(a) Suggest criteria, indicators and techniques for delimitation of formal regions. (20 marks) (b) Boundaries are important in…

(a) Delimiting formal regions: criteria, indicators and techniques

A formal (uniform) region is an area homogeneous in one or more chosen characteristics, such as climate, relief, crops or language. Delimiting it means fixing what to measure, with what data, and where to draw the limit.

Criteria: select the basis of uniformity: physical (relief, climate, soil, vegetation), economic (crop pattern, industry, occupation) or socio-cultural (language, religion, literacy). Use single-feature regions (such as a rainfall region) or multi-feature (composite) regions. Units should be contiguous, comparable in scale and based on the purpose of the study. Examples are Herbertson's natural regions, Köppen climate regions and agro-climatic regions of India.

Indicators: for physical regions, rainfall, temperature, altitude, slope, soil type; for economic regions, crop-combination, cropping intensity, share of workers, industrial density, per-capita income; for social regions, literacy, sex ratio, language share.

Techniques: map overlay of the chosen layers (Whittlesey), weighted index or composite scores, ranking and standardisation (z-score), Weaver's crop-combination method, factor and cluster analysis to group similar units, isopleth mapping, and GIS with remote sensing for boundaries. Boundaries are transition zones, so thresholds must be stated. Results are checked against field data and administrative units, and planning use needs a balance between homogeneity and data availability.

(b) Boundaries in geopolitics; inclusion and exclusion

A boundary is a line marking the limit of a state's sovereignty. It decides who governs, who is a citizen, what resources a state controls, and where its security begins. It defines territory, identity and the extent of law, and is therefore central in geopolitics.

Inclusionary aspects bind people within the state: shared citizenship, language, rights and national identity, and free movement inside the unit, as in the Schengen area of the EU, which removes internal checks. Exclusionary aspects keep outsiders and goods out through immigration controls, tariffs and fences, as on the US–Mexico border, the India–Bangladesh fence and Israel's West Bank barrier.

Issues that arise: border disputes (India–China, Kashmir, Sir Creek); divided ethnic groups, such as Pashtuns across the Durand Line and the Kurds; refugees and stateless people; cross-border smuggling and insurgency; enclaves, which India and Bangladesh exchanged in 2015; and loss of livelihoods for border communities. Cooperation through treaties, joint management of rivers and trade corridors can reduce conflict.

(c) Mega cities in the global economy and culture

Mega cities have more than 10 million people. A few of them, such as New York, London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Singapore, called global or world cities (Sassen), act as command centres of the world economy.

Economy: they host head offices of multinational firms, stock exchanges, banks and producer services such as law, accounting and consultancy, and attract much of foreign direct investment. They are hubs of air, sea and digital connectivity, and form a network through which capital, goods and information flow. A small number of cities generate a share of world GDP far larger than their share of population.

Culture: they host leading universities, research centres, media houses, film, fashion and art industries, global events and diverse migrant populations, which set trends and spread ideas worldwide.

Indian cases: Mumbai as the financial capital and Delhi and Bengaluru in services and technology. The costs are inequality, congestion, slums and pollution, so the same cities also pose planning challenges.