NEOLIBERAL URBAN GROWTH AND THE SHOCK CITY OF GURUGRAM-A SPATIO TEMPORAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The land-use transformations have been the dominant factor in the growth story of Gurgaon in the last three decades. Gurugram has emerged as an ‘edge city’ to Delhi with suburbanization features depicting the phenomenon of “Urban Doughnut”, with the transformation of agricultural land into residential and commercial spaces. This newly built region of Gurugram is the center of producers’ services such as financial and accountancy for the region. It also acts as the hub for ‘new industrial space’ geography and destination for the service sector outsourcing. The technological connectivity of the city with the world’s metropolis gives it an edge over self-propelling urban growth in the city region apart from the influence of spatial proximity to Delhi.  The neoliberal transformations in the landuse have the backing of local government policies and the City growth generally follows the formal planning documents of the city. The city has been built on the agricultural land of the hinterland villages which leads to the socio-economic transformations in the interstitial space of these villages.