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Paper short abstract:

How the Old City of Ahmedabad's exclusionary practices and segregation patterns not only persist but intensify in the New City of Ahmedabad? It challenges the myth of a progressive, inclusive New Ahmedabad, exposing the hidden structures that perpetuate social divisions within its gleaming walls.

Paper long abstract:

Ahmedabad, the largest city in the state of Gujarat, took a giant leap towards modernity and urban transformation to situate itself on the global map as a ‘Global City’. The reigns of rulers belonging to different religions and the peopling of the city during those reigns had made the Old Ahmedabad city’s composition quite variegated, both on caste and religious lines. Therefore, the segregation based on caste and religion has been a persisting characteristic of Ahmedabad. The New City of Ahmedabad, guided by neoliberal ideals of planning and governance strategies based on free-market principles, promised to lessen such inequalities. However, critics point to a different outcome: amplified socio-spatial segregation and new forms of exclusion, a trend prevalent in many cities of the global south. The New City of Ahmedabad embodies this paradox. The very decision to reside here hinges on one's caste and religion. Gates, walls and security mechanisms restrict movement, creating insular communities with limited interaction. This isolation fosters "othering," amplifying the sense of separation and minimizing intermingling. Modernity's veneer fails to mask the underlying prejudice, perpetuating biases in these supposedly progressive spaces. This research delves into this troubling paradox: how old patterns of exclusion from Ahmedabad's past find potent new expressions in the heart of its supposed modern future.