Discerning Institutional And Spatial Restructuring Under Emergent Neoliberal Projects In India

The policy of economic liberalization pursued by the Indian government since the 1990s in response to an economic slowdown has led to the creative destruction of institutional space and the built environment. India launched the Smart Cities Mission and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor to enhance infrastructure delivery and employment opportunities. Focusing on these cases and using direct observation and in-depth personal interviews, this paper explores the role of emergent neoliberal projects in the country's institutional and spatial restructuring at different scales. The aim is to make a twofold contribution to urban research: first, to contribute to the discourse on neoliberalism by identifying institutional and spatial restructuring in India based on the concept of creative destruction; and second, by validating the significance of strong state and political willingness in distributing neoliberal benefits such as affordable housing and services to the poor. The paper argues for a stronger role of the state in creating equity in the urban development process and infrastructure delivery.