The study suggests policy measures and guidelines to the health of the people who live in sprawling areas of Bhopal.

Keywords:- Urban Sp rawl, Expansion, Urbanization, Health Services, Public Health.

1. INTRODUCTION

Urbanization is a form of growth that is a response to often less unstated implications of technological, economic, social, and political forces and the physical geography of an area (Ramachandra et al., 2012; Sudhira, et. al., 2007). Rapid urbanization causes disorganized and unplanned growth of cities. It is an escalation in population and economic activities in the urban areas which pointers to further development of town and agglomerates to hold this rising population which further fallouts in the rural push and spreading of the city towards outskirts (Ramachandra et al., 2014) also refers to urban sprawl.

The sprawl takes place at the urban fringes resulted in the development of the urban expanses or development along with the highways results in the elongated development of urban forms. (Sudhira et al., 2004) Urban sprawl feature rapid geographic expansion of metropolitan areas in a leapfrog low density pattern, segregation of distinct land uses, heavy dependence on automobile travel with extensive road construction, architectural and social homogeneity, shift of capital investment and economic opportunity from the city centre to the periphery and relatively weak regional planning (Howard, F., 2001).

At present, the rapid expansion of metropolitan areas has been termed "urban sprawl" a complex pattern of land use, transportation, and social and economic development. As cities extend into rural areas, large tracts of land are developed in a low- density, leapfrog manner. Different land uses like housing, retail stores, offices, industries, recreational facilities and public spaces such as parks are kept separate from each other, enforced by both custom and zoning laws. Extensive roads need to be constructed and most trips, even to buy a newspaper or a quart of milk, require driving a car (Howard, F., 2001).

Town and cities sprawl is characterized based on various indicators such as growth, social, aesthetic, decentralization, accessibility, density, open space, dynamics, costs, benefits, etc (Bharath, H. S., Tarun, K. K., Venugopal, R. K., Ramachandra, T. V., 2014).

The move to the suburbs reflects a lifestyle preference shared by many people but such a major shift in the nation's demographics and the form of our environment might also be expected to have health implications both positive and negative. Some of these impacts relate directly to the heavy reliance on automobiles: air pollution, automobile crashes, and pedestrian injuries and fatalities.

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Others relate to land use pattern that typifies sprawl decreased physical activity, threats to water quantity and quality. (Howard, F., 2001) This research offers a public health framework for urban sprawl. Available evidence about the health effect and its connection with sprawl is presented and issues that require further research are identified.

Since the adverse impacts of sprawl do not fall equally across the population, the distribution of health impacts across the population and resulting equity concerns are addressed. In considering the health effects of sprawl, one particular form of urban growth, it is important to distinguish sprawl from these related phenomena.

1. Objectives of the Study

1. To explore the level of health services provided in urban sprawl.

2. To find out the relationship between services provided in urban sprawl and public health impacts.

3. To analyze the level of public health.

2. STUDY AREA

Bhopal, the capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Bhopal district and Bhopal division with a total population of 2,368,145 (Census of India, 2011). It is located in central India and lies between the latitude 23°07' to 23°54' N, longitude 77°12' to 77°40' E. Bhopal has an average elevation of 500m meters (1401 ft.) It is the 16th largest city in India and 134^th largest city in the world. Bhopal had 2368145 inhabitants in the year 2011(Census of India, 2011).

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3 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The researcher has used the survey method as a technique of data collection in this study.

This was a useful technique of data collection in this target population of the present study was the residents both male and female living in Bhopal city were the element of the present study. The commonly partial information. This is the case because often it is impossible, impractical to collect data from all the potential unit of analysis encompassed in the research problem.

Yet precise inferences on all the units based on a relatively small number of units can be drawn when subset accurately represent the relevant attributes of the whole se populations which refer as sampling procedures. The present study was conducted in Bhopal city. Convenient sampling method was used to draw a sample from the target population female respondents selected from Bhopal (MP) with the help of a convenient sampling method. A semi collect the required information. Both open and close used to measure the objectives of the study. Further, the data were analyzed by using SPSS version 16.0 descriptive statistics.

4. ANALYSIS

4.1 Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

Point 1 shows the demographic profile of the respondents. Figure 1 indicates that the gender percentage of the respondents, 59.16% male and 40.84% female respondents are interviewed.

Table 1.1 shows the age of the respondents, the vast majority of the respondents 45.83%

belong to 31-40 age groups whereas only 4.17% respondents from the total, belong to 51-60 age group and the one third 31.67% respondents belong to 20-30 age group.

Table 1.2 describes the family size of the respondents the majority of the respondents 60.83% reported that they have 5-7 members in the family in contrast to 7.5% respondents who reported that they have 11-13 members in the family. So could be concluded that majority of the respondents have 5-7 members in the family.

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Table 1.3 indicates the educational status of the respondents, the table shows the interesting findings 33.33% of respondents have a higher level of education Graduate and above. Whereas 16.67% of respondents reported that they have illiterate. So it could be concluded that the majority of the respondents are educated.

Table 1.4 shows the occupational status of the respondents, 26.67% respondents out of the 40.84% female respondents reported that they are housewives. Only 15% of respondents belong to government jobs and 16.66% belong to private jobs. Whereas only 6.67% of respondents reported that they belong to the agricultural sector. This data shows that only a small majority of people living in the urban area belongs to agriculture and 25% reported that they are self employed.

Table 1.5 indicates the monthly income of the respondents, majority of the respondents 33.33% reported that they get 15001-20000 whereas only 15% of respondents reported that they get 25000 & above. Only 6.67% of respondents reported that they get up to 5000.

Urban sprawl has affected several sectors of human life and one of them is public health.

Much use of transportation, less physical activity, the polluted environment has affected human's physical and mental health. Urban sprawl has both direct and indirect impacts on health. Some relate directly to the heavy reliance on automobiles, air pollution, automobile and pedestrian injuries and fatalities. Other relates to the land use patterns that typify sprawl decreased urban heat island effect.

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Table 2 indicates respondent's perception about the services and health facilities faced due to urban sprawl, 62.5% respondents those have not facility of clean drinking water whereas only small percentage that in 13.33% those have the facility of clean drinking water. Access to health facilities only 20% of the respondents have great access to health facilities as compare to 66.67% those who have “To some extent”. The above percentage shows that health facilities were not properly available in that locality that was far from the locality, so that’s why people have less access to the health facilities.

Respondent’s perception about pollution that affects their family creates a hurdle to family movement due to pollution. A very small percentage (4.16%) of respondents did not agree with this statement as compared to 55% who agreed to the above statement. The percentage of family movement hurdles due to pollution only 4.16% of the respondents did not agree that pollution creates hurdles to family movement whereas 40.83% of respondents agreed to some respondents agreed that mental health is affected by urban sprawl.

Whereas only 32.5% of respondents fall in the second category “To some extent”.

The World Health Organization estimates that by 2020, mental ill-health will be the third leading cause of disability life adjusted years globally. The vast majority 73.33% of respondents reported that low physical activity has a higher risk factor of physical health problem like obesity.

An over whelming majority 65% of respondents reported that motor vehicle leads to air pollution whereas 0% reported not at all. This finding is related to the study that was conducted in 2008, on Impact of Urban Sprawl on Overweight, Obesity and Physical Activity. They found that living in more sprawling suburbs increases the risk of overweight/obesity and inadequate physical activity despite the relatively low levels of urban sprawl in metropolitan Sydney.

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The above Table 3 indicates the main problems of the area due to the urban sprawl. The vast majority of the respondents (76.67%) were agreed that heavy traffic may cause accidents, blocking of roads, anger. The relationship between sprawl and motor vehicle crashes is complex. At the simplest level, more driving means greater exposure to the dangers of the road, translating to a higher probability of a motor vehicle crash.

Suburban roads may be a special hazard, especially major commercial thorough fares and feeder roads that combine high speed, high traffic volume and frequent curb cuts where drivers enter and exit stores and other destinations. The vast majority 63.33%

reported that they have a long distance from the stores and restaurants whereas only 13.33% do not have such problem. The majority of the respondents 83.33% have strongly agreed (to a great extent) that their locality has less space for parks.

The above Table 4 shows the perception of the respondents about some mental health problems due to the urban sprawl. More than half of the respondents (69%) feel worthlessness as compared to 42.5%. The respondents who feel sadness and hopelessness were 60.83% and 58.33% respectively due to the low social connections and low connectivity. A considerable body of research accomplishes that sprawl, as measured by low residential density, low employment density, low connectivity, and other indicators, is associated with less walking and bicycling and with more automobile travel.

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Table 5 shows the perception of the respondents some physical health problems due to urban sprawl. The Majority of respondents 71.67% reported that low physical activity may be the risk factor for being overweight and the 75% respondents reported that it may be a risk factor for many diseases. Only a small number (5%) of respondents fall in the, not at all category.

5. CONCLUSION

The present explanatory research has tried to establish the relationship between urban sprawl and public health of the people living in urban sprawl (Bhopal city). Most important findings of the study are most of the respondents 75% reported that they have not the facility of clean drinking water in the locality. It was observed that most of the respondents 67% reported mental health problems due to segregation from the main city. Majority of the respondents reported that they feel sadness, worthlessness and tension due to living in the sprawling area.

It was observed that most of the respondents reported physical and mental health problems. The vast majority of the respondents reported that they have financial assistance from their family and husband for the treatment and diet. Majority of the respondents reported that green spaces are important for mental health like to release stress. In the present research, it is observed that living in a sprawling area like Bhopal city do not have proper clean drinking water, proper access to health facilities, lack of green places, proper layout for streets and air pollution due to heavy motor vehicles.

People do not have proper restaurants and stores to buy things due to which they use cars and other transportation go to the main city. As a result, people face air pollution, traffic congestion, a blockage that leads to a lot of mental and physical health problems.

The finding of the present research shows that urban sprawl has negative impacts on the health of people directly and indirectly. Findings of the present research are supported by the study that urban sprawl contributes to health problems.

Keeping in view the findings of the study the following suggestions are recommended for the policy purposes and practical work. Urban planners should design and introduce

“smart growth” that is characterized by higher density, preserved green spaces, mixed land uses with walk able neighborhoods. Health professional scan play an important role in designing and implementing transportation and land-use decisions. Further research is needed to clarify the complex relationships among land use, transportation, and health.

REFERENCES

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