Sustainable urban development in tightly constrained areas: a case study of Darjeeling, India

Abstract

The quantity of writing on sustainable urban development continues to expand. Much of this writing, whether using a theoretical or empirical focus (or both), takes a strongly normative tone, exhorting actors in locations across the globe to make greater efforts to move development trends in more sustainable directions. This normative work is, of course, of vital importance, but in this paper, we argue for more attention to the context within which development takes place, particularly where that context imposes severe, perhaps crippling, constraints on opportunities for path-breaking actions. To explore this issue, we introduce the case study of the Indian hill station town of Darjeeling. We assess the sustainability issues faced by the town (including rapid population growth, limited availability of land, dynamic development arena) and analyse the ongoing attempts by local governmental and non-governmental actors to deal with those issues, within constraints of physical location and an intensely contested politico-governance framework that we suggest are examples of intense contextual constraints.

Keywords:

• urban planning
• infrastructure
• governance
• development
• environmental constraints
• sustainability
• India

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr Urmila Jha-Thakur (University of Liverpool) and Surman Rai (Life and Leaf) for their invaluable assistance in undertaking the primary research of this paper. Finally, we are grateful for the assistance of all the contacts and participants in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Siliguri for their insightful commentary.

Funding

We would also like to thank the School of Environmental Sciences (University of Liverpool) for Pump Priming/Start Up financial support.

Notes

1. Comparable debates over ethnic autonomy, state funding for upland development and the overexploitation of resources are visible in each of these locations (Portnov et al. 2007).

2. The framing of development may differ in Sikkim or Himachal Pradesh compared to the constraints placed upon Darjeeling. This does not though imply that growth is sustainable across these upland regions. For a more in-depth discussion of the development of other hill stations, see Singh and Mishra (2004), Bingeman et al. (2004) and Peet and Watts (2004).

3. These are also referred to, inter alia, as poles, factors, components, pillars, rings, and legs. For the sake of brevity, we use aspects from here onwards.

4. The position of executive power bestowed on Darjeeling by the British still permeates the identity of politicians and people in the uplands, and has been partially, at least, responsible for a section of the growing calls for autonomy from the West Bengal State.

5. Consequently, Darjeeling is placed under excessive development pressures compared to other upland towns, which do not act as the central administrative, economic and employment centres.

6. Other indigenous ethnic groups include the Gurung, Tamangs, Lepchars, Bhutias, Sherpas and Newars (Tamang et al. 1988).

7. The 74th Amendment Act (1992) established a statutory provision of Local Administrative Bodies as a third tier of administration in urban areas to ensure constitutional validity of urban local bodies (ULBs), and aims to broaden the range of powers and functions of municipal governments. Prior to the 1992 amendment, local governments in India were organised on the basis of the ‘ultra vires’ principle [beyond the powers or authority granted by law] and the state governments were free to extend or control the functional sphere through executive decisions without an amendment to the legislative provisions (Mathur 2007).

8. The paper does not draw on supplementary planning or development documents, except where specific reference has been made to such documentation by interviewees. There was also a lack of supplementary evidence as a fire in the municipal buildings in 1996 destroyed the archive of planning documents for the area. No digital copies were available. Interviewee commentary on the focus of development strategies is used throughout with triangulation from a number of interviewees.

9. Several interviewees made reference to the issues surrounding the calls for an autonomous Gorkhaland State. Where these issues are deemed relevant, they are reflected in the text; however, a broader assessment of the complexity of the calls for autonomy is not attempted in the paper.

10. Throughout the following sections, references to the numbered interviews, e.g. Interview 1, indicates commentary attributable to specific individuals. Where more than one number is shown this illustrates consensus between a number of interviewees.

11. Accurate figures are very hard to obtain, as the transient population is not counted in the census, which is an issue in itself.

12. Reference was made to the 74th Amendment Act by respondents who blamed development management constraints on the West Bengal Government’s reluctance to allow the Municipality to effectively manage its own resources.

13. Interview conducted on 1 April 2013 in Darjeeling.

14. Ibid.

15. Interview conducted on 31 March 2013 in Darjeeling.

16. Interview conducted on 1 April 2013 in Darjeeling.

17. Interview conducted on 5 April 2013 in Kalimpong.

18. Interview conducted on 4 April 2013 in Darjeeling.

19. Interview conducted on 30 March 2013 in Darjeeling.

20. Interview conducted on 4 April 2013 in Darjeeling.

21. Interview conducted on 6 April 2013 in Siliguri.

22. Interview conducted on 5 April 2013 in Kalimpong.

23. The historical contextualisation of the calls for an autonomous Gorkhaland political unit outlined in Section 3 frame these tensions.