Urban Studies

One of the key contributions of urban studies has been to complicate any simple narrative account of modernist planning. The project of planning has always unfolded itself within the larger fabric of models of development, mirroring transitions in social and economic relations. In the era of globalisation and rapid urbanization, it is not the nation but the city, which is seen as the circuit through which flows of capital and service occur. There is little doubt that in the past ten years, Bangalore has attained almost a mythical status as the silicon valley of India and emerged as one of the important nodes for the global flow of services, serving as the back end of many corporations across the world. Over the past ten years we have seen a significant transformation of Bangalore with the emergence of the dominant narrative of Bangalore as the silicon valley of India, a symbol of the emergence of India as an IT superpower, and as a global city working in virtual time with the US in terms of the provision of IT enabled services. If dams were the most important symbols of post colonial India’s entry into the modern, the IT industry has emerged as the most important symbol of India’s entry into the global or into the new modernity marked by the pre-eminent position given to knowledge based services.

Co-existing parallel with this vision of Bangalore as “Singapore” and the trajectory towards this vision is a city mirroring the silent but steady growth of local economies lacking the infrastructural provisions and state backing unlike the IT companies. This city weaves in its core the “unorganised” and “unplanned” growth of the city, both economically and spatially. It is here that the urban poor comprising a quarter of the city reside and carry out trade in conditions that make a decent living standard unattainable.

ALF’s interest in urban studies lies basically within this domain. Initially, though, ALF’s interest in the area was initiated through research work on the use of the Land Acquisition Act and the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Act, for the establishment of industries and other urban projects. At present we have developed a comprehensive comparative critique of these two laws. One of the projects that ALF has undertaken to further understand the politics of land has been an in-depth analysis of various land and planning laws. We also examined the forms of land tenure that emerge from a normative legal framework and contrasted it with the various forms that are in practice. In the course of this study we have also tried to put in perspective the various forms of land settlement, especially revenue layouts that provide housing in Bangalore. We also followed the various acquisitions that are taking place for the IT Corridor and tried to understand the various issues that emerge here.

During the course of these analyses a broad understanding of the various conflicts and tussles surrounding management and control of land both within the city and its periphery, between the land users and the State became evident. We hope to continue such an interrogation of the policies and practices in the city as an attempt is being made to move to centre stage the economic and technological aspects of planning which may be at odds with social, community and ecological uses of city land.