From elkamath at yahoo.com Tue Oct 5 13:25:02 2010 From: elkamath at yahoo.com (lalitha kamath) Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 00:55:02 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Transparent Chennai Message-ID: <602138.534.qm@web53605.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Dear All, Heres a website showcasing some really interesting work done by a group in Chennai: http://www.transparentchennai.com/ >From their website: "Transparent Chennai tries to provide useful, easy to understand information about your city that can improve government accountability and empower residents to take action.... The site allows users to map government projects and services, and view detailed information about them. Users can also overlay projects and services with layers containing social, political, jurisdictional, and environmental information about the city. Users can also directly and easily link projects and services with the agencies and elected representatives responsible for them. By playing with our maps and exploring our site, residents can gain new insights about their city, and use this information to take action to make things better!" -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sollybenj at yahoo.co.in Mon Oct 11 14:59:06 2010 From: sollybenj at yahoo.co.in (solomon benjamin) Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:59:06 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Talk on forced displacement in Iraqi Kurdistan Message-ID: <321677.78175.qm@web8801.mail.in.yahoo.com> Dear friends, The Urban Research and Policy Programme of the National Institute of Advanced Studies and the Alternative Law Forum invite you to a talk on:   'From forced displacement to urban cores: the case of collective towns in Iraqi Kurdistan' by           Francesca Recchia     on Monday, October 18, 2010 at 6.00 p.m. at Alternative law Forum*         Abstract: Reflecting on the 1980s forced displacement of Kurdish people by Saddam Hussein, the lecture presents a historical reconstruction of the use of territorial design as a tool for ethnic and urban control in the context of Northern Iraq.  The Ba’athist regime in Iraq proceeded to a massive displacement of people from the villages on the mountainous areas in the Kurdistan Region down to the valleys. For this purpose, the government specifically designed Collective Towns (mujamma’at).  The planning and design of Collective Towns initially responded to a logic of rationalisation and cost-effectiveness, but was successively turned into one of the political tools that Saddam Hussein used to manage the tensions with the Kurdish population of Iraq.  After the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Collective Towns were not dismantled, but were appropriated by inhabitants and governments and turned into fully functional urban centres at the core of contemporary urbanisation in Kurdistan.  As a way of conclusion, the discussion will focus on how Collective Towns “subversively” evolved from structures of oppression into potentially open nuclei of urban development. About the Speaker: Francesca Recchia is a researcher and lecturer, who has worked in several different countries: Iraq. Holland, Italy, Sweden, Pakistan, Palestine among others. Her approach is constructed on a strong interdisciplinary ground intersecting the fields of Social, Postcolonial, Visual and Urban Studies. She is interested in the geo-political dimension of cultural processes and mainly deals with the relations between power, space design and social conflicts. She has been a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College of London, holds a PhD in Cultural Studies at the Oriental Institute in Naples and a MA in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Her publications include ‘Within the Circle of Fear. Field notes from Iraqi Kurdistan’ in Sarai Reader 08: Fear,  the forthcoming ‘Memory and Place. Perspectives from Iraqi Kurdistan’ in Third Text Asia, and ‘Radical Territories of Affection' in Art and Activism in the Age of Globalization. * Alternative Law Forum122/4 Infantry Road (opposite Infantry Wedding House) Bangalore 560001       Tel - 22865757 [Photo by Ehsan Maliki] See: http://emaleki.photoshelter.com/gallery/Iraq-Saddams-Collective-Houses-in-Daratoo-and-Kasnazan-Erbil/G0000R6mCJNmlYBE -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nidhi_b_5 at yahoo.com Thu Oct 14 21:48:29 2010 From: nidhi_b_5 at yahoo.com (nidhi batra) Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 09:18:29 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Building Livable Cities_19 oct Delhi Message-ID: <695602.43864.qm@web51602.mail.re2.yahoo.com> The world’s environmental sustainability and quality of life depends to a large extent on what is done during the next few years in the third World’s cities. There is still time to think different… there could be cities with as much public space for children as for cars, with a backbone of pedestrian streets, sidewalks and parks, supported by public transport. Remember If democracy is to prevail, public good must prevail over private interests. Socialism was a failure as an economic system. Yet equality is not dead. Socialism is dead, but equality as a goal is not dead.” Enrique Penalosa , Visionary Urban Thinker The Former Mayor of Bogota ,Columbia In the Urban Vision’s BluePrint Video  : Urban Visioning Showcase to be broadcast in Building Livable Cities  2010 .Visit www.theurbanvision.com/blc --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Offline registration form is attached  or can accessed here http://bit.ly/bKlPwh and you can register online here http://bit.ly/cQgkaq --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Building Livable  Cities 2010:  Delhi Date: October 19th , 1:00p.m – 4:00 p.m Venue: India International Centre Auditorium Speakers Include: Principles of Sutainble Transport :  Christopher Kost , Technical Director , ITDP Green Built Environment :  Kamal Meattle,CEO, Paharpur Business Centre Policy Drivers for Eco Cities : Karuna Gopal , President, Foundation for Futuristic Cities   Smart Tech for Sustainable Urbanism :  Aditi Dass,  Deputy Director , The Climate Group India Opportunities for Low Carbon Cities  in India  :  M. Ramachandran , Former Urban Development Secretary Making of a New Eco City :  Lavasa --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Offline registration form is attached  or can accessed here http://bit.ly/bKlPwh and you can register online here http://bit.ly/cQgkaq --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About: Building Livable Cities is a multi city investigation to look at ideas to make Indian Cities Livable. As part of the initiative ;  symposiums will take place across 5 cities – Bangalore , Mumbai , Delhi , Chennai ,and  Ahmedabad between Oct 18-22.The outcome will be presented in a book. The “Urban Visioning “Program titled the Blueprint showcases the urban visions of a  number of leading Indian architects . The series will also be podcasted. The theme of Building Livable  cities 2010 is EcoCities - Driving India towards the age of sustainability which will explore strategies that can make Indian cities environmentally sustainable. Today, cities occupy about 2% of the world's surface area and have a disproportionately large impact on the earth’s ecology. According to the United Nations, cities are responsible for 75% of global energy consumption and 80% of greenhouse gas emissions.  Therefore, a large part of the solution towards solving the crisis of Climate Change lies in solving the crisis of Cities. This series of multi city forums is aimed at creating a blueprint of a sustainable future. Learn More here:  www.theurbanvision.com/blc   Regards Nidhi Batra Founder Member, Consulting Editor -Urbanism The Urban Vision nidhi at theurbanvision.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nidhi_b_5 at yahoo.com Thu Oct 14 21:53:18 2010 From: nidhi_b_5 at yahoo.com (nidhi batra) Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 09:23:18 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Building Livable Cities_19 oct Delhi Message-ID: <199720.82854.qm@web51607.mail.re2.yahoo.com> The world’s environmental sustainability and quality of life depends to a large extent on what is done during the next few years in the third World’s cities. There is still time to think different… there could be cities with as much public space for children as for cars, with a backbone of pedestrian streets, sidewalks and parks, supported by public transport. Remember If democracy is to prevail, public good must prevail over private interests. Socialism was a failure as an economic system. Yet equality is not dead. Socialism is dead, but equality as a goal is not dead.” Enrique Penalosa , Visionary Urban Thinker The Former Mayor of Bogota ,Columbia In the Urban Vision’s BluePrint Video  : Urban Visioning Showcase to be broadcast in Building Livable Cities  2010 .Visit www.theurbanvision.com/blc --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Offline registration form is attached  or can accessed here http://bit.ly/bKlPwh and you can register online here http://bit.ly/cQgkaq --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Building Livable  Cities 2010:  Delhi Date: October 19th , 1:00p.m – 4:00 p.m Venue: India International Centre Auditorium Speakers Include: Principles of Sutainble Transport :  Christopher Kost , Technical Director , ITDP Green Built Environment :  Kamal Meattle,CEO, Paharpur Business Centre Policy Drivers for Eco Cities : Karuna Gopal , President, Foundation for Futuristic Cities   Smart Tech for Sustainable Urbanism :  Aditi Dass,  Deputy Director , The Climate Group India Opportunities for Low Carbon Cities  in India  :  M. Ramachandran , Former Urban Development Secretary Making of a New Eco City :  Lavasa --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Offline registration form is attached  or can accessed here http://bit.ly/bKlPwh and you can register online here http://bit.ly/cQgkaq --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About: Building Livable Cities is a multi city investigation to look at ideas to make Indian Cities Livable. As part of the initiative ;  symposiums will take place across 5 cities – Bangalore , Mumbai , Delhi , Chennai ,and  Ahmedabad between Oct 18-22.The outcome will be presented in a book. The “Urban Visioning “Program titled the Blueprint showcases the urban visions of a  number of leading Indian architects . The series will also be podcasted. The theme of Building Livable  cities 2010 is EcoCities - Driving India towards the age of sustainability which will explore strategies that can make Indian cities environmentally sustainable. Today, cities occupy about 2% of the world's surface area and have a disproportionately large impact on the earth’s ecology. According to the United Nations, cities are responsible for 75% of global energy consumption and 80% of greenhouse gas emissions.  Therefore, a large part of the solution towards solving the crisis of Climate Change lies in solving the crisis of Cities. This series of multi city forums is aimed at creating a blueprint of a sustainable future. Learn More here:  www.theurbanvision.com/blc   Regards Nidhi Batra Founder Member, Consulting Editor -Urbanism The Urban Vision nidhi at theurbanvision.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From yanivbin at gmail.com Fri Oct 22 08:34:42 2010 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 08:34:42 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] The narcissism of the neurotic P Sainath Message-ID: COMMONWEALTH GAMES *The narcissism of the neurotic * The Commonwealth Games were no showcase, but a mirror of India 2010. If they presented anything, it was Indian crony, casino capitalism at its most vigorous, writes P Sainath. *19 October 2010* - The Commonwealth Games over, we can now return to those of everyday Indian life. For all the protests, though, there was nothing in the corruption that marked the Games that does not permeate every town and city, all the time. Just that, in these Games, it got concentrated in one very high-profile event, under constant public and media gaze. Much of the agonising - over what was routine corruption - was occasioned by "what the world will think of us." For 'world' read Western world. We care little about what Tuvalu or Tonga or Papua New Guinea think of us. The corruption - or its public manifestation - hurt us because it messed with our self-image and our need to be accepted as special by the Western elite, in every way, even at sports. After all, we are knocking at the door of the G-8. Else, there were no surprises in the corruption. Shocking, yes. Surprising, no. Dirty contracts handed out to sleazy builders? That's business as usual in Mumbai, any day in the past three decades. Most of the city's 36 MLAs are builders or contractors, which is its own comment. Shoddy construction? Footbridges that collapse? We figured out how flimsy were the buildings in Gujarat's cities after the 2000 quake. Yet we continue to build huge high-rises in high seismic zones - because there's money in that. It was logical for the authorities to say of the collapsed footbridge in Delhi that - it was meant for ordinary citizens, not athletes. (Read: It's okay if ordinary citizens fall off it.) Kickbacks for the boys? Conflict of interest? You're more likely to win the lottery than find the citizen surprised by these. Appropriation of the resources of the public, particularly of poor people? Well, Maharashtra shows you how. You can grab adivasi land - inalienable in law - for your private city and hill station. The Revenue Minister will "regularise" these violations for you. Contrast this with the daily struggle of people in Mumbai's slums for 'regularisation.' Their massive contribution to the city's economy counts for nothing. Shady banking and money transfer practices? The Enforcement Directorate has traced slush accounts involving IPL-linked entities to perhaps a dozen countries. Overpricing for car hire, for catering, for other services - all staples of Indian life. And speaking of contracts and food, it's begun with the ICDS. Watch how midday meals, too, will steadily move from the hands of SHGs to those of private corporations in the name of "pre-mix" packages. Even as India falls to rank 67 (out of 84 nations) in IFPRI's Global Hunger Index of 2010. A rank driven by high levels of underweight children. As the GHI report tells us: "India is home to 42 per cent of the world's underweight children and 31 per cent of its stunted children." Lying about objectives? Like saying the Games residential area would later become university hostels? When in fact several hostels were emptied during the Games (partly because of the water crisis the event entailed). And when the flats are being organised for sale, with prices already in crores. Well, low-cost housing was the excuse used during the 1982 Asiad. And we know who lives in Khelgaon now. There are those who see the Games as a 'Triumph' of the Private Sector and a Public Sector failure. Facts count for little in matters of Faith. Who messed up the Metro Line? Public Sector. Who built the crumbling village? DDA.* In truth: that sector of the Delhi Metro which did not get completed in time for the Games was the only line (probably the most profitable) that was privatised. And the giant private corporation failed to deliver.* *The Games village was not built by the DDA, but by a private entity. In any case, it's simple: every single private scam and racket of our time is introduced through government, in the name of the poor.* Displacement of people in and around The Games areas? Find a city, town, urban periphery or rural region where this is not an everyday fact of life. At any given moment, millions of footloose migrant labourers wander across the country, quite unsure about where the next meal comes from. Throwing out construction labourers when our work - their labour - was done in Delhi? Tens of thousands of migrant labourers, whether the Oriyas from Ganjam in Surat, or the migrants in Tirupur (owed backwages for months), or millions of others, experience this all the time. Contrast this attitude with this week's good news - the anxiety and joy over the rescue of the Chilean miners, also in a society beset by problems. A cheering elite, telling us how wonderful we are and how we have "showcased Indian talent for the 'World'?" You can find that in most Indian newspapers or channels any day, any time. "India has showcased for the world," declaimed one television anchor, "that we can and have and always will in the future organise and run world class events." Let alone not looking beyond the world of the White and the western, what millions of Indians, including those thousands adversely affected by The Games, think, bothers us not a whit. Another TV channel ran a programme on "What makes Indians world-beaters?" This, about India's win over an Australian cricket team that has lost Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Glen McGrath and Matthew Hayden. Interestingly, all the panelists gently dissented from the proposition that we could call ourselves world-beaters. That in no way fazed the anchor, though. Bad conditions? Athletes attending state and district level sporting meets have slept in disused railway wagons, and worse. These Games, anyway, were more about commerce and elite ego than about the athletes or their performance. The fine showing of some athletes came despite their organisers and sports bodies, not because of them. Now, they return to the bondage of bodies driven by profit, corruption and greed. It's another matter we should never have organised this 'mega-event.' In all cities holding such events over the past four decades, a tiny elite has made billions. The city has gone bankrupt - and ordinary people then pay the bills. Los Angeles is a good example. The 'City' (i.e. Big Business) made huge profits. Residents paid the price for years afterwards. As did people in Montreal. As will those in London after the next Olympics there. Imagine, instead, if we had spent our billions on having playgrounds in all our schools? That way, you would really widen the sporting gene pool. The point simply, is this: The Commonwealth Games were no showcase, but a mirror of India 2010. If they showcased anything, they showcased Indian crony, casino capitalism at its most vigorous. To build such a society and then expect The Games won't reflect its warts and sores is high optimism. But never in our history have an elite been so in love with themselves, so soaked in narcissism; so anxious about what 'the World' thinks. So contemptuous of what our own people think, about anything. (Though the Commonwealth wouldn't exist without them. Indians account for over 55 per cent of all people in the Commonwealth.) There is one anomaly, though, where the Games do not typify the Indian model. The Minister of Sports, shortcomings aside, is a person of integrity (as was his outspoken predecessor). He tried cleaning up various sporting bodies and was humiliated for it. He tried curbing the number of years a person could head a sporting body. Some, in their seventies, have been around decades (a couple in their eighties, too). That bombed, as well. On the other hand, the OC was about Organised Cronyism. Many of the tactics by which sporting bodies are run originate in Maharashtra. Sporting-politicians from there have headed more associations than they can count. Everything from *kho kho* and*kabbadi*, to wrestling and cricket. In some senses, the Games reflect the national expansion of the Maharashtra model. It's the way this state runs its cooperatives, their banks, its education. The Games, like Maharashtra, were a snapshot of primitive accumulation at work. Meanwhile, may we suggest a modest alternative to Rahman's theme song: *Jeeyo, Utho, Badho, Jeeto* (Live, Get up and ready, march forward, win)? It didn't click too well, compelling the maestro to return to his *Jai Ho* from Slumdog Millionaire at the opening ceremony. There is some irony in that. That film outraged the same Indian elite and India Shining crowd. Leading Bollywood personalities spoke and blogged on how it had upset them. Yet the song found greater acceptance. It won an Oscar - showcasing us to the 'world' - and that overrode disquiet about the film. Fact is: *Jeeyo, Utho, Badho, Jeeto* didn't quite grab us. So how about: *Jaao, Loot-oh, Utho, Bagho?* (Go ahead, loot, get up and scoot). *⊕* *P Sainath* 19 Oct 2010 *P. Sainath is the 2007 winner of the Ramon Magsaysay award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts. He is one of the two recipients of the A.H. Boerma Award, 2001, granted for his contributions in changing the nature of the development debate on food, hunger and rural development in the Indian media.* *URL for this article:* http://indiatogether.org/2010/oct/psa-narc.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bharati at chintan-india.org Fri Oct 22 08:57:58 2010 From: bharati at chintan-india.org (Bharati Chaturvedi) Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 08:57:58 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Finding Delhi Message-ID: <4C37D44E-7B81-4FE4-8B4D-C2F45475A262@chintan-india.org> Dear All on the Urban List of Sarai, Here's an e-flier for Finding Delhi, a book I edited on what happens when you try and become a world class city. In a nutshell, we say : Dream Your Own Dreams for Your City, Don't Borrow Those of Others. Penguin has published it and it is in the bookstores. The contributors are diverse and nearly half are informal sector workers. We're doing a terrible job with reviews etc so you may not read about the book much. Best, Bharati Bharati Chaturvedi Director Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group C-14, Lajpat Nagar. New Delhi. India. www.chintan-india.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Oct Finding Delhi.jpeg Type: image/jpg Size: 31473 bytes Desc: not available URL: From critplan at ucla.edu Thu Oct 7 03:59:47 2010 From: critplan at ucla.edu (Critical Planning Journal) Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2010 22:29:47 -0000 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Critical Planning Vol. 17 (Resilient Cities) available now! Message-ID: * Critical Planning Volume 17: Resilient Cities * [image: 17_Cover.jpg] * **Critical Planning *UCLA Urban Planning Journal * *www.criticalplanning.org *Critical Planning's *newest volume explores concepts of resiliency and how it can be engaged as both a theoretical concept and as a model for shaping planning practices. Through a collection of papers that range from Damascus to America's rust-belt, this volume offers a multidisciplinary questioning of resiliency. The result is a truly global volume, with articles that extend, critique, and reconstruct the concept of resilience from diverse disciplinary and theoretical perspectives and in a range of empirical and historical contexts. Read selected articles here. Subscribe and donate to *Critical Planning* here. *Table of Contents:* * **Editorial Note: Planning for Resilience?* Orly Linovski * Towards a Research Agenda on Transformative Resilience: Challenge and Opportunities for Post-Trauma Urban Ecosystems* Kevin Fox Gotham and Richard Campanella * Metropolitan Planning and Resilience Thinking: A Practitioner’s Perspective* Cathy Wilkinson, Libby Porter and Johan Colding *Lost in Translation: Resilience, Social Agency, and Water Planning in Tucson, Arizona* Majed Akhter, Kerri Jean Ormerod and Christopher A. Scott * Translating Resilience into the Urban Context: Past Successes and Future Uncertainties in Tokyo* Yoichi Kumagai, Robert B. Gibson and Pierre Filion *Urban Loopholes: Tactics of Survival and Manifestations of Desires in Damascus *Ying Zhou *Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste: Re-imagining Resilience in the Light of the Great Recession *Susan Christopherson *The Shadows of L.A. *Per-Johan Dahl *Sa ou fe, se li ou we: Rebuilding Governance in Post-Earthquake Haiti *Tisha Holmes *Recycling the City: Darning Downtown Phoenix *Nan Ellin and Kelly Turner *Book Review: What is a City? Re-thinking the Urban after Hurrican Katrina *Garett Ballard-Rosa -- Critical Planning UCLA Department of Urban Planning School of Public Affairs 3250 Public Policy Building Box 951656 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656 USA critplan at ucla.edu www.criticalplanning.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 17_Cover.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 129482 bytes Desc: not available URL: From murthy.kavya at gmail.com Fri Oct 22 13:15:22 2010 From: murthy.kavya at gmail.com (Kavya Murthy) Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 13:15:22 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] The Delhi Urban Platform: 'Debate and Dissent in Indian Cites' on October 29 Message-ID: *The Delhi Urban Platform invites you to a panel discussion on: ** Dissent and Debate at a time of Rapid Change: Experiences from Indian Cities * Oct 29th, 6 pm Centre De Sciences Humaines Lawns, 2 Aurangzeb Road, New Delhi In this panel we ask participants to consider the issues of debate and dissent in contemporary urban development particularly since economic liberalization, based on their long-standing scholarly engagement with the rapid change that Indian cities have experienced in the last two decades. The panel comes in light of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi – both a process of city building and a focus for increasing censure. It will bring together scholars from Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai to share their perspectives. Traditionally and analytically, it has been suggested that the since economic liberalization, a dichotomous urban form has emerged, usually imagined as the eviction of poorer city residents to make way for newer forms of globalized urban development. Given this, the panel seeks to ask: - Whether this global template for urban upgradation/urban renewal has succeeded, and in what ways? Is the model entirely global? - What is the role debate and dissent have played in its success and failure, and in the recent transformation of Indian cities? - At what sites and spaces has any dissent and debate taken place, (for example within and outside of government, through politics, in the media)? To what effect? - What are the forms and discourses that such debate and dissent are characterized by? Is there a model beyond debate and dissent that has emerged as an effective politics in the production of space? - Finally and most significantly, how have governance strategies and policies either accommodated, co-opted or resisted efforts at debate, and in response to what kinds of urban actors? We have with us as panelists: 1. Solomon Benjamin, Associate Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies 2. Véronique Dupont, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Research for Development, Paris 3. Diya Mehra, Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi 4. Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal, Research Fellow, Centre for the Study of India and South Asia, Paris 5. Marie-Hélène Zérah, Senior Research Fellow, Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi Hoping very much to see you all at the discussion! Delhi Urban Platform -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From yanivbin at gmail.com Fri Oct 22 22:06:49 2010 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 22:06:49 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Private players get mega sops to rehabilitate slums Message-ID: Private players get mega sops to rehabilitate slums http://news.in.msn.com/business/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4487850 India's large private sector is being wooed by the government to implement its mega social sector scheme, Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), to eradicate slums. While states would provide higher Floor Space Index (FSI), Transferable Development Rights (TDR) and rights to commercially exploit part of land for sale in open market, the Centre would provide a grant of Rs 50,000 per house to the developer, according to the proposal mooted by the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation ministry. The proposed financing pattern for RAY puts half the burden on the Centre's resources, 10-15 per cent on the states' and rest of the 35-40 per cent on private sector's, said a ministry official.The approach will be used for both in-situ or on site development and relocation, officials pointed out. Most of the slums in metros have come up on prime land, in and around the central business districts. The ministry expects 80 per cent of the development to take place through the in situ mode. Under the scheme, the urban poor beneficiaries will have to shell out Rs 70,000-Rs 80,000 depending on the city for a house. "They (EWS/LIG) can also avail the 5 per cent interest subsidy on loans up to a lakh. The beneficiaries will be identified by linking the scheme with Unique Identity card, Aadhar," said the official. To check the growth of slums, the Centre has backed reservation of 20-25 per cent of developed land or housing units for EWS and low-income group (LIG) in any new private or public housing project. Centre's support to states will be conditional upon states passing a legislation to this effect. The government will consider servant quarters in housing colonies under the mandatory quota for EWS/LIG section, said a senior official. "In RAY, we want to ensure participation of the private sector in a big way. In our discussion with the leading business chambers, they have shown their willingness to participate," said the official. The ministry has already moved the Expenditure Finance Committee with its proposal outlining the funding pattern, and is awaiting its response. During the Twelfth Plan, the ministry has projected a requirement of around Rs 60,000-70,000 crore for the scheme. The total investment required to make India slum free would be around Rs 9 lakh crore and could take up to 15-20 years, the official added. The Planning Commission had earlier expressed its objection to the 50 per cent centre's contribution, and had rather recommended a 40 per cent centre share. The proposed funding pattern makes a departure from another gigantic Rs 1 lakh crore scheme, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, launched in 2005 to bring about a change in the urban landscape of 65 cities. Under JNNURM, apart from the centre and states, local municipal bodies were to chip in funds to spruce up cities and implement the reforms. But the credit rating report of these 63 cities by independent rating agencies revealed in 2009 that none made it to the top investment grade. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Private-players-get-mega-sops-to-rehabilitate-slums/700804 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From carol.upadhya at gmail.com Sun Oct 24 13:13:56 2010 From: carol.upadhya at gmail.com (Carol Upadhya) Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 13:13:56 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] =?windows-1252?q?Fwd=3A_October_25_I_6pm_I_NIAS_=3A_?= =?windows-1252?q?Invitation_to_Edgar_Pieterseon=27s_talk_on_=22Sou?= =?windows-1252?q?th_Africa=92s_Development_Trajectory=3A_Promises?= =?windows-1252?q?=2C_Problems_And_Prospects=22?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Prashant Dhawan Date: Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 12:25 PM Subject: October 25 I 6pm I NIAS : Invitation to Edgar Pieterseon's talk on "South Africa’s Development Trajectory: Promises, Problems And Prospects" To: Carol Upadhya Dear Carol, IIHS is organizing a public lecture in NIAS on 25th October (Monday). We wanted to cordially invite you to the event. We also wanted to invite all other academics, students, researchers and practitioners from NIAS who might find the lecture useful. Also it will be an interesting opportunity to meet , network and discuss common interests/issues. I would be grateful if you could forward this invite to the relevant people. regards, Prashant Dhawan [image: Invites ver 2.0.jpg] -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by *MailScanner* , and is believed to be clean. -- Carol Upadhya Professor School of Social Sciences National Institute of Advanced Studies Indian Institute of Science Campus Bangalore 560012 India office: +91 80 2218 5000/ 5141 (ext) cell: +91(0) 97408 50141 carol at nias.iisc.ernet.in carol.upadhya at gmail.com Programme Co-Director, *Provincial Globalisation: The Impact of Reverse Transnational Flows in India's Regional Towns * http://www.aissr.uva.nl/movingmatters/projects.cfm *http://www.nias.res.in/researchgroups-sss-provincial-globalisation.php * -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From yanivbin at gmail.com Mon Oct 25 00:25:55 2010 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 00:25:55 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] How to prevent Indian cities from falling apart! Message-ID: How to prevent Indian cities from falling apart! Last updated on: October 21, 2010 14:43 IST *Nitin Desai* http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/oct/21/slide-show-1-how-to-prevent-indian-cities-from-falling-apart.htm Over the past few weeks the country has been obsessed with whether our spoilt brat of a city, Delhi, will perform well in front of a global audience. Now that it has, with all and sundry observing traffic regulations and not making a nuisance of themselves, there is general elation. In the end, disaster was averted. The whole situation was managed like an Indian wedding with the parents throwing vast sums of money at all problems and a bunch of siblings pitching in at the last minute to make up for the main organiser's incompetence. The fears of the weeks before the Commonwealth Games (CWG) have given over to an orgy of self-congratulations. The pessimism and the doubts before, and the euphoria after, are part of our national character, reflected quite accurately by our media, which suffers from what some would describe as a bipolar or manic depressive disorder -- unjustified pessimism and equally unjustified self-satisfaction alternating wildly. But if you thought the CWG was badly managed, wait till you see the scale of the urban management effort that confronts us in the decades ahead. What had to be done for the CWG in Delhi is small compared to what will be required to prevent urban India from falling apart over the next few decades. According to the UN population projections, the absolute size of the rural population will start declining by 2025-30 and by 2050, it will be 125 million less than now. Urban population will grow continuously and be 525 million larger in 2050. The numbers would look even larger if we were to include many peri-urban villages that the census persists in classifying as rural. Some 200 million people or so will have to shift from their traditional family occupations. An occupational shift of this order will imply a massive change in the urban-rural distribution and the pace of urbanisation may be even more rapid than the trend projections, particularly in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. The scale of effort required to cope with the projected growth in urban population is mind-boggling. Take for instance the provision of mass transit. Delhi is planning nearly 400 km of metro and bus rapid transit corridors. The McKinsey projection* for the country as a whole calls for 7,400 km by 2030 -- a bit like putting up the equivalent of a Delhi Metro per year! Or take water supply; we will need several plants the equivalent of Sonia Vihar every year. As for housing and commercial space, forget the Games Village. The McKinsey report calls for a scale of construction that would be like putting up a Chicago from scratch every year. The report also estimates the investment requirement to be $1.2 trillion over the next two decades, or about $60 billion per year or ten times what we spent on the CWG. The key challenges are the functioning of urban land markets, the financing of massive infrastructure investments and the reform of municipal governance. We do not have adequate answers in any one of these three areas of concern. When it comes to urban land markets, our only answer is large-scale public ownership of land and drastic controls on the operation of private land markets. This poorly functioning land market and inadequate or poorly conceived public interventions in this market, push the poor into slums. Developers are pushed to an urban fringe, like Gurgaon or the distant suburbs in the north and east of Mumbai, leading to an urban sprawl that taxes the infrastructure to breaking point. All big cities have been developed because large tracts of land were assembled for development by private or public entities. Transport and infrastructure investments directed rather than followed land development. We need a system where the public authorities mobilise resources for urban infrastructure directly or through partnerships with the private sector and lead the evolution of the city through actual investments rather than through master plans. This was tried recently in Ahmedabad and it worked. Better land records would also help towards this end. A transparent urban land market can also help unlock the values trapped in public holdings of land and help address the second big bottleneck which is municipal finance. The Thirteenth Finance Commission has made a beginning in this area; but much more fiscal decentralisation is needed to allow this third tier of governance to function effectively. One way of tapping resources is to unlock the value trapped in the large land holdings of public authorities like the railways, India Post, the defence department, port trusts and urban development authorities like DDA and MMRDA that were vested with acquired land. None of this will happen unless we have effective leadership. Directly elected mayors could provide the political entrepreneurship that our cities and towns need so badly. But they must be fully empowered and the spectacle we saw in Delhi where the chief minister and the lieutenant governor were jockeying for leadership and visibility must be avoided. More than that, municipal governments must exercise full territorial authority and be in charge not just of municipal and social services but also transport and land use in the urban fringe and law and order. One more big change is needed. We are wedded to a philosophy of town planning that places great faith in master plans and bureaucratic controls to implement it. In reality, this leads not to better planned cities but to more corrupt and criminalised municipalities and urban authorities. In place after place, people are making their own cities, often in unauthorised colonies, while planners cater to a small elite. Planners must learn to work with these entrepreneurial city dwellers to improve water, drainage, health, safety and housing quality. Urban planning and architecture must move out of their engineering origins and become social science disciplines, working with the ebb and flow of social forces. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From yanivbin at gmail.com Mon Oct 25 09:14:55 2010 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:14:55 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Workshop by Dr. Kaveri Gill on Mundka in the Time of 'Development' and Change: The Pressure to Relocate 'Polluting' and 'Non-Conforming' Industries at CPR on 26 October 2010. In-Reply-To: <4cc14839.c67cdc0a.065e.790bSMTPIN_ADDED@mx.google.com> References: <4cc14839.c67cdc0a.065e.790bSMTPIN_ADDED@mx.google.com> Message-ID: From: PRESIDENT Subject: Workshop by Dr. Kaveri Gill on Mundka in the Time of 'Development' and Change: The Pressure to Relocate 'Polluting' and 'Non-Conforming' Industries at CPR on 26 October 2010. As part of our new Urban Workshop Series, the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), Delhi are delighted to invite you to a workshop by Dr. Kaveri Gill, Senior Program Officer, Think Tank Initiative, IDRC SARO on *Mundka in the Time of 'Development' and Change: The Pressure to Relocate 'Polluting' and 'Non-Conforming' Industries*. Date: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 *Time: 3:45 pm* *Venue: **Conference Hall, Centre for Policy Research, Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi – 110021* Titled, ‘‘Bourgeois environmentalism’, the State, the Judiciary and the ‘Urban Poor’: The Political Mobilization of a Scheduled Caste Market’, the last chapter in the speaker’s book, *'Of Poverty and Plastic’* (OUP 2010) documents the impact on, and the means of resistance of, the informal plastic recycling market located in Mundka to the Supreme Court industrial relocation order of 1999-2000, an outcome of an ‘environmental’ PIL which ruled in favour of the petitioner (M. C. Mehta vs. Union of India). In early March 2010, the Delhi High Court again ruled that an area between Nangloi and Bahadurgarh in northwest Delhi – including Mundka and its plastic recycling units - hosts a number of ‘polluting’ and ‘non-conforming’ industries, as defined by the Master Plan of Delhi and instructed the Delhi government to act immediately in accordance with the Supreme Court order of 1999-2000. Shortly thereafter, the Mundka metro station was formally opened, and a few instances of ‘sabotage’ fires were reported in the recycling market. The talk will outline the trajectory of these events, including the publication of an op-ed by the speaker on 13 March 2010, the immediate response of the petitioner’s advocates to it, and her subsequent attempt – with the help of activist and lawyer friends - to act as amicus curiae on the case. It will seek to relate these happenings to the broader canvas of rapid ‘development’ and change in Delhi, and what it might mean for those living and working literally and figuratively on the edge of the city. *Kaveri Gill *is a development economist and social scientist, by training and sympathy respectively. Since her return to India in 2007, she has been with the Planning Commission and subsequently with UNICEF India, during which time she worked on various aspects of flagship schemes of the Central government. She is currently with IDRC Delhi, as Senior Program Officer for the South Asia region, on their Think Tank Initiative. Her research interests are poverty and deprivation in developing countries, the changing scale, nature and role of the unorganised sector and the political economy of urbanisation, development and the environment in economies of the developing world. Her latest publication is *'Of Poverty and Plastic’* (OUP 2010). Kaveri obtained her PhD from Cambridge University, UK. _______________________________________________ This is the ninth in a series of Urban Workshops planned by the Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), New Delhi and Centre for Policy Research (CPR). These workshops seek to provoke public discussion on issues relating to the development of the city and try to address all its facets including its administration, culture, economy, society, and politics. For further information, please contact: Marie-Hélène Zerah at marie-helene.zerah at ird.fror Partha Mukhopadhyay at partha at cprindia.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bharati at chintan-india.org Mon Oct 25 09:25:20 2010 From: bharati at chintan-india.org (Bharati Chaturvedi) Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:25:20 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Workshop by Dr. Kaveri Gill on Mundka in the Time of 'Development' and Change: The Pressure to Relocate 'Polluting' and 'Non-Conforming' Industries at CPR on 26 October 2010. In-Reply-To: References: <4cc14839.c67cdc0a.065e.790bSMTPIN_ADDED@mx.google.com> Message-ID: <90E0376C-72DA-41B9-AAFF-AD4D7EF4E8A7@chintan-india.org> I'd love to have come along-but looks hard. My colleague Amit will be there. We work in Mundka and it wd have been fun to hear Kaveri. Kaveri : if they record your talk, please let me know. On Oct 25, 2010, at 9:14 AM, Vinay Baindur wrote: > From: PRESIDENT > Subject: Workshop by Dr. Kaveri Gill on Mundka in the Time of 'Development' and Change: The Pressure to Relocate 'Polluting' and 'Non-Conforming' Industries at CPR on 26 October 2010. > > > > As part of our new Urban Workshop Series, the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), Delhi are delighted to invite you to a workshop by Dr. Kaveri Gill, Senior Program Officer, Think Tank Initiative, IDRC SARO on Mundka in the Time of 'Development' and Change: The Pressure to Relocate 'Polluting' and 'Non-Conforming' Industries. > > > Date: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 > > Time: 3:45 pm > > Venue: Conference Hall, Centre for Policy Research, Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi – 110021 > > > Titled, ‘‘Bourgeois environmentalism’, the State, the Judiciary and the ‘Urban Poor’: The Political Mobilization of a Scheduled Caste Market’, the last chapter in the speaker’s book, 'Of Poverty and Plastic’ (OUP 2010) documents the impact on, and the means of resistance of, the informal plastic recycling market located in Mundka to the Supreme Court industrial relocation order of 1999-2000, an outcome of an ‘environmental’ PIL which ruled in favour of the petitioner (M. C. Mehta vs. Union of India). In early March 2010, the Delhi High Court again ruled that an area between Nangloi and Bahadurgarh in northwest Delhi – including Mundka and its plastic recycling units - hosts a number of ‘polluting’ and ‘non-conforming’ industries, as defined by the Master Plan of Delhi and instructed the Delhi government to act immediately in accordance with the Supreme Court order of 1999-2000. Shortly thereafter, the Mundka metro station was formally opened, and a few instances of ‘sabotage’ fires were reported in the recycling market. The talk will outline the trajectory of these events, including the publication of an op-ed by the speaker on 13 March 2010, the immediate response of the petitioner’s advocates to it, and her subsequent attempt – with the help of activist and lawyer friends - to act as amicus curiae on the case. It will seek to relate these happenings to the broader canvas of rapid ‘development’ and change in Delhi, and what it might mean for those living and working literally and figuratively on the edge of the city. > > Kaveri Gill is a development economist and social scientist, by training and sympathy respectively. Since her return to India in 2007, she has been with the Planning Commission and subsequently with UNICEF India, during which time she worked on various aspects of flagship schemes of the Central government. She is currently with IDRC Delhi, as Senior Program Officer for the South Asia region, on their Think Tank Initiative. Her research interests are poverty and deprivation in developing countries, the changing scale, nature and role of the unorganised sector and the political economy of urbanisation, development and the environment in economies of the developing world. Her latest publication is 'Of Poverty and Plastic’ (OUP 2010). Kaveri obtained her PhD from Cambridge University, UK. > > _______________________________________________ > > This is the ninth in a series of Urban Workshops planned by the Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), New Delhi and Centre for Policy Research (CPR). These workshops seek to provoke public discussion on issues relating to the development of the city and try to address all its facets including its administration, culture, economy, society, and politics. For further information, please contact: Marie-Hélène Zerah at marie-helene.zerah at ird.fr or Partha Mukhopadhyay at partha at cprindia.org > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 Bharati Chaturvedi Director Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group C-14, Lajpat Nagar. New Delhi. India. www.chintan-india.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From yanivbin at gmail.com Mon Oct 25 12:13:33 2010 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:13:33 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] india streets BETA blog Message-ID: *FYI* India Streets (Beta) *http://indiastreets.wordpress.com/* Editorial: Start here Posted on 30 September 2010 by Eric Britton, editor *30 September 2010:* The goal of this site at this early point is to see if we can in the month ahead use what you find here as a dynamic test bench and group working area — and then to move beyond this initial sketch frame and fashion it in deliberate steps into a first-rate collaborative blog that will perhaps in time develop into a collective force for sustainable mobility and sustainable cities in India —and also possibly through its good example influence discussions and decisions in other parts of the world as well. Continue reading→ 1 Vote Posted in collaboration , editorial , event , organization , sharing , team work | 1 Comment Share/Transport in India – Threats, Challenges, Opportunities Posted on 22 October 2010 by Eric Britton, editor Sharing is an inherently natural process of establishing a joint use of resources It is a primarily self-initiated and regulated process. In this regard share transport can be seen as an informal, unregulated or loosely regulated, low-cost (even works on micro credit, when loose change is unavailable to complete the transaction), small or medium scale sharing of transport infrastructure (such as roads, streets and spaces) and/or vehicles in time and/or space. Sharing of Transport in this format, across the Indian Sub-continent and indeed many other developing countries in South-East Asia, has always been a part of the informal public transport network and is mostly as old as the city itself. Continue reading → Rate This Posted in collaboration , integration , public transport , sharing | Leave a comment Op-Ed: Hassaan Ghazali on Public Transport in the Punjab Posted on 21 October 2010 by Eric Britton, editor “If you think the NATO oil tankers have a rough time in Pakistan, spare a thought for the masses which use the local transport system. The manner in which buses, rickshaws and strange articulated three-wheelers ply on our roads makes it obvious that there is nothing really ‘public’ about public transport anymore. We have instead condemned the majority of the population, many of whom are poor, women and elderly, to a veritable shakedown staged by the road transport mafia, often in cahoots with our public servants.” Continue reading → 1 Vote Posted in corruption , health , public policy , public transport | 1 Comment Autostop: “Are they angry because . . . “ Posted on 18 October 2010 by Eric Britton, editor “We want to tell a story that reflects some nonsense about our way of life, and that story is about traffic. We tell the story because we believe that tomorrow morning all could live in a more quiet and perhaps even bicycle-centered society if only people believed that modesty can guide political choice.” (Contribution by Ivan Illich and Jean Robert to a Symposium on bicycle freedoms in Berlin, Summer 1992.) Continue reading → Rate This Posted in cars , carsharing , new mobility , philosophy | 1 Comment Honk! Quite incredible they would fall for this. (Anti-social advertising in old mobility) Posted on 14 October 2010 by Eric Britton, editor It is a rare day when anyone gets the matters which concern us all here quite as wrong as our friends from Bosch have it here. (One of a series of particularly egregious advertising abuses on the part of certain old mobility purveyors who just do not seem to be able to resist the temptation.) Continue reading → Rate This Posted in advertizing , aggression , cars , media | Tagged aggression | Leave a comment Graphics: The Social Space Format Posted on 13 October 2010 by Eric Britton, editor The power of images. We need a lot more than walls of words, thick reports and endlessexpert conferences to turn the world toward sustainability. So to help our cause we invite our readers to jump in and share with us striking “social space” graphics which illustrate the world’s streets and all that takes place thereon in many places and in many ways. And lo and behold, from time to time some very nice stuff pops up on the screen in our challenging 940 x 198 pixels format that you will see at the top of this page. Continue reading → Rate This Posted in collaboration , graphics , media | Leave a comment Editorial: Profile Guidelines for Contributors Posted on 11 October 2010 by Eric Britton, editor Dear co-editors. Might one of you be interested to adapt this as needed for India Streets? And if so work with the version that you will find here under the top menu (About/Editorial guidelines). Let me know if this might work for you. Thanks. [image: Editorial: World Streets Profile Guidelines for Contributors]Preparing a World Streets Profile (Program, Project, Event, Tool) World Streets welcomes well written articles that report in a balanced manner to our international readers on the work and accomplishments, and hopes and plans, of outstanding groups, projects and programs in various corners of the world leading the way in face of the tough challenges in our chosen sector — looking for exemplary approaches and tools that have potential for very br … Read More via World Streets Rate This Posted in Profile , collaboration , editorial | Leave a comment Message from America: “Why Leftists Want to Pull You All on Mass Transit” Posted on 10 October 2010 by Eric Britton, editor Fresh from America’s Fox News (“fair and balanced” is their motto), this article will provide our readers with a clue as to how the present electorial shenanigans o’er the land of the free are generating wisdom and expert comments on “best practices” when it comes to transport in cities. And if you should wish to check the public reaction to the author’s stated position, you can fill up your tank by reading the Comments here .Continue reading → -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cugambetta at yahoo.com Tue Oct 26 20:54:04 2010 From: cugambetta at yahoo.com (Curt Gambetta) Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2010 08:24:04 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fw: Invite: Re-look 7 Lecture: Ashish Rajadhyaksha : Territorial Realism: Sun 31 Oct 2010: 6:30 pm In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <980866.98392.qm@web57410.mail.re1.yahoo.com> ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: 1Shanthiroad Studio <1.shanthiroad at gmail.com> To: Suresh Jayaram <1.shanthiroad at gmail.com>; suresh1shanthiroad Sent: Tue, October 26, 2010 9:19:42 AM Subject: Invite: Re-look 7 Lecture: Ashish Rajadhyaksha : Territorial Realism: Sun 31 Oct 2010: 6:30 pm Somberikatte @1 Shanthiroad presents RE- LOOK: Lectures on Indian Art " Territorial Realism " a lecture by Ashish Rajadhyaksha - Senior Fellow, Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, Bangalore Sunday 31 October 2010, 6.30 pm @ 1 Shanthiroad studio/ gallery1 Shanthiroad, Shanthinagar, Bangalore - 560 027 Territorial Realism This presentation inquires into a tradition of arts practice that emerged in Mumbai through the 1970s and 80s, crucially in the visual arts but also including the cinema, theatre and music, when the arts took on several additional responsibilities that we would usually associate with human rights. The argument is primarily located around Sudhir Patwardhan's paintings, juxtaposed with Vijay Tendulkar's theatre, Namdeo Dhasal's poetry and independent films from the time, alongside inquiries into the cultural actions linked to the 1982 textile workers' strike and the claim of the constitutional right of the city's pavement dwellers to shelter. Ashish Rajadhyaksha is Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Culture & Society, Bangalore. He is the co-author of the Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema (1994), and has recently published the book Indian Cinema in the Time of Celluloid: From Bollywood to the Emergency (2009). He has also written extensively on art and was co-curator with Geeta Kapoor of Bombay/ Mumbai at the Century City: Art and Culture in the Modern Metropolis show, Tate Modern, London (2001) --- *RE-LOOK - Lectures on Indian Art This series of lectures will present exciting new research being done in the areas of art history, art practice and visual anthropology in India, each for the first time in Bengaluru. Distinguished art historians and academics will be invited to give illustrated papers on their recent work and interests. There will be a lecture every month, which will take place at the popular artist space 1. Shanthi Road, situated in the heart of the city. *Somberikatte: Somberikatte is a Kannada word meaning idler’s platform - usually the platform around a large tree where people gather to gossip and exchange news. It is a fictional institution, sometimes a forum, sometimes a film production company or the name of a photo studio, used by the artist Pushpamala N. *1.Shanthiroad: The Studio/Gallery at 1.Shanthiroad, Bangalore, is an independent artist run space for art residencies, slide lectures, small conferences, installations, performances, screenings and informal gatherings. Centrally located with an award winning design, it was initiated by Suresh Jayaram and is administered by a not-for-profit trust VAC – Visual Art Collective. ---- www.1shanthiroad.com -- 1.Shanthi Road Studio/Gallery -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "1Shanthiroad studio/Gallery" group. To post to this group, send email to 1shanthiroadstudio at googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to 1shanthiroadstudio+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/1shanthiroadstudio?hl=en. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Ashish-Relook-Lecture-31Oct.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 105614 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: MAP 1SHANTHI.png Type: image/png Size: 33337 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Ashish-Relook-Lecture-31Oct.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 105614 bytes Desc: not available URL: From debsinha at gmail.com Wed Oct 27 08:44:30 2010 From: debsinha at gmail.com (Deb Ranjan Sinha) Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:14:30 -0500 Subject: [Urbanstudy] FW: SEMINAR (Delhi Urban Platform): Dissent and Debate at a Time of Rapid Change (29 Oct.) In-Reply-To: <20101027010019.5D46E7DD949@h-net.msu.edu> References: <20101027010019.5D46E7DD949@h-net.msu.edu> Message-ID: <007001cb7585$133bfdf0$39b3f9d0$@gmail.com> -----Original Message----- From: Kavya Murthy The Delhi Urban Platform invites you to a panel discussion on: "Dissent and Debate at a time of Rapid Change: Experiences from Indian Cities" Oct 29th, 6 pm Centre De Sciences Humaines Lawns, 2 Aurangzeb Road, New Delhi In this panel we ask participants to consider the issues of debate and dissent in contemporary urban development particularly since economic liberalization, based on their long-standing scholarly engagement with the rapid change that Indian cities have experienced in the last two decades. The panel comes in light of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi ­ both a process of city building and a focus for increasing censure. It will bring together scholars from Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai to share their perspectives. Traditionally and analytically, it has been suggested that since economic liberalization, a dichotomous urban form has emerged, usually imagined as the eviction of poorer city residents to make way for newer forms of globalized urban development. Given this, the panel seeks to ask: - Whether this global template for urban upgrading/urban renewal has succeeded, and in what ways? Is the model entirely global? - What is the role debate and dissent have played in its success and failure, and in the recent transformation of Indian cities? - At what sites and spaces has any dissent and debate taken place (for example within and outside of government, through politics, in the media)? To what effect? - What are the forms and discourses that such debate and dissent are characterized by? Is there a model beyond debate and dissent that has emerged as an effective politics in the production of space? - Finally and most significantly, how have governance strategies and policies either accommodated, co-opted or resisted efforts at debate, and in response to what kinds of urban actors? We have with us as panelists: 1. Solomon Benjamin, Associate Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies 2. Véronique Dupont, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Research for Development, Paris 3. Diya Mehra, Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi 4. Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal, Research Fellow, Centre for the Study of India and South Asia, Paris 5. Marie-Hélène Zérah, Senior Research Fellow, Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi Hoping very much to see you all at the discussion! Kavya Murthy Delhi Urban Platform http://delhiurbanplatform.org/ From snagrath at gmail.com Sun Oct 31 23:37:04 2010 From: snagrath at gmail.com (Sumati Nagrath) Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2010 23:37:04 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Inviting applications for the Fellows programme of Urban Mobility India Conference and Expo 2010 Message-ID: Dear All, Applications are invited for fellowship program of the third annual Urban Mobility India Conference and Expo. The event is the flagship initiative of the Ministry of Urban Development under the National Urban Transport Policy and brings together leading policy makers, key decision makers, and top industry leaders with technology experts in the fields of sustainable urban transport including rail and road transport. The fellowship programme The aim of this programme is to bring together a multi disciplinary student and youth body to engage with various stakeholders such as the government, industry and civic societies to publically discuss the challenges that face India’s cities today. is being run to sponsor the participation of 350 young professionals and students (between the ages of 18-30 years) with a demonstrated interest in urban challenges. Fellows will find themselves interacting with top policymakers and industry leaders in urban transport. Details: · The 3rd Annual Conference and Expo will be held from Dec 3rd - Dec 5th 2010 in New Delhi. · The theme for UMI 2010 is “Sustainable Urban Transport : Accessible and Inclusive Cities” Those interested in applying for the programme can write to Nehmat Kaur at nehmat at mirabilisadvisory.com or Nidhi Bhatnagar at nidhi at mirabilisadvisory.com. You can also apply online at www.urbanmobility2010.org The last date for receiving applications is 15 November 2010. Best, Sumati -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: