1st Edition
Kolkata — The Colonial City in Transition Reflections in Geographies of Urban India
This book explores the spatial characteristics of the city of Kolkata in India in terms of the physical, economic, social, political, and environmental aspects of urban geography, and focuses upon the inherent processes that impact its transformation. It discusses different facets of urban geography and highlights the contemporary challenges of a major primate city in South Asia, which represents the conflicts between the traditional and the modern, the rich and the poor, the skyscrapers and the shanties. With its detailed empirical research and mapping exercises based on real-time remote sensing data, the book offers an understanding of a range of contemporary urban issues. It examines the spatial consequences of urban sprawl, land-use changes, ecological crisis, climate change, critical disasters, dynamics of the peri-urban interface, neighborhood restructuring, debates around heritage conservation, housing poverty, gray spaces, governance and the political landscape of the city.
This book will be useful to students, teachers, and researchers of geography, especially human geography and urban geography, urban studies, urban development and planning, regional planning, social geography, governance, ecology, economics, and South Asian studies. It will also benefit urban planners, development professionals, and those interested in the study of the city of Kolkata and its transformations.
Foreword by Peter Nijkamp
Preface — Introducing Kolkata: A Quaint Window to the Global South
Part I: Rethinking Histories of Space-Place-People
1. From Colonial City to Globalising City? The Far-from-Complete Spatial Transformation of Calcutta: An Update after 25 Years
Sanjoy Chakravorty
2. Envisioning a Sustainable Future for Kolkata: Making a Case for Heritage-led Urban Regeneration
Nilina Deb-Lal
3. Urban Displacements in Kolkata: A Historical Appraisal
Binay Krishna Pal
4. Restructuring Urban Space: How Inclusive are Neighbourhood Transformations?
Bikramjit Roy and Sumana Bandyopadhyay
5. Gray Spacing and Quiet Encroachment of the Street Vendors in Kolkata
Swasti Vardhan Mishra
6. Housing Poverty in Kolkata: Can Rental Market Reforms be the Viable Solution?
Ismail Haque, Dipendra Nath Das and Priyank Pravin Patel
7. The Chequered Journeys of the Traditional Houses of North Kolkata, the Older City
Utpal Roy, Subham Pramanick and Anusua Adhikari
8. Evolution of a Political Landscape: Revolution to Consolidation and Beyond
Aritra Chakraborty
Part II: Ekistics of a Deltaic City
9. The Built-up Horizon: Urban Sprawl and Emerging Core–Periphery Dynamics
Sk. Mafizul Haque
10. Differential Transformations of the Eastern and Southern Peri-Urban Interface
Sayantani Sarkar
11. Surface Temperature Mapping to Assess Local Climate Zones: A Study using WUDAPT
Satyabrata Mandal, Sujoy Sadhu, Joy Rajbanshi, Pradip Patra, Anwesha Haldar, Amir Khan, Lakshminarayan Satpati
12. Urban Hydrology of Calcutta: Evolution from the Colonial Period
Kalyan Rudra and Nilangshu Bhusan Basu
13. Transformation of Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics of East Kolkata Wetlands
Prativa Karmakar
14. An Assessment of Ecosystem Services of Urban Water Bodies
Debarpita Banerjee
Part III: Critical Planning Issues of the City
15. Socio-Demographic Peculiarities of COVID-19 Patients: Experiences of a Level- 3 Dedicated COVID Hospital of Kolkata
Rohit Bannerji and Parama Raychaudhuri Bannerji
16. Changing Scenario of Government Primary Schools: Myths and Realities
Dola Karmakar, Utpal Roy and Indranil Maity
17. Towards Disaster-Resilient Slums in Kolkata
Ranita Karmakar and Lakshmi Sivaramakrishnan
18. Climate Adaptation Planning for the City: The Case of Cyclone Amphan
Parama Raychuadhuri Bannerji
19. Municipal Finance: A Study of Structural Changes in Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Chandreyee Som and Santanu Ghosh
Biography
Sumana Bandyopadhyay is Professor of Geography at University of Calcutta and President of Regional Science Association, India. Her research interests are in human geography and urban geography. She has co-edited five volumes under the Contemporary South Asian Studies Series in association with South Asian Democratic Federation, an EU think tank, and an independent volume on Housing Accessibility in South Asia. She has undertaken several research projects including UGC-DRS, World Bank short-term consultancy and collaborative research with UKERI (Newton Fund), Deakin University, Habitat University, and has been invited to join the InteRAI Fellows Network towards modification of InteRAI MH tools for the Indian context. As RSA President, she organises international events, creating platforms for young researchers to build research networks and pursue collaborative learning. She worked as Member, Council at Large of the RSA International and presently is member of the Council of Pacific Regional Science Organisation (PRSCO). She is on the Editorial Boards of Regional Science Policy and Practice, Asian Journal of Regional Science and the Geographical Review of India, and is Life Fellow of the Indian Society for Ecological Economics, Regional Science Association India, Institute of Indian Geographers, and Member of The Regional Science Academy.
‘In today's climate-risked and uncertain world, the past and present of the city must be understood. This learning will determine the practice of sustainability and liveability in our habitats. This book is that story of transition, of one of the greatest cities of our world. It needs to be read so that we can know the why and what of Kolkata and how it must evolve in the future.’
Sunita Narain, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, India
‘In capturing the dynamics of Kolkata through history, spatial fragmentation, architectural transformation, waves of migration, displacements, environmental challenges, development deficits and deprivation, employing deductive and inductive tools of analysis, the volume does not lose emotion, passion and cultural context. It talks of the past not just to reminiscence its glory but to contextualize the present and underline the need to transcend a few features to strengthen the human face of the city.’
Amitabh Kundu, Distinguished Fellow, Research Information System for Developing Countries; Senior Fellow, Sustainable Cities and Transport program, WRI Indi; and former Professor and Dean, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
