Villes indiennes sous tutelle ? Une réflexion sur les échelles de gouvernance à partir des cas de Mumbai et Hyderabad

There is growing recognition on the part of Indian policymakers that cities play a crucial role in the national economy, and current State (provincial) policies reflect this shift. Based on two compelling, though not fully comparable, case studies of Hyderabad and Mumbai, this article argues that State governments are adopting city-centric growth strategies, following international trends. This shift raises the question of the rescaling of decision making processes as well as the emergence of metropolitan governance. Following a detailed examination of the economic and urban development strategies adopted in Mumbai and Hyderabad, the paper argues that large Indian cities are not in a sufficiently solid position to assert their political weight vis-à-vis regional government nor to seriously engage in a process of collective action at the metropolitan scale. This increasing disjunction between political and economic functions should be emphasized in the Indian context, since it marks a difference with recent European experience, at least a difference of degree if not substance. The political subordination of urban local bodies in India is exacerbated by the traditionally centralized nature of political institutions, the relative weakness of local institutions of governance (in terms of mandate and fiscal revenue), the absence of powerful mayors and the virtual nonexistence of a political entity at the metropolitan level. Furthermore, taking into account economic growth, social justice and the environment is a Herculean task, especially in a plural society. Hence, in both cities ongoing processes are contentious and contradictory, providing a stark contrast to the smooth vision statements that convey an image of the quest for “development” as a consensual process