Colonizing, Decolonizing, and Globalizing Kolkata offers an extended analysis of the architecture and urban planning of Kolkata from the earliest days of colonialism through independence and on into the twenty-first century, all set in the larger context of Indian cities’ architecture and urban planning. What Siddhartha Sen shows is the transformation of a colonial city into a Marxist one — and ongoing attempts to further transform Kolkata into a global city. Richly illustrated, the book carefully situates architecture, design, and urban planning within Kolkata’s political economy and social milieu.

Siddhartha Sen is the Interim Assistant Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning and the Director of Graduate Program in City and Regional Planning at Morgan State University in Baltimore, USA. He is a recognized scholar on Indian urbanization and the nonprofit sector in India.

AcknowledgementDedicationList of IllustrationsChapter 1: OvertureIntroductionScope of the BookAnalytical FrameworkThe Concept of the State in IndiaSocialism, Communism and MarxismData SourcesOrganisation of the BookChapter 2: Colonising Kolkata: From a City of Huts to a City of PalacesFounding of KolkataKolkata's Early UrbanismSpatial Restructuring of Kolkata and the Emergence of Social and Political Control as the Dominant Planning Paradigm City of PalacesKolkata's Transformation to City of PalacesEmergence of Architecture as a Symbol of PowerCreating a Healthier and Beautiful City for the British: Emergence of a New Paradigm for PlanningEarly Municipal Administration in Kolkata 87The Rise of the British and Demise of other European Settlements around Kolkata 88Haora's Urbanism 93Chapter 3: Building a Neo-Classical, Beautiful, and Clean City: The Rise and Decline of British Imperial UrbanismConsolidation of British Power: Making Kolkata a Neo-Classical CityThe Neo-Classical Architectural Influence on the Bengali EliteOrientalist Discourse on Architecture and KolkataThe Absence of Indo-Saracenic Style in KolkataVictoria Memorial Hall: Neo-Classical Revival in KolkataModern Indian Architecture MovementLimited Modernism in KolkataTransforming Kolkata into a Cleaner and Healthier City for the BritishShifting the Discourse to Bustees as Source of DiseasThe Calcutta Improvement Trust and E. P. Richards's Plan for KolkataSir Patrick Geddes's Plan for Burra BazaarRacial SegregationMunicipal Administration in Kolkata and Expansion of its BoundariesHaora's Transformation to Coolie TownChapter 4: Decolonising Kolkata: From an American Planning Paradigm to a Marxist City Chandigarh: A Defining Moment in India's Search for Post-Colonial UrbanismRevivalist Architecture and the Search for Post-Colonial Architectural IdentityLack of a Search for Post-Colonial Architecture in KolkataIn Search of a Post-Colonial Planning: An OverviewThe Initial Acts of Decolonisation in KolkataMaterial Legacies of Colonial Planning and Kolkata's Post-Colonial Urban ProblemsPolitical Economy of Post-Colonial Kolkata and its Urban ProblemsAdministrative Structure and Continuation of Colonial Legacy in the Immediate Post-Colonial PeriodWestern Discourse on Kolkata and Advent of Western PlanningCalcutta Metropolitan Planning Organisation (CMPO) and the Export of American Planning Paradigm to KolkataThe Fear of Communism and Formation of KMDAInfiltration of Grassroots Space by CPI-M and Its AlliesNew Towns around KolkataHaora's Post-Colonial UrbanismChapter 5: Globalising Kolkata: A Late BloomerEmergence of New Market-Driven Architectural Forms in IndiaWhy Kolkata Became a Late BloomerMaking Kolkata Attractive to Capital: Operation Sunshine and Proposal to Remove Rickshaw PullersSingur and Nandigram: The Changing Priorities of the Left FrontKolkata's Population Growth, Territorial Changes, and Administrative StructureLiberalisation and the Changing Role of KMDA and KMCKolkata's Private Townships and Gated Communities: Emergence of Real Estate-Driven DevelopmentKolkata's Office Buildings for the Service and Financial Sectors, SEZs, and IT Parks and Complexes Shopping MallsEmergence of New Planning Paradigms: State-Regulated Townships and Private TownshipsRajarahatHaora's Global UrbanismKolkata West International CityChapter 6: Concluding RemarksGlossary of TermsList of AbbreviationsBibliographyIndex