Understanding the role of megaprojects in building the world class city

8/7/2019 Understanding the role of megaprojects in building the world class city

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/understanding-the-role-of-megaprojects-in-building-the-world-class-city 1/8

Understanding the role of megaprojects in making the world class city: the case of Sabarmati riverfrondevelopment project in Ahmedabad

0. Introduction

Mumbai wishes to be compared with Shanghai, Bangalore with Singapore and New Delhi with Dubai. Theswishes are rooted in the hope that these Indian cities, which are touted as the representatives of the third world

become the world class cities which would then be the important nodes of the global financial systems.What has been decided by the few operating within these cities is that the only way to achieve this goal is by

the means of massive scales of infrastructure development. This idea in turn has given birth to the largnumber of megaprojects that exist in this country today. My objective in carrying out this research would be t

show the correlation/relationship between the idea of the ³world class city´ and the creation of these larginfrastructure projects or the ³megaprojects´. I wish to understand the trajectory and dynamics of thi

phenomenon by looking at the specific case of the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project that is beintaken up at the city of Ahmadabad.

Riverfront development projects have been taken up at most of the large cities all over the world. Most of thescities have historically dependent on the riverfront for its growth and development. The riverfront project

have been incorporated in these cities in many different contexts and also served many varying purposes. Eve

though they have many aspects that may differ in principle, each entails a certain number of similarities. Thriverfront has been the stage for changing nature of these cities. Thus when such a project is taken up in a citylike Ahmadabad, it becomes important to understand the underlying factors that induce the development of th

riverfront and what would such a project means for this city.

1. Background and justification

The Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project is conceived and being implemented as a pioneering multi

benefit project with significant urban transformation potential. The project involves development of thSabarmati Riverfront in Ahmadabad city, which includes reclamation of 212 ha of land from riverbed

construction of embankments and roads, laying of water supply lines, trunk sewers and pumping stationdevelopment of gardens and promenades along the riverfront, sale and development of reclaimed land an

rehabilitating and resettlement of slums along the river.

The Sabarmati River Front Development Corporation Ltd. (SRFDCL) is the Special Purpose Vehicle Compan

(SPV) wholly owned by Ahmadabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) created to implement the 9 km Sabarmariverfront on a Build Maintain, Operate and Transfer (BMOT) basis. The SPV model is being used to avoid th

delays associated with municipal decision making, introduce ease in raising resources, and givimplementation efforts a focus.

The riverbed land, which was originally held by the Government of Gujarat, is transferred to AMC. AMC ha

in turn granted development rights to SRFDCL for the reclaimed land. Out of a total of 163 ha of reclaimeland, 46 ha will be utilized towards roads, 15 ha for rehabilitation and resettlement, 22 ha for commercia

development, 12 ha for residential development and the rest for public utilities and common facilities. It iestimated that this project is to bring many benefits. The proposed project could recharge ground wate

resources owing to the continuous presence of water in the river. Ahmadabad is heavily dependent on grounwater to meet its water requirements, could decongest the major north - south road (Ashram road) by providin

additional linkages parallel to the river. It could also provide additional linkages between two banks for interriver traffic. This would provide continuous links from the fringes of the city; say from the airport, to the city

centre. In the SRFD project, 'afflux bunds' or embankments are being constructed. This could eliminate th



annual flood, affecting low lying areas of Ahmadabad. The urban poor communities residing in slums on th banks of Sabarmati River would be shifted to another location where they would be given constructed house

The rehabilitation packages will thus improve their economic well being, while eliminating the risk of floowashes out. This is expected to make the task of flood management much simpler. Ahmadabad lacks adequat

public and open space. The proposed project consist over 40 hectares of land to be developed as parks angardens and space for cultural facilities. And finally the question of the ³beautification of the city´ is talke

about.

Since 1997 the project has undergone many incremental changes have been made to the project and today th

project envisages an area of development as large as 212 h.a. This constant change in the plan has escalated

the project cost from Rs 361 crore in 1997 to an estimated Rs 1,100 crore today. Of the total reclaimeland, SRFDCL plans to sell only 21 per cent for residential and commercial purposes, the rest of the lan

will be used to set up promenades, informal markets, gardens and to extend the road network, with 10 pecent to rehabilitate slum dwellers. According to the 1997epc study, of the est imated 10,000 familie

living along the riverbank, 4,400 were to be resettled and rehabilitated. In 2003, the Gujarat governmentransferred land to AMC, stipulating that resettlement and rehabilitation was t

follow EPC recommendations. To update these estimates in August that year, a survey by Swapan Garaiof the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurship Management, Mumbai, established that th

number of slum households along the riverbank was 14,555, of which 6,293 needed to b

rehabilitated. No proper census of hutments has been done with the plan grossly under-estimating th present need by at least 10,000 units claimed a representative of the riverfront dwellers' association fo

rehabilitation. Project proponents vehemently disagree and say everyone in the project-affected area wil be adequately represented. Besides, the plan assures slum dwellers secure tenure, access to road

infrastructure services and a 2-3 km proximity to their present location, to maintain livelihood sources.

This project is being envisaged as a development that is set to change the face of the city of Ahmadabad

It is set to become the ³identity´ of the city. Bring the city on the map of various financial institutions.

Research problem

Often in the race to gain the status of the world class city, many urban authorities have taken up thconstruction of the megaprojects. These megaprojects have many visions for the city at the outset, on

being to change the urban form of the city in question. It does eventually end up doing so, but in th process there are many issues that crop up. What I seek to find an answer to is that whether the worl

class city discourse has any legitimacy with respect to the ideas of environmental justice, social justiceeconomic justice and spatial justice. These megaprojects today remain restricted to the mirror images o

the interest of the hegemonic class. In the process I would like to critically analyse the world class citdiscourse and the role of the urban megaprojects in it.

Such a megaproject is the Sabarmati Riverfront development project in Ahmedabad. By following th

trajectory of its development closely and by interacting with the key stakeholders involved in the pro jec

I seek to understand the discursive politics of urban development in Ahmedabad.



2. Research objectives

y To critically analyse approaches that promote the creation of the world class city

y To understand the significance of the megaprojects in the world class city discourse

y To understand the contestations emerging from the SRFDP and in its making Ahmedabad world class city

3.

Research questionsy What are the components of the world class city?

y How is the world class city different from the world/ global city?

y What is the difference in the just city and the world class city?

y What is the role of the megaprojects in the world class city?

y How do the megaprojects affect the existing urban fabric of cities?

y What are the emerging contestations from the creation of various different megaprojects?

y What are the implications of a project such as the SRFDP for the city of Ahmedabad?

y Who are the various stakeholders who are to be affected by the project?

y Who is involved in envisioning this project and who is to be affected adversely by itimplementation?

Conceptual Framework:

World

Class

City

Economic justice

Spatial

Justice

SocialJustice

Environme

ntal justice

UrbanMegaprojects

Riverfront

Development in

Ahmedabad

Planning

Envisioning

Design



The above diagram is the conceptual framework of my dissertation. I am trying to depict how in the making othe world class city, the planning, envisioning and the design of urban megaprojects become very crucia

Normally, the questions of how this discourse of the world class city is going to address the issues oenvironmental, social, economic and spatial justice are left unanswered. I seek to try and address thes

concerns by looking at the envisioning of the riverfront development in Ahmedabad as an urban megaprojecwhich aims to make Ahmedabad a world class city.

Research Design

. Objective Literature for reference search questions

To critically analyseapproaches that promote

the creation of the worldclass city

World class city discourse (Sassen,

Hall, Friedman and Woolf)y What are the components of the world

class city?

y How is the world class city differentfrom the world/global city?

y What is the difference in the just cityand the world class city?

Solomon benjamin, Goutam bhan,(reimaging world class cities)

To understand thesignificance of themegaprojects in the world

class city discourse

Megaprojects (B. Flyvberg) y What is the role of the megaprojectsin the world class city?

y How do the megaprojects affect theexisting urban fabric of cities?

y What are the emerging contestationsfrom the creation of various differentmegaprojects?

Academic literature available onvarious waterfront development

projects across the world(Philadelphia, Baltimore, Istanbul)

To understand the

contestations emergingfrom the SRFDP and in itsmaking Ahmedabad a

world class city

Project proposal of SRFDP and other

official documents

y What are the implications of a project

such as the SRFDP for the city ofAhmedabad?

y Who are the various stakeholders whoare to be affected by the project?

y Who is involved in envisioning this project and who is to be affecteadversely by its implementation?

Planning in Ahmedabad (D.

Mahadevia, R.Desai)

Vision for world class cities in India

(S.Benjamin,

Dark Side of Planning

(O.Yiftachel, C. Mele)



Method and Rationale of Data Collection

Phronetic planning research is a direct response to research that is informed by the rational planning paradigm

the knowledge/ action theory of planning, or the communicative paradigm. These all carry the burden of taken

for-granted truths about the rational and progressive promise of planning (cf. Flyvbjerg, 2004). This concephowever, describes an ideal situation that will never be realized. Based on the work of Machiavelli, Nietzsch

and Foucault, Flyvbjerg proposes that power relations are a much more useful frame of reference for researcof planning practices. Planning is not characterized by (power-free) communicative rationality, but by powe

relations. This acknowledges the notion that all knowledge is laden with values and interests. Traditionallscience has dismissed values and interests as subjective, and has been pursuing universally rational an

objective knowledge. In order to study social reality, however, this µinstrumental¶ rationality should b balanced by value-rationality, according to Flyvbjerg (2001), which means that the persistence of values an

interests behind all knowledge should be taken into account and studied explicitly.

Contemporary planning theorists have been studying the concept of power from different angles. Friedman

(1998) acknowledges the neglect of power in past and present planning theory. There are, however, many wayto take power into account. If one takes power as a negative force, for instance, that is possessed by one an

exercised over the other, the focus might be to minimize the role of power in planning practices. Flyvbjerg anRichardson (2002) argue that this is what communicative rationality strives for. On the other side, if on

conceptualizes power in a Foucauldian sense, as an ever-present aspect of discourse ± not negative, nostatically possessed by one party, but inevitable, applied dynamically as a strategy in communications ±

becomes interesting just to study how this works in practice. Thus, they say, power cannot and should not b banned from planning. It is what makes planning a social activity, what makes it interesting and challenging

By studying power we might demonstrate that power is sometimes abused. We might also show how certai parties dominate over other parties. But this is not the fault of power itself. Flyvbjerg (2001; 2004) sees th

µunmasking¶ of power abuse as an important task of social science.

To account for power in the research agenda of social science, Flyvbjerg (2004) introduces the concept o

phronesis. This is Aristotle¶s concept for the virtue of prudence, the ability to choose what is best in everspecific situation. It is a kind of practical wisdom that cannot be explained in rational terms, and has therefor been ignored by modern science. Flyvbjerg calls the traditional rationality of science µinstrumental rationality¶

phronesis he calls µvalue-rationality¶. By incorporating value-rationality in social science, reality can be studieas it is. Thus phronesis introduces power and values into planning research following the acknowledgemen

that social reality produces knowledges and rationalities that can only be judged good or bad in relation tvalues and interests, in order for good and bad to have meaning (cf. Flyvbjerg, 2004). In everyday plannin

practice knowledge and rationality are inseparable from values and interests; power plays a major role in th production of knowledge and the definition of what is rational.

Why should planning practices be studied? According to Flyvbjerg (2001) it is not about doing science for th

sake of science. The research should have a strong and reciprocal relation with the context. He demonstratethis in his study of Aalborg planning practices (Flyvbjerg, 1998) where the researcher was a neutral participanasking questions concerning the developments in the Aalborg Project, involving all stakeholders. Applying

phronetic stance, a sensitiveness for the workings of power, and attention for apparently insignificant detailhe was able to show that oftentimes democratic values were ignored for the sake of personal gains, and tha

goals set on the start of the project were not reached, or were even abandoned, under influence of powerelations (Flyvbjerg, 2003). Also here, planning practices could be clearly characterized as games of power

where multiple perspectives, multiple rationalities battle against each other. Flyvbjerg was able to show thasometimes this battle was not fought in the open, and that everything seemed to happen in rationally an



democratically acceptable ways, while in reality very specific interests were winning ground over the initiaand more general interests for which the project was set up in the first place. In this case the general publi

often was not aware of what was happening, because everything happened behind closed curtains. Flyvbjer(1998) notes that from a phronetic perspective these were moments to become part of the research, to influenc

the reality under study. This meant that he confronted participants with his findings, asking for clarificatioand opinion, in the act changing the course of the project. Phronetic science means that by investigating socia

practices researchers become part of them, whether or not this was the initial aim of the research. Thresearchers is then influencing what happens, and can decide to make good use of that position.

I plan to do something very similar in the case of the Sabarmati Riverfront development project in AhmedabadThis project has seen a series of changes in the conception and the design over a very long period of time. My

objective would be to try and uncover the intestacies of the power relations that exist and have been at play ithis case. By following Flyvbjerg guidelines for the phronetic planning research, I will try and uncover th

values of the decisions that have been taken over the years. I don not intend to project power as somethinnegative, but something that exists in the realm of planning this project and something that has existed onl

with a very small group in the context of this project.

Flyvbjerg has given guidelines that should be followed to try and achieve the goals of planning research, but hhas also mentioned that there is going to be room for the individual researchers to maneuver around th

varying circumstances. This gives me the freedom to plan my research in a way that best suites me, also thtime restriction would not be a great hindrance if I am to follow this methodology.

Flyvbjerg¶s guideline include

(1) Focusing on values

(2) Placing power at the core of analysis(3) Getting close to reality

(4) Emphasizing ³little things´

(5) Looking at practice before discourse(6) Studying cases and contexts(7) Asking ³How?´, do narrative

(8) Moving beyond agency and structure(9) Doing dialog with a polyphony of voices

In order to collect my data, I will conduct a series of interviews with various stakeholders associated to th project in question. The stakeholders would be from a whole plethora of backgrounds ranging from th

representatives of the people¶s organizations leading the movement against the project to the planners an beauracrats involved in planning and designing the project. I will also be reviewing vast amounts of secondar

literature both related to the project as well as the concepts of world class city and the megaprojects.

In the process of trying to critically analyse approaches that promote the creation of the world class city and tounderstand the significance of megaprojects in the world class city discourse, I will be carrying out a review o

vast amounts of secondary literature related to the concepts of the world class city, the world city, the globacity, megaprojects and the just city. After having done that, my primary objective would be to conceptuall

draw out the inherent contradictions that lie within the two discourses of the just city and the world class cityIn doing this I aim to also develop certain parameters of social justice, environmental justice, spatial justic

and economic justice. I would eventually use these parameters in due course of my research to analyse th



discourse surrounding the Sabarmati Riverfront development project. Some of the information for this purposwill also be derived from the institute that I attend in Bangalore, where I will be able to interact with expert

working on the above mentioned concepts.

In order to understand the contestations emerging from the SRFDP and in its making Ahmedabad a world clascity, I am going to conduct a series of indepth semi structured interviews. I have chosen my respondent

according to the roles that they have played in the whole course of the project. I have tried to choose peoplwho have been involved in the planning and development of the project and those who are being affected b

the project. This distinction becomes very important as this disconnect is very clearly visible in the case of m project and it is the purpose of my research to expose this situation. In this set of interviews, I will b

interviewing academics who have been closely working in the city of Ahmedabad and have been witness to thtrajectory of the project. I also plan to interview social workers, who have been instrumental in mobilizing th

communities and spreading awareness about the housing rights among them in relation to this particula project.

If possible, I plan to also conduct a focus group discussion in which I would try to capture the perceptions o

the participants in relation to their ideas about the Sabarmati Riverfront development project and the vision oAhmedabad as a world class city. The participants would be residents of the city, who are in no way bein

affected by the project or do not have any stake in it. By doing this I plan to capture the public perception tha

exists in the city and also trying to understand the societal orientation in general.

Framework for literature review

Just city

- Right to the city

- Use and control of public space

- Accumulation

- Political economy of urban development

Global city and the world class city

- Transition to the idea of the world class city

- Components of the world class city

- World class and rational planning

- Urban design, urban planning in the world class city ( Public spaces, beautification)

Megaprojects

- Urban planning and megaprojects

- Urban design and megaproject

- Decision making in urban megaprojects

- RFD as a megaproject ( RFD across the world, design and vision of the RFD)

Phronetic planning research

- Rationale of PPR (power)

- Why I am using it

- How is it useful

- Theoretical basis of using the above mentioned concepts

Understanding the role of megaprojects in building the world class city

Documents

Transcript of Understanding the role of megaprojects in building the world class city