CPR-CSH Workshop on The Meaningful City* in India: A Discussion by Dr. Himanshu, Prof. Surinder S. Jodhka, Mr. Chandrabhan Prasad, Mr. Rajendra Ravi and Dr. Awadhendra Sharan.
Date: Tuesday, 25 March 2014
Time: 3.45 p.m.
Venue: Conference Hall, Centre for Policy Research, Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110 021
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The Urban Workshop series, held on last working Tuesday of every month, has completed a continuous series of forty nine workshops. For the fiftieth workshop, it is organising a panel discussion that reflects the multi-disciplinary nature of the workshop. It will draw on different disciplines to address a common question.
Today, in India, the city is arguably becoming a more salient focus of social inquiry. Historically, cities have been seen as sites of social emancipation – places where existing mores are questioned. They have also been centres of political expression, often, strongly enough to lead to changes in national political systems – a fact that we are often reminded of in today’s world. Increasingly too, they are being seen as the engines of growth, the loci around which benefits of agglomeration are driving increases in economic productivity, often intermingled with their role as home to the “creative class”. Yet, cities, especially in India, are also sites where it is often common to find inequality, deprivation and lack of opportunity.
So, what is the rationale for today’s city in India? शहर का मकसद क्या है? What kinds of meaning do city dwellers invest in and find in their city? How does this meaning differ across different residents of the city? How has this rationale evolved over time? These are the some of the questions that will be posed to the panel, and it is hoped that this will provoke a lively exchange of views.
Dr. Himanshu is presently at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. • Prof. Surinder S. Jodhka is presently Chair, Centre for the Study of Social Systems School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi • Mr. Chandrabhan Prasad is a journalist and political commentator• Mr. Rajendra Ravi is an urban transport researcher and activist •Dr. Awadhendra Sharan is with the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.
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*with apologies to Denise Scott-Brown “The Meaningful City,” Journal of the American Institute of Architects 43, January 1965, pp. 27-32
This is the fiftieth 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: Jayani Bonnerjee at jayani.bonnerjee@csh-delhi.com, Partha Mukhopadhyay at partha@cprindia.org or Marie-Hélène Zerah at marie-helene.zerah@ird.fr
