Doctoral Dissertation Research: Technologies of Governance and Urban Service Delivery in Bangalore

国际机构和国内政府正基于透明、问责、效率和公民参与的概念，在发展中城市推广水和卫生等市政服务领域的“良好”城市治理。同时，还敦促各城市采用面向市场的基础设施和服务提供模式，包括那些涉及私营部门参与和成本回收的模式。在印度，目前有63个城市签署了大型基础设施贷款协议，作为回报，这些城市必须进行一系列此类改革。印度城市治理改革的一个基本要素涉及电子政务、绩效指标设计和公共预算披露等战略和技术创新，即“善治技术”。很少有实证研究探讨这些新的治理战略的含义，其中许多战略是由强大的公民领导的联盟发起并由其控制的，旨在实现公平和公正的发展。本博士论文研究项目将通过四个案例研究探讨治理技术在印度发展最快的城市之一班加罗尔的影响。博士候选人将从三个方面考察这些影响：利益集团代表、基本服务分配和城市公民身份。与国际贷款机构、市政机构和民间社会团体的深入访谈将揭示这些组织如何将善治概念化，以及他们如何看待自己在改善城市服务方面的作用。班加罗尔饮用水获取等基本服务的空间制图将为目前城市治理战略的针对性提供证据。在社区的横截面上进行参与性观察，将有助于深入了解这些努力的渗透程度，以及它们对现有政治和公民空间的影响。项目结果预计将。该项目承认，“良好”治理的主张存在高风险，这一概念在发展中国家已成为一种司空见惯的政策处方。在当代全球化的大都市中，这种利害关系最为突出。虽然发展资金历来与结构调整挂钩，但城市基础设施贷款现在以公民社会参与、公共问责、管理效率和其他有吸引力的治理话语为条件。本项目将评估班加罗尔拟议的城市改革和相关战略是否真正惠及最需要基本市政服务的人群，如供水、卫生、排水、道路和街道照明。鉴于印度最近启动了一项国家城市更新任务，强调使用治理技术和以市场为导向的改革，这项研究尤其及时，并有可能鼓励印度和其他国家的其他城市在接受批准的城市治理改革方法时谨慎行事。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。

International agencies and domestic governments are promoting "good" urban governance in municipal services like water and sanitation across developing cities based broadly on conceptions of transparency, accountability, efficiency, and citizen participation. Cities simultaneously are being urged to adopt market-oriented models for infrastructure and service provision, including those involving private sector participation and cost recovery. In India, 63 cities are currently signing up for major infrastructure loans, and in return, must undertake a host of such reforms. An essential element of urban governance reforms in India involves such strategies and technological innovations as e-governance, the design of performance indicators, and public budgetary disclosure -- the "technologies of good governance." Very little empirical research has probed the implications of these new governance strategies, many of which have been initiated by and are controlled by powerful citizen-led coalitions, for equitable and just development. This doctoral dissertation research project will explore the effects through four case studies of technologies of governance in Bangalore, one of India's most rapidly growing cities. The doctoral candidate will examine these effects along three dimensions: interest group representation, distribution of basic services, and urban citizenship. In-depth interviews with international lenders, municipal agencies, and civil society groups will uncover how such organizations conceptualize good governance and how they perceive their roles in improving the city's services. Spatial mapping of basic services like drinking water access in Bangalore will provide evidence for how equitably targeted urban governance strategies currently are. Participant observation in a cross-section of neighborhoods will provide insights into how far these efforts have penetrated as well as their effects on existing political and civic spaces. Project findings are expected to.This project acknowledges that there are high stakes associated with claims of "good" governance, a concept that has become commonplace as a policy prescription in the developing world. Nowhere are these stakes greater than in contemporary globalizing metropolises. While development funding historically has been tied to structural adjustment, urban infrastructure loans now are conditional on civil society participation, public accountability, managerial efficiency, and other attractive discourses of governance. This project will assess whether the proposed urban reforms and associated strategies in Bangalore are actually benefiting those most in need of basic municipal services like water, sanitation, drainage, roads, and street lighting. Given the recent launch of a national urban renewal mission emphasizing the use of technologies of governance and market-oriented reform in India, this research is particularly timely and has the potential to encourage other cities in India and other nations to exercise caution while embracing sanctioned approaches to urban governance reform. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.