3. Is It Sprawling Yet? A Density-Based Exploration of Sprawl in the Urban Agglomeration Region Around the Mega City of Delhi

Sprawl is recognized as one of the distinctive features of the urbanizing landscape in almost all countries irrespective of their urban developmental status; but despite a growing volume of literature on this subject the concept continues to elude us. In the context of the changing urban landscape such as the declining growth rates of the metro cities, the spatial expansion of their peripheral urban land into the surrounding countryside, and the sudden growth of the newly reclassified former villages as ‘census towns’ in the last decade, sprawl studies—primarily in the context of individual city regions—have gained momentum in India in recent years. This paper aims to make a small contribution to the literature by focusing on the Delhi Urban Agglomeration (DUA), one of the dynamic city-regions of the world. Given the universal emphasis on density as one of the major dimensions of sprawl, we used a simple and measurable density index based on census data to compute the density levels of ‘census towns’ around the core city in the DUA during 2001–2011. The results show an incremental change towards scattered low-density settlements across the study area that may portend future sprawl. The study points to the suitability of using simple measurable indices based on easily available and nationally applicable data for detailed multi-dimensional empirical studies on sprawl. Apart from theoretical interest, such studies at national and regional scales across India would be of value to planners from the standpoint of sustainable development in the urban agglomeration regions of mega cities.