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Neoliberal urban sustainability in Old Kolkata, India: Case studies of contested developments

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  • Lakshminarayan Satpati
  • Anwesha Haldar

Abstract

Neoliberalism, a contemporary form of liberalism, advocates supremacy of market economic valuation in the social choices and decisions. Expectedly the neoliberal political‐economic compulsions have opened up scope for capitalistic investment in the city of Kolkata. But, due to lack of decentralized urban facilities and a typical outlook of the people to stay in the “core” area, construction of high‐rise buildings replacing the traditional structures and associated cultures in the old and heritage areas is prominent. Cost of living in the urban core has been increasing rapidly due to the advent of the affluent families, having more purchasing power parity; and thus, the people living for generations as old‐settlers have to give up their possession of lands to drift towards the peripheries or sustain by compromising their opulence. As observed, the middle‐income groups are badly affected by the consequences of post‐liberalized developments. This study has been done on the basis of the authors' participant observations, and review of different published literatures to build a theoretical framework, followed by perception surveys of the diverse residents to understand the problem and validate the proposition. It is argued, that unlike the traditional socially clustered neighbourhoods, especially in old Kolkata, the renewed vertical extension of the gated habitations is promoting more social segregations and exclusions in which interdependence and cohabitation in urban governance may not be truly representative, and therefore, unsustainable in future. The research can add significant knowledge in the domain of urban governance and appropriate designing of the cultural cityscape of Kolkata. El neoliberalismo, una forma contemporánea de liberalismo, aboga por la supremacía de la valoración económica del mercado en las preferencias y decisiones sociales. Se podría esperar por tanto que las exigencias politicoeconómicas neoliberales hayan abierto espacios para la inversión capitalista en la ciudad de Calcuta. Sin embargo, debido a la falta de instalaciones urbanas descentralizadas y a la perspectiva típica de la población de preferir permanecer en el área del “núcleo urbano”, prepondera la construcción de edificios elevados que reemplazan las estructuras tradicionales y las culturas asociadas a ellas en las áreas antiguas y patrimoniales. El costo de la vida en el núcleo urbano ha aumentado rápidamente, debido a la llegada de familias ricas, que tienen más paridad de poder adquisitivo, y por lo tanto las personas que han vivido allí durante generaciones tienen que renunciar a la posesión de sus tierras para trasladarse hacia la periferia o quedarse allí, comprometiendo su riqueza. Según lo observado, los grupos con ingresos medios se ven muy afectados por las consecuencias del desarrollo postliberalizado. Este estudio se ha realizado sobre la base de las observaciones de los autores participantes, y la revisión de literatura publicada para construir un marco teórico, seguido de encuestas de percepción de los diversos residentes con el fin de comprender el problema y validar la propuesta. Se sostiene que, a diferencia de los barrios tradicionales agrupados socialmente, especialmente en la antigua Calcuta, la renovación por medio de una ampliación vertical de las viviendas de comunidades privadas está promoviendo una mayor segregación y exclusión social en las que la interdependencia y la cohabitación en la gobernanza urbana pueden no ser verdaderamente representativas y, por lo tanto, no sostenibles en el futuro. Esta investigación puede aportar importantes conocimientos en el ámbito de la gobernanza urbana y el diseño apropiado del paisaje cultural urbano de Calcuta. 現代の自由主義のひとつの形態である新自由主義は、社会的な選択と決定における市場経済的価値の優位性を主張するものである。新自由主義的な政治的経済的強制がコルカタ市における資本主義的投資の余地を開いたと考えられる。しかし、分散化された都市施設の欠如と「中心」地域に留まる人々の典型的な見解のために、古代の遺産地域の歴史的建造物及びそれらに関連する文化遺産が取り壊され、高層ビルが新しく建設されることが著しく多い。都市中心部の生活費は、購買力平価の高い富裕層の出現により急速に上昇している。そのため、何世代にもわたってold settler (その地を開拓した入植者)として生きてきた人々は、土地の所有権を手放して周辺地域に移動したり、その豊かさを犠牲にして維持したりしなければならくなっている。観察されたように、自由化後の発展の結果、中間所得者層は大きな悪影響を受けている。本研究は、著者らの参与観察に基づいて行われ、理論的枠組みを構築するために様々な公表文献をレビューし、問題を理解し、提案の妥当性を検証するために多様な住民の意識調査を行った。特に旧カルカッタにおける社会的にクラスター化された伝統的な地区とは異なり、ゲーテッドコミュニティの新たな垂直的な拡大は社会的分離と排除をより一層促進しており、そうした地区では都市ガバナンスにおける相互依存と共生は真に典型的なものではなく、そのため将来的には持続不可能であると言われている。本研究は、コルカタ市の都市統治の領域と適切な文化的都市景観の設計に重要な新たな知識を与えるものである。

Suggested Citation

  • Lakshminarayan Satpati & Anwesha Haldar, 2021. "Neoliberal urban sustainability in Old Kolkata, India: Case studies of contested developments," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(6), pages 1825-1841, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:rgscpp:v:13:y:2021:i:6:p:1825-1841
    DOI: 10.1111/rsp3.12325
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Stuart Hodkinson, 2012. "The new urban enclosures," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(5), pages 500-518, October.
    2. Raquel Rolnik, 2013. "Late Neoliberalism: The Financialization of Homeownership and Housing Rights," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 1058-1066, May.
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