Lévêque, Rachna Gupta; (2023) Governance, power and resilience in planning for urban density in Mumbai. Doctoral thesis (Eng.D), UCL (University College London).

Preview

Text LEVEQUE_EngDThesis_FINAL-230223.pdf - Accepted Version Download (17MB) | Preview

Abstract

This research investigates three intersecting policy arenas relating to urban density to gain insights into urban governance in Mumbai. The policy arenas each comprise debates prominently framed around urban density: the 2014-2034 Development Plan for Greater Mumbai (high-density nodes); the Eastern Waterfront redevelopment project (decongesting Mumbai); and Slum Redevelopment and Rehabilitation policies (overcrowding). Specifically, the research investigates how stakeholders engage in - and seek to influence – each of these policy arenas, and what implication that has for their own resilience and that of the city as a social-ecological urban system (SEuS). Engaging with literatures on social-ecological resilience and urban governance, this research adopts a ‘governance for resilience’ frame to explore how actors and knowledges come together to debate and shape policy outcomes, and what practices emerge to shape the governance landscape. The empirical data gives evidence to the idea that planning for urban density in Mumbai is neither a benign nor rational policy manoeuvre, but it polarises stakeholders and places emphasis on divisions between opposing interests, public, private and civic. Investigating the way in which urban density is framed and debated within policy arenas sheds light on the ways in which urban density is politicized and governed by mediations, contestations, tactics, and evolutions within the panarchy of governance. Elaborating these reveals the polarisations in the governance landscapes around urban density in Mumbai and informs how power plays out in governing for resilience. The research reveals that fragmentations in formal governance are overcome by experimentation and innovation at the grassroots. It argues that, even when remembrance (top-down inertia) dominates, active revolt (bottom-up self-organisation, experimentation, and protest) plays a role in building the resources for resilience. Lastly, it shows how - through the actions of international players, internationally dominant discourses, political influences and the power of the State (remembrance) - the city itself is rendered powerless to govern its future. Thus, this research identifies characteristics of governance that support (or hinder) resilience at multiple scales, providing an indication of what 'governance for resilience' may look like. In addition, it provides a perspective on how planners and political scientists might understand and engage with resilience, for the mutual benefit of both areas of scholarship.

Download activity - last month

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as XMLCSVJSON

Archive Staff Only

View Item