THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY THE GRADUATE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE NEOLIBERAL ISLANDS: GATED SPACES, PERMEABLE BOUNDARIES AND URBAN HYGIENE IN MUMBAI, 1990-2013 A THESIS IN ARCHITECTURE BY APARNA PARIKH © 2013 APARNA PARIKH SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE AUGUST 2013 The thesis of Aparna Parikh was reviewed and approved* by the following: Alexandra Staub Associate Professor of Architecture Thesis Advisor Denise Costanzo Assistant Professor of Architecture Daniel Purdy Professor of German Mehrdad Hadighi Professor, Stuckeman Chair of Integrative Design Head of Department of Architecture *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School ii abstract This thesis sets out to understand the manifestation of power and its varying relationships with identity through a spatial analysis of neoliberal Mumbai. It aims to illustrate ways in which sweeping global visions are received in specific localized ways on the ground, and the ways in which these are influenced by, and influence the identity of the users of that space. The appropriation of power, and its resultant degrees of displacement, is being viewed through the lens of spatial analysis theoretically informed by Henri Lefebvre’s The Production of Space, which sets up a tension between perceived, conceived, and lived space. The notions of displacement are informed further through the lens of hygiene, brought out in Mary Douglas’ conceptualization of dirt as matter out of place. These hierarchical relationships, and manifestation of control, range from a fair degree of compliance to a strong resistance, impacted deeply by the identity of the user. The positioning of the observer and observed is greatly informed by a feminist lens, which also helps provide an intersectional understanding of identity. The research was conducted through interviews, on-site observations and informal conversations at various sites in Mumbai. Spaces repeatedly mentioned as symbols of modernity and hygiene evoked my curiosity, leading to observations and further interviews. The spaces that held particular interest for me were the call center, the gated community, and the mall; all are spaces that proliferate in specific ways through neoliberal policies. iii While the idea of a gated community is not new in India, there is a particular form of gated community that has accompanied the advent of neoliberalization. This gated community is being conceptualized as a myopic spatial locus of various conceptions of gated: gated spaces, gated minds and gated lives. A mall often caters to a populace similar to the one inhabiting the space of the gated community, and influences thesetupof hermetically sealed networks in the landscape of the city. While the call center clearly manifests the workings of the neoliberal policies through the insertion of an alien, globalized object within the dense urban fabric, this thesis attempts to unearth the manner in which local networks of adaptation are formed in relation to it. The thesis demonstrates the manner in which space elucidates aspects of displacement, how hierarchies in societal structures have been re-formulated, yet stabilized, despite claims of liberation from tradition, and how attempts at adaptation through compliance, negotiation and resistance take place in space. iv table of contents LIST OF FIGURES VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IX INTRODUCTION 1 PART 1 11 chapter 1: play of power 12 chapter 2: role of identity 26 chapter 3: spatial analysis 40 PART 2 45 chapter 4: at home in the gated community? 46 chapter 5: jane in the call center 66 chapter 6: moving in the mall 88 PART 3: CONCLUSIONS 105 APPENDIX: INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE 110 BIBLIOGRAPHY 112 v list of figures Figure 1. Map of 19th century Bombay showing distance from hinterland and direction of growth. Source: Gabriel Feld, Cambridge, MA. 2013. Available from: Blogspot, citiesandstories.blogspot.com/2013/01/mumbais-oval-maidan.html (accessed April 2013). 20 Figure 2. EW orientation of Sandhurst Road (north) and Princess Street (south). Author, 2013. Base map: openstreetmap.org/ (accessed April 2013). 21 Figure 3. JJ Hospital, Bombay 1845. A Joint Enterprise: Indian Elites and the Making of British Bombay. From: Preeti Chopra. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2011. 23 Figure 4. Cusrow Baug, a Parsi gated community with restricted entry, 19th century. Source: Marzee Karkaria, 2009. Available from: zoroastrians.net/2009/07/07/cusrow-baug/ (accessed December 2012). 24 Figure 5. NS orientation of the railway line. Author, 2013. Base map: openstreetmap.org/ (accessed April 2013). 27 Figure 6. Map showing the three sites I visited: Malad, Bandra and Parel (north to south). Author, 2013. Base map: openstreetmap.org/ (accessed April 2013). 33 Figure 7. Snapshots of Malad: view from Satellite Tower, Hypercity Mall, view onto the mangroves (left to right). Author, 2012. 34 Figure 8. Snapshots of Bandra: Linking Road, Bandstand, view from Bandra skywalk, old bungalow in Bandra (clockwise starting top left). Author, 2012. 35 Figure 9. Snapshots of Lower Parel: Grand Thornton office, sidewalk near freeway, remnants of mills, view from bridge leading to railway station (clockwise starting top left). Author, 2012. 37 Figure 10. Advertising by Lodha Builders for elitist housing. Source: Lodha Builders. Available from: http://newprojects.99acres.com/projects/lodha_group/lodhavenezia/images /lodha_elevation.jpg (accessed December 2012). 51 Figure 11. Map indicating the location of the northern and central suburbs. Author, 2013. Base map: openstreetmap.org/ (accessed April 2013). 52 Figure 12. Projected amenities in the gated community. Source: Lodha Builders. Available from: http://www.lodhagroup.com/venezia/gallery.php (accessed April 2013). 54 vi Figure 13. Infrastructure transgressing boundaries. Author, 2013. 55 Figure 14. Vegetarianism as a filter for buying property. Source: Outlook India, 2005. Available from: http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?227531 (accessed December 2012). 57 Figure 15. View from new housing: Mumbai Cityscapes. Source: Kunal Bhatia, Mumbai. 2011. Available from: http://kunalbhatia.photoshelter.com/gallery- image/Mumbai-Cityscapes/G0000DzR2BSzRTQo/I0000j_ohLz0ZSss (accessed April 2013). 59 Figure 16. Service cores housing invisible populations. Author, 2013. 61 Figure 17. Vaastu Shastra shaping the design of an apartment. Source: Vastu Compass. Available from: http://www.vastucompass.com/FengShui.asp (accessed December 2012). 62 Figure 18. Still from a primtime soap named Pavithra Rishta (Holy Relationship). Source: Zee TV. Available from: http://www.zeetv.com.shows/pavitra-rishta/ (accessed April 2013). 63 Figure 19. Tables arranged for classes conducted from home, re-configured as dining space. Author, 2012. 64 Figure 20. Autorikshaws outside the call center, vendors outside the call center (left to right). Author, 2012. 72 Figure 21. Image of the call center from the adjoining street. Author, 2012. 73 Figure 22. Toxicity seeping into the built environment. Author, 2013. 75 Figure 23. Images showing the physical proximity of the call center to the creek, mangroves, and sea (left to right). Author, 2012. 77 Figure 24. Apartment building near the call center. Author, 2012. 81 Figure 25. Configurations within apartments within the same apartment block: rented by call center employees, conventional household, and transformation into office (left to right). Micha Baumgartner, Lukas Nacht, Kunal Bhatia, Aparna Parikh, 2009. 82 Figure 26. HyperCity Mall, Inorbit Mall along Link Road, Malad (left to right). Author, 2012. 84 Figure 27. Time usage of space, where light indicates areas active at different times in the same geography. Micha Baumgartner, Lukas Nacht, Kunal Bhatia, Aparna Parikh, 2009. 85 Figure 28. Street shopping at Colaba Causeway. Author, 2012. 89 vii Figure 29. Map indicating varied malls in different geographies: Nirmal Lifestyle, Mulund; Kenilworth Plaza, Bandra and Atria Mall, Worli (top to bottom). Author, 2013. base map: openstreetmap.org/ images: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/life/mumbai-malls-for- miles/article2949678.ece http://www.mumbai77.com/Pictures/Gallery/displayimage.php?pid=263&fulls ize=1 92 Figure 30. Chimney as remnant from the past into the present. Author, 2013. 96 Figure 31. Courtyard in High Street Phoenix, cleaner at work in the courtyard (left to right). Author, 2012. 97 Figure 32. Informality between symbols of modernity: the mall and the freeway. Author, 2013. 998 Figure 33. Hermetic networks over city space. Author, 2013. 99 Figure 34. Interior of Palladium Mall, High Street Phoenix. Source: bombayjules, 2012. Available from: http://bombayjules.blogspot.com/2012/07/queen-of-shops- phoenix-mills.html (accessed April 2013). 101 Figure 35. Spotlighted by surveillance. Author, 2013. 103 viii acknowledgements I would like to thank the Department of Architecture, the Stuckeman School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and the College of Arts & Architecture for their generous financial support. In particular, the University Graduate Fellowship (UGF), and the Alma Heinz and August Louis Pohland Graduate Student Fellowship were pivotal for conducting the fieldwork for this thesis. I would like to thank my committee members for playingdifferent, yet integral roles in helping me formulate a project: Sandra, for always being helpful, supportive and keeping me grounded and focused, Denise, for beingthe best supervisor one could hope for, and providing critical