Development & Displacement: The East-West Metro Project
This is a case study preview. To access the full case study and teaching materials, navigate to the case library and enter your password. If you need a password, please contact us.
Summary
This case discusses development and displacement in the context of Kolkata, India. Compared to other Indian cities, Kolkata’s economy has remained stagnant partly because of insufficient transportation infrastructure. Students will take on the role of a project planner advising the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited, who is building a new subway line in the city connecting the airport, center city, and suburban areas. The East-West Metro Line would be the second subway line in the city and is meant to alleviate automobile traffic and provide much-needed infrastructure to support the urban economy. Despite the positive impact the metro line could make, land needed to construct the subway is to be taken from an informal settlement. This case requires students to explore the social, environmental, and economic concerns that accompany making difficult decisions in development planning.
Learning Objectives
Understand the frequent tensions between urban development and informality.
Consider the rights of long-term “illegal residents” to their homes and community.
Consider the common trade-offs in large-scale infrastructure projects between individual and collective good.
Describe some of the main actors involved in infrastructure development projects, both internal and external.
Understand the influence that donor agencies and organizations have in development projects.
Case Materials
Instructor Version
Student Version
PowerPoint Presentation
Suggested Readings
Gandy, M. (2006). Planning, Anti-Planning and the Infrastructure Crisis Facing Metropolitan Lagos. Urban Studies 43(2): 371-396. Read the abstract
Roy, A. (2009). Why India Cannot Plan Its Cities: Informality, Insurgence and the Idiom of Urbanization. Planning Theory 8(1): 76-87. Read the abstract
Weinstein, L. (2013). ‘One Man Handled’: Fragmented Power and Political Entrepreneurship in Globalizing Mumbai. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 38(1): 14-35. Read the abstract
ACCESS THIS CASE
To download these case materials, including the instructor version, student version, and PowerPoint presentation, request access at the link below:
