As per a study published in the journal Nature Cities, in the year 2020, only 4% of India's population lacked access to an urban centre. Along with a densely populated built-up area, three per cent could access only towns within an hour of travel.
The research, led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), Italy, looked at over 30,000 urban centres around the world and, based on the number of people accessing them, classified them as one of four towns, small city, intermediate city or large city, stated a report by PTI.
According to the research, while a town had about 20,000 people living there, accessing basic facilities, such as groceries and primary education, a large city housed more than a million people and offered the most diversified facilities, including an airport.
Even with half the world's population living outside the urban centres, the authors found "substantial interconnectedness" as 92% were able to access them in under an hour of travel, which could be seen as 'commuting distance'.
Out of 92%, 55% were found to live in or near a town or a small city, while 37% were found to live in or near an intermediate or a large city.
The study represented the "first systematic worldwide delineation of city regions across multiple urban tiers", according to lead author Andrea Cattaneo, Senior Economist at FAO.
"This unprecedented dataset (spanning across 213 countries and territories) offers a powerful tool for understanding how societies are organised around urban centres, unlocking new insights for sustainable development strategies," Cattaneo said.
