Spatial development and communal conflict in urban area: a case of Muzaffaranagar, Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

Pew Research Center, a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, New York, has put India in the ‘very high’ category in the world-wide map of “Social hostilities involving religion around the world”. Indian Constitution declares itself as a secular state, one where all religions are recognized and can peacefully co-exist. However, India has a very diverse citizenry in terms of ethnicity, religion,languages etc. Most of the researchers try to explain the reasons behind these communal incidents of conflicts, from social and political perspectives. Literature review of existing research reveals use diverse thematic choices and diverse conclusions. Many of these discuss issues of urban policy and urban environment in relation to social issues and communal conflict. However, studies with Indian case-studies are limited, specifically in the context of physical development issues. In the context as above, it is important to explore whether urban planning can play a role in reducing scale and instances of such conflicts. This study aims to formulate a set of urban planning strategies to address communal conflict in sensitive zones of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. This thesis research attempts to explore relationships between demographic, socioeconomic and physical development variables and communal conflict pattern through a case study of Muzaffarnagar city. The study has been organized in four main parts. The first part deals with review of existing literature on causes of community conflicts and case studies of successful physical development interventions for reducing community conflicts. The second part deals with focused group discussions with members of communities in conflict to find out causes and way forward. Third part devises a strategy for the study/research based on the learnings from the first two parts. This part also includes data collection and analysis of the same. The fourth part deals with strategies and proposals as a way forward to reduce conflicts and promote co-existence. The focused group discussion dwelt upon individual, group and city level dimensions of conflict. For the purpose of data collection and analysis, micro zones were selected on the basis of observed locations of conflict. Analyses were carried out both at city level and selected micro zone level. Spatial development and communal conflict in urban area, a case of Muzaffarnagar The findings in this study conclude that the socio-economic, demographic and physical development factors make a significant contribution to the variation in the overall communal conflict pattern. As a part of urban and regional planning exercise, physical development factor has been focus of the suggested strategies and proposals some of which indirectly may help socio economic development as well. Strategies and proposals for physical development factors include suggested improvements in physical plans and urban design settings. Additionally, based on case studies, principles of CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) has been used as an indirect policing strategy.