Mobilizing the millennium city: class, road safety, and citizen planning in urban India
Date
2016
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AESOP
Abstract
This paper investigates the role of collective action in addressing the challenges of mobility and transportation infrastructure in the case of Gurgaon, India, also known as the “millennium city”. With pedestrian fatality rates higher than that of Mumbai, Gurgaon has been openly criticized by its residents for failing to address the needs of pedestrians and the vast majority of its population, such as migrant workers, who cannot afford private, motorized transportation.
Once a collection of villages on the outskirts of Delhi, Gurgaon has become an urban jungle of highways and flyovers, with a population exceeding that of most major US cities. The bulk of this urbanization has taken place over a few short decades, in the absence of state sponsored planning intervention or master-plans. The city's steroidal growth was made possible by the efforts of private real estate corporations and builders, as well as policies in the 1990s that repealed land laws and opened up markets to foreign direct investment.
While the private sector has rushed to build hundreds of modern, gated communities, high-rises, and office parks, and dozens of multinational corporations have have taken up residence in these spaces, the connections and circulation within this pixelated, built environment remains a significant challenge. Between Gurgaon's private development model and its fledgling government, it is not entirely clear who is or who should be responsible for solving the road problem.
Description
Proceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the south
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