Barnaparichay – a mall in progress, a street in transition

This paper examines the politics of the changing spatial order in Indian cities, post-liberalisation, with particular reference to College Street. The spatial reconstruction of College Street is largely reliant on the changing logic of culture and consumption post-liberalisation. The author also examines whether this ‘logic of culture’ is creating a new spatial order in our cities, which is creating ‘sanitised spaces’ for elite consumption. The author asserts through the paper that there is a politico-economic superstructure that legitimises this conception of the new urban spaces in a post-reform ‘global city’. Finally, the paper looks into the changing role of the pedestrian/’flaneur’ through their access to these spaces in the city.