BOOK REVIEWS
‘The Dream of Delhi as a
Global City’
Author name: Veronique D.N Dupont
International Journal of Urban and
Regional Research
Volume 35.3 May 2011 533–54
This article is about the capital city of India,
Delhi. The author, Veronique D.N
Dupont’s area of research is urban and
socio-spatial dynamics of large emerging
metropolis. In her work, ‘The Dream of
Delhi As A Global City’ (International
Journal of Urban and Regional Research;
Vol. 35.3; May 2011; P 533-54), the author
demonstrates how the liberalisation of trade
and globalisation has led to an increased
middle-class ideology and as well to the
need of a transformed urban landscape to
meet the interests of different stakeholders.
The main aim of this paper was to make
sure that its readers understand firstly what
construct ‘globalised cities’. The arguments
provided demonstrate the author has been
very descriptive and analytical in
discussing the marginalised issues derived
from the transformation of cities to
globalised cities. This piece of research is
fundamentally recommended for research
that requires an understanding of global
perspective of huge metropolis cities, its
implications to urban dynamics and the
amendment of policies to make huge
economic projects successful.
It is good that the article highlights the real
life of cities, where globalisation las led to
an economic crisis to the proletariat. The
transformation from cities to ‘global cities’
(Robinson, 2002) had introduced new
policies for those posing as hurdles in the
way of development. Likewise, the author
discussed on the new slum policy for the
squatter families, new laws for street-food
vendors, beggars, hawkers from the street
and clean-up operations for the stray
animals. Her discussions were mainly about
how these new policies have helped in the
restructuring of the urban spaces and as
well beautifying Delhi.
This piece of work shows significant
insights on how the introduction of political
games (Commonwealth Games) have
helped in restructuring not only the
economic market but also its urban
landscape. I would rather describe this as
‘dirty games of politics’ where the
government use their strong economic
power and capital to suppress the proletariat
by enforcing new policies. Instead, future
studies should question ‘if new policies can
be made to make their situation worsen,
then why can’t the state make policies to
improve their situation instead of
marginalising those in less power or no
power?’.
This article provides a platform for further
debates on theoretical issues in this field. It
consists of argumentative evidence about
liberalisation of India and its openness to
the global economy. I would agree on the
criticism made by Robinson (2002; 2006),
that cities are being aspired by the global
cities regardless of the social, political,
geographical and historical. What was pin
point in this paper was how the urban
landscapes have been modified to
accommodate these changes. For example,
the m...
