Search results

Amidst all the scramble of global investment capital, climate change and SDGs, there is an explicit nod toward the exigency of getting cities to function right. 'Political deficit' has characterised the urban development literature across the emerging and the developed economies. This is largely reflected in the absence of engagement across civic and community groups in dealing with proposed changes being orchestrated in the cities. For example, the announcement of Belfast to Bangalore, Deyang to Surat and Durban to Rio De Janeiro as the Rockefeller Foundation sponsored 'Resilient Cities' is a case in point. At the same time, the UN Habitat III- Urban (2016) has mandated to 'Leaving No One Behind'. Getting the city to engage with urban managers have become a challenge towards inclusion and cohesion of city policy framework. The challenge is for maintaining distributional justice and at the same time managing the integrity of the metropolitan cities. This paper will seek to establish the key contours of critical urban development debates by drawing examples of urban governance and citizenships globally. Getting the social, the cultural and the political right is a key challenge in framing the principles of trust and collaboration within the framework of cities. Therefore, situating the local in the transformation of urban governance is critical for the cities of India. Keywords: Subsidiarity, participation, citizenship, civic engagement, sovereignty, managerialism and entrepreneurialism, civic society and civil society

Decolonisation entailed the end of and a reversal of European imperialist expansionist policies in the developing world. On the other hand, postcolonial studies close affinity to post-structuralism has resulted in a complete amnesia about the incompleteness of the project of decolonisation of the erstwhile colonial world. This paper outlines the key critique of postcolonialism being too engrossed in the theoretical and cultural concerns at the expense of the political and ethical responsibilities during the transfer of power. Postcolonialism itself may have become a new colonising, hegemonic discourse. Indeed, the trauma of decolonisation cannot be brushed under the carpet or be wished away in the frenetic action towards mindless theorisation. The passing of the empire or decolonisation in fact did not result in the end of neo-colonial ambitions. The rise and fall of hegemonic states in the developing world provides opportunities to reflect and review our own positioning in relation to theories. Theorising the 'decolonial' is as important as their postcolonial interpretations. Today, postcolonialism continues to exhibit its complicity with neoliberal market economy.