Urban Poor’s Claims to the City Bhuvaneswari Raman City spaces are an outcome of a complex contests between different groups, including the poor. Such conflicts to claim space and to shape its use have intensified since the nineties, particularly between the poor and the city. Bhuvaneswari Raman’s presentation will explore one such conflict, drawing on an ethnographic research on street traders in the city of Bangalore. Her presentation, elaborates on the gap between street traders’ interests relating to location and localities and the manner in which it is conceptualized in development programmes. Critically engaging with theoretical works that have sought to understand the impact of neo-liberal globalization on Indian cities and the politics of urban informality, it seeks to explain the intra-city differences between street traders in terms of their ability to negotiate their claims within the emerging forms of governmentality and governance. It concludes with an argument for adopting a grounded theory strategy and a focus on everyday practices and politics to comprehend such processes. Bhuvaneswari Raman is trained in architecture, urban planning and social sciences and currently holds a research consulting position with the London School of Economics (LSE), UK. She has held research positions at the LSE, UK and has consulted for academic institutions including the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, and the University of Birmingham, UK as well as international development agencies including the World Bank and the UNCHS. She has experience with implementing urban poverty alleviation schemes having worked with the Bangalore Urban Poverty Alleviation Programme. Currently, she is working on the impact of the squatter relocation programme in India. She was educated at the School of Planning and Architecture in Chennai, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok and the London School of Economics, London This is the eighth 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
