India's new globalization strategy and its consequences for urban development: the impact of the 2010 Commonwealth Games on Delhi's transport system

ABSTRACT

Developing nations increasingly seek mega-events in the pursuit of globalization. India has recently renewed such aspirations by hosting the XIX Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010. The purpose of the paper is to assess Delhi's urban transport development through a sporting mega-event as a globalization strategy for a developing country. Therefore, the authors comparatively analyse the transport plans pre-bid (2003) and transport legacies (2013). The authors argue that the alignment of the mega-event needs with Delhi's urban master plan was partially fulfilled as many infrastructural projects were catalysed. However, the Games also compelled the city to invest in developments that were required for the successful delivery of the Games. This paper contributes to the discussion on how mega-events influence urban planning and points out significant challenges and opportunities developing cities face when preparing for a sporting mega-event.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here 10.1080/13563475.2015.1114448.

Notes

1. By 2001, very few projects from the 2001 Master Plan had been implemented (Department of Planning 1999). Therefore, two new 5-year plans were issued one in 1997 and one in 2002 with the goal to complete the project backlog of Master plan 2001 by 2007 (Department of Planning 2001).

2. Delhi is divided into three urban regions which are developed and maintained by three different municipal councils. First, the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) is headed by the mayor and a council of ministers. Second, the Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is headed by a Chairperson and a council appointed by the central government. The territory of this council limits to only 43.7 sq.km. Third, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has authority over the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), which includes several regions of adjoining states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttrakhand and Rajasthan and is governed by the central government (Ravindra 2010).