Doctoral Dissertation Research: Understanding Urban Policy Implementation

最近，印度进入了一个全新的城市政策制定时代。在大约50年的时间里，联邦城市政策基本上是不干涉的，直到2005年，中央政府公布了迄今为止最全面的城市政策，贾瓦哈拉尔·尼赫鲁国家城市更新任务（NURM）。为了应对压力，既要解决日益恶化的城市问题，又要促进城市的经济增长，中央政府将NURM设计为一项以改革为基础的政策，提出对国家和地方各级的政治和经济机构进行重组。为了获得联邦政府的资金，各州和各城市必须采取一系列改革措施，使城市经济自由化，将权力下放给市政当局，并扩大对城市贫困人口的服务。在印度历史上，联邦城市拨款第一次与改革挂钩，这表明中央政府渴望改变城市治理的历史形式，这种形式一直是由邦政府对城市事务的强大控制所定义的。通过对官方文件的分析，对从事NURM工作的政府和社会行为者的深入访谈，以及对班加罗尔和金奈NURM项目会议的观察，本研究将检查并寻求回答三个主要问题。首先，印度政府是如何构建并尝试实施其历史上最大的城市政策的？其次，在地方、州和联邦层面，政府行为者和机构之间的竞争利益、管辖权和政治关系如何？塑造印度城市内部和城市之间的城市政策进程？第三，在政策制定和实施过程中，非政府行为体如何与政府行为体（各级政府）合作，这些多层次的互动如何构建NURM下的城市政策过程？从本论文研究中收集的数据将有助于我们对印度城市治理的理解，更广泛地说，有助于我们对当代全球化下的城市治理的理解。首先，本研究将阐明联邦政策在印度城市实施背后的过程。印度现有的研究考察了教育、卫生和减贫等部门的政策进程和国家能力，但迄今为止，还没有对联邦城市政策及其执行过程中涉及的复杂性进行系统分析。随着城市日益成为印度的中心？随着印度经济的增长和发展，了解城市治理控制的结构方式以及印度城市内部变革的机会和限制至关重要。其次，虽然对城市事务的控制传统上是州政府的责任，但NURM为城市公民和民间社会团体创造了空间，要求更多的地方负责的治理形式。从这个意义上说，印度代表了一个有趣的案例，可以探索城市如何在满足公民多样化需求的同时，试图在城市一级建立制度能力。第三，人们普遍认为，在当代全球化的背景下，城市治理变得不那么负责任和民主。深入了解政府和非政府行为体在确定具体形式的城市政策结果中的作用，是提高我们对当代全球化下城市治理的地方逻辑的理解的关键一步，也是城市仍然可以成为包容性政治场所的方式的关键一步。

SES-1434019Patrick HellerJamie L. McPikeIndia has recently entered a fundamentally new era of urban policymaking. For approximately 50 years the federal urban policy approach was largely hands-off until 2005 when the central government unveiled its most comprehensive urban policy to date, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (NURM). Responding to pressures to address worsening urban problems while also promoting economic growth in cities, the central government designed NURM as a reform-based policy that proposes the restructuring of political and economic institutions at state and local levels. In exchange for funds from the federal government, states and cities must adopt a series of reforms for liberalizing urban economies, decentralizing authority to municipalities, and expanding services to the urban poor. For the first time in India's history, federal urban grants are tied to reforms, signaling that the central government is keen to transform historical forms of urban governance, which have been defined by the strong control of state governments over urban affairs. Through analysis of official documents, in-depth interviews with governmental and societal actors working on NURM, and observation of NURM project meetings in Bangalore and Chennai, this research will examine and seek to answer three main questions. First, how does the Indian government construct and attempt to implement its largest urban policy in history? Second, how do competing interests, jurisdictions, and political relations between governmental actors and agencies' at the local, state, and federal level?shape urban policy processes found both within and between Indian cities? Third, how do non-governmental actors work with governmental actors (at all levels of government) during policy development and implementation and how do these multi-level interactions structure urban policy processes found under NURM?The data collected from this dissertation research will contribute a number of empirical and practical insights to our understanding of urban governance in India and, more broadly, to our understanding of urban governance under contemporary globalization. First, this research will illuminate the processes behind federal policy implementation in Indian cities. Existing studies in India have examined policy processes and state capacity in sectors like education, health, and poverty reduction, but to date there has been no systematic analysis of federal urban policies and the complexities involved in their implementation. As cities become increasingly central to India?s economic growth and development, it is critical to understand the ways in which control of urban governance is structured and the opportunities for and limitations to change within Indian cities. Second, while control over urban affairs has traditionally been the responsibility of the state governments, NURM has created space for urban citizens and civil society groups to press for more locally accountable forms of governance. In this sense, India represents a fascinating case to explore how cities meet the diverse needs of their citizens while also attempting to build institutional capacity at the municipal level. Third, it is a common claim that urban governance becomes less accountable and democratic under contemporary globalization. A deeper understanding of the role of governmental and non-governmental actors in determining specific forms of urban policy outcomes is a critical step toward improving our understanding the local logics of urban governance under contemporary globalization and the ways in which cities can still be sites for inclusive politics.