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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8/22/2011 2G.KALPANA FPM(CPP) IIMB

IAS 1987

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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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saare jahan se accha…

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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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GREATER BANGALORE

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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

A SEGMENTED HISTORY

• Divided legacy

• ‘pete’ versus Cantonment

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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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