From yanivbin at gmail.com Mon Jan 7 11:48:31 2008 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 11:48:31 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Amsterdam neoliberal city? Message-ID: <86b8a7050801062218n47135be8gc7586c70660ed9aa@mail.gmail.com> BOOK REVIEW http://www.nieuwsuitamsterdam.nl/English/2008/01/neoliberal_city.htm In Bangalore but outsourcing citizens participation is already happening.. Vinay Amsterdam neoliberal city? 6 January 2008 - Are Moroccan youth in Slotervaart torching cars because this is the only way for them to express themselves in a depoliticised, neoliberal city, in which even citizen participation has been outsourced? A new book calls for a return to *'truly democratic urban politics'.* Amsterdam is investing hundreds of millions of euros in the Zuidas, the new business district south of the city (corporations will also invest in the project, but if it fails, their losses will be compensated with taxpayers' money). Despite the scale of the project, there has been almost no public debate. Decision-making is an opaque process dominated by government officials, banks and other potential investors. The Zuidas project is cited in the new book 'Urban Politics Now' as an example of the a-political way in which cities are pursuing a neoliberal agenda. Dissent and political conflict have been replaced with consensus over vague concepts such as 'the creative city, the inclusive city, the global city, the sustainable city'. Creating consensus is helped by conjuring up the threat of urban decline, symbolised by the poor neighbourhood and its - often immigrant - residents. "The poor neighbourhood is neoliberalism's Other", Guy Baeten argues in his contribution to the book. "In an urban society tired of welfare, solidarity and egalitarianism - concepts that sound odd in times of neoliberal individualism - poverty and poor neighbourhoods are a source not of concern but of irritation", he adds. Meanwhile, political choices are being obscured by presenting neoliberal solutions as the only possible answer to urban decay. Public services are privatised and affordable houses are demolished. Localised repression is applied to get rid of unwanted residents, for example by systematically raiding bars frequented by immigrants. While the poor are given a treatment of *zero tolerance*, businesses are attracted by suspending regulations and handing out tax exemptions. Some of the contributors to Urban Politics Now (Slavoj Žižek, Erik Swyngedouw) hold that the rioting youth in the French banlieues are a product of the depoliticised urban project. In contrast to the protestors of May 1968, they have no ideological agenda, nor even concrete demands: they only demand recognition. Their 'irrational violence' would be a result of the lack of political channels to express their discontent. *NICOLAS SARKOZY* The neoliberal agenda as described in Urban Politics Now has some characteristics in common with the shock treatment described by Naomi Klein in her new book 'The Shock Doctrine' - in fact, shock treatment can perhaps be seen as a radical version of the neoliberal project. Klein argues that crises and disasters are often used to push through an agenda of privatisation, deregulation and social spending cuts; channelling public money into the hands of a small elite of entrepreneurs with close ties to the government. Examples include post-1973 Chile, post-1991 Russia, post-911 Iraq and post-Katrina New Orleans. The flooding of New Orleans, for example, was recognised as an opportunity not to rebuild the houses and restore services, but to 'clean up public housing' and privatise public schools and hospitals. One might argue that the current French president Nicolas Sarkozy has in a similar way used the 'disturbances' in the banlieues to push through reforms that the French under different circumstances would never have accepted. Still, Sarkozy has to accept 'piecemeal changes rather than total conversion', Klein argues. Real shock therapy can only be administered by authoritarian regimes, or under specific circumstances such as war, hyperinflation, natural disasters or terrorist attacks. Amsterdam did experience something of a crisis after the murder of Theo van Gogh in 2004, but it would be an exaggeration to claim that Amsterdammers have been subjected to a veritable shock treatment as Klein understands the term. Still, one might ask whether Amsterdam has become a neoliberal city as understood in Urban Politics Now. *DEMOLITION BONUS* Notwithstanding Amsterdam's tolerant image, there is no doubt that the city has become more repressive during the past years. In 2002, it launched Spirit, an ongoing series of large-scale police raids to round up undocumented immigrants. More recently, Amsterdam introduced stop and search operations in Zuidoost and the inner city. Whereas police have been instructed to search anyone they encounter during such actions, it has been alleged that only black people are being searched. Police also routinely fine homeless people and drug addicts for offences such as 'sitting on a monument', as a way to remove these people from certain parts of the inner city. In 2002, Amsterdam set up the Megabanenmarkt (Mega Jobs Market), which was the first experiment to systematically use intimidation as a means to reduce the number of social assistance recipients. This principle has now been adopted by welfare agencies across the country. In Amsterdam West, privatised housing corporations are carrying out one of the largest urban renewal operations in Europe, needlessly demolishing thousands of affordable houses (with the CEOs receiving bonuses in proportion to the number of houses they demolish). As part of this operation, even citizen participation has been outsourced, Merijn Oudenampsen observes in his contribution to Urban Politics Now. In fact, street safety has been partly outsourced in West as well (to a Group 4 Securicor subsidiary). *WAR IN IRAQ* Still, in some respects Amsterdam does not conform to the neoliberal agenda. For example, it has successfully opposed the privatisation of Schiphol Airport and it has put the privatisation of local public transport on hold. It also insisted on participating in the creation of a fibre-optic network, in an attempt to guarantee open access to the network, despite corporate pressure to leave this entirely to the market. And it will probably switch to open source software, in order to reduce its dependency on corporations such as Microsoft. A topic that does not receive much attention in Urban Politics Now is the role of sustainability policies. Cities try to market themselves as 'sustainable cities', sporting innovations such as the cargo tram and the 'green wave' for cyclists in Amsterdam; the congestion charge in London, Stockholm and Milan; and almost-for-free bicycle schemes in cities such as Barcelona (Bicing) and Paris (Vélib'). Interestingly, large corporations often support green initiatives. For example, the Economic Bureau of the ING Bank published a report urging Amsterdam to introduce a congestion charge and improve public transport in order to remain competitive. And the cargo tram will be operated by a consortium that includes privatised energy company Nuon, consultancy Boer en Croon (which employs many former city officials and also operated the Megabanenmarkt) and the Rabobank. Similarly, large advertising companies such as JCDecaux and Clear Channel run the almost-for-free bicycle schemes abroad. Creating the sustainable city seems to be as much a public-private partnership as the development of the Zuidas. Does this mean that the interrelatedness of corporations and the government can have positive outcomes for the city? Or are these merely marketing strategies designed to make the city and corporations look better, while avoiding the real choices that need to be made in order to create a sustainable city (for instance, it has been claimed that Barcelona's Bicing is merely a stylised band-aid, and is operated by a company that supported George W. Bush and the war in Iraq)? *PSYCHASTHENIA* Urban Politics Now offers an interesting critique of local politics in Western Europe. Unfortunately, some of the contributions are written in hermetic prose inspired by psychoanalysis and French philosophy. Some authors use obscure terms such as *heteron* and *psychasthenia*, as if trying to shut out the non-initiated. This is somewhat ironic, given the critique of the role of experts they also offer. An important question is how to return to a 'truly democratic urban politics', as advocated by Urban Politics Now. Edward Soja points to successful local trade union campaigns such as the famous Justice for Janitors campaign in Los Angeles and elsewhere. In fact, this campaign is just the tip of the iceberg of the resurgence of local politics. In cities such as LA and London, coalitions of trade unions and community organisations have used demonstrations, voter mobilisation, lobbying and local progressive think tanks to promote living wages, affordable housing and better public services. In some cases, such coalitions have also joined forces with environmental organisations and immigrant rights organisations. It has been argued that these local initiatives offer the only credible chance for a resurrection of progressive politics in America. An interesting question is whether similar local initiatives could take root in cities in continental Europe as well. *BAVO (ed), Urban Politics Now: Re-Imagining Democracy in the Neoliberal City. Rotterdam: Nai Publishers (22.50 euro). Illustration: construction of the Zuidas (photo Louis Hofman)* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080107/6b9544b7/attachment-0001.html From cugambetta at yahoo.com Thu Jan 10 01:18:59 2008 From: cugambetta at yahoo.com (Curt Gambetta) Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 11:48:59 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] =?utf-8?q?Fw=3A_Girangaon=E2=80=A6_Out_of_Focus_-_An?= =?utf-8?q?_Exhibition_of_Photo_Essays?= Message-ID: <879367.24038.qm@web56803.mail.re3.yahoo.com> From: PUKAR To: cugambetta at yahoo.com Sent: Wednesday, January 9, 2008 9:12:42 AM Subject: Girangaon… Out of Focus - An Exhibition of Photo Essays If you are having trouble viewing this email please click here. PUKAR is pleased to host Girangaon… Out of Focus An Exhibition of Photo Essays by Bharat Gangurde Office Manager, PUKAR Youth Fellowship & Ajit Abhimeshi Catalyst, PUKAR Youth Fellowship January 18… A day which evokes sharp memories of an event that launched one of the largest agitations in the history of labour movements… here in Girangaon. This day the Mill workers from the erstwhile Girangaon announced their strike which changed many things: lives and livelihood securities… futures & fortunes… neighbourhood and communities… Girangaon changed forever… the economic, social and cultural centre of the city became a thing of the past… all one can see today are the ruins… of the mills… of the lives… This is a glimpse into those mills…….. Inauguration: January 18, 2008 at 6:00 PM Viewing Time: January 18-20, 2008; 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM Venue: Rachana Sansad Art Gallery, Second floor, Rachana Sansad, Shankar Ghanekar Marg, Prabhadevi, Mumbai - 25 This event has been made possible due to the generosity of Ford Foundation India, Pan Vision, Rainbow Printers and Sahit Publications. PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge, Action and Research) Address:: 1-4, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Sir P.M.Road, Fort, Mumbai 400001 Telephone:: +91 (22) 6574 8152 Fax:: +91 (22) 6664 0561 Email:: pukar at pukar.org.in Website:: www.pukar.org.in PUKAR is an innovative and experimental initiative that aims to contribute to a global debate about urbanization and globalization. Change email address / Leave mailing list ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ DEFANGED.92> ----- Forwarded Message ---- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080109/c95ed06e/attachment.html From cugambetta at yahoo.com Thu Jan 10 02:42:17 2008 From: cugambetta at yahoo.com (Curt Gambetta) Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 13:12:17 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fw: [HasiruUsiru] Pune growing into city of slums (for Arkaja Singh) Message-ID: <500583.47145.qm@web56802.mail.re3.yahoo.com> ----- Original Message ---- From: Arkaja Singh To: Curt Gambetta Sent: Monday, January 7, 2008 3:52:50 AM Subject: Re: [Urbanstudy] Fw: [HasiruUsiru] Pune growing into city of slums Curt, Did anyone reply to this email of yours? I have heard that till the early 1900s city of Madurai had some system of temporary accommodation for people coming in to work in the city - sounded something like 'sites and services' with a minimal rent and a stipulation that you could not stay on forever. More recently, contemporary South Africa seems to have dormitory/ tenement type housing for migrants - have heard though that the experiment did not go so well and is certainly not the thing that should replace viable slum communities. (Yet, in spite of the fact that there is little proof that temporary accommodation is a real solution, I have seen that urban planners love to propose this as the ideal solution to slums. Along with a preference for ID cards and biometric identification... which would ultimately create some sort of 'refugee' status for migrants.) Arkaja On 19/12/2007, Curt Gambetta wrote: Is their any precedent for 'temporary accommodation' for 'migrant populations? Sounds troublesome at the very least... I know building contractors sometimes provide labor with some kind of housing (some are more generous and humane than others...), but a proposal like that, again wedded to the Masterplan, seems totally out of synch with how people establish themselves, and hence why slums exist at all (and why they are so vital to the city). Curt ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Vinay Baindur ; greater-bangalore at yahoogroups.com; Hasiru Usiru Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 5:17:53 AM Subject: [HasiruUsiru] Pune growing into city of slums if it is over 50 % in Mumbai and 40 % slum popln in PMC then can the thousands of crores on roads sea links and BRT etc be justified How can six-laning of roads be contemplated if the way for pedestrians and cyclists is not created even in the six laning etc Pune growing into city of slums 18 Dec 2007, 0431 hrs IST, Radheshyam Jadhav, TNN PUNE: Forty per cent of Pune's population, an estimated 14 lakh people, live in slums. According to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) estimates, some 88,000 people migrated to the city in 2006, of which 45,000 settled in the slums. Every year, the number of people migrating to the city will continue to multiply. The city might be an IT hub and a centre of learning, but it is fast gaining another epithet, that of a city of slums. The Town and Country Planning Organisation (TCPO), the technical arm of the ministry of urban development, government of India, ranks Pune third in the cities with the largest number of slums in India. Mumbai stands first with 55 per cent of its total population in slums, followed by Meerut with a slum population of 44 per cent. Of the 244 sq km which come under the PMC limits, about 15 sq km, ie six per cent of the total land, is encroached upon by slums. This despite the state and central government spending crores on slum rehabilitation. More money will flow for slum rehabilitation under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). Just last week the municipal standing committee approved tenders worth Rs 200 crore for the same purpose. Pune's slum population has grown by 176 per cent since 1991 thanks to constant migration. "One can't stop migration but there could definitely be a master plan in place to manage the floating population," says Pratima Joshi of Shelter Associates. She said that once a master plan is in place, housing stock could be created and facilities like dormitories provided. "If we manage the migratory population by catering to their temporary accommodation needs, many problems would be solved," said Joshi. __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar MARKETPLACE Earn your degree in as few as 2 years - Advance your career with an AS, BS, MS degree - College-Finder.net . Fed Cuts Rates Again - Think you pay you much for your mortgage? No SSN Required - Estimate New Payment. Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity 13 New Members 1 New Files Visit Your Group Y! Messenger Quick file sharing Send up to 1GB of files in an IM. Yahoo! Groups Going Green Share your passion for the planet. Athletic Edge A Yahoo! Group to connect w/ others about fitness goals. . __,_._,___ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. _______________________________________________ Urbanstudygroup mailing list Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group archives, please visit https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080109/d60b29cf/attachment-0001.html From bharati at chintan-india.org Fri Jan 11 21:11:49 2008 From: bharati at chintan-india.org (Bharati ) Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:11:49 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Why Waste? In-Reply-To: <732062.92249.qm@web36105.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20080111154228.9FB2B2B299EB@mail.sarai.net> Dear All, Here is essay with an argument I make against the current trends of privatization of waste, showing it is a bad idea every which way : http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20080115&filename=croc&se c_id=10&sid=1 Best, Bharati From cugambetta at yahoo.com Sun Jan 13 05:34:07 2008 From: cugambetta at yahoo.com (Curt Gambetta) Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2008 16:04:07 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] temporary housing Message-ID: <748037.65661.qm@web56813.mail.re3.yahoo.com> I suspect there is a larger history of this in India... I remember vaguely hearing of this happening in Bangalore. If I remember correctly, there were institutions, perhaps organized around language (Kannada) that were set up to house and acclimate people to the city. I could have this wrong, it's a hazy memory, but I would be interested in learning more about institutions like this (anyone in Madhav Prasad's class at CSCS a few years back with me might remember!). They would be interesting to think about architecturally. What I have seen of housing for workers in old books released by the Concrete Association is pretty standard modernist stuff, and describes itself as a departure from the unsightly disorganization of charpoys and chiks and the 'congestion' of older worker's housing in India (and the UK). The book I have in mind is called "Industrial Housing for the Tropics," by architect D.N. Dhar, published by the Concrete Association in 1958. If anyone has any further insight, please do share... Curt ----- Original Message ---- From: Arkaja Singh To: Curt Gambetta Sent: Monday, January 7, 2008 3:52:50 AM Subject: Re: [Urbanstudy] Fw: [HasiruUsiru] Pune growing into city of slums Curt, Did anyone reply to this email of yours? I have heard that till the early 1900s city of Madurai had some system of temporary accommodation for people coming in to work in the city - sounded something like 'sites and services' with a minimal rent and a stipulation that you could not stay on forever. More recently, contemporary South Africa seems to have dormitory/ tenement type housing for migrants - have heard though that the experiment did not go so well and is certainly not the thing that should replace viable slum communities. (Yet, in spite of the fact that there is little proof that temporary accommodation is a real solution, I have seen that urban planners love to propose this as the ideal solution to slums. Along with a preference for ID cards and biometric identification... which would ultimately create some sort of 'refugee' status for migrants.) Arkaja On 19/12/2007, Curt Gambetta wrote: Is their any precedent for 'temporary accommodation' for 'migrant populations? Sounds troublesome at the very least... I know building contractors sometimes provide labor with some kind of housing (some are more generous and humane than others...), but a proposal like that, again wedded to the Masterplan, seems totally out of synch with how people establish themselves, and hence why slums exist at all (and why they are so vital to the city). Curt ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Vinay Baindur ; greater-bangalore at yahoogroups.com; Hasiru Usiru Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 5:17:53 AM Subject: [HasiruUsiru] Pune growing into city of slums if it is over 50 % in Mumbai and 40 % slum popln in PMC then can the thousands of crores on roads sea links and BRT etc be justified How can six-laning of roads be contemplated if the way for pedestrians and cyclists is not created even in the six laning etc Pune growing into city of slums 18 Dec 2007, 0431 hrs IST, Radheshyam Jadhav, TNN PUNE: Forty per cent of Pune's population, an estimated 14 lakh people, live in slums. According to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) estimates, some 88,000 people migrated to the city in 2006, of which 45,000 settled in the slums. Every year, the number of people migrating to the city will continue to multiply. The city might be an IT hub and a centre of learning, but it is fast gaining another epithet, that of a city of slums. The Town and Country Planning Organisation (TCPO), the technical arm of the ministry of urban development, government of India, ranks Pune third in the cities with the largest number of slums in India. Mumbai stands first with 55 per cent of its total population in slums, followed by Meerut with a slum population of 44 per cent. Of the 244 sq km which come under the PMC limits, about 15 sq km, ie six per cent of the total land, is encroached upon by slums. This despite the state and central government spending crores on slum rehabilitation. More money will flow for slum rehabilitation under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). Just last week the municipal standing committee approved tenders worth Rs 200 crore for the same purpose. Pune's slum population has grown by 176 per cent since 1991 thanks to constant migration. "One can't stop migration but there could definitely be a master plan in place to manage the floating population," says Pratima Joshi of Shelter Associates. She said that once a master plan is in place, housing stock could be created and facilities like dormitories provided. "If we manage the migratory population by catering to their temporary accommodation needs, many problems would be solved," said Joshi. __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar MARKETPLACE Earn your degree in as few as 2 years - Advance your career with an AS, BS, MS degree - College-Finder.net . Fed Cuts Rates Again - Think you pay you much for your mortgage? No SSN Required - Estimate New Payment. Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity 13 New Members 1 New Files Visit Your Group Y! Messenger Quick file sharing Send up to 1GB of files in an IM. Yahoo! Groups Going Green Share your passion for the planet. Athletic Edge A Yahoo! Group to connect w/ others about fitness goals. . __,_._,___ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. _______________________________________________ Urbanstudygroup mailing list Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group archives, please visit https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. - -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Urbanstudygroup mailing list Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group archives, please visit https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ From varanashi at gmail.com Sun Jan 13 15:37:40 2008 From: varanashi at gmail.com (varanashi) Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:37:40 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] general Message-ID: <4789e2f2.22bd720a.2b4f.ffffd811@mx.google.com> Friends, I got this mail from a friend - may be of good info. for all. Sathya This is very important information about a web site called www.saferindia.com This is a site of an NGO started by Ms Kiran Bedi you can go to this site an log your complaint regarding any crime if the police at your place is not accepting your complaint. Then this NGO will mail your complaint to the DGP of your area. You can also use this mail as the legal document in case of filing a case in the court of judgment. This is to be noted that this site is directly administered by Ms Kiran Bedi so all your mails directly goes to her . Friends spread this information in your network so that any one in such need can go to this site and launch his/her complaint. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080113/7bbba4fb/attachment.html From bharati at chintan-india.org Sun Jan 13 15:59:27 2008 From: bharati at chintan-india.org (Bharati ) Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:59:27 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] general In-Reply-To: <4789e2f2.22bd720a.2b4f.ffffd811@mx.google.com> Message-ID: <20080113103024.616192B29977@mail.sarai.net> Thank you, Sathya. But I can't help commenting on the absurdity of this. Why don't bureaucrats act when they are in power instead of waiting till they retire and then wear some kind of an activist mantle and use their contacts to show incredible impacts. Infact, of all governant servants, Kiran Bedi was one who actually managed to spend a lot of time building up and fund raising for her non profit (not this one), creating a service provider for those that the governemnt did not look after. You'd expect someone interested in teh issues and in the police to act on them and improve accountability within. It is rahter bizzare that even government servants wash their hands off their tasks. Bharati Chatuvedi _____ From: urbanstudygroup-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:urbanstudygroup-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of varanashi Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2008 3:38 PM To: bangalorearchitects at yahoogroups.com; saneyocop at yahoogroups.com; hskm at yahoogroups.com; urbanstudygroup at sarai.net; evamyouthforum at gmail.com; hskm at yahoogroups.com Subject: [Urbanstudy] general Friends, I got this mail from a friend - may be of good info. for all. Sathya This is very important information about a web site called www.saferindia.com This is a site of an NGO started by Ms Kiran Bedi you can go to this site an log your complaint regarding any crime if the police at your place is not accepting your complaint. Then this NGO will mail your complaint to the DGP of your area. You can also use this mail as the legal document in case of filing a case in the court of judgment. This is to be noted that this site is directly administered by Ms Kiran Bedi so all your mails directly goes to her . Friends spread this information in your network so that any one in such need can go to this site and launch his/her complaint. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080113/9923282a/attachment-0001.html From debsinha at gmail.com Sun Jan 13 23:50:47 2008 From: debsinha at gmail.com (Deb Ranjan Sinha (Gmail)) Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:20:47 -0500 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fw: Visiting Fellowships for researchers in India working on urban / environmental governance Message-ID: <006e01c85611$089b7e20$0200000a@PAGOL> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Liza Griffin" Apologies for cross posting and to those not eligible. The Governance and Sustainability Programme at the Centre for the Study of Democracy, London, has funding available for several Visiting Fellowships. These are for new and established researchers based in India working on urban or environmental governance. Please see http://www.wmin.ac.uk/sshl/page-3052 Please note that the next deadline for applications is 20th February 2008 Many thanks -- The University of Westminster is a charity and a company limited by guarantee. Registration number: 977818 England. Registered Office: 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW, UK. From outtes at uol.com.br Mon Jan 14 03:01:35 2008 From: outtes at uol.com.br (Joel Outtes) Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:31:35 -0200 Subject: [Urbanstudy] CFP: Special Edition of GeoJournal on Latin American Cities Message-ID: <2218BDE6AE634F0B8A4E855CF23B7BBB@JoelOuttes> Invitation to Submit an Article to GeoJournalDear Colleague, I was invited to be the guest editor of a special edition of GeoJournal on Latin American cities. In light of this, I would like to invite the academic community to submit articles to this special edition. Articles comparing any Latin American city with cities in other areas of the world are most wellcome. The deadlines for the edition will be as follows: 1. Submission of title: now or as soon as possible. 2. Submission of an abstract: one week from now. 3. Submission of the article: three months time. 4. My submission of the articles to two referees: Immediately after receiving them. 5. Time for referees to submit their comments and you be informed: One month. 6. Time for you to re-submit your article: One month. At this stage papers will be submitted to the editor for publication as soon as possible thereafter. Thank you for your time and consideration, Joel Outtes Prof. Joel Outtes-Wanderley, DPhil Department of Geography Rowan University Glassboro, NJ 08028 USA Email: Outtes at rowan.edu Please reply to my Rowan email, this uol.com.br address might become inactive soon. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080113/b994a586/attachment.html From elkamath at yahoo.com Fri Jan 18 09:11:21 2008 From: elkamath at yahoo.com (lalitha kamath) Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:41:21 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] "regulators should intervene in banker's pay" by Martin Wolf Message-ID: <542688.61228.qm@web53603.mail.re2.yahoo.com> FYI Regulators should intervene in bankers’ pay By Martin Wolf Published: January 15 2008 17:35 | Last updated: January 16 2008 05:16 You really don’t like bankers, do you?” The question, asked by a former banker I met last week, set me back. “Not at all,” I replied. “Some of my best friends are bankers.” While true, it was not the whole truth. I may like many bankers, but I rather dislike banks. I recognise their necessity, but fear their irresponsibility. Worse, they are irresponsible partly because they know they are necessary. My attitude to the banking industry is not a prejudice. It is a “postjudice”. My first experience with out-of-control banking was when I watched the irresponsible lending that led to the devastating developing-country debt crises of the 1980s. The world has witnessed well over 100 significant banking crises over the past three decades. The authorities have even had to rescue important parts of the US financial system – on most counts, the world’s most sophisticated – four times during the same period: from the developing country debt and “savings and loan” crises of the 1980s to the commercial property crisis of the early 1990s and now the subprime and securitised-credit crisis of 2007-08. No industry has a comparable talent for privatising gains and socialising losses. Participants in no other industry get as self-righteously angry when public officials – particularly, central bankers – fail to come at once to their rescue when they get into (well-deserved) trouble. Yet they are right to expect rescue. They know that as long as they make the same mistakes together – as “sound bankers” do – the official sector must ride to the rescue. Bankers are able to take the economy and so the voting public hostage. Governments have no choice but to respond. Nor is it all that difficult to understand the incentives at work. I gave the broad answer in my column, “ Why banking is an accident waiting to happen” (FT, November 27 2007). It is the nature of limited liability businesses to create conflicts of interest – between management and shareholders, between management and other employees, between the business and customers and between the business and regulators. Yet the conflicts of interest created by large financial institutions are far harder to manage than in any other industry. That is so for three fundamental reasons: first, these are virtually the only businesses able to devastate entire economies; second, in no other industry is uncertainty so pervasive; and, finally, in no other industry is it as hard for outsiders to judge the quality of decision-making, at least in the short run. This industry is, in consequence, exceptional in the extent of both regulation and subsidisation. Yet this combination can hardly be deemed a success. The present crisis in the world’s most sophisticated financial system demonstrates that. I now fear that the combination of the fragility of the financial system with the huge rewards it generates for insiders will destroy something even more important – the political legitimacy of the market economy itself – across the globe. So it is time to start thinking radical thoughts about how to fix the problems. Up to now the main official effort has been to combine support with regulation: capital ratios, risk-management systems and so forth. I myself argued for higher capital requirements. Yet there are obvious difficulties with all these efforts: it is child’s play for brilliant and motivated insiders to game such regulation for their benefit. So what are the alternatives? Many market liberals would prefer to leave the financial sector to the rigours of the free market. Alas, the evidence of history is clear: we, the public, are unable to live with the consequences. An alternative suggestion is “narrow banking” combined with an unregulated (and unprotected) financial system. Narrow banks would invest in government securities, run the payment system and offer safe deposits to the public. The drawback of this ostensibly attractive idea is obvious: what is unregulated is likely to turn out to be dangerous, whereupon governments would be dragged back into the mess. No, the only way to deal with this challenge is to address the incentives head on and, as Raghuram Rajan, former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, argued in a brilliant article last week (“ Bankers’ pay is deeply flawed”, FT, January 9 2008), the central conflict is between the employees (above all, management) and everybody else. By paying huge bonuses on the basis of short-term performance in a system in which negative bonuses are impossible, banks create gigantic incentives to disguise risk-taking as value-creation. We would be better off with Jupiter’s 12-year “year”, since it takes about that long to know how profitable strategies have been. The point is that a year is an astronomical, not an economic, phenomenon (as it once was, when harvests were decisive). So we must ensure that a substantial part of pay is better aligned to the realities of the business: that is, is made in restricted stock redeemable over a run of years (ideally, as many as 10). Yet individual institutions cannot change their systems of remuneration on their own, without losing talented staff to the competition. So regulators may have to step in. The idea of such official intervention is horrible, but the alternative of endlessly repeated crises is even worse. The big points here are, first, we cannot pretend that the way the financial system behaves is not a matter of public interest – just look at what is happening in the US and UK today; and, second, if the problem is to be fixed, incentives for decision-makers have to be better aligned with the outcomes. The further question is how far that regulatory net should stretch. I believe it should cover all systemically important financial institutions. Drawing the line will not be simple, but that is a problem with all regulation. It is not insoluble. The question the authorities need to ask themselves is simple: if a specific institution fell into substantial difficulty would they have to intervene? If the conflict of interest that dominates all others is between employees and everybody else, then it must be fixed. All bonuses and a portion of salary for top managers should be paid in restricted stock, redeemable in instalments over, say, 10 years or, if regulators are feeling generous, five. I understand that the bankers will not like this. Yet one thing is surely now quite clear: just as war is too important to be left to generals, banking is too important to be left to bankers, however much one may like them. martin.wolf at ft.com Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008 cross-posted from DEBATE ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080117/5d89a818/attachment.html From anirudhsbh at gmail.com Fri Jan 18 21:12:20 2008 From: anirudhsbh at gmail.com (Anirudh) Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 21:12:20 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] "regulators should intervene in banker's pay" by Martin Wolf In-Reply-To: <542688.61228.qm@web53603.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <542688.61228.qm@web53603.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: The answer? http://www.theatlasphere.com/columns/elder-mortgage-crisis.php http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2007/12/03/predatory-business-act-oped-cx_yb_1204predatory.html On Jan 18, 2008 9:11 AM, lalitha kamath wrote: > FYI > > Regulators should intervene in bankers' pay > > By Martin Wolf > > Published: January 15 2008 17:35 | Last updated: January 16 2008 05:16 > > You really don't like bankers, do you?" The question, asked by a former > banker I met last week, set me back. "Not at all," I replied. "Some of > my best friends are bankers." While true, it was not the whole truth. I > may like many bankers, but I rather dislike banks. I recognise their > necessity, but fear their irresponsibility. Worse, they are > irresponsible partly because they know they are necessary. > > My attitude to the banking industry is not a prejudice. It is a > "postjudice". My first experience with out-of-control banking was when I > watched the irresponsible lending that led to the devastating > developing-country debt crises of the 1980s. > > The world has witnessed well over 100 significant banking crises over > the past three decades. The authorities have even had to rescue > important parts of the US financial system – on most counts, the world's > most sophisticated – four times during the same period: from the > developing country debt and "savings and loan" crises of the 1980s to > the commercial property crisis of the early 1990s and now the subprime > and securitised-credit crisis of 2007-08. > > No industry has a comparable talent for privatising gains and > socialising losses. Participants in no other industry get as > self-righteously angry when public officials – particularly, central > bankers – fail to come at once to their rescue when they get into > (well-deserved) trouble. > > Yet they are right to expect rescue. They know that as long as they make > the same mistakes together – as "sound bankers" do – the official sector > must ride to the rescue. Bankers are able to take the economy and so the > voting public hostage. Governments have no choice but to respond. > > Nor is it all that difficult to understand the incentives at work. I > gave the broad answer in my column, " Why banking is an accident waiting > to happen" (FT, November 27 2007). > > It is the nature of limited liability businesses to create conflicts of > interest – between management and shareholders, between management and > other employees, between the business and customers and between the > business and regulators. Yet the conflicts of interest created by large > financial institutions are far harder to manage than in any other > industry. > > That is so for three fundamental reasons: first, these are virtually the > only businesses able to devastate entire economies; second, in no other > industry is uncertainty so pervasive; and, finally, in no other industry > is it as hard for outsiders to judge the quality of decision-making, at > least in the short run. This industry is, in consequence, exceptional in > the extent of both regulation and subsidisation. Yet this combination > can hardly be deemed a success. The present crisis in the world's most > sophisticated financial system demonstrates that. > > I now fear that the combination of the fragility of the financial system > with the huge rewards it generates for insiders will destroy something > even more important – the political legitimacy of the market economy > itself – across the globe. So it is time to start thinking radical > thoughts about how to fix the problems. > > Up to now the main official effort has been to combine support with > regulation: capital ratios, risk-management systems and so forth. I > myself argued for higher capital requirements. Yet there are obvious > difficulties with all these efforts: it is child's play for brilliant > and motivated insiders to game such regulation for their benefit. > > So what are the alternatives? Many market liberals would prefer to leave > the financial sector to the rigours of the free market. Alas, the > evidence of history is clear: we, the public, are unable to live with > the consequences. > > An alternative suggestion is "narrow banking" combined with an > unregulated (and unprotected) financial system. Narrow banks would > invest in government securities, run the payment system and offer safe > deposits to the public. The drawback of this ostensibly attractive idea > is obvious: what is unregulated is likely to turn out to be dangerous, > whereupon governments would be dragged back into the mess. > > No, the only way to deal with this challenge is to address the > incentives head on and, as Raghuram Rajan, former chief economist of the > International Monetary Fund, argued in a brilliant article last week (" > Bankers' pay is deeply flawed", FT, January 9 2008), the central > conflict is between the employees (above all, management) and everybody > else. By paying huge bonuses on the basis of short-term performance in a > system in which negative bonuses are impossible, banks create gigantic > incentives to disguise risk-taking as value-creation. > > We would be better off with Jupiter's 12-year "year", since it takes > about that long to know how profitable strategies have been. The point > is that a year is an astronomical, not an economic, phenomenon (as it > once was, when harvests were decisive). So we must ensure that a > substantial part of pay is better aligned to the realities of the > business: that is, is made in restricted stock redeemable over a run of > years (ideally, as many as 10). > > Yet individual institutions cannot change their systems of remuneration > on their own, without losing talented staff to the competition. So > regulators may have to step in. The idea of such official intervention > is horrible, but the alternative of endlessly repeated crises is even > worse. > > The big points here are, first, we cannot pretend that the way the > financial system behaves is not a matter of public interest – just look > at what is happening in the US and UK today; and, second, if the problem > is to be fixed, incentives for decision-makers have to be better aligned > with the outcomes. > > The further question is how far that regulatory net should stretch. I > believe it should cover all systemically important financial > institutions. Drawing the line will not be simple, but that is a problem > with all regulation. It is not insoluble. The question the authorities > need to ask themselves is simple: if a specific institution fell into > substantial difficulty would they have to intervene? > > If the conflict of interest that dominates all others is between > employees and everybody else, then it must be fixed. All bonuses and a > portion of salary for top managers should be paid in restricted stock, > redeemable in instalments over, say, 10 years or, if regulators are > feeling generous, five. I understand that the bankers will not like > this. Yet one thing is surely now quite clear: just as war is too > important to be left to generals, banking is too important to be left to > bankers, however much one may like them. > > martin.wolf at ft.com > > Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008 > > cross-posted from DEBATE > > > ------------------------------ > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it > now. > > _______________________________________________ > Urbanstudygroup mailing list > Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City > > To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group archives, please visit > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080118/8f2c1be6/attachment-0001.html From chintichinti at yahoo.com Tue Jan 22 16:27:16 2008 From: chintichinti at yahoo.com (chintan gohil) Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 02:57:16 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Urbanbody: Dharavi, Mumbai...Urban design studio...Help needed Message-ID: <679757.86525.qm@web50510.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Hello We are currently looking for volunteers/NGOs/Academics/Researchers/Institutions who have interest and would be willing to contribute to the two month 'urbanbody' studio organised by Spacelab research laboratory for urbanism/city from Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands with a special focus on Dharavi, mumbai. Please have a look at spacelab website for more information on the laboratory : http://www.spacelab.tudelft.nl/ While the draft focus is still being formulated with the help of contributors from UCL London and TU Delft, here are some of the aims and key themes that the studio aims to explore. This studio provides a base for the students to further explore the notion of 'emmergence' and informality within their final projects, thus urbanbody remains at one level an exercise of active observation, but on the other level it intends to provide the observations/tools and lessons learnt to the people (inhabitants/activists/NGOs/governmental bodies) who can use them to intervene and improve the quality and living conditions etc for the dwellers of Dharavi. Possible themes: Spatial Economy: the interaction of the informal and formal...'slum' and the city Idea of migration and floating population within cities Role of women in the informal economy Notion of Emmergence The studio (20 students and 4-5 associate professors/collaborators) will spend about 3 weeks in india (first 3 weeks of march) engaging in studies and visits as well as workshops with inhabitants of dharavi/activists/NGOs/Thinkers and Academics. If any of the members on the list would like to help or have any suggestions or are in contact with any NGOs or individuals who could contribute to the studio, please do write to me. We are also looking for schools of architecture in bombay to participate in the studio thus we can begin to exchange knowledge with the local students if Thank you in advance Chintan Gohil ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs From jrajaya at yahoo.com Wed Jan 23 00:30:35 2008 From: jrajaya at yahoo.com (jayaraj s) Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:00:35 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] open teaching positions in urban studies /development /planning in LSE Message-ID: <481394.92120.qm@web31715.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Dear all Apologies for cross posting- but thought this might interest someone. The Geography and Environment Department at the London School of Economics is seeking to fill two positions: a (new) Chair – for candidates with strong track records of research in any field linked to one or more of our three main areas of specialization: urban geography/development; economic geography and environmental policy; and a Lectureship in Urban Geography/Development – for candidates who will reinforce the international dimension of urban / planning specialisms in the department, through a (research-based) expertise relating to cities in either Asia or the developing world in general The department has a very strong international research profile (grade 5 in the last RAE), an interdisciplinary orientation, and research-led teaching programmes with a very strong postgraduate emphasis, and a global intake of high calibre students. Formal details and background information can be found here: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/recruitment/jobsAtLSE/Pdf%20Job%20Descriptions%20and%20Person%20Specifications%20Only/SA_07_03fp.pdf http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/recruitment/jobsAtLSE/Pdf%20Job%20Descriptions%20and%20Person%20Specifications%20Only/LEC_07_21fpcolour.pdf But anyone who is interested in either post is strongly encouraged to contact either Ian Gordon--44+(0)20 7955 6180, I.R.Gordon at lse.ac.uk or Andres Rodriguez-Pose, the Head of Department (A.Rodriguez-Pose at lse.ac.uk) for further information and discussion. Best Regards Jayaraj Sundaresan PhD Student. LSE. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping From cugambetta at yahoo.com Thu Jan 24 06:52:23 2008 From: cugambetta at yahoo.com (Curt Gambetta) Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:22:23 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] road widening/ bangalore Message-ID: <678395.75259.qm@web56812.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Hi all: was there any notes taken down from the public meeting about road widening in Bangalore sometime back? I know it was held maybe last month or so, but if someone from Civic or anyone else typed up a synopsis of the meeting, it might be interesting for those of us who were unable to attend to see it (I know there was a report from the Metro meeting last summer). It sounds like it has been a pretty productive process, it would be interesting for people on the list to know what the issues at stake are, I think. I know it's quite Bangalore specific, but the fact that planners have actually listened to people on the issue is significant, and it is instructive to know how arguments are being made for/against to process and how the larger issue of traffic management is being framed. Where are things at right now? Curt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs From debsinha at gmail.com Fri Jan 25 06:42:40 2008 From: debsinha at gmail.com (Deb Ranjan Sinha (Gmail)) Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:12:40 -0500 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fw:PhD scholarships at the Urban Research Centre, Sydney, Australia Message-ID: <01c001c85eef$641c7380$0200000a@PAGOL> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Louise Crabtree" Dear all Please distribute this announcement and the attached information sheet. Kind regards Louise The Urban Research Centre at the University of Western Sydney is seeking two excellent international candidates to undertake doctoral research projects. These projects will suit applicants with an interest in the economic, social, cultural or environmental directions of large cities. Graduates from a variety of backgrounds including human geography, sociology, economics, cultural studies and other cognate social science and humanities disciplines are encouraged to apply. Eligibility: International applicants only. Scholarship details: Each scholarship will provide for the full cost of tuition for up to 3 years. Academic contacts: Professor Phillip O'Neill +61 2 8833 5988 p.oneill at uws.edu.au Professor Peter Phibbs +61 2 8833 5902 p.phibbs at uws.edu.au Scholarships contact: Ms Tracy Mills +61 2 4736 0966 t.mills at uws.edu.au Applications for the scholarships close 8 February 2008. Details on how to apply and application forms can be found at http://www.uws.edu.au/about/adminorg/devint/ors/degrees/scholarships#6 Information about the University can be found at http://www.uws.edu.au and about the Centre at http://www.uws.edu.au/urban Dr Louise Crabtree Research Program Coordinator Urban Research Centre Research and training for better urban life http://www.uws.edu.au/urban University of Western Sydney Level 6, 34 Charles St Parramatta NSW 2150 l.crabtree at uws.edu.au mob 0420 946 186 ph 61 2 8833 5931 fax 61 2 9891 5899 -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Urban Research Centre 2008 Intl.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 210888 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080124/b1702fc2/attachment-0001.pdf From chintichinti at yahoo.com Sat Jan 26 20:12:39 2008 From: chintichinti at yahoo.com (chintan gohil) Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 06:42:39 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Urbanbody:Mumbai - Studio with TU Delft: UPDATED Message-ID: <773257.18993.qm@web50506.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Hello, Thank you all for your responses. Here is a brief description of the issues/aims/process/partners which might clarify further as to what the intention of the studio is. Feel free to contact me for further clarification and ofcourse for any potential collaboration interests. Cheerio for now C Mapping Dharavi Urban Body Research Studio on Mumbai The studio aims at exploring and mapping the complexity of elements, which constitute the urban, social and cultural texture of squatter settlements in the city of Mumbai. Considering these areas within the broader framework of urban transformations and redevelopment projects, the studio looks at the slums as forms of ‘emergent’ urbanities, which function with a multiple logic and structure of relations both within itself and with the outside. Strategically, the studio questions both binary logics of opposition and problem-solving attitudes. Polarities such as formal/informal, legal/illegal will be put under scrutiny in order to understand the intertwining and shades of meanings that operate within a multi-faceted context. An explorative and analytical attitude will be therefore encouraged as a device to understand unfamiliar urban mechanisms in a non-judgemental way. Questions of self-organisation, informal micro-economies, gender roles, private and public spheres will be addressed in relation to both their impact on the actual definition of the slums and to their relation to the broader network of power and political structures of the city. The main focus of the studio will be the slum of Dharavi; being the largest squatter settlement of Asia it allows for a deep and privileged understanding of the multiplicity of layers – on the local, regional and international level – that operate in the constitution and definition of these urban emergences. Streets will be addressed as the crucial element of analysis. They represent the physical realm of interaction and social experimentation while also being the membrane through which different types of spaces mingle and transform. They will be the “laboratory” to understand relationships between flows of capital, labour forces and patterns of dwelling and inhabitation. Throughout the nine weeks of its program, the studio will propose and interdisciplinary approach that will be developed through a variety of devices. An “action-learning” approach would foster students to embrace an experiential understanding of knowledge production. The first four weeks will be dedicated to getting “acquainted” with the urban, social, political and cultural context of Mumbai in general and Dharavi in particular. Seminars, guest lectures, video screenings will be part of the program. Students will be also provided with a basic methodological tool-kit that will allow them to relate in a morally and professionally sober way to a non-western and unfamiliar context. The studio will then propose a three-weeks research and mapping field work in Mumbai, which will be followed by two more weeks for elaboration and post-production of the collected material. The “results” of the studio will be presented in a public exhibition at TU Delft and NAi and will be the core material for a forthcoming publication. There will also be a follow up of the research that will be presented at the CCA, Canadian Centre for Architecture, in Montreal in the Fall of 2009. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping From bawazainab79 at gmail.com Mon Jan 28 16:41:31 2008 From: bawazainab79 at gmail.com (Zainab Bawa) Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:41:31 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Requirement for Translators Message-ID: Dear All, www.empoweringindia.org is a website for data on electoral candidates. Elections in Karnataka are upcoming. Empoweringindia.org is looking for people who would be interested in translating Karnataka state election candidates' affidavit data from Kannada to English. Remuneration will be offered for persons interested. Interested persons please contact barun.mitra at gmail.com Regards, Zainab Bawa -- Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Between Places ... http://wbfs.wordpress.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080128/6f5f588b/attachment.html From bawazainab79 at gmail.com Tue Jan 29 17:13:37 2008 From: bawazainab79 at gmail.com (Zainab Bawa) Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:13:37 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Of Roads and Widening Perspectives Message-ID: It is rare that I walk in Bangalore. I rarely let that occasion arise because we have no time right now, or that we (my schizophrenic personalities and me) are too lazy to walk it today – some other day, okay. But today, that one lone auto I hailed did not pay attention to me and I decided I had to walk. Just the other day …: Just the other day when I, the pillion rider, was halted at the traffic signal close to Johnson Market, I looked around me. There were buildings, hoardings, vehicles, and that nagging plaint called traffic. It occurred to me that these surfaces of the city don't talk to me, don't reveal themselves to me. In Bombay, when I would talk, I could simply hear. The moment I stepped into the streets, the voices would appear, the surfaces would talk and reveal themselves. That was the pleasure of BEING in the city, a sense of meaning to existence. Back to today …: So I started walking, past Hosur Road. Now, I am well too familiar with this road, just well too familiar. This is the road most traveled. I walked on the footpath, past Hosur. A woman wearing a green saree was sitting alone, on the road, like squatting. Nothing spectacular. Just ordinary. A little ahead, a man was aiming his camera lens at the Christian cemetery. I tried to peek a little to see what he had found so worth photographing. Nothing spectacular. Just ordinary. I walked the bend where Hosur Road ends. For the first time, I saw that there were wolf like dogs sitting inside the cemetery. Perhaps these are the permanent residents there. Nothing spectacular. Just ordinary. A little ahead, a thela wala, vending the usual snacks and cigarettes. Nothing spectacular. Just ordinary. Trucks were lined on the roads. Sometimes there was no footpath because the trucks were parked there. Blue and yellow trucks. Just then, it occurred to me that the road was narrowing a bit. Here is where the open drain is, that spectacular site of the city's waste, flowing past the city, making the city terribly unbearable, but cannot be removed from her very womb because it is THE city. All these days of traveling in the auto had never alerted me to this sudden narrow bend in the middle of a traffic intensive road. Perhaps all that I focusedly concentrate on when I am in the auto is the meter, waiting when it will start to increase. Such anxieties, such angst of everyday living, such strange vulnerabilities … I turned right after that huge white mosque. I decided I had to watch today. Surfaces must be talking, maybe I am not attuned yet. Then that spectacularly ordinary site/sight hit me. That site/sight, those old people, there … Sitting in the midst and besides stacks of packed up recycled waste. It was that old man there, perhaps with no expression on his face if I remember right, looking into some unknown future that I could not see. It was also that old, dark woman, there, sitting next to the pile of packed reccyled waste and bamboo rods, blank. I had never noticed that small stretch of squatter settlement and that little bit of recycling and bamboo work. Never had I paid attention to these while riding in the auto. (And then I claim, I know this road. It is most frequently traveled.) I moved along to hear that question ring in my encephalon – what is the city? What is the city, may I ask? May I tell that the city is experience. Easy answer, I say. No, no, not that easy. Experience. What kind of experience? (Pardon these split personalities. They have to show up in these futile words.) If the city is experience, isn't experience the city? What produces this experience? Whose experience is valid? Whose experience is legitimate? Are there invalid and illegitimate experiences? Now with that horratta about 85 roads to be widened, does the experience change? Whose experience changes? Who changes experience? What was experienced before, what is experienced now, what will be experienced down the line? I was starting to hit Lalbagh, those supposedly spectacular gardens of this city, this city once christened 'the garden city'. I asked myself, does time have to be a luxury for the surfaces to speak? What manifestations does time take in the city? At one time, my wonly question to auto drivers was "so what has changed in Bangalore?" and the response I would get is how the city has become different with the IT boom. As I walk today, I recognize how futile and spurious this division of time in Bangalore is – one Bangalore before IT and one Bangalore after IT. Perhaps it is not even about IT. It is movement that configures the city – no I don't mean movement of goods, capital, labour, people, globalization, etc. (I dare not enter that realm of those sociologists and those other experts.) Just movement. Just the city moving. Nothing spectacular. Just ordinary. As it moves, it is moved. As it produces, so it is produced. That entity known as the city. - The End - -- Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Between Places ... http://wbfs.wordpress.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080129/cfeab8a7/attachment.html From zainabbawa at yahoo.com Tue Jan 29 17:15:10 2008 From: zainabbawa at yahoo.com (Zainab Bawa) Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2008 03:45:10 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Of Roads and Widening Perspectives Message-ID: <416067.58511.qm@web36105.mail.mud.yahoo.com> It is rare that I walk in Bangalore. I rarely let that occasion arise because we have no time right now, or that we (my schizophrenic personalities and me) are too lazy to walk it today – some other day, okay. But today, that one lone auto I hailed did not pay attention to me and I decided I had to walk. Just the other day : Just the other day when I, the pillion rider, was halted at the traffic signal close to Johnson Market, I looked around me. There were buildings, hoardings, vehicles, and that nagging plaint called traffic. It occurred to me that these surfaces of the city don’t talk to me, don’t reveal themselves to me. In Bombay, when I would talk, I could simply hear. The moment I stepped into the streets, the voices would appear, the surfaces would talk and reveal themselves. That was the pleasure of BEING in the city, a sense of meaning to existence. Back to today : So I started walking, past Hosur Road. Now, I am well too familiar with this road, just well too familiar. This is the road most traveled. I walked on the footpath, past Hosur. A woman wearing a green saree was sitting alone, on the road, like squatting. Nothing spectacular. Just ordinary. A little ahead, a man was aiming his camera lens at the Christian cemetery. I tried to peek a little to see what he had found so worth photographing. Nothing spectacular. Just ordinary. I walked the bend where Hosur Road ends. For the first time, I saw that there were wolf like dogs sitting inside the cemetery. Perhaps these are the permanent residents there. Nothing spectacular. Just ordinary. A little ahead, a thela wala, vending the usual snacks and cigarettes. Nothing spectacular. Just ordinary. Trucks were lined on the roads. Sometimes there was no footpath because the trucks were parked there. Blue and yellow trucks. Just then, it occurred to me that the road was narrowing a bit. Here is where the open drain is, that spectacular site of the city’s waste, flowing past the city, making the city terribly unbearable, but cannot be removed from her very womb because it is THE city. All these days of traveling in the auto had never alerted me to this sudden narrow bend in the middle of a traffic intensive road. Perhaps all that I focusedly concentrate on when I am in the auto is the meter, waiting when it will start to increase. Such anxieties, such angst of everyday living, such strange vulnerabilities I turned right after that huge white mosque. I decided I had to watch today. Surfaces must be talking, maybe I am not attuned yet. Then that spectacularly ordinary site/sight hit me. That site/sight, those old people, there Sitting in the midst and besides stacks of packed up recycled waste. It was that old man there, perhaps with no expression on his face if I remember right, looking into some unknown future that I could not see. It was also that old, dark woman, there, sitting next to the pile of packed reccyled waste and bamboo rods, blank. I had never noticed that small stretch of squatter settlement and that little bit of recycling and bamboo work. Never had I paid attention to these while riding in the auto. (And then I claim, I know this road. It is most frequently traveled.) I moved along to hear that question ring in my encephalon – what is the city? What is the city, may I ask? May I tell that the city is experience. Easy answer, I say. No, no, not that easy. Experience. What kind of experience? (Pardon these split personalities. They have to show up in these futile words.) If the city is experience, isn’t experience the city? What produces this experience? Whose experience is valid? Whose experience is legitimate? Are there invalid and illegitimate experiences? Now with that horratta about 85 roads to be widened, does the experience change? Whose experience changes? Who changes experience? What was experienced before, what is experienced now, what will be experienced down the line? I was starting to hit Lalbagh, those supposedly spectacular gardens of this city, this city once christened ‘the garden city’. I asked myself, does time have to be a luxury for the surfaces to speak? What manifestations does time take in the city? At one time, my wonly question to auto drivers was “so what has changed in Bangalore?” and the response I would get is how the city has become different with the IT boom. As I walk today, I recognize how futile and spurious this division of time in Bangalore is – one Bangalore before IT and one Bangalore after IT. Perhaps it is not even about IT. It is movement that configures the city – no I don’t mean movement of goods, capital, labour, people, globalization, etc. (I dare not enter that realm of those sociologists and those other experts.) Just movement. Just the city moving. Nothing spectacular. Just ordinary. As it moves, it is moved. As it produces, so it is produced. That entity known as the city. - The End - Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Between Places http://wbfs.wordpress.com --------------------------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/defanged-651477 Size: 6153 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080129/f3b4ab59/attachment-0001.bin From champaka_tr at yahoo.com Thu Jan 31 13:49:39 2008 From: champaka_tr at yahoo.com (champaka tr) Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:19:39 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Road widening Bangalore Message-ID: <151072.7573.qm@web51506.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Some cartoons by Anil Achar on Road Widening in Bangalore. Best regards Champaka --------------------------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080131/add14c1f/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: UNDERPASSPROJECT1.jpg Type: image/pjpeg Size: 486625 bytes Desc: pat1481305150 Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080131/add14c1f/attachment-0002.bin -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: UNDERPASSPROJECT2.jpg Type: image/pjpeg Size: 532346 bytes Desc: pat1139476004 Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20080131/add14c1f/attachment-0003.bin From debsinha at gmail.com Wed Jan 2 09:34:13 2008 From: debsinha at gmail.com (Deb Ranjan Sinha (Gmail)) Date: Wed, 02 Jan 2008 04:04:13 -0000 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fw: CFP: Panel-Urban Growth in India after Economic Liberalization (1991-2008) Message-ID: <002201c84cf4$99123e60$0200000a@PAGOL> From: Vandana Baweja My name is Vandana Baweja. I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Doctoral Program in History and Theory of Architecture at the University of Michigan. I plan to propose a panel on "Urban Growth in India after the Economic Liberalization (1991-2008)" at the Urban History Association Fourth Biennial Conference, to be held on November 5-8, 2008, at Houston. For further details on the conference please visit: http://uha.udayton.edu/html/conf.html According to the theme of the conference "Shock Cities," I invite papers, which address the impact of economic liberalization on any aspect of rapid urban growth in any Indian city, not limited to Delhi, Gurgaon, Bombay, or Bangalore. Paper abstracts are invited on topics like, the mushrooming of shopping malls across cities in India, the development of gated communities, urban encroachment, the politics of the demolition drive in Delhi, the exponential rise of car ownership, the impact of the metro in Delhi, the emergence of an urban gay culture, new forms of urban informal economies, the environmental impact of urban growth, and the transformation of urban heritage sites. I invite paper abstracts of 250 words from scholars working on Indian urbanism. Please email the paper abstracts and your CV to me at vbaweja at umich.edu by February 15, 2008. Regards, Vandana http://sitemaker.umich.edu/vandanabaweja/home From cugambetta at yahoo.com Wed Jan 2 23:56:31 2008 From: cugambetta at yahoo.com (Curt Gambetta) Date: Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:26:31 -0000 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fw: PANEL SEARCH: Urban Growth in India (UHA) Message-ID: <578926.13213.qm@web56802.mail.re3.yahoo.com> ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Colette Apelian To: H-URBAN at H-NET.MSU.EDU Sent: Tuesday, January 1, 2008 11:36:25 PM Subject: PANEL SEARCH: Urban Growth in India (UHA) From: Vandana Baweja Urban Growth in India after Economic Liberalization (1991-2008) My name is Vandana Baweja. I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Doctoral Program in History and Theory of Architecture at the University of Michigan who is proposing a panel on "Urban Growth in India after Economic Liberalization (1991-2008)" for the Urban History Association Fourth Biennial Conference. The conference will be held on November 5-8, 2008 in Houston. For further details on the conference, please visit: http://uha.udayton.edu/html/conf.html According to the theme of the conference "Shock Cities," I invite papers that address the impact of economic liberalization on any aspect of rapid urban growth in any Indian city. Especially interesting topics include: *the mushrooming of shopping malls across cities in India, *the development of gated communities, *urban encroachment, *the politics of the demolition drive in Delhi, *the exponential rise of car ownership, *the impact of the metro in Delhi, *the emergence of an urban gay culture, *new forms of urban informal economies, *the environmental impact of urban growth, and *the transformation of urban heritage sites. Please email 250 word abstracts and your CV to me at vbaweja at umich.edu by February 15, 2008. Regards, Vandana http://sitemaker.umich.edu/vandanabaweja/home H-Urban: http://www.h-net.org/~urban/ (including logs & posting guidelines) Posting Address: h-urban at h-net.msu.edu / mailto:h-urban at h-net.msu.edu (Click) ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! 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