Calcutta: a human ecological approach to planning

Abstract

Urban system analysis is very essential for successful planning. Urban Ecological Analysis gives information about the basic interactions among the various socio-economic-ethnic phenomena in the society which constitute the social structure of the urban system. Social planning must be an integral part of comprehensive planning and, accordingly, an understanding of the social structure should be a prerequisite investigation in the planning process. This approach is necessary in developing countries such as India, where urbanization has been less successful in advancing social mobility due to rigid caste, religious, ethnic, and other traditional classificatory barriers in the society. In this light, the social structure of Calcutta, the complex metropolis of India, has been investigated at two points in time through factor ecological analysis to inquire into the changing influence of the caste system, the major barrier to social mobility. Caste influence, though fading out slowly, was found still to be quite dominant in the social structure. Need for national level planning to solve this problem and enhance social mobility more effectively has been identified.