Re-envisioning the Indian city : informality and temporality Sabrina Kleinenhammans.

Although informality constitutes an omnipresent and growing phenomenon in the cities of developing countries, planners pay limited attention to this sector. Moreover, current development schemes project Western-planning concepts onto Indian cities despite the fact that these models do not relate to the specific cultural and socioeconomic context of Indian societies. This approach does not provide what is needed: an "inclusive" city, responsive to the diversity of needs and priorities of Indian people. Given this, and the dynamics of rapid urbanization, I question whether the traditional comprehensive planning approach is truly comprehensive and appropriate for coping with the challenges encountered in urban India. Extensive research has been conducted on the social and economic aspects of informal activities in India; however, as yet, there has been very little research exploring spatial conditions that may engender an inclusive city. In three sections, this thesis focuses on the spatial implications of one sector of the informal economy: street vending. The first section introduces the Indian urban realm through a journalistic narrative based on impressions during my first visit to India. The second section is inspired by the challenges of urban growth in the City of Ahmedabad: firstly, it examines current formal planning approaches in Gujarat State; secondly, it portrays the informal city and how it responds to formal planning solutions; finally, it examines the existing and potential relationship between temporal and permanent, or informal and formal systems.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Kleinenhammans, Sabrina

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Rahul Mehrotra.

• Architecture.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49550

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/49550