The Impact of the Commonwealth Games 2010 On Urban Development of Delhi

Abstract

India is set to host the 2010 edition of the Commonwealth Games. This is the first 'hallmark event' to be hosted by the city of New Delhi since the 1982 Asian Games. Hallmark events have the ability to transform the urban landscape of a city. This is the focus area of the paper. Can these games bring about a transformation of Delhi's urban landscape, and if it does, will it do so in an egalitarian fashion, or will it use public money to further help elite minorities within the city? It also looks at world wide experiences from various other hallmark experiences like the Summer Olympics and the Asian Games, and Delhi's experience with hosting the 1982 Asian Games. What one finds is that these events are normally not as beneficial to the host community, as made out to be. More important in India's context is that the benefits are normally even less when the host community is a developing nation, as India is. The expenditure on these games is going to be enormous, estimated at over a billion dollars. This is going to be spent largely on the development of civic infrastructure, beautification, transport and sports facilities. If spent effectively, the event can be a catalyst in a much needed urban regeneration of the city. However past experience from the 1982 Asian Games and actions already undertaken in the run up to the 2010 games suggest that the development may be anti-poor, badly planned and ecologically unsound. It is essential that whatever actions are undertaken in the name of the Commonwealth Games, are well thought out and not justified solely on the grounds of nationalist sentiment and hyperbole.