Anagana Banerjee
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Supervisor: Dr. Ratoola Kundu
PhD Dates: 2014-2016

Abstract: Specific forms of urbanization and transformation of the major urban sector can be found along the peripheries of larger metropolises. These transformations are effect of the globalization and liberalization which accelerate the process of urbanization. This research will try to find out what factors have prompted the existence of village pockets areas within the planned boundary of Rajarhat (new town) development, what are the nature of interaction between them, and what is the implication of such pattern of development on future urban development and the people inhabiting in these place.

Amol Jayprakash Bhalerao
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Supervisor: Dr. Ratoola Kundu
PhD Dates: 2013-2015

Abstract:

The rural to urban transformation is never an easy process and has to undergo several further physical and social transformations within village. The research focuses firstly on the understanding the concept of gaothan and to see it through the regulatory framework. And secondly looking at the physical and social transformations happened overtime in the Kalyan city. In Kalyan, status of gaothan is linked with the regulations of developmental relaxations which are allocated to the village settlements by city administration. The allocation of the gaothan status has been a contested issue where several groups claim it as a politically determined process where only few villages got the status and many others have remained neglected without developmental privileges. The outward expansion of urban agglomeration has resulted in inclusion of many villages into the city limits which has further brought out several physical and social transformations within and around the gaothan.

The physical transformation happens in and around the gaothan whereas social trasnsformation mainly occurs within gaothan. The effects of transformation is also changes with the status of gaothan. Effects of transformation are different for the villages who are not having gaothan status than the village with status of gaothan. In Kalyan gaothan status is also given to the Old Kalyan which is the historic city and has always been the city centre of the Kalyan. The transformation have affected differently to the different actors in gaothan. Hence it is necessary to understand the gainers and losers in the formation and transformation of Gaothan areas.

Sumedha Priyadarshini
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Supervisor: Dr. Lalitha Kamath
PhD Dates: 2017-2019

Abstract: The research reflects on the urban governance, planning and citizenship practices and politics in the millennial city, Gurugram, through a case study of the sanitation system of a planned sector in the city. The qualitative study uses a wide range of methodologies to explore the goal of the sanitation system and its range in terms of accessibility to the "public(s)". The study further elaborates on the characteristic practices of the state and societal groups by using concepts of "flexibility" and "dynamic movement" within citizenship.

Malini Krishnakutti
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Supervisor: Dr. Amita Bhide
PhD Dates: Completed PhD in 2018

Abstract:

The study examines the practice of urban planning in India, the evolution of which is intertwined with colonialism and the story of British planning. Therefore, to understand Indian planning, it is necessary to trace the evolution of modern planning first. The chapter is laid out in three sections. The first section of the chapter follows a historical trajectory of modern urban planning both in the West and in India.

Through this historical engagement, I foreground major strands of the practice of urban planning and the theoretical debates that emerged in the West during the 1960s and 1970s, which resulted in a major shift from modernist master planning from 1970s onwards. The second section covers the critiques of Indian planning organised thematically, (so as to understand the issues with urban planning in the country). The final section outlines the theoretical framework and the methodological basis for the research inquiry.

Anisha Debbarman
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Supervisor: 2016-2018
PhD Dates: Dr. Ratoola Kundu

Abstract:

Communication in the age of large-scale networking and social media is a curious invention, and a tool whose value cannot be underestimated. Knowledge is disseminated at a phenomenal rate and within multiple channels of networking. It can be tweeted, texted, blogged, and photographed, all from the edge of your fingertips. A phone held from the palm of your hand is all it takes to receive this abyss of knowledge. Back in the 90s, Castells introduced the networked society and the strong implications of being switched off1 within such a gridwork of networks. One implication could stem from never actually being a part of this network to begin with. The other, however, could imply an induced state of disconnect, a forced shutting down of networks, or being marginally connected to it. This is what transpired during the exodus of 2012 in Bengaluru city (explained in the paper), whose impact surfaced in other southern cities as well .

The government banned bulk texting services to curb large scale spread of messages. To be specific, the movement of people away from Bengaluru is not an effect of an ordinary exodus of people, but a scurry of northeastern individuals who were negatively impacted by the spread of threat messages amongst the community. The causes for the spread of these messages is external to the city, however a large chunk of individuals hailing from the northeast felt temporarily displaced by these messages spreading like wildfire among groups. Hence, the government justified the plugging of messaging applications. But intervention was provided by community members on the street. And these continuous efforts were crucial in the rebuilding of the community since 2012.

This paper is only a fraction of the kind of success achieved and work conducted by members of the northeastern community. It aims to examine the growth of this community via the many associations, both student and otherwise. In short, how have these northeastern student associations, and others, transformed the visible uncertainty of living as an outsider in the metropolis?

Suchismita Chatterjee
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Supervisor: Dr. Ratoola Kundu
PhD Dates: Enrolled in 2016

Abstract: This research explores the diverse practices of everyday governance around localised configurations of piped and standalone water infrastructure in Baruipur Municipality, a rapidly urbanising small town in the southern periphery of the Kolkata Metropolitan Area. Afflicted by groundwater arsenic, the state government’s push to expand piped treated surface water supplies is triggering a shift that threatens to reconfigure the town’s diverse, fragmented and incrementally-built infrastructure. Besides, disrupting the local nodes of power and coalitions that have grown around them. Drawing on a situated and embodied Urban Political Ecology framework, this in-depth qualitative study shows how local state and non-state actors engage daily with material infrastructure. Their practices shape lived experiences and governance networks unevenly at different sites and scales - the town, the ‘para’ (roughly the neighbourhood) and the household. As elected leaders, para clubs and the informal ‘dadas’ collaborate and contest, the study concludes that everyday practices are not only gendered but also firmly entrenched within intersections of social affinity, local ties, intimate geographies, and embodied class power relations in the ‘para.’

Richa Bhardwaj
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Supervisor: Dr. Amita Bhide
PhD Dates: Enrolled in 2014

Abstract:

Cities of the Global South are marked with increased polarization and differentiation based on class, caste, religion, ethnicity, region and gender. This is essentially the result of the post colonial nation state which perpetuates difference to ensure continuation of power of select groups. Urban inclusion is essentially viewed as a vertical process promoting liner relationship between the state and the poor while ignoring the agency of the poor to impact change. The planned city of Chandigarh is an assertion of the post colonial nation state to the world about its capacity to build a city based on the principle of high modernism to ensure a better quality of life for its residents through effective spatial planning. The current study explores the concept of inclusion through a critical review of the state processes of spatial planning for the urban poor over the years and the urban poor experiences, encounters and negotiations of claiming the right to city space within the restrictive plan framework. Some of the broad questions that this research aims to answer are can the meaning of urban inclusion be restricted to formulations of laws and policies by laying down definitive criteria’s and processes for the same? can urban inclusion be only thought of as contestations and processes of the excluded to ensure their space within the city? What will be a nuanced understanding of urban inclusion if the inter-relations and interactions of the State and Local processes are explored?

The case of assertion of Bhaskar Colony to negotiate and retain its space within the planned space of Chandigarh in the overpowering context of peripheral rehabilitation provides opportunity for deeper exploration of the concept of inclusion. It brings out that the concept of urban inclusion needs to be strongly associated with equitable access to land and resources with planning offering flexibility and space for incorporation of differential realities. It thus entails identifying and acknowledging the agency vested in the people and making place for greater interface between the people and the varied spaces of power. It cannot be perceived as a linear relationship rather acknowledgement of its deeply political nature is essential. This interface needs to be partially porous which allows for movement of ideas from the local to the state and thus, impacts change within the Plan and Policy frameworks as well as acknowledges that the local is bound to be dynamic which changes continuously to accommodate new realities.