Assessing urban inequality from census data: a comparative analysis of proximate and non-proximate census towns in West Bengal (India)

Over the past decade, West Bengal has witnessed an extraordinary rise in the number of Census Towns (CTs), with the state’s urban population swelling by an additional 6.6 million people. This significant increase in both CTs and urban residents has escalated the demand for essential urban services. Consequently, this article aims to examine the disparity in urbanity levels between Proximate Census Towns (PCTs) and Non-Proximate Census Towns (NPCTs). The Kolkata Metropolitan Area has been selected as a case study for this investigation. Utilizing data from the 2011 Census of India and the Socio-Economic and Caste Census, a composite urbanity index has been derived from a set of variables using the Analytic Hierarchy Process method. To determine the significant differences between the variables of PCTs and NPCTs, an independent T-test has been conducted. Furthermore, to analyze the differences in urbanity index categories between PCTs and NPCTs, one-way ANOVA and Post Hoc Tukey tests have been performed. The study’s findings reveal a statistically significant disparity between PCTs and NPCTs, with PCTs predominantly falling into the moderate and high urbanity categories, whereas the majority of NPCTs are categorized as low in terms of urbanity index. This research could be instrumental for urban planners and policymakers in identifying the root causes of inequality in basic urban services between PCTs and NPCTs, thereby aiding in the formulation of tailored policies for both types of Census Towns.