Researchers have argued that urbanization, which is one of the most important drivers of environmental change in the Global South, holds the promise of diluting existing inequalities based on caste, religion and income in India. In this research, we plan to combine high-resolution spatial data from the Census and Election Commissions of India with administrative and remote sensing information to examine how urbanization can create new pathways for the creation of environmental injustice through residential segregation in Bengaluru and Delhi, two of India’s largest cities. In doing so, we will examine the ‘diversity deficit’ hypothesis, which posits a negative relationship between diversity and the provision of public goods (including environmental goods). Preliminary evidence from our analysis of residential segregation in Bengaluru indicates that a group’s access to environmental goods (e.g., green spaces) and exposure to environmental bads (air pollution, high temperature) is strongly linked to that group’s position in a racialized hierarchy determined by religion, caste and income levels. To the best of our knowledge, our study will provide the first high-resolution characterization of environmental injustice in urban India.
| Project Team : | Arpit Shah and Evan Lieberman |
| Sponsor : | VRSP, IIM Bangalore |
| Project Status: | Ongoing (Initiated in May 2022) |
| Area : | Public Policy |
| Abstract : | Researchers have argued that urbanization, which is one of the most important drivers of environmental change in the Global South, holds the promise of diluting existing inequalities based on caste, religion and income in India. In this research, we plan to combine high-resolution spatial data from the Census and Election Commissions of India with administrative and remote sensing information to examine how urbanization can create new pathways for the creation of environmental injustice through residential segregation in Bengaluru and Delhi, two of India’s largest cities. In doing so, we will examine the ‘diversity deficit’ hypothesis, which posits a negative relationship between diversity and the provision of public goods (including environmental goods). Preliminary evidence from our analysis of residential segregation in Bengaluru indicates that a group’s access to environmental goods (e.g., green spaces) and exposure to environmental bads (air pollution, high temperature) is strongly linked to that group’s position in a racialized hierarchy determined by religion, caste and income levels. To the best of our knowledge, our study will provide the first high-resolution characterization of environmental injustice in urban India. |
