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2016 | Book

Introduction: Urban Development Read chapter Read first chapter

Spatial Diversity and Dynamics in Resources and Urban Development

Volume II: Urban Development

Editors: Ashok K. Dutt, Allen G. Noble, Frank J. Costa, Rajiv R. Thakur, Sudhir K. Thakur

Publisher: Springer Netherlands

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

This double-volume work focuses on socio-demographics and the use of such data to support strategic resource management and planning initiatives. Papers go beyond explanations of methods, technique and traditional applications to explore new intersections in the dynamic relationship between the utilization and management of resources, and urban development.

International authors explore numerous experiences, characteristics of development and decision-making influences from across Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as recounting examples from America and Africa. Papers propound techniques and methods used in geographical research such as support vector machines, socio-economic correlates and travel behaviour analysis.

In this volume the contributors examine cutting-edge theories explaining diversity and dynamics in urban development. Topics covered include human vulnerability to hazards, space and urban problematic, assessment and evaluation of regional urban systems and structures and urban transformations as a result of structural change, economic development and underdevelopment. The significance of these topics lie in the pace and volume of change as is happening in geography reflecting continued development within established fields of inquiry and the introduction of significantly new approaches during the last decade.

Readers are invited to consider the dynamics of spatial expansion of urban areas and economic development, and to explore concept

ual discussion of the innovations in and challenges on urbanization processes, urban spaces themselves and both resource management and environmental management.

Together, the two volumes contribute to the interdisciplinary literature on regional resources and urban development by collating recent research with geography at its core. Scholars of urban geography, human geography, urbanism and sustainable development will be particularly interested in this book.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter

Introduction

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introduction: Urban Development
Abstract
This book is the second volume of a two-volume festschrift in honor of Professor Baleshwar Thakur – titled “Spatial Diversity and Dynamics in Resources and Urban Development.” The volume is intended to provide an opportunity for specialists in urban development who utilize urban development processes to understand urban practices, policy, and politics both in the metropolitan and peripheral regions of the world. The volume recognizes that the locus of urban development now lies in the transforming of peripheral regions of the world, which has caused a paradigm shift in regional and local decision making. Given this overview of urban development, this volume revisits our understanding of interdependencies between places and among scales. Beyond the applied nature of chapters, this volume engages with dynamic issues of urban development that can be approached from diverse perspectives. Consequently, contributions use cutting-edge theories and spatial techniques to examine dramatic changes in issues such as: urban growth in developing and transforming regions, infrastructure growth as an urban land shaper, proliferation of housing and squatter settlements, our changing perceptions and quality of urban life, impact of rural to urban migration on land use dynamics, impact of spatial division of labor on ethnicity in cities, the impact of locational decisions at the local and regional scales on metropolitan retail and wholesale space and structure, and the cumulative impact of all of this on future urban planning regulations.
Rajiv R. Thakur, Ashok K. Dutt, Allen G. Noble, Frank J. Costa, Sudhir K. Thakur
Chapter 2. Baleshwar Thakur: Professional Career and Contributions
Abstract
This chapter is a discussion of the growth, evolution, and contribution of Baleshwar Thakur (B.T.) to Indian geographic research. He is a doyen among Indian geographers and has been an acclaimed teacher, scholar, and administrator throughout his illustrious career of four and a half decades. He made immense contributions to the discipline and strived for its popularization both within and outside India. His research career can be divided into two phases: 1964–1980 and the post-1980s. During the first phase he was interested in understanding the long-term processes of urbanization in its regional context in developing countries, focusing on India, using quantitative methods. After accepting the position of Reader in Geography at the University of Delhi, his interests shifted to the study of natural resource management and the history of Indian geography, although he pursued his interest in urban geography as well. His contributions during the past five decades can be subdivided into four broad areas: urban geography, quantitative geography, natural resource management, and history of Indian geography. He continues to be actively engaged in research and publications, and his contributions serve as a model for young Indian geographers aspiring to become scholars.
Sudhir K. Thakur, Ashok K. Dutt, Allen G. Noble, Frank J. Costa, Rajiv R. Thakur, Hari S. Sharma

Theoretical Basis

Frontmatter
Chapter 3. Recent Studies in Regional Urban Systems in India: Trends, Patterns and Implications
Abstract
An urban system is defined as a network of towns, cities and its hinterland characterized by exchange and interdependence. These cities and towns are arranged in a hierarchical settlement pattern within the development continuum in which people, goods, services and capital flow in the city system hierarchy. A national urban system comprises regional urban systems (RUSs) which is dominated by a large urban area. The Indian RUS can be delineated into four broad macro-regional urban systems: Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai. Given this background this chapter addresses three questions: (1) What are the broad trends of RUSs research in India? (2) What insights have the various conceptual approaches provided to the understanding of Indian regional urbanization? (3) Is there a new approach that can manifest an alternative insight to Indian RUS? Four observations can be made: (1) Indian cities have grown rapidly followed by polarization reversal, (2) hierarchic studies have sparked an interest in regional service development planning utilizing location-allocation models (3) Indian urbanization is characterized by a lack of national primacy but the presence of state primacy and regional rank-size tendency, and (4) complexity approach is a novel approach to model macro-behavior such as city development or urban sprawl using micro-motives or local interaction such as land use changes.
Sudhir K. Thakur
Chapter 4. Contemporary Urban Policy in India: A Critique of Neoliberal Urbanism
Abstract
In the era of contemporary globalization, the ‘urban’ is being redefined just as dramatically as ‘global’ with new orientations in urban activities and their role in the national and global economic changes. Earlier, in the Keynesian cities of advanced capitalism, the state agreed to share a considerable part of social reproduction, from housing to welfare, transportation, and infrastructure, expressing a peak in the relationship between social reproduction and urban scale. The contemporary cities need to be analyzed in their contextualities in terms of the wider economic restructuration, weakening of the State at the national scale, and its response to the priorities of market. The process is closely connected with the neoliberal doctrine sweeping across the world characterized by an uneven and problematic inclusion of the urban process of the South in the global urban system and generalization of gentrification as a universal global urban strategy. Cities of the South have started showing signs of intense spatial crisis, reflecting contradictory processes of inclusion and exclusion. The foregoing crisis is characterized by constraints in social planning, withdrawal of the State from and increasing involvement of international financial institutions in urban development and projects, privatization of basic urban services, heightening gentrification, and conversion of a larger city space for elitist consumption and a growing exposure to a global competitive framework leading to extensive place-marketing. In the light of the foregoing, this chapter offers a critical analysis of the contemporary urban policy in India and examines its socioeconomic implications at a wider scale.
Swapna Banerjee-Guha
Chapter 5. Sustainable Urbanization in India: Experiences and Challenges
Abstract
Urbanization brings about a variety of spatial, economic, social, demographic, and environmental changes. Some of these are positive whereas others are negative. Despite the tremendous potential of cities to provide quality of living conditions, urban problems limit their sustainable growth. Sustainable urbanization requires a balance between the development of the urban areas and protection of the environment with an eye to equity in employment, shelter, basic services, social infrastructure, and transportation in urban areas. The present urban chaos in India is mainly the result of ineffective and inefficient urban management, multiplicity of authorities, inadequate revenue base, lack of coordination between various municipal agencies, and the nonparticipatory attitude of stakeholders. Therefore, the objectives of the present chapter are (i) to analyze trends of urbanization in India, (ii) to highlight the problems and limitations of the urbanization process in India, and (iii) to suggest measures to make urbanization sustainable.
Jitender Saroha
Chapter 6. ‘Glocalizing’ Urban Sustainability: The Case of Nairobi, Kenya
Abstract
The city of Nairobi, Kenya, has today reached a critical juncture in its history. Despite sitting atop the Kenyan urban hierarchy as a primate city, Nairobi is far smaller than other notable cities of the developing world. Thus, although issues of housing and infrastructure provision, economic opportunity, and environmental health are paramount in all cities, Nairobi is afforded a profound opportunity to implement a sensible approach to sustainable urban planning. For Nairobi to be successful, however, a new approach to the city’s typically heavy-handed top-down modus operandi is needed. Increased government transparency and accountability are required, as is the fostering of a network of political, business, and community leaders who work together to plan for the city’s future. Efforts at empowering the underprivileged and improving economic opportunity offer viable means for accomplishment in Nairobi. These efforts include combining community knowledge with advanced technology through public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS), as well as uniting business, political, community, and religious leaders through a regime theory of urban growth. This study therefore assesses the problems and prospects facing the city of Nairobi. Positing the need for a model of sustainable urban planning that incorporates technology transfer, public participation, and regime collaboration, the study advocates for strategic planning initiatives that can positively affect the future of Nairobi.
Christopher D. Cusack, Kathryn J. Bills

Quantitative Analysis

Frontmatter
Chapter 7. Socioeconomic Correlates of Asian Urbanization
Abstract
In contrast to other parts of the world, Asian urbanization is unprecedented. Asian cities are growing rapidly despite threats of climate change on urban sustainability and the inequitable distribution of health threats. The prosperity of a nation is intimately linked with the prosperity of its cities. In this chapter, urbanization is correlated with development and expenditure on development with the intent to examine the circular relationship between urbanization and development. Data variables were obtained from World Bank and published sources within the United Nations. Using three different statistical techniques, this chapter concludes that urbanization is linked with underdevelopment of rural areas, which causes unprecedented migration from rural to urban areas.
Ashok K. Dutt, Frank J. Costa, Christian Tettey
Chapter 8. Assessing the Impacts of the Global Financial Crisis on Major and Minor Cities in South and Southeast Asia: A Hyperlink Analysis
Abstract
We used the number of volume of hyperlinks, that is, electronic data from Google, for 19 large cities in South and Southeast Asia to demonstrate their national (in the case of India), regional, and extraregional linkages. The results can be used to illustrate the degree of intraregional and interregional flows of information about the global financial crisis between major and minor cities within South and Southeast Asia and other major global economic powers. Singapore, without doubt, is the major city in these regions. Kuala Lumpur, Bangalore, Bangkok, Delhi, and Mumbai are in a second category; Lahore, Karachi, Kolkata, and Dhaka are in yet another category. Indian cities exhibit strong national linkages. The accompanying tables, maps, and graphs illustrate the vast contrasts between cities in these two regions.
Stanley Brunn, Lomme Devriendt, Andrew Boulton, Ben Derudder, Frank Witlox
Chapter 9. Asian Indian Settlement Patterns in Select American Gateways
Abstract
Asian Indian immigration to the United States (U.S.) has had a distinguished history in the twentieth century, with the 1965 Hart-Celler Immigration and Nationality Act dividing this history into two distinct phases. Although the pre-1965 phase was characterized by exclusion, post-1965 was about progressive inclusion of the immigrants. With the economic restructuring causing a shift from manufacturing to services and quaternary sector in the U.S. during the later 1980s and early 1990s, Asian immigration was now characterized by high human capital. The authors establish that Asian immigration continues to increase in spite of recent setbacks caused by recession in the economy and some evidence of reverse migration. Drawing upon case studies from the metroplexes of Dallas–Ft. Worth, Metropolitan Phoenix, and Austin, Texas, the authors conclude that Asian Indian immigration represents a significant and continuing current wave of immigration to the United States.
Milton E. Harvey, Kevin A. Butler, Norah F. Henry, John W. Frazier

Economic Impact

Frontmatter
Chapter 10. Cluster-Based Economic Development: Four Cases for Context in Developing Regions
Abstract
Economic development—as a process, practice, and profession—has historically been informed by the experiences of developed nations. To that end, the growth and expansion of the so-called cluster approach developed by Porter (1990) has been heavily dependent upon the experiences of North America and Europe. Yet, research demonstrates that the dynamics of economic development, associated manufacturing, and urbanization in developing nations is distinct (Thakur 1974, 1979). Insofar as the approach has been widely embraced in a variety of peripheral and developing contexts to enhance the overall competitiveness of nations or specific industries, this chapter examines the trajectories of four transitioning clusters in India, Nigeria, and Brazil. This chapter defines cluster-based economic development, provides select examples of active projects in developing nations, and discusses the unique challenges facing the implementation of cluster initiatives in non-Western contexts.
Neil Reid, Jay D. Gatrell
Chapter 11. Impact of Economic Development on Regional Structure of Urban Systems in India
Abstract
India is a large country with a very long history of urbanization. The urban systems in India have developed in response to its political economy. Most studies do not consider change at the macro level. The present work studies the growth and evolution of Indian urban systems with an emphasis to include all urban places with more than 20,000 population at national and macroregional levels for a 100-year period and to relate the urban size change with economic development in each macro region. As such this study has the following three objectives: first, it examines the characteristics of urbanization trends as a background to the development of urban systems; second, it measures the rank–size and primacy distribution at national and macroregional levels for a 100-year period, that is, 1901–2001; and third, it evaluates the evolving urban system with economic development. This research has several interesting implications for theory. The present research has contributed to our understanding of the changing structure and behavior of the national and macroregional urban systems in India, through successive time periods during the past century.
Bhawan S. Dahiya
Chapter 12. India’s Cities Rising: The Challenges in Higher Education
Abstract
In recent decades, urban population growth, combined with the impact of globalization, has influenced higher education in India. In this chapter the authors examine the growth of higher education since Independence; in particular, evaluating the changing role of government, the changing dynamics of access to education leading to the development, and the demand for higher education in more recent times. The authors argue that under the impact of globalization not only has the structure of higher education changed but with the introduction of distance and online education, and information and communication technology (ICT) as well as cross-border higher education, the dynamics of higher education has also changed. The resultant impact is growth of privatization in higher education, with the use of ICT, which has added an extra dimension to the delivery and reception of education in India. All this not only has consequences for the contextualization of higher education in twenty-first century India but it also calls for reconsideration of existing policy geography.
Meera Chatterjee, Allen G. Noble
Chapter 13. Hazard Risks and Social Vulnerability in Urban India
Abstract
In 2001, approximately 28 % of India’s population was living in urban areas, and this figure is expected to increase to 41 % by the year 2030. The ongoing migration of people from rural to urban areas has produced excessive pressure on the cities to accommodate incoming migrants with basic living standards and a safe environment. The necessities of continuing economic growth and consequent increase in population have altered the local environment and expanded the physical boundaries of urban areas to hazardous areas that are at higher risks from environmental hazards and losses. These risks are even more pronounced under the impetus of the changes in the climate. Although economic development and spatial growth of urban areas have changed the local environment and made these places more susceptible to collapse under uncertain environment conditions, trends in growing risks observed in Indian cities show that the problem is equally aggravated by the increase in social vulnerability among the marginal population in urban areas. This chapter proposes a framework to understand the “socioenvironmental” aspect of risks that exist in urban India and their effect on the production and distribution of risks for the marginal population in these cities.
Monalisa Chatterjee

Infrastructure Development

Frontmatter
Chapter 14. High Technology and Sociospatial Change in Bengaluru: A Mixed-Method Approach
Abstract
High technology is defined as a collection of activities such as information technology (IT), hardware, software and services, business process outsourcing, computer chips, telecommunications, data processing, and electronics industries. Large cities in India have experienced a process of urban growth based on the exploitation of agglomeration economies. This research explicates the social-spatial theme in a broader sense and identifies the resultant impact of high technology upon the changing geographic landscape of Bengaluru. To elucidate this theme, the following two questions are addressed in this chapter: (1) Have high-technology firms created social-spatial transformation within the various wards of Bengaluru? (2) What are the nature and characteristics of transformations with respect to income disparities, lifestyle-related attributes, gender, and family relationship of the various segments of population in the wards of Bengaluru? Quantitative and geographic information systems (GIS) are utilized for analyzing secondary data along with primary data collected through a structured questionnaire. This research concludes that the location of high-tech firms has increased the gap and has transformed the high-technology wards relative to non-high-technology wards socially, economically, and culturally. The high-technology firms do not locate in proximity to educational institutions within wards but rather co-locate where wards are characterized by high literacy, illiteracy, slum population, high-rise luxury apartments, shopping malls, poverty, and homelessness. Women’s employment in the high-technology sector has enhanced gender equality, and the traditional role of women in the family has been challenged. An example of a high-technology ward is Koramangala with the best residential locality, excellent educational institutions, and a cluster of slums.
Rajrani Kalra
Chapter 15. Delhi Metro Rail Travel Behavior Analysis: Impact of Individual and Trip Characteristics
Abstract
Mass rapid transit systems (MRTS) in cities can potentially reduce congestion, decrease energy consumption, improve air quality, and contribute toward job creation and development. Rail transit, even though with lower flexibility and higher capital and operating costs than bus transit, has gathered support from the public and policymakers for its high capacity, environmental benefit, comfort, and security. However, for an improved understanding of rail riders, it is necessary to explore individual, household, and trip characteristics that affect the travel behavior to rail stations. This study analyzes the effects of rider characteristics on the mode choice using a multinomial logit model. The study found that certain factors that attributed to the increased share of walking to reach stations relative to other transit modes were commuters who belonged to low-income households and who were traveling to school, or college, whose total trip distance was not too large, and those who had Master’s degree or higher level qualification. Females are more likely to use an auto- or cycle-rickshaw to reach the metro station. Students are more likely to be dropped off. Bus availability showed that riders who have a direct bus connection were more likely to use the bus. Private vehicle ownership and availability was strongly associated with increased probability of using non-walk modes when connecting to metro rail. The study results provide important information for the use of geographers, urban planners, and transportation policymakers that can be used to facilitate rider-oriented transport development.
Aditi Ranjan, Pankaj Lal, Andres Susaeta
Chapter 16. Mobility, Marginality, and the Cycle-Rickshaw in Indian Cities
Abstract
As a slow-moving vehicle, the rickshaw has never been popular in the cities of the West, dominated by speed and motorized transport. However, the rickshaw was initiated as a means of intraurban transport in the cities of developing countries by the Western rulers during the colonial period. In the cities of Asia, the rickshaw has always been a popular means of mobility for shorter distances. The smaller the size of the city, the higher is the need of the rickshaw, because most city streets in Asia cannot accommodate motorized public transport. The importance of the rickshaw in Indian cities is significant not only because of its role in carbon-free transport but also for its role in generating livelihoods for a large number of urban poor. It is a significant sector of the informal labor market, accommodating the urban poor as well as fresh migrants from the rural catchment areas of the city. However, at present, in most of the cities of India the rickshaw is being discouraged by city governments as a nonviable mode of transport. This chapter explores the diverse mobility issues and marginality around the rickshaw and rickshaw pullers in Indian cities. The paper is developed from a broad base study on rickshaws in the cities of West Bengal province in India.
Gopa Samanta

Housing

Frontmatter
Chapter 17. Majority’s Perception of Minority Groups on Housing Values: A Study Within the San Juan MSA, Puerto Rico
Abstract
The importance of neighborhood characteristics in housing markets is indisputable because housing is fixed in geographic space. This research uses a survey to explore neighborhood residents’ perceptions about minority groups and housing values in specific areas within the San Juan MSA, Puerto Rico. The study uncovers the ethnic variables that influence housing values. The results showed a tendency of perception based on spatial context and distance. In addition, this study helps to understand race, ethnicity, and place in the context of the island of Puerto Rico.
José R. Díaz-Garayúa
Chapter 18. Impact of the Growth of Farmhouses on Adjoining Local Settlements in National Capital Territory of Delhi
Abstract
This study is an attempt to analyze the impact of the growth of farmhouses in the outskirts of Delhi, which have brought many changes in the surrounding area occupied by the village society. The study is based on a field survey conducted in 2007. The study reveals widespread sale of agricultural land to outsiders for the development of farmhouses. A large number of farmers lost their traditional occupation and have been ruined because money received from the sale of land has been wasted in unproductive activities. Consequently, these settlements have experienced social and economic transformation along with loss of cultural identity and change in the socioeconomics of their demography.
Satya Prakash Kaushik
Chapter 19. Spatial Analysis of In-migration and Out-migration in Bolpur Town, West Bengal, India
Abstract
Spatial analysis of migration is one of the important aspects of geographic inquiry. It is a study of the arrangement, pattern, position, and size of an object in space and time. Spatial analysis of migration here is meant as the detailed study of in- and out-migration that takes place in the study area from and to different spatial units separated by the defined political or administrative boundary. Spatial units have a close relationship with distance in space and have a crucial role in shaping the pattern and size of migrations. Therefore, this study focuses on the roles of space, demographic elements, and causal powers as fundamental geographic variables in determining the pattern of migration. This study is based on the primary data collected through questionnaire from the respondents in Bolpur Town. The findings of the study show that the number of persons who migrated into or from the town remains greater from within or into the closer spatial units and that the number of persons who migrate generally decreases from or into the farther spatial units, indicating a distance decay effect on migration. Migration is found to vary by age, sex, social group, and causative factors.
Braj Raj Kumar Sinha

Planning

Frontmatter
Chapter 20. Intracity Use Mobility and City Growth Direction: Planning for Land Use Balance
Abstract
A city originates as a spatial nucleus that grows over space. The contemporary form or size of an urban center becomes an outcome of the city growth process. This city growth process involves concentration, deconcentration, centralization, decentralization, residential segregation, and spatial invasion and succession. City land use possesses an essential mobility behavior. Its components, however, tend to behave differently to move, showing varying degrees of affiliation and preferences based on individual space occupancy standard and need and efficiency standards for operating. This study explains the importance of intracity use mobility in city growth direction and places emphasis on the planning of various land use components so that balance can be maintained among these components within the city limits.
Randhir S. Sangwan, Sneh Sangwan
Chapter 21. Urban Heritage and Planning in India: A Study of Banaras
Abstract
Cultural and natural heritages are increasingly threatened by destruction, not only from natural causes but also as the results of anthropogenic interventions. From India, 32 properties are enlisted in the World Heritage list (2015), but the Ghats of Varanasi have not yet been proposed for inclusion, mostly because of political complexity and the lack of strong movement from the stakeholders. This chapter attempts to critically examine the rationales for proposing Varanasi as a heritage city in the World Heritage list and the problems faced in this process in the past 12 years. In this context, the status of Varanasi on the scale of the UNESCO World Heritage list, the implications of the past and ongoing Master Plans and City Development Plan, the role of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) (Varanasi), governance strategies, and issues of public awareness are critically examined. It is suggested that under the auspices of City Administration a Heritage & Conservation Cell in the Development Authority and Municipal Corporation should be created, and specific by-laws formulated for the development and preservation of heritagescapes with active participation from stakeholders.
Rana P. B. Singh
Chapter 22. Socioeconomic Characteristics of Calcutta Slums: An Analysis of Intervention Policies
Abstract
Slums in the major cities of developing countries are primarily the result of the migration of the rural poor to urban areas. The metropolis of Calcutta (now Kolkata) has also witnessed its fair share of growth in slums during the past several decades. Through this study the authors examine the socioeconomic characteristics of slums in the Calcutta Metropolis, meaning the Calcutta Metropolitan Area (CMA). The study also considers the origin and socioeconomic basis of formation and proliferation of these slums. The problems and prospect of physical development of these slums have also been examined along with an assessment on upward mobility of slum dwellers toward a better quality of life. Thereafter, an attempt is made to make an appraisal of the process and contents of social development initiatives for alleviation of poverty over time in the CMA.
Animesh Halder, Ashok K. Dutt, Qing Shi

Cities

Frontmatter
Chapter 23. Spatial Structure and Urban Development in Indian Cities
Abstract
If geographic space is considered as a set of interacting elements or phenomena, spatial structure must be understood as the principle of organization of the geographic entity under study. The spatial structure leads to a systematic theoretical setup as well as formulation of geographic models and development plans. This analysis aims to arrange urban public spaces judiciously, so that such factors as functional morphology, accessibility, connectivity, environmental sustainability, social equality and security, cultural creativity, and economic productivity are ensured. The spatial arrangements of both differentiations and similarities in the real world are interpreted in the spatial structures by geographers. Spatial structure in the urban setting in general and for the developing world in particular has great significance. The developing world is urbanizing every day. The existing models of spatial structure do not signify the real developing world. Therefore, it is needed to have a model of spatial structure for the development planning of this world. The present study concentrates on the urban development of Indian cities, taking as case studies Lucknow and Mirzapur City, both in Uttar Pradesh, India. The former is the capital of Uttar Pradesh State; the latter is a very ancient city having a long cultural heritage.
P. R. Sharma, Akhilendra N. Tiwary, G. N. Singh
Chapter 24. The Informal Sector in Kolkata Metropolitan Area: Appraisal and Prospects for Local Economic Development
Abstract
No plan for local economic development within the larger metropolitan region of Kolkata can realistically succeed unless based on an understanding of the informal sector and taking account of it in subsequent local development strategy. The objective of this chapter is to provide a detailed look at the state of the informal sector in the larger metropolitan region of Kolkata since 1991. This information would provide a means to understand the impact of economic liberalization on the local economies of the various smaller towns/municipalities that constitute the Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA) and to suggest ways to incorporate the informal sector in the growth process. The study is based on aggregate-level secondary data that present trends in growth and structure of the informal sector in the KMA. The study also considers informal manufacturing activities and informal service activities, and highlights ways to include the informal sector in the local economic development process.
Annapurna Shaw
Chapter 25. Playfully Negotiating Publics: Children, Space, and Activism in the City
Abstract
The multiple dimensions of urbanity can be examined and understood through the creative agency of children who redefine and mold cities. Despite the many barriers that children face in negotiating city spaces, particularly those in vulnerable and marginal situations, we argue that children express an active citizenship through their playful everyday lives. Framing children’s geographies within a governmentality framework, we demonstrate through two case studies that children are able to renegotiate power relationships within city spaces in exciting new ways. The multiple, layered, and textured dynamics of a city are brought into full view that often escapes rational planning exercises. By means of the case studies of New York newspaper sellers at the turn of the twentieth century and child panhandlers in Fatehpur Sikri, we argue and theorize for a new city–child-scape that is less formidable and democratically engaging. This new landscape bridges the difference through the sameness of humanity, emotion, and possibilities.
Ann Marie F. Murnaghan, Ranu Basu
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Spatial Diversity and Dynamics in Resources and Urban Development
Editors
Ashok K. Dutt
Allen G. Noble
Frank J. Costa
Rajiv R. Thakur
Sudhir K. Thakur
Copyright Year
2016
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Electronic ISBN
978-94-017-9786-3
Print ISBN
978-94-017-9785-6
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9786-3