Introduction
Our topic is about urban outgrowth. About the relentless pursuit of life, liberty and happiness in urban spaces which has ensured that in 2011, the world crossed over from a majority rural demography to a pre-dominant urban demography where more than half of its seven billion people lived in cities. We discuss what it takes to build this urban sprawl for miles on end, the process of acquisition that delivers spatial growth to cities, and where these outgrowths (usually sleepy villages before development) take on a character of their own with distinct reputation, sub-culture, urban design. While a city’s identity has a lot to do with its landmark buildings and posh localities, the majority of its planning, construction and ethos…show more content… The history of eminent domain in India has been a saga of abuse of land acquisition laws by the state. While the focus of this injustice has been mostly on tribals and peasants of Central India for mining and big dams, the land acquisition process in the growth of cities has also been lop-sided and controversial. Since Independence till 2013, we have been governed by the archaic Land Acquisition Act dating back to 1894. This is the Act under which most of the acquisition of land for ‘public purpose’ by the Government or Government Agency (like Industrial Development Associations) has taken place with compensation to…show more content… Today Gurgaon is the ‘Millenium City’ contributing to 60% of Haryana’s total income. If one looks at the development of Gurgaon, there are three layers to the city that co-exist today- the rural-agricultural remnants, the various industrial manufacturing units comprising most notably of Maruti Udyog established in 1983 under Sanjay Gandhi and Hero Honda plant, and the globalized IT-BPO city. The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon was established only in 2008. And basic infrastructure as sewage systems, water supply and public transport are still unavailable for the most part of the city with private builders and companies who have purchased and control large tracts of land responsible for their own areas. To compensate for electricity blackouts, Gurgaon’s companies and real estate developers operate massive diesel generators capable of powering small towns. Private bore-wells are the norm here while in absence of public transport, companies employ hundreds of private buses and taxis. Even on safety, Gurgaon has almost four times as many private security guards as police officers. In lieu of this laissez-faire growth model, the city has a heterogeneous settlement pattern, with the lack of planning creating a patchwork of private islands rather than an interconnected city. It’s interesting to understand how in contrast to most other cities of