Synopsis Towns are the focal points of trade and administration. Administrative compulsions, economic and commercial necessities influence the location and development of towns. Strategic requirements also determine the setting up of new and small towns. New towns in North-East India are over grown villages; trading centres with some rural development administrative outfits which become urban settlements. Most of the urban centres do not enjoy modern sanitation facilities, portable and safer water supply. Urban centre in North-East India numbering 195 (1991) are like slum like situation with no civic amenities, education, health care, and modern sanitation facilities. There is hardly any agricultural surplus to sustain the urban life and social development. Social and economic compulsions lead people to migrate in urban centres where bulk of people live in dire poverty. These small towns do not have much scope and potentiality for genuine growth. They grow when government administrative machinery expands. For their growth as vibrating life centres, North-East India's economy must be expanded with agricultural surplus to sustain urban development. Appropriate steps must be taken to streamline the management structure by abolishing the system of multiplicity of authorities for urban planning and its execution.