“Each chapter is a brilliant incursion into one facet of “The Indian City” as presented in this book. Together the authors give us a refracted account of that complex condition that is a city. The chapters regularly seem to be in conversation with each other, an unusual achievement for a collection.”
―Saskia Sassen, Columbia University, and author of Territory, Authority, Rights
“Global flows have created deep contestations and hybrid conditions in Indian cities that are often incomprehensible to planners and policy makers. This book offers a nuanced and scholarly reading of this complex landscape through examining ‘potent samples’ at all scales across a range of Indian cities. An extremely well timed book, given the intellectual void in the debate on contemporary Indian Cities.”
―Rahul Mehrotra, Architect and Professor of Urban Design, Harvard University
From the Inside Flap
According to United Nations projections, India’s urban population will grow faster than that of any other country over the next 30 years, increasing by more than 350 million during that period. Despite this transformation, there are as yet few book-length treatments that address the political economy of the contemporary, post-liberalization Indian city in comparative perspective.
Contesting the Indian City examines the contradictions and contestations of India’s current urban moment, as historically entrenched urban forms, rooted in cultural dynamics and legacies of Nehruvian state-sponsored modernization, face mounting pressure with the emergence of powerful new political actors around the push toward economic growth and the commodification of urban space. Bringing together a collection of theoretical explorations and empirical studies, the volume offers important insights into issues of politics, equity, and space relating to urban development in modern India. In doing so, it deepens theoretical understandings of the changes that Indian cities are experiencing, and of the comparative implications of the Indian experience for contemporary debates about urban politics. Enlightening and timely, Contesting the Indian City contributes greatly to urgent debates about the political dynamics that underlie urban development in contemporary India.
From the Back Cover
According to United Nations projections, India’s urban population will grow faster than that of any other country over the next 30 years, increasing by more than 350 million during that period. Despite this transformation, there are as yet few book-length treatments that address the political economy of the contemporary, post-liberalization Indian city in comparative perspective.
Contesting the Indian City examines the contradictions and contestations of India’s current urban moment, as historically entrenched urban forms, rooted in cultural dynamics and legacies of Nehruvian state-sponsored modernization, face mounting pressure with the emergence of powerful new political actors around the push toward economic growth and the commodification of urban space. Bringing together a collection of theoretical explorations and empirical studies, the volume offers important insights into issues of politics, equity, and space relating to urban development in modern India. In doing so, it deepens theoretical understandings of the changes that Indian cities are experiencing, and of the comparative implications of the Indian experience for contemporary debates about urban politics. Enlightening and timely, Contesting the Indian City contributes greatly to urgent debates about the political dynamics that underlie urban development in contemporary India.
About the Author
Gavin Shatkin is Associate Professor at the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. His research focuses on contemporary urban redevelopment practices in Asian cities, urban inequality, and community organizing and collective action around issues of shelter and infrastructure delivery. His book Collective Action and Urban Poverty Alleviation: Community Organizations and the Struggle for Shelter in Manila was published in 2007.
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