Smart as the new Urban Utopia in post industrial nations, case of Dholera, Gujarat

Abstract

Contemporary cities are faced with a rising population due to rural to urban migration, significant demographic changes, climate risks, economic shifts and rapid technological change. The proposals for new cities and its development process is looked at as a “ready- made” finished fit for all model where the planning fails to acknowledge the existing demographics and friction on ground. This paper argues that there is a disparity between vision and planning for Dholera Smart city. It investigates the strategy cantered on land use adopted by the Dholera Special Investment Region and its land development mechanism to understand the process of city making. It critically reflects on the Town Planning scheme model of development and the idea of greenfield city planning. Investigating Dholera as a case for special investment region and it tries to position it in the theoretical understanding of paradigm shift in the model of urban governance. The paper critically reflects on the narrative of speculative urbanism and state rescaling in the case of Dholera greenfield city. This research argues that new cities by themselves are not an answer to the urbanization challenges that India is facing in contemporary times.