Urban geography is an important branch of geography. Where interactions within the city limits have been studied by number of geographers. The core area of a city is a special character of any urban centre. On the basis of this, the concept of “Central Business District” has been developed in western countries. An attempt has been made to apply this concept of Central Business District (CBD) to Solapur city in Maharashtra, India. The necessary data was collected was collected from town and planning office of SMC (Solapur Municipal Corporation)as well as field work analyzed using statistical methods.
Considering the land values in various municipal wards of Solapur city, Central business district has been demarcated. The collected information, It was found that the highest land value areas are being used for commercial purposes as well residential purpose. Also there are some slums in this zone. The government offices are slightly away from the core area, but still enjoy high land value due to transport facilities.There is a dispersion of shopping centers in the newly developed residential areas, e.g. Jule Solapur. The newly absorbed villages in the municipal areas have very low land value because of lack of facilities e.g. Bale and Degaon.
Keywords: Land value, specialized market, Residential area-Non residential area, core area.
INTRODUCTION
Urban Geography is an important branch of Geography. The study of interaction within the city limit has been studied by number of geographers. The core area of the city has special character on the basis of this; the concept of Central Business District has been developed in western countries.It is very interesting to study the characters of Central Business District of any city. An attempt has been made to apply the concept of Central Business District to Solapur city, an important city in Maharashtra, India.
STUDY AREA
Solapur City is one of the important cities in western Maharashtra. The latitudinal extent of the city is 17?40’ north and the longitudinal extent is 75?46’ east. It is situated in the Bhima River of the Deccan Plateau. The present area of the city is 179 sq.km. Solapur is situated 550 meters above the mean sea level. River Sina, which is a tributary of Bhima River, flows near southwestern part, of Solapur City. Black cotton ‘Regur’ soil is present in this region. The thickness of the soil decreases as ones moves away from the main river. The climate of the city is dry throughout the year, due to its inland location.
The total Population of Solapur city as enumerated by the census of India (1991) is 620846. Present population according to the Solapur Municipal Corporation 948000. The table no.2 shows decadal variation of population of Solapur during the last century. The decade 1901-1911 registered negative Growth rate of Population that is 18.52 p.c it was because of several epidemics recorded during the decade throughout the India. Further there is a constant increase in population. In 1993-1994 Municipal Corporation limit of Solapur was extended and 11 villages were included into the city limit. As a result population has been increase during the last decade.
LAND USE
Out of the total geographical area of the city, more than 50 % is under noncommercial and residential area and various industries and commercial establishments occupy 20%. More than 60% Shops are concentrated in the core of the city i.e. Navi Peth, Goldfinch Peth, Sakhar Peth, Murarji Peth and Remaining Shops are scattered in the outskirts of the core area. The residential area is mainly located to the southwest and northwest of Solapur. Various new housing colonies are emerging at the above mentioned areas. The extended part of Solapur city in the southern part is mostly a residential area. It is called as ‘Twin Sholapur’. Considering this morphology of the city, an attempt has been to de market the core area of the city.
OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENT STUDY
The objectives of the present study in Solapur city as follows.
1. To identify the market centers and to find out weather the concept of CBD in western country is applicable to Solapur city.
2. To study the impact of extension of city limit the development of new market centers.
3. To find out the salient features of the market centers in Solapur city.
HYPOTHESIS
1. Increasing number of shops and reduction in residential land use in the area develops CBD.
2. Is there any impact of extension of city limit on the market centers?
METHODOLOGY
The first hand data was collected by field survey method. Number of shops and institutes were noted along each road in the market areas during the fieldwork.The second hand data has been collected through the census 2002 gazetteer of the Solapur district. Various department of Solapur Municipal Corporation helped in collecting information regarding land records, revenue etc. Information was also collected from town planning department of Zillah Parishad Solapur. The maps prepared by Solapur Municipal Corporation were made available for the study purpose by the Town Planning department.The collected data was compiled in tabular form to prepare diagrams and it was further used for statistical analysis. Maps were prepared with the help of the collected information. The results of statistical analysis have been interpreted and concluded.
Definition and Importance:
Central Business District is a part of city is unique in its specialized land use & distinctive functions and is thus different from all other part of city. A term Central Business District originally and American term the heart of the city, i.e. Downtown. Presently it is commonly used in human geography to describe the nucleus of the urban area, which acts as focus of its commercial, social and civic life?. Central Business District is also known as central traffic District, Central commercial District , Downtown Business District , Hardcore , and commercial core. In Britain this has been named as central area. In India a term Central Business District is generally accepted and commonly used by geographers.
According to Dickinson, “The combination of high land value and obsolescent building ripe for demolition accounts for the dingy looking zone of deterioration, the surrounds the Business center of almost every city ?.
According to Harris and Ullman, “The Central Business District is the focus of commercial, social and civic life and of transportation in its Downtown retail district with its department stores smart shops of office building, club, bank, hotel, theater, museum and organizational headquarters ?.
Here one finds the greatest concentration of offices and retail stores reflected in the cities highest land value and its tallest buildings ?.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
The Central Business District is very important zone with in an urban settlement and it has a number of distinctive characteristics.
1. Non residential land use within the core area.
? Major departmental and variety stores.
? A great range of specialized shops.
? Head offices and branches offices of large commercial organization.
? Financial institutions, banks, etc.
? Administrative offices.
? Ancillary services such as insurance , accounting, legal work, etc. entertainment
? Hotel, restaurant and cafes.
2. Most of these activities need to attract as many customs as possible in order to retain. Economic viability and there benefit from there central location within the urban area.
3. Most of the activities are found within the Central Business District benefit from close proximity to one another. (Mutual segmentations)
4. The Central Business District is the most accessible zone in the urban area.
5. The Central Business District draws worker and customers of all socio economic classes from urban area as well as adjoining rural areas.
6. The Central Business District is the area of highest land values within the city. The center of Central Business District is known as the Peak Land Value Intersection.(PLVI)
7. Central Business District results in buildings that are not only tall but also multifunctional, ground floor are normally occupied by shops.
8. In Central Business District there is an obvious absence of the residential population. Non western countries are however an expectation to these characteristics for there is substantial residential population so called Central Business District.
9. Manufacturing is of limited importance in Central Business District.
10. The size of extent of the Central Business District varies from one city to another city.
11. The Central Business District is not a static feature. It is a dynamic. It is constantly changing in morphology, structure shapes and size in social patterns to meet changing economic conditions. The location shifts of a Central Business District can be seen through the identification of zone of assimilation and zone of discard. The heavy conjunction high incidence of atmosphere pollution at the city center has adversely affected land values.
DELIMITATIONS OF CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
The Central Business District is frequently referred to as the Central Business District is the art of the American City. Here one can find the great concentration of offices and retail stores reflected in the city highest land values and its tallest buildings. Here too is the chief focus of pedestrian and automobile traffic. By way of transportation network the reminder of the city and area of decreasing intensity extending far beyond the cities corporate limits are oriented towards the Central Business District. Even a cursory examination of the area we are proposing to delimit brings out the fact it is far from homogeneous. First of all there is variation in what might be called commercial intensity. This reflected in the tendency of some writers to use the designation. “Commercial Core” for the more highly concentrated central portion of Central Business District. In similar fashion the term “Hardcore” has been used to distinguish this central area from the reminder of the district, and others have spoken of a “Primary area” and a “Secondary area”.
NATURE OF THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT EDGES
As Bartholomew says,” It (Central Business District) is some of vague area with no definite boundaries.” As Dickinson puts it, “the combination of high land values and obsolescing buildings, ripe for demolition, accounts for the dingy looking ‘Zone of Detroydation’ “The surrounds the business centers of almost every city.
DELIMITATION METHODS USED BY PLANNING AGENCIES
In several instances the planner said that for his city no single answer was attempted, instead the zoning ordinance might give on Central Business District delimitation and the traffic ordinance is a different one and the fire department might use still a third for most cities however a single delimiting line was used , in simply all instances following block boundaries. The area shown was “Generally understood locally” to be the Central Business District, in one instance it was arrived at “intuitively” barriers such as rivers or rail road trucks were mentioned as forming parts of the boundaries of some Central Business Districts. In case of only two of the cities queried were any definite technique reported. Charles M. Downe used assessed land values by lots reduced to value per front foot at a uniform hundred foot depth, drawing his Central Business District boundaries line at the outer limit of the lots with front foot land valuation 300 or more ?.
DELIMITATION OF CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT IN SOLAPUR CITY
It has been found during the field work that the municipal wards with land value less than Rs.9000/sq.m are residential areas where shops are hardly present e.g. the ward number 55 of the Solapur city has only 14 shops, mainly general stores are present. The average land value per sq.meter is slightly above 12000, thought the ward is in commercial activities are concentrated where the land values are about Rs. 9000/sq.m.
The Karl Persion’s Correlation Coefficient method (r) has been used to analyses the collated data. The calculated ‘r’ have been represented in the table 0.311887923 It suggest is highest number of shops where the land value is also highest. However the calculated ‘r’ is minimum while the highest ‘r’ value is representing the second group land value between 12000 Rs to 15000 rs./m². The highest land value and lowest ‘r’ that considering the standard of Solapur people, preferred to live small in convenient houses instead of shifting to the out outskirts of the city. This area is being used for residential as well as commercial purposes. However, there are some slums also which have reduced the number of shops in the area. Therefore, the ‘r’ value is less. The 15000 Rs to 18000 Rs land value is representing mainly the administrative occupies by the vegetable market as well as residential area and administrative areas where minimum number of shops is present by railway quarters, Dak bungalow and educational institutes, PWD, office. The Solapur Municipal Corporation area as well as eastern of the city represents that mostly the land values between 12000 Rs and 15000 Rs or even less. The open spaces and newly area in Solapur city indicate the value less than 12000/m². It has been confirm during the field survey that the newly developed residential areas are having few shops, mostly general stores to supply daily requirement of the people. Some super markets are also developing as shown.
CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
The Central Business District of Solapur represents highest land value. At the same time extension is responsible for development of new shops in the newly developing residential areas.
FINDING AND SUGGESTIONS
1. As stated by Siddhartha and Mukharji the concept of Central Business District in western cities can not applied to Solapur, as it is.
2. The Social, historical, economic and cultural factors are responsible for modifications. These factors have to be considered while applying the concept in case of Indian cites.
3. The old market centers are the present core areas of the city. However the land value is highest near the western part of the city which is developed after the first textile mill. This part has proximity to the national highway NH-9 as well as the Broad gauge railway station of Solapur.
4. The high land value areas have multi-stored building as well as slums. The height of the building is only up to there stories.
5. The ward-number 55 of the Solapur Municipal Corporation, which is a part of the sold core zone, re residential zone with only 14 shops. It represents that land value is less than 12000 Rs/m² is considerably high for residential area Solapur.
6. The high land value recorded in the northern part of the city which the extreme north and south regions enjoy fairly low land values. The newly included villages in Solapur Degaon, Bale, Kegaon, shelgi, Dahitane, Kumbhari, Majrewdi, Kumathe, Soregaon, Pratap Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Basweshwer Nagar have very low land value since the urban facilities are not developed in these regions.
7. The horizontal of the city is responsible for development of local retail market centers in the residential areas. These areas include the Solapur-Bijapur Highway, Solapur-Hydrabad road mainly. They are also developing at the other roads, which are diverging for Solapur. This has been confirmed during the field work.
8. The Solapur Municipal Corporation wards numbers 51, 53, 55, 86, 87 represent the Central Business District of the Solapur city. However there is residential population also. Presently new constructions are replacing the old residential wards in to a commercial complex. However some residential apartments are also present. Very few people migrate to the new residential areas as the outer margins of Solapur. Thus, the hypothesis reduction in residential areas is accepted.
9. The statistical analysis also suggest that people have tendency to stay in the core area because proximity to transport facilities and shopping complexes. It is represented by the calculated ‘r’ values.
10. High land value is recorded with minimum shapes in southwestern part of the administrative officers as well as government quarters in this area are responsible for transport facilitates. The vegetable market near the Center Business District also enjoys high land value.
11. The land values are very low in outskirts where hardly any trade is possible. Therefore, the shops are also absent.
12. Most of the entertainment facilities like cinema hall, theaters, and library are concentrated near the core area of the city. The only exception is one cinema hall in the eastern part of the city.
REFERENCES
1. Govt. of Maharashtra Maharashtra State Gazetteer Solapur
District (1977)
2. Mr.M.a.Shaikh Shopping and structural Pattern of selected
Wards of Solapur City (2008)
A project report submitted to Shivaji University
3. Yadunath Sarkar History of Aurangazeb Vol. IV, Page No.378
4. K.Siddhartha & S.Mukharji Cities, Urbanization and Urban Systems (2001)
6th Edition, Kisalaya Publications
5. H.M. Mayor & Clyde Reading in Urban geography
(1967) Central Book Depot, Allahabad
6. Harries C.D. & Ullman E.L. The Nature of city (1945)
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Page no. 90
Edward Arnold (publisher) Ltd
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Nirali Publication, Pune.