The political will to ‘modernize’ transport in the National Capital Region of Delhi (NCR) is part of Government of India’s efforts to liberalize the sector nationwide since the 1980s. Nevertheless, the story of the sector’s reforms is mixed. Some areas (aviation) witness steady reforms while others such as road transportation decelerate. Within the road transport sector, while highway contruction booms, urban mass transit is subject to diverse experimentations with varying results. Based on an ongoing research of passenger transport in NCR, Dalia Wahdan examines the provenance of and the meanings attached to the concept of ‘integrated transport’ (IT) and compares its basic tenets in NCR with the experiences and perceptions of transport operators and argues that conceptions of IT and its associated institutional structures exacerbate already inequitable provision of transport infrastructure and services. Policy frameworks and IT institutions imposed upon an already complex governmental structure create more ‘stakes’ and multiply the array of agents and politicized interests within the sector. While IT might be advocated on technical terms, such as its potential for sustainable urban environment, this system will negatively affect livelihoods, particularly of those working in various transport operationsDalia Wahdan is an Assistant Professor at Foundation for Liberal and Management Education (FLAME), Pune. She authored Governing Livelihoods in Liberalizing States (2010) and Politics of Planning and Governance in Egypt’s New Settlements (forthcoming). She worked with Government of Egypt on programs of infrastructure privatization and with Municipality of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the design of Jeddah Plan and Participatory Budgeting. She served in various capacity building programs with international organizations. Dr. Wahdan was educated at The American University in Cairo, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and Jawaharlal Nehru University.This is the twelfth 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@ird.fr or Partha Mukhopadhyay at partha@cprindia.org
