CONTENTS I. Introduction . 1 1. Introduction to the topic: . 1 2. Background: . 1 3. Rationale: . 4 4. Aim: 5 5. Objectives: 5 6. Research Questions: 6 7. Scope: 7 8. Limitations: . 7 9. Methodology: 8 II. Towards a Definition for Urban Sphere of Influence 9 1. Urban Sphere Of Influence: 9 2. USI – Across the World: . 9 3. History and Concept of Distance Decay: 10 4. Christaller’s Central Place Theory: . 11 5. Von Thunen’s Model: 12 6. Theories ascertained: . 13 a. The Rank-size rule: . 13 b. The Law of Primate city: 14 c. Urban hierarchies: . 15 III. Case Studies: 16 1. Hyderabad Metropolitan delimitation by Mansoor Alam . 16 2. Calcutta Metropolitan region . 17 3. Delhi - NCR 19 4. Madras Metropolitan region 20 5. Bombay Metropolitan region . 21 6. APCRDA Vijayawada City Delimitation 22 7. Summary of Learnings . 22 8. Shortlisting of Indicators . 25 9. Modern Indicators: 27 IV. City and Its Context . 28 1. “Vijayawada – The place of Victory” . 28 2. Why Vijayawada? . 28 3. Evolution of the city and Metropolis 32 4. Existing Administrative Boundaries 33 5. List of indicators to use for analysis 37 V. Delineation Scheme For Vijayawada 39 1. Selection of Study area: . 39 2. Indicator wise analysis 40 a. Geographic Indicators: 40 b. Demographic Indicators: 44 c. Transport and Communication 56 d. Socio-Economic Indicators: . 60 3. Limitation of the urban sphere of influence for the city . 66 VI. Proposal and Recommendations 69 1. Comparison of USI with existing boundaries 69 2. Recommendation for Vijayawada City 70 3. Discussion with the city officials . 71 a. A talk with Manohar Kumar.B - Assistant Planner at APCRDA . 71 b. A talk with Divya Karlapudi - Assistant Director at APCRDA . 73 4. Conclusion 74 VII. Annexure 76 1. Table 1: Railway ticketing data for passenger trains 76 2. Table 2: Bus ticketing data – city and district service . 79 3. Table 3: Census Data for mapping 80 VIII. Bibliography 105