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Colonial imprints in contemporary urban livability: an inter-ward analysis of Kolkata

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Abstract

The urban areas in developing countries are notoriously infamous for their housing conditions and overall livability. Kolkata, a primary urban region of West Bengal, is the third most populous city in the country, with a population of over 14 million in 2011. It was also the Capital of the British India until 1912, and its urban structures and the segregationist approaches are evident even today in its urban livability. This research examines the contours of Kolkata’s colonial legacy on its current urban livability through the pervasive and persistent realities of its dilapidated housing structures and the conditions of its household traits and amenities. We use archival and textual discourse analysis, along with visual interpretations of ward-level 2011 Census household statistics to explore the continuation of colonial legacies in contemporary intra-urban spaces of Kolkata. This study traverses us through the spatially varying levels of urban livability in Kolkata which link these with imprints of colonial era’s segregationist flavors. This study provides helpful information on the current livable conditions and the persistent disparities among households in the 141 wards of Kolkata city. We hope these findings will help the urban planners and policy makers to better strategize sustainable urban development and improve the quality of life of Kolkata’s residents.

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Fig. 1

Source: Based on Tables on Houses, Household Amenities and Assets, Kolkata, Census of India, 2011

Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Source: Based on Tables on Houses, Household Amenities and Assets, Kolkata, Census of India, 2011

Fig. 4

Source: Based on Tables on Houses, Household Amenities and Assets, Kolkata, Census of India, 2011

Fig. 5

Source: Based on Tables on Houses, Household Amenities and Assets, Kolkata, Census of India, 2011

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Notes

  1. Our study focuses on the Census of India 2011 as the Census 2021 has not yet been completed, and it will be another 3 to 4 years before any meaningful data is published for public use. As such, our focus on the year 2011, despite this limitation of data availability should be reviewed from the framework of science and the concept of urban livability and its significance in the urban social geography literature rather than from the narrow framing of latest statistics.

  2. For sake of simplicity, here we provide the livability conditions and its change only for the two years, 2001 and 2011 because the Census introduced the definitions of household-types for the 1st time only in 2011, whereas ward-scale data which has been used here in analyses was made available only in 2011. This is also another reason that our paper focused on ward-scale only for the year 2011, even though a change perspective would have been very interesting, and we hope to continue this research when the 2021 data may become available in few years.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Ankita Chakraborty

  2. Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, 416 Burchfiel Geography Building, 1000 Phillip Fulmer Way, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

    Madhuri Sharma

  3. Department of Geography, Dyal Singh College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, 110 003, India

    Rajesh Kumar Abhay

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Chakraborty, A., Sharma, M. & Abhay, R.K. Colonial imprints in contemporary urban livability: an inter-ward analysis of Kolkata. GeoJournal 88, 543–559 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-022-10606-7

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