Q1.
How do cities become the centre of diverse economic activities?
Answer
A place becomes an economic centre when something about it makes work easier or cheaper to do there than elsewhere — and then, because people and money have collected, it becomes easier still. The chapter shows six such starting advantages.
| What gives the place its start | How it works | The chapter’s example |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Rivers give ease of transport; crossroads of trade routes let markets develop; nearness to farm produce and raw materials supports artisans and manufacturing | Mumbai on the Arabian Sea and Kolkata near the eastern coast became vital port cities for domestic and international trade |
| Raw materials | An industry is set up where its material lies, and a town is built around the workers | Sakchi, a small village in the Chota Nagpur Plateau, was chosen for Asia’s first steel plant because rich iron ore deposits lay close by; it was renamed Jamshedpur in 1919 |
| Clusters | Specialised firms group together, and a close link with colleges keeps supplying skilled people and new ideas | Bengaluru — software firms, new start-ups and higher education institutions; Hyderabad likewise for technology-based enterprises |
| Finance and information | Money and news concentrate; the exchange of information and ideas leads to innovation | The Bombay Stock Exchange, 1875, made Mumbai the financial capital; the film industry started in the 1910s and was flourishing by the 1930s |
| Administration | Government brings offices, universities and research centres, and jobs follow them | Delhi — forts, roads and markets under the Rajputs, Turks and Mughals; a new British capital with railways and electricity; then New Delhi, capital of the Republic |
| Heritage and pilgrimage | Visitors have to travel, eat, sleep and buy, so whole service trades grow around a monument or a shrine | Agra’s Taj Mahal draws 70–80 lakh visitors every year; Amritsar and Varanasi thrive on pilgrims |
Agra’s visitors, worked out per day:
70,00,000 ÷ 365 ≈ 19,178
80,00,000 ÷ 365 ≈ 21,918
So roughly 19,000 to 22,000 people arrive every single day — a permanent market for transport, hospitality, local food vending and handicrafts.
70,00,000 ÷ 365 ≈ 19,178
80,00,000 ÷ 365 ≈ 21,918
So roughly 19,000 to 22,000 people arrive every single day — a permanent market for transport, hospitality, local food vending and handicrafts.
Why the activities become diverse: all six routes end in the same thing — concentration. Once workers, buyers, suppliers, banks and government are in one place, a new business finds its staff and its customers already waiting, so it costs less to start there than anywhere else. That is why the steel town also acquired hospitals, schools and gardens, and why the port city also grew a film industry. Growth attracts growth.
Two more points the chapter makes are worth holding on to:
- Small centres specialise instead of doing everything. Moradabad for brass work, Ludhiana and Tirupur for textiles, Jaipur for handicrafts and gem jewellery, Channapatna for wooden toys, Kanchipuram for silk sarees.
- Cost matters as much as size. Companies establish warehouses and offices in Kochi, Indore, Lucknow and Nagpur precisely because the cost of operations is lower than in the largest cities — while still serving customers across India and globally.
Did you know? Once a city is large, it starts building for its own congestion. Mumbai’s Bandra–Worli Sea Link and the Coastal Road were built to ease mobility for commuters, and the Bandra Kurla Complex was created to hold banks, corporate offices and financial institutions that the old centre could no longer fit.