Subaltern Urbanisation in India

Subaltern Urbanisation in India

[SHS:GEO] Humanities and Social Sciences/Geography

small town

India

urbanisation

subaltern

The concept of subaltern urbanisation refers to the growth of settlement agglomerations, whether denoted urban by the Census of India or not, that are independent of the metropolis and autonomous in their interactions with other settlements, local and global. Analysing conventional and new data sources "against the grain", this paper claims support for the existence of such economically vital small settlements, contrary to perceptions that India's urbanisation is slow, that its smaller settlements are stagnant and its cities are not productive. It offers a classification scheme for settlements using the axes of spatial proximity to metropolises and degree of administrative recognition, and looks at the potential factors for their transformation long economic, social and political dimensions. Instead of basing policy on illusions of control, understanding how agents make this world helps comprehend ongoing Indian transformations.

Denis, Eric

Mukhopadhyay, Partha

Zérah, Marie-Hélène

Economic and Political Weekly

ISSN:0012-9976

2012-07-28

ENG

article in peer-reviewed journal

http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00743051

http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/74/30/51/PDF/Subaltern_Urbanisation_in_India_7_July_2012_EPW.pdf