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Spatial Inequalities in Bengaluru

Introduction

What we can notice till the 18th century Bengaluru was lack of clear functional differentiation of their land use pattern with most of the land in the city being put into multiple use such as industry, market ,residence, administrative and military purpose. The streets were narrow and the city had multi-functional economic activities. The Pre industrial city is still observable in Bengaluru. The present Avenue Road was the place where Kempegowda first started the building the city. Even to this day in spite of globalisation, most of the areas within the Pete have retained their strong presence of community based occupations. Avenue Road(old Doddapete road) retains its traditional trade in garments and textile, jewellery and pawn brokering, Krishna Rajendra(KR)Marketis known for trade in vegetables, fruits flowers, iron and steel utensils and sultan pete traders in paper and in Cubbon pete trade is in textile.

Colonial Period

With the British entering Bangalore city it led to the creation of a new twin city one called pete and the other Civil and Military Station with its distinct cultural formations. Bangalore as colonial city was a distinct urban form resulting from the dominance of British. The spacious European style layout or towns were more strictly zoned, so that space was designed and developed for single use. Thus residence , workshops, and religious structure retained their physical autonomy in these parts of the cantonment. We can notice that these imposed colonial characteristics continued to the present day. Thus the Indian rulers in the 'pete' or the British in the Cantonment region, their policies , attitude , actions, and inventions have shaped our city creating multiple layers of identity.

Post Independent Period

After independence , taking advantage of the historical urban conditions and the industrial policy enunciated by the Government of India in 1948 accelerated the place of industrial expansion in Bangalore. the availability of electric power for industrial consumption comparatively cheap labour and transport facilities resulted in both public and private actors to invest in industries and produce the space in Bangalore which became tool of social power. During the 1950's the Government established large public sector units.

Contemporary History

The establishment of public sector enterprises and knowledge based production facilities in the 1950s and 1960s contributed to Bengaluru emerging as India's 'Science city'. So when India liberalised its economy in the early 1990's,Bengaluru was already a centre of scientific research and development and had a nascent technology sector. It was the establishment of an office of the central government's Software Technology Parks of India(STPI)in the Electronic city campus in 1991 that led to the transformation of Electronic city from an electronic hub to an IT hub. Over the last decade, the IT industry has been further promoted by various enabling policies such as the granting of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) status to certain entities and exempting the sector from key labour regulations. Thus Bangalore was transformed into 'Silicon Valley of India'

Spatial Inequality in Bengaluru City

The opportunity created due to the growth of Bengaluru city and the industries on the outskirt of the city have lead to large number of people migrating to Bengaluru city both from within Karnataka and from other states. The increase in population led to the expansion of the city. The consequence of this growth has put great pressure on infrastructure and resources like water supply, energy, land etc. the local body responsible for governance of the city Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike is facing a severe challenge in delivering basic services to the population.

Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board(BWSSB), Bengaluru Development Authority(BDA). Lake Development Authority(LDA), Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company, The Karnataka slum Development Board(KSDB), Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board(KIADB) these bodies do not have elected representatives and are under the control of the state government. The state government will instruct these bodies to undertake development work in Bengaluru which is more essential for the growth of the corporate sector.

The dominant economic groups and citizens headed task forces like Bengaluru Agenda Task Force(BATF), the Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure Development (ABIDe), A Bangaluru Political Action Committee (B.Pac) and Electronic city Industrial Township Authority(ELCITA) an industrial body with municipal powers including taxation have played a important role in influencing the government of the city. These groups in actual function more in favour of the corporate interest and providing world class infrastructure. These citizens headed task forces are participating in the policy making process of the government thus undermining the role of elected representatives in policy making. This way the poor and vulnerable section of the society is deprived of the basic amenities.

Conclusion

Bengaluru has two parallel economies , the local economy and corporate economy. This is because the majority of the population lack power in the decision making process that influence their lives in the city. It is important to include the citizens in the planning and development of the city instead of all forms of change been forced from above. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike which is responsible for providing basic facilities for the city is rendered ineffective due to the Government both national and state along with parastatal bodies interfering in the day to day functioning , especially in deciding the infrastructure need of the city. This interference can be curbed only if the BBMP is strengthened as per the 74th Amendments to the constitution in order to bring about greater decentralisation and increase the involvement of the community in planning and implementing schemes and, thus , increase accountability.

Reference

"Lefebvre Henry , The production of Space, Transl.D Nicholoson Smith, Blackwell PublisherLtd, Oxford,UK, 1991"