Bérénice Bon
PhD
Thesis defended in October 2015
Institutional affiliation(s): EHESS
Professional contact information
berenicebon5[at]gmail.com
Dissertation director: Loraine Kennedy
PhD program: EHESS - Territories, Societies, Development
Initial registration: 2010
When the Metro Meets the City. Scales and Scopes for Action of a Megaproject in Delhi
By investigating the conception and implementation of a megaproject (the construction of infrastructure for a metro-type transportation system along with concomitant real-estate projects) in a southern city, this dissertation has a double aim. It seeks to contribute to a better understanding both of the changes and of the forms of continuity present in the current phase of the restructuring of Indian cities, with regard to governance, urbanism and urban planning, to the management of the social effects of urban policy and to the meaning given to the megaproject in the production of the city. There is currently a boom in the metro industry in India: more than twenty projects are underway, which require considerable financial investments and generate huge construction works, with significant social and spatial consequences. While the literature views megaprojects as emblematic of neoliberal reforms in urban management, the case of the Delhi metro shows that the impetus provided by the central State is decisive, and asserts a state model for maintaining execution and efficient decision-making by imposing a framework for private investments using instruments, spatial engineering and political re-scaling processes. The role of agencies specialized in a particular urban development sector—acting under the direct control of the central government and regional governments—is more and more important. The case of the Delhi metro and its funding through land rents reveals significant conflicts and rivalries in the public sphere surrounding the implementation of these funding instruments—disagreements on the guiding principles—and these conflicts remain arbitrated by the central State, without any real inter-agency dialogue. In these moments of conflict, negotiation and adaptation, the dominant standard for handling these urban problems is that of technical engineering, which is not confined to the specialized agencies, but is also legitimized by the highest political authorities, thereby disqualifying those whose knowledge, skills and approaches do not manage to impose themselves in the debates. This has significant consequences for how the impacts of these megaprojects are managed, a task which ends up being left to the local level, to elected officials and urban organizations, that is to say outside of the arena in which decisions regarding large-scale urban projects are made.
This dissertation is conducted as part of the European program Chance2Sustain and is funded by a grant from the Fondation Palladio.
Presentations at conferences or workshops
“Contrasting Spatial Patterns of Urban Development with Governance Patterns in Metropolitan Delhi,” Second International Conference on Regional and Urban Development, University of Sun Yat-Sen, Guangzhou, 12-14 December 2014
“Scalar Politics in the Construction of Metropolitan Delhi. Shifting Patterns of Public and Private Engagement in Mass Transport and Economic Development,” with Loraine Kennedy, City Futures, Paris, 18-20 June 2014
“Concevoir et financer une grande infrastructure de transport à Delhi: gouvernance, modèles urbains, et ingénierie technique,” CEIAS graduate student conference, EHESS, 2013, 26 June
“Normes et participation dans la production de grands projets d'infrastructure à Delhi,” junior scholars workshop entitled “Des villes et des normes: regards croisés,” Université Paris Est, Institut d'Urbanisme de Paris, 2013, 24 January
“Macro-Politics and Micro-Politics around the Process of Property Developments Undertaken by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The Case of the Large-Scale Project Shastri Park,” AJEI Junior Scholars Workshop in Social Sciences, 14th Edition, Mumbai, 2012, 11-15 March
“Les grands projets dans la stratégie de ville compétitive en Inde. La place des savoirs et des informations dans la production des espaces urbains” with Loraine Kennedy and Aurélie Varrel, conference entitled “Villes compétitives à quel prix ?” Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, 2012, 19-21 January
“Issues of Governance within the Contexts of New Mega Infrastructure Projects in Delhi,” Open Day for University Students: “Researching Delhi? Sites, Methods, Perspectives,” Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities (New Delhi), 2012, 21 February
“When Metro Lines Produce New Territories(?): The Strategy of Property Development Undertaken by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation,” Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities (New Delhi), 2011, 21 November
“New Condominium Apartments, and their Interaction within the City: The Case of Projects in Delhi, India,” International RC21 Conference, “The Struggle to Belong,” Amsterdam, 2011, 7-9 July
“Large-Scale Infrastructure Projects and New Dynamics of Real-Estate Production: The Khyber Pass Metro Depot Project in Delhi, India,” EADI-DSA annual conference, “Rethinking Development in an Age of Scarcity and Uncertainty – New Values, Voices and Alliances for Increased Resilience,” York, 2011, 19-22 September
Publications
“Centre commercial” entry in F. Landy (ed.), Dictionnaire de l’Inde contemporaine, Armand Colin, Paris 2010
Articles
Bon Bérénice, “Métro mode d'emploi: détours sur les chantiers de Delhi,” ‘Mondes Indiens’ file, online journal Urbanités, April 2015
Bon Bérénice, “A New Megaproject Model and a New Funding Model. Traveling Concepts and Local Adaptations around the Delhi Metro,” Habitat International, Elsevier, Vol 45, Part 3, 223-230, January 2015
Bon Bérénice, “Urban Mass Transit Rail Systems in India,” European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), May 2014
Book chapters
(forthcoming, accepted) Bon Bérénice, “Megaprojects, Rules and Relationship(s) with the Law: The Metro Rail in East Delhi,” Exploring Urban Change in South Asia, Springer, 2015
Bon Bérénice, Kennedy Loraine, Varrel Aurélie, “Les grands projets dans la stratégie de ville compétitive en Inde. La mobilisation des informations et des savoirs dans la production des espaces urbains,” in Métropoles en débat: (dé)constructions de la ville compétitive, A. Le Blanc, J.L. Piermay, P. Gervais-Lambony, M. Giroud, C. Pierdet, S. Rufat (eds), Paris, Presses Universitaires de Paris Ouest, April 2014
Contributions to the working papers of the Chance2sustain project
Working papers available online: http://www.chance2sustain.eu:
Thematic Report, Travelling Concepts in Megaproject Building, Loraine Kennedy (dir.), EADI, 2014
Thematic Report, Engaging with Urban Sustainability Issues in Delhi, Dr. Sridharan (dir.), EADI, 2013
Field Report, Large-Scale Projects Shaping Urban Futures, Loraine Kennedy (dir.), EADI, 2013
Field Report, “The Development of Kalyan Dombivili: Fringe City in a Metropolitan Region,” by Isa Baud (dir.), EADI, 2011
Literature Review, “The Politics of Large-Scale Economic and Infrastructure Projects in Fast-Growing Cities of the South. Examining Knowledge-Management Systems and Governance,” Loraine Kennedy (dir.), EADI, 2011
Last update: 25 November 2015
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