The shape/ing of industrial landscapes: Life, work and occupations in and around industrial areas in Delhi

Abstract

The chapter is an attempt to understand the relationship between migration, informalization and industrial work in the city of Delhi through the locational and spatial dynamics of two industrial areas, Wazirpur and Patparganj. On the basis of questionnaire- and narrative-based fieldwork in the two areas over the period of a year between May 2013 and July 2014, it provides an analysis of the nature and characteristics of industrial work in and around the areas and also of the emergence or existence of settlements/clusters around the areas that are structurally linked to work, housing and service provision and are crucial in shaping the landscape constituted by the industrial areas. The analytical frame within which the chapter is located is one of understanding urban spaces, in this case, industrial areas and settlements around them, as getting structured and configured by larger policy decisions on the one hand but also the perceptions of and expectations from the city by workers and the nature of their relationships with localities and spaces that they operate in.