What are some of the challenges to social order in urban areas?

Most of the challenges to social order in the urban areas are related to the ‘space’. This is because of the high population density which leads to the problem of logistics. The following are some of these challenges:

(i) The management of space is related to development of housing, transportation, land use and public facilities like sanitation, policing and urban governance.

(ii) Inadequate facilities for housing results in homelessness and development of slums that are congested and overcrowded neighbourhoods, with improper facilities.

(iii) Law and order issues due to criminal activities in slums. The major cause is the undefined rights over property of slum owners.

(iv) The residential colonies in urban areas are mixed with people of all class, caste, religion and ethnicity, which also give rise to communal problems, such as riots, and the phenomenon of ghettoisation.

(v) The gated or affluent communities are separated from their surroundings by walls, gates and run their own parallel facilities for water and electricity supply, policing and security.

(vi) Large distances between residential, industrial and commercial areas place a burden on transport. People rely on private transport, which results in congestion and pollution.