Post on 10-Jan-2023
TALE OF TWO BANGALORES: COMPETING DISCOURSES OF GLOBALIZATION AND
LOCALIZATION IN INDIA’S INFORMATION CITY
Dr. KALPANA GOPALAN IAS Ph.D.(IIMB)
Presentation in McGill University, Montreal,
Canada., 18.11.2011.
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AGENDA
POSITIONING BANGALORE : PROFILE OF THE CITY
MOTIVATION
QUESTIONS
LOCATING THE RESEARCH IN LITERATURE
A SEGMENTED HISTORY
THE BATTLEGROUND OF BANGALORE.
• SOCIAL: ‘YUPPIE’ ELITE & MIGRANT POOR
• ECONOMIC: CORPORATE & LOCAL
• POLITICAL : PLEBEIAN DEMOCRACY & CIVIL SOCIETY
• PLANNING: LEAPFROGGING & INFILLING PATTERN
• SPATIAL: GLASS AND STEEL & SLUMS
PONDER OVER ….
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POSITIONING BANGALORE Founded
-1950s-60s: Science City
-1960s-1970s: State Govt Expansion.
-1980s: Private Sector: Preliminary liberalisation
-1980s – 1980s: Multi-national links: Software boom
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Founded by Kempe Gowda I in 1537; Mysore Residency Post-independence: 4 distinct phases (Heitzman 1999)
CITY OF THE FUTURE Urbs prima of Karnataka
Silicon Valley of India
A neoliberal showpiece
Population: 8 mn approx
Geographical spread
Assets: Salubrious climate, location, cosmopolitanism.
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QUESTIONS
• What has been the impact of growth on Bangalore ?
• How has the growth affected different socio-economic groups?
• Manifestations of change:
• Economy
• Society
• Politics
• Planning
• Spatial Design
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LOCATING OUR RESEARCH
Venkatarayappa,1958 Rao & Tiwari,1979
Sastry, 2008 Harikrishnan & Mahendra, 2008 Smitha & Sangeeta,2008
Nair, 2005 Kamath, 2006 Dittrich, 2007
Bangalore as an Indian city
Our research focus
Bangalore specific studies
Bangalore as a global
city
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A ‘HIP & HAPPENING’ ‘PENSIONER’S PARADISE’ • Growing infrastructural woes
• Strained public services
• Shadow areas: slums
• Migrant/poor population
• A fragmented city
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A dichotomous reaction
Garden city vs wannabe Singapore
Growing infrastructural woes Strained public services A fragmented city A Public Policy Dilemma
THE SOCIAL BATTLEGROUND Growth of elite and
migrant poor
Change in restrained middle class profile in society & economy
An uncharateristic binary distinction?
‘Us’ vs ‘the other’
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A FRAGMENTED ECONOMY
Two distinct economies
Corporate economy of MG road & Bangalore south
Local economies: Unorganized sectors in slums, beneath bridges & flyovers
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POLITICS AND POLICY
Vote vs “Governance” Hegemony of parastatals State led corporate driven
policy Local politics of ‘give &
take’ , locality , accountability, plebeian democracy
Divide along party lines
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BANGALORE ADMINSITRATION
BANGALORE
CIVIC MATTERS: BBMP WATER &
SANITATION:
BWSSB
ACQ: KIADB
TSPT:
BMTC
PLNG: BMRDA
PLNG: BDA
POWER: BESCOM
LAND: DEPUTY COMMSISIONER
COMMISSIONER
OF POLICE
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PLANNING
Role of parastatals
Mini-development authorities
Land Acquisition
Leap-frogging & infilling Interstices of growth
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THE PARADOX OF LAND VALUE
Bangalore Airport: 2300 acres to 4276 acres; 1994 to 2004
Arakavathy Layout: Hold-out; allottees vs landlosers
Namma Metro: 228 acres; 1500 families, 300 slumdwellers, businesses; steet-vendors
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URBAN SPATIAL ARCHITECHURE
• High-rise city
• Occupants of fear: gated communities
• Proliferation of slums & shadow areas
• Large scale dislocation
• Restrictions in use of public spaces
• ‘Archisemiotics of class war’(Mike Davis)
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PONDER OVER …
• Singapore or ‘Garden city’?
• Megaprojects or toilets for slum women?
• Gated communities or fewer slums?
• CEO Chief Ministers or ‘sons of the soil’ ?
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