Abstract
Globalisation, an increasing international interaction in economic, political and cultural aspects, is a highly uneven set of processes whose impact varies over space, through time, and between social groups. On one hand, as globalisation seems to be an inevitable reality, many developing countries are restructuring their economies to receive and reap the benefits of widening and deepening global economic interactions. On the other hand, there are regions, which are increasingly excluded, and ‘structurally irrelevant’ to the current process of globalisation. Moreover, cities are at the core of development strategy of globalisation. While cities in developed countries are becoming centres of globally integrated organisation of economic activity, cities in developing countries are usually at disadvantage positions due to weak financial bases, low levels of technology as well as lack of infrastructural facilities and institutional factors.The present paper, in the limelight of these contradictions, analyses the differential impacts of economic globalisation in cities and regions of India in general and Northeast India in particular. It is noted that the ushering of globalisation through structural adjustment of the economy during the 1990s has disparate impacts on various cities and regions of the country. The paper also examines the infrastructural constraints of cities of Northeast India as well as the existing institutional arrangements to ‘globalise’ the region through neoliberal reforms and investments.Â
Highlights
Cities and urban regions are at the core of development strategy of globalisation and are increasingly redeveloped, renewed, marketed and promoted to attract potential investors and consumers
In the new economic scenario created by globalisation, “the geography and the composition of the global economy changed so as to produce a complex duality: a spatially dispersed, yet globally integrated organisation of economic activity” (Sassen, 1991, p.3)
Cities are at the centre‐stage of the process of globalisation and the process is expected to increase urban growth and productivity
Summary
Cities and urban regions are at the core of development strategy of globalisation and are increasingly redeveloped, renewed, marketed and promoted to attract potential investors and consumers. The structural reform and the associated development strategy are expected to generate higher economic growth and accelerate the pace of urbanisation (Bhagat, 2004; Kundu, 2003) It has been asked that why did the rate of urban population in India decline during a period of relatively high economic growth, outward looking economic policies, and greater reliance on market forces for development (Mathur, 2005). A big question mark may be put on the beneficial impacts of neoliberal policies on cities that failed to provide employment opportunities to both formal and informal workers Another important implication of globalisation in Indian cities is increasing inequality. The region’s inland location or landlockedness, small market and weak economic base, as well
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call