Industrialization is the process by which an economy is transformed from primarily agricultural to one based on the manufacturing of goods. Individual manual labour is often replaced by mechanized mass production and craftsmen are replaced by assembly lines. Characteristics of industrialization include economic growth, more efficient division of labour, and the use of technological innovation to solve problems as opposed to dependency on conditions outside human control.

Industrialisation is the process of manufacturing consumer goods and capital goods and of building infrastructure in order to provide goods and services to both individuals and businesses. Proto industrialization is the phase before industrialisation. Problems with proto industrialization are expensive machines, high maintenance cost and uncertainty in performance. India was one of the leading producers of cotton textiles. European companies gained power and started to control Indian textiles. They introduced British machine made  goods in Indian markets. The traditional textile industry of India went under de-industrialization during British rule. There was political changes, decline of feudalism, growth of democracy and rise of capitalist class. Nationalism got stimulated in colonies. Nonetheless, modernization of India’s textile industry took place during the early 19thcentury; the first textile mill in the country was established at Fort Gloster near Calcutta in 1818. First cotton mill was started in Bombay in 1854, cotton mills in Ahmedabad     (1861) and spinning mills in Madras (1874).

Industrialization influences the four major sectors of the economy: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. The primary sector deals with the extraction and production of raw materials, and entails farming and mining. The secondary sector takes the materials gained from the primary sector and transforms the raw materials into final goods such as textiles and automobiles. The tertiary sector involves the provision of services such as banking, finance, and cinema to consumers and businesses. Last of all, the quaternary sector usually appears the latest in a country’s modernization process. It entails technological research and education.

Causes of Industrialization

·         Natural resources

·         Growing population

·         Improved transportation

·         High immigration

·         New inventions

·        Investment capital

The industrial revolution was a period when new sources of energy, such as coal and steam, were used to power new machines designed to reduce human labor and increase production. The move to a more industrial society would forever change the face of labor.

Origin of the Industrial Revolution

The first Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain after 1750. There were several factors that combined to make Great Britain an ideal place for industrialization. First, the agricultural revolution of the 18th century created a favourable climate for industrialization.

By increasing food production, the British population could be fed at lower prices with less effort than ever before. The surplus of food meant that British families could use the money they saved to purchase manufactured goods. The population increase in Britain and the exodus of farmers from rural to urban areas in search of wage-labour created a ready pool of workers for the new industries.

Britain had financial institutions in place, such as a central bank, to finance new factories. The profits Britain had enjoyed due to booming cotton and trade industries allowed investors to support the construction of factories.

British entrepreneurs interested in taking risks to make profits were leading the charge of industrialization. The English revolutions of the 17th century had fostered a spirit of economic prosperity. Early industrial entrepreneurs were willing to take risks on the chance that they would reap financial rewards later.

Britain had a vast supply of mineral resources used to run industrial machines, such as coal. Since Britain is a relatively small country, these resources could be transported quickly and at a reasonable cost. The British government passed laws that protected private property and placed few restrictions on private business owners. Britain’s merchant marine could transport goods to foreign markets. Lastly, Great Britain’s colonial empire created a ready supply of consumers to purchase its manufactured goods.

Environmental Disadvantages

The biggest negative effect of industrialization is on the environment. Pollution is the most common by-product of industrialization. However, the degradation of ecological systems, global warming, greenhouse gas emissions and the adverse effect on human health have garnered widespread concern. Because many industrialized companies are often not forced to pay damages for the environmental harm they cause, they tend to impose a major negative externality on human society in the form of deforestation, extinction of species, widespread pollution, and excessive waste. In the United States, Congress appointed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue limits for toxic air emissions, rules to phase-out ozone-depleting chemicals and their proper disposal, and other major tasks to reduce environmental risks.

Financial Disadvantages

Financially, industrialization results in a wide gap between the rich and poor due to a division of labour and capital. Those who own capital tend to accumulate excessive profits derived from their economic activities, resulting in a high disparity of income and wealth.

Social Disadvantages

Industrialization typically leads to the migration of workers to cities, automation, and repetitive tasks. Due to these factors, factory workers tend to lose their individuality, have limited job satisfaction, and feel alienated. There can also be health issues, brought on by dangerous working conditions or simply factors inherent in the working conditions, such as noise and dirt.

Rapid urbanization brought on by industrialization typically leads to the general deterioration of worker’s quality of life and many other problems for society, such as crime, stress and psychological disorders. Long working hours usually lead to poor nutrition and consumption of quick and low-quality foods, resulting in increased incidences of diseases, such as diabetes, heart attack, and strokes.

Effects of Urbanization 

The urban centres in India are experiencing rapid growth of population, particularly in the post-independence era. The primary reason for population growth is industrial progress. The industrial progress has resulted in the increase of population density in the urban areas and integration of this population is creating pressure on urban land. Due to industrialization, new factories, offices or service centres come up, which in turn leads to housing complexes, market areas, recreational centres, and so on, resulting in congestion and overcrowding.

Whatever the measures adopted, there is a dearth of space in the urban areas. Therefore, many cities are expanding beyond their statutory limit that is for every urban area growth has spilled beyond the city boundary. This situation is expected to bring many undesirable changes in the land-use pattern within the city as well as its surrounding areas. But not enough is known about the magnitude of these land-use changes and the relationship of these changes to population growth.

The rapid growth of population and the process of urbanization have resulted in an increasing demand for land in urban settlements. The prime factors of this increase in demand are also the population growth and the related requirements of urban life, such as the development of transport and communication and other infrastructure facilities. The pattern of city growth and its spatial structure is determined by various historical, economic, social and ecological forces that influence urban land use.

The improper use of urban land poses serious problems in all countries simply because the supply of surplus land is limited and subject to many competing claims. Dissatisfaction with the emerging urban forms is almost universal. Therefore, proper planning of urban land use is the most essential for an orderly and efficient growth of urban areas. Planning has to be done in such a way that the utmost available land is utilized.

Sometimes, there arises a mismatch between the demand and supply of land. This mismatch between the supply and demand of land leads to the degradation of environmentally fragile land, occupation of hazard-prone areas, and loss of cultural resources, open space and prime agricultural land. Within the existing built-up areas of cities, uncontrolled growth of population and inadequate infrastructure may cause irre­versible losses of cultural resources and open space. Poorly managed development may also cause excessive urban sprawl and negative impact on air quality, energy consumption and aesthetic quality. The conversion of prime agricultural land to urban use may increase the costs for locating, storing and purchasing food.

In India, the expansion of urban population has resulted into a rapid rise in the demand for housing, land for industry and commerce, and public buildings and infrastructure. Broadly speaking, the densities in cities and towns in India have increased during the last two decades, though in some instances this increase has been concealed by the extensions of their areas. For example, the density per square mile in Mumbai was 25,579 per square mile in 1951, but now, its density in 2001 is 119,676 per square mile. As a result, many competing claims for urban land and the consequent rise in land prices can be noticed.

Increase in population also affects the supply of basic infrastructure facilities. For instance in 1951, almost 80 per cent of the 185 towns of 20,000, and cities of 50,000 or more population in India had public electricity supply. The proportion of the supply of electricity has now declined very fast with the population above 20,000 for towns and 50,000 for cities. Similarly during 1950 to 1951, 128 towns with a population of 50,000 and over 60 towns with populations between 30,000 and 50,000 and 210 towns with smaller populations had protected water supply.

Moreover, about 80% of the urban population was estimated to be without sewage facilities. The water supply facilities are available in these cities only to the population that resides in the areas laid out during 1950 to 1951. The extended areas that have come up due to increase in population in these towns and cities still lack these basic facilities.

The percentage distribution of households by floor space per person and population size group of towns can be explained as follows. The proportion of households with a floor space up to 100 square feet per person was 47% in towns below 15,000; 39% in towns of 15,000-50,000: 47% in towns 50,000-1,00,000; 35% in towns above 1,00,000; and 53% in the four big cities: and the All-India urban population is 46%.

Take for instance, Mumbai and Kolkata, two of the big four cities. According to the surveys of these cities, the proportion of the households with a floor space up to 100 square feet per person was 93% in Mumbai while 63% of the multi-member households in Kolkata had only up to 40 square feet room space per person. In other cities too, the surveys have revealed much more overcrowding.

Urban environments of today are characterized by areas that contain many acres of hard surfaces like buildings, streets, etc. Natural vegetation such as forests and fields slow rainwater or other running water down, allowing it to soak into the surface. In contrast, streets, roofs, parking lots and manicured lawns all provide hard, impervious, surfaces that prohibit rain from soaking into the ground. Since the excess rain water or running water cannot soak into the ground, it accumulates and rushes into storm sewers and waterways.

The water that travels into storm sewers does not get treated at the local wastewater treatment plant. But urban dwellers do not know this fact; therefore, they dump or dispose pollutants in these storm drains. Thus, storm drains carry large amount of pollution away from urbanized areas mixed with the excess storm water.

Street litter, pet and yard waste, motor oil, anti-freeze, household hazardous wastes, and paint are just a few of the pollutants that find their way into storm drains. This water travels from storm drains into local streams, ponds and lakes, and ultimately into local streams and rivers.

The greatest threat to loss in soil resources in urban areas is during construction activities. Later, if good storm water management was not designed into the develop­ment, flooding and stream bank erosion become a problem. With the development site cleared of all vegetation, the area is now prone to soil losses in excess of 70 tons per acre.

Sites started and then abandoned also create soil erosion problems. Each home site not protected from erosion can lose one or two dump truck loads of soil. Offsite damages can be enormous. clogged drainage ways, silt-laden streams, reservoirs filled with sediment, damage to the adjacent landowners, all with environmental and financial costs.

As more homes, shopping centres and roads are built, more water runs off the land, and faster. Areas once safe from flooding are now prone to flooding. Gently flowing backyard streams now become a cancer under cutting soil from homes. Urbanization also causes pressure on the land as the secondary effects. For example, the quarrying of sand and mineral aggregates for the construction of urban dwellings represents about 20% of the total land lost to urbanization.