For 21st Century Democratic Cities

Debates over plans for Delhi should be part of a larger discussion on reimagining urbanism

- Sanjeev Sanyal

Every city embodies the socio-economic philosophy of the times. Older cities will often contain the remnants of past intellectual frameworks that marked the evolution of the city. This is certainly true of the many Delhis that dwell within the National Capital Region. With the debates currently raging about the city’s Central Vista Project (CVP) and the newly unveiled Draft Master Plan 2041, therefore, it is important to engage with the underlying philosophy of the proposed changes rather than supporting or opposing proposals based on current political preferences.

In late 17th century, Shajehanabad (ie today’s Old Delhi) was a city of palaces but also of squalid slums. This reflected a feudal hierarchy culminating in the grand palace inside Red Fort. When the British built New Delhi after 1911, they envisaged a different hierarchy – that is of a global colonial empire projecting power through an outsized Viceregal Palace (now Rashtrapati Bhawan) as well North and South Blocks. The imagery is literally of an all-powerful Empire peering down on the subjects from Raisina Hill.

During the socialist period, Delhi became a city of civil servants. This is reflected in the buildings of RK Puram and other government housing colonies, all graded by bureaucratic hierarchy. The liberalisation of the economy after 1991, then led to the boom-town of Gurgaon with its laissez-faire energy but also a whiff of the robber baron developer. A similar history can be written for other Indian cities to explain how they evolved.