This paper describes the implications of the land acquisition process in a village in the Gurgaon district of Haryana state in northwestern India. Gurgaon city, the district capital, is emerging as a major industrial hub, its growth made possible by the large-scale acquisition of agricultural lands by the government. The expansion of the city has altered patterns of rural natural resource use, created social, cultural and economic changes, and bred resentment among many periurban residents against urban authorities. The current top-down policies for land acquisition need to be revisited and replaced by more participative processes in which landowners and peri-urban residents themselves are involved. The speedy disbursement of reimbursements for lands acquired, and the spread of livelihood generation activities, can make processes of urbanization more inclusive and participatory. Improving transportation and connectivity to the city will be essential for sustaining new peri-urban livelihoods.
A B S T R AC T This paper describes the peri-urban interface in two villages -ShahpurKhurd and Karnera -located in the state of Haryana in north-west India, and close to Delhi, India's capital. The paper argues that devising policy interventions for the peri-urban interface requires explicit attention to strengthening rural-urban linkages that materialize through the two-way fl ow of goods and services between villages and urban centres. Improving transportation and connectivity have a clear role in this, and this requires collaboration across not only rural and urban governments but also across authorities at various levels -village, state and national. As the peri-urban interface emerges, there is a need for protecting common property resources that are diverted to other activities and purposes, or to provide an alternative to those who have conventionally depended on them for their sustenance. Finally, improving the quality of life in peri-urban settlements requires explicit attention to the siting and location of factories, which can adversely impact the quality of life of peri-urban dwellers.
K E Y W O R D SIndia / institutions / livelihoods / peri-urban / sustainability / urban development
Based on research in peri-urban areas, this paper explores questions of water justice in the context of emerging global cities. With the growth of large cities, authorities focus on meeting their water needs through infrastructure expansion and supply augmentation. The changing water needs and priorities of peri-urban locations, which provide land and water for urban expansion, receive scant attention. This paper looks at changing patterns of water use between rural and urban uses, based on research in peri-urban Gurgaon, an emerging outsourcing and recreation hub of North West India. It describes the diversity of ways in which peri-urban residents lose access to water as the city expands. These processes raise important questions about water justice, about the politics of urban expansion, and the implicit biases about whom these cities are meant for.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.