10/19/2018 The Curious Case

of Gurgaon
Development
Exploring the growth of the
millennium city

GARVIT MALHAN
17/EC/078
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INDEX

Topic Page No. Description

Introduction Brief introduction to the issue of
globalisation and services driven
growth affecting the development
path of new emerging metro cities-
case in point: Gurgaon
Literature Review An outline of existing literature
covering above mentioned themes

Objective Understanding the emergence of cyber

cities

Research Primary and Secondary Research

Methodology

Analysis Drawing insights

Conclusion Drawing inference

INTRODUCTION
The world as we know today seems to have shrunk. Things originating in the
west seem to have found a home in the east. Countries, which were once
known for their fine handicrafts and intricate designs, are now the hub of IT
and manufacturing. This experience of countries can be seen replicating itself
in various ways at the micro level as well. The growth of cyber cities in what
were earlier villages in a representation of this trend.
Pre-modern societies were characterised by localism, self reliance and
decentralisation. Most people lived in their place of birth throughout the
course of their lives. Migration was a one-way street for resettling in new
found territory in response to conquest. While the world has moved far
beyond the days of conquests and annexation, the magnitude of migration and
outsourcing of work that we see today is unprecedented. A new cosmopolitan
culture seems to have emerged at the cost of the rural, historic heritage of
many Indian cities.
The renaming of Gurgaon as Gurugram started a debate in India about the
question of loss of heritage in the name of development.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Various newspapers have covered the story of Gurgaon, often touted as the
cosmopolitan hub of Haryana. Hindustan Times did a piece on Gurgaon- the
melting pot of people and cultures. Similarly, NDTV called Gurgaon’s story “a
mirror to India’s growth”. The renaming of Gurgaon to Gurugram renewed the
interest of people and led to the flooding of social media with reactions and
responses. This paper refers to these secondary sources, primarily newspapers,
as the basis for this analysis.

OBJECTIVE
This paper attempts to examine the case of development of Gurgaon in this
regard and understand the socioeconomic forces that lie underneath the
emergence of “cyber cities” characterise by services-driven growth.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

CRITERIA FOR IDENITIFICATION

OF INIDCATORS
INTERNAL FACTORS EXTERNAL FACTORS

QUANTIFYING FACTORS

ANALYSISA

DATA INTERPRETATION

SWOT*

CONCLUSION
ANALYSIS
The curious case
Gurgaon (formerly known as Gurugram and again renamed as the same) has
been given legendary importance in the Mahabharata. It was once the land of
Gurukuls and the residence of Guru Dronacharya who taught the Pandavas the
art of warfare in their childhood.
This village, as legend goes, was given to Guru Dronacharya by the Pandavas as
his personal abode. This is the reason why it was recently rechristened
Gurugram. The city also finds mention in accounts of the Mauryan period and
the Kushana rule.

While these legendary tales may or may not be true, Gurugram has all the
elements that make it a culturally rich Indian village community.
During the Mughal as well as the British period, Gurgaon (owing to its semi arid
conditions) emerged as an important grain market. However, the real
expansion of Gurgaon from “gaon” to Gurgaon city began with the country’s
Partition. While this land of Drona witnessed mass migration of Muslims to
Pakistan, there was also a huge influx of Hindu refugees from Pakistan. i
The primary occupation of people in the village was agriculture and allied
activities such as livestock rearing. Gurugram was famous not just for its
production of food grain, but also for the production of some high-quality
fruits in vast “baghichees” (orchards). The village was located on top of a very
small hill (an offshore remnant of the Aravalli range) and the occupants lived in
order of caste hierarchy- the upper castes of the hill top and the lower castes
on the edges (The caste vertical was present here quite literally!).
The cultural dimension of Gurgaon has been a derivation out of its historical
past. It had Ahirs, Jats and Gujars largely as major caste groups. As the
Gazetteer mentions:
“Social Groups in the Gurgaon town and its surrounding villages were largely
limited to a few castes only. The population of the district as stated earlier has
been predominantly Hindu and its important traditional social groups are
Ahirs, Jats, Rajputs, Gujars, Brahmans, Banias and the members of the
Scheduled caste. The Kambos, Khatris and Aroras have come to the district
after the Independence. The only Muslim group in Gurgaon are Meos. Ahirs,
Jats, Gujars, Brahmans, Kambos and Meos being the chief agricultural
communities of the district preponderate in the rural area”. ii

The Gurugram of Today

The growth of Gurgaon has happened in such a way that it converted itself
from literally a gaon to what we now call the Millenium City. The dynamic of
the city have had influences of both spatial as well as demographic dimensions
of the city. The influx of migrants and the peculiar demographic patterns that
followed, led to a manifold increase in the population of Gurgaon. This trend is
observable most starkly in the last fifteen years, that is, since late 1990s. It is
often said that the city has grown in 30 years as much as it would have
otherwise grown in a millennium. This drastic increase in population size has
inextricably been linked to the new and urban face that is now possessed by
the city- dynamic, rapid and ultra-glamorous. This new urban personality of the
Gurgaon is marked with a heterogeneous population with more and more
national and international residents settling in Cyber City, making the city truly
cosmopolitan in nature. It has transformed from a small town of Ahirs
(Yadavs), Gujars, Jats, and Punjabis to a city having not only population from
different parts of the country but from various parts of the world. The increase
in population size has simultaneously led to the areal growth and spatial
changes in the city, therefore, altering the landscape of Gurgaon. Many small
localities of Gurgaon have grown and expanded over to the surrounding
villages that were not a part of Gurgaon but today have become an integral
part of the city as well as the urban villages. Its area has increased by more
than six times since 1980. And the land use has got transformed with the
increase in area as the peripheral agricultural lands have been put to a built-up
category. With such demographic and spatial dynamics, the small town of
Gurgaon has not only transformed into a dynamic city but has come to
epitomize what can be called a truly modern city.
One look at the Wikipedia page of Gurgaon will paint a contrasting picture of
the village turned cyber city.
“Gurgaon has architecturally noteworthy buildings in a wide range of styles
and from distinct time periods. Gurgaon's skyline with its many skyscrapers is
nationally recognised, and the city has been home to several tall buildings with
modern planning. Gurgaon has an estimated 1,100 residential high rises. The
average cost of a 93-square-metre (1,000 sq ft) two-bedroom apartment at a
decent condominium in Gurgaon is at least $160,130 (₹10,000,000).
Gurgaon is divided into 36 wards, with each ward further divided into blocks.
The housing type in the city consists largely of attached housing, though a large
number of attached multi-dwelling units, including apartments, condominiums
and high rise residential towers are getting popular.
Gurgaon has the third-highest per-capita income in India, and is the site of
Indian offices for half of Fortune 500 companies. The city also benefits from its
close proximity to Delhi. Maruti Suzuki Private Limited was the first company
that set up a manufacturing unit in the city in the 1970s making cars.
Eventually, DLF Limited, a real estate company acquired vast stretches of land
in the city. The first major American brand to set up a unit in Gurgaon was
General Electric in 1997. GE's setup in Gurgaon prompted other companies,
both international as well as domestic, to follow suit, providing outsourcing
solutions in software, IT, service and sales through delivery facilities and call
centres. However, due to the lack of proper public transport and the inability
of most of the employees to afford a personal vehicle, most of the call centres
provide pooled-in cars to and from their offices. Apart from Business process
outsourcing and IT sectors, the city is home to several other companies that
specialise in domain expertise. Siemens Industry Software, in Gurugram
Business Park, made a portfolio of design software that was used by NASA to
digitally design, simulate and assemble the vehicle before any physical
prototypes were built by various international companies, including Coca-Cola,
Pepsi, BMW, Agilent Technologies, ((Hyundai)) have chosen Gurugram to be
their Indian corporate headquarters. All the major companies in the city
depend on their own backup, given the fact that Gurgaon does not have
reliable power and water supply, public transport and utilities. Retail is an
important industry in Gurgaon, with the presence of 26 shopping malls. Real
estate is a major force in the city's economy. Gurgaon is home to some of the
nation's most valuable real estate. All Nippon Airways, a Japanese airline,
maintains its Delhi sales office in the Time Tower in Gurgaon." iii
Similarly, NDTV, in a famous editorial piece covered the growth story of
Gurgaon. In the article titled “The Gurgaon story- a mirror to India’s growth”, it
highlighted the new face of the city.
“In this city that barely existed two decades ago, there are 26 shopping malls,
seven golf courses and luxury shops selling Chanel and Louis Vuitton.
Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs shimmer in automobile showrooms. Apartment
towers are sprouting like concrete weeds, and a futuristic commercial hub
called Cyber City houses many of the world's most respected corporations.” iv

The new face

Gurugram has changed not just in terms of its skyline but also in terms of its
culture. Outsourcing required work places for hundreds and eventually
thousands of white-collar employees. It has been noted that, in New Delhi,
rents were touching sky high prices and space was limited. This was seen as a
window of opportunity by real estate giant DLF. Mr. Singh (huge real estate
honcho and face of DLF Real Estate) began pitching Gurgaon as an alternative
to New Delhi as an urban cluster. Gurgaon undeniably had some clear
advantages: it was close to Indira Gandhi International Airport, a Maruti-Suzuki
automobile plant had opened in the 1980s in Gurgaon and various other
ancillary units had followed. Even then, Gurgaon seemed remote and DLF
needed a major company to take the risk of locating itself in the city.
This company turned out to be General Electric. Kushal Pal Singh from DLF had
become the company's India representative after befriending Jack Welch, then
the G.E. Chairman. When Mr. Welch decided to outsource some business
operations to India, he eventually opened a G.E. office inside a corporate park
in Gurgaon in 1997.
"When G.E. came in," Mr. KP Singh said, "others followed."
As numerous other Indian cities began to compete for a spot to become the
home of business process outsourcing, DLF and other developers raced to
capture the market with a helter-skelter building spree. Today, Gurgaon has 30
million square feet of commercial space, a tenfold increase from 2001, even
surpassing the total in New Delhi.
Development that doesn’t seem right

This kind of a description of the city is something that baffles the old
inhabitants of this area. When asked about what he makes of this new face of
Gurugram, Dr. Azad (one of the oldest doctors of Gurgaon village) responded,
“I can’t seem to fathom how things changed. It all seems to have happened so
fast. My children now work in IT companies based in Cyber Hub and often
speak English with my grandchildren. I know there is nothing wrong with this
culture but somehow it doesn’t seem right.”
The services led growth, which characterises not just Gurgaon but most high
performing cities in India, seems to be fostering some unique trends. The
emergence of white-collar jobs in these new cities has made large-scale
migration almost inevitable. The local inhabitants of the city do not seem to
possess the requisite skill set, thus inviting people from all across the country
(sometimes even the world) into the heart of these high performing cities. It is,
however, critical to note that migration is not just a movement of people but
that of culture and way of life of people who leave behind their native regions.
The influx of people from various ethnicities, cultures and religions into one
common pot results in what we call today a cosmopolitan landscape.
It should come as no surprise that Gurugram became the melting pot of all the
cultures and lifestyle patterns that traversed large distances with migrants who
came from all over the world to settle in this city.
Hindustan Times covered the story of why migrants love Gurgaon. “While
Maruti spun thousands of jobs, hundreds of smaller companies that also set up
base in the city became its vendors. Professionals from across the country
came to Gurgaon and thousands of labourers also found work. The influx of
aspiring professionals and migrant workforce made for quite a transformation.
The residents were witness to the creation of a composite culture as new
customs, traditions and cuisines were introduced to the city.
Who would have thought that the city will, someday, celebrate Lohri, Durga
Puja, Bihu, Ganesh Puja, Pongal, Chatth, Onam, Eid and Christmas with equal
fervour. People subscribing to different faiths have turned the city into a
melting pot over time.” v
The city’s population since the 1980s has grown by 50% and that of the villages
by 35% in the decade — both are among the highest in the country. This
wouldn’t have been possible without the contribution of migrants, who
worked hand-in-hand with locals in shaping the city’s future. People here are
free to do what they want and engage in the business of their choice. This is
the beauty of Gurgaon.” There is no shortage of opinion pieces that talk about
how various cultures that have come to coexist in Gurgaon are the ideal model
of development. However, there are very few people who acknowledge that
there is a loss of heritage that is inherent in this process. It is hard for people
like Dr. Azad to articulate in words the feeling of loss that they feel when they
see the old face of Gurgaon fading away.

The New, the Old and the highway

The differences talked about above- ranging from cultural to economic, are
not as abstract as one may think. In fact, they are very easy to trace. One look
across National Highway-8 which passes right through the city of Gurgaon is
enough to make one realise the clear distinction in the two areas. The new
face, with BPO high rises, malls and condominiums seems to be towering the
other side of the highway- which is characterised by independent villas and
industrial factories. Maruti Udyog Ltd, Hero Moto Corp and numerous other
ancillary units which come with these companies are all based out of one side
of the highway- old Gurgaon. New Gurgaon on the other hand houses all major
IT, BPO or Management firms that one can imagine. It should not come as a
surprise that 250 of the Fortune 500 companies are based out of New
Gurgaon- the other side of the highway.
In the period before liberalization, the growth of the city and the new sectors
that were coming up were adjacent to the old colonies of Gurgaon, towards
Delhi along with the Old NH-8. The sectors developed during this period cover
areas till sector 23 and are located to the right hand side of NH-8 (while
moving on NH-8 from Delhi towards Jaipur). These sectors and colonies on the
right side of the highway constitute Old Gurgaon. This part of Gurgaon has
been developed largely by the government, without any intervention from
private players. However, there are two exceptions to this pattern. These two
pockets that have been built by private developers (Old DLF Colony by DLF
near sector 14 and Palam Vihar by Ansals in sector 21 to 23). Growth
increasingly began to spread outwards from the 1990s. This can be attributed
to the construction of NH-8. Sectors 24 to 57 (except sector 31 to 38) have all
come up post-1990s, that is, in the post-liberalization phase. These sectors,
that have come up post the 1990s, have been built by various private
developers. All high high-end and expensive localities are located to the left of
NH-8 (while moving on NH-8 from Delhi towards Jaipur) and constitute New
Gurgaon.
Thus, the contemporary phase which experienced differential growth led to
the formation of Old and New Gurgaon. Based on their period of origin,
location in the city and the authority that developed them, the city seems to
have created clear cut distinctions in the form of Old Gurgaon, New Gurgaon
and the urban villages. The old colonies and the adjacent sectors located to the
right of NH-8 have been largely built by the government authorities prior to
1990s constitute Old Gurgaon. The areas on the left of NH-8 have been built by
the private developers and are relatively new as they were developed in the
post liberalisation period. They have hence been named “New Gurgaon”. And
lastly, the small villages which exist on the periphery have become urbanised in
the process of the city’s growth. They spread in both the Old and New Gurgaon
are often referred to as Urban Villages. vi
GRAPHS USED IN RESEARCH
CONCLUSION
Erasing the old to write the new
As we usher ourselves into the future, we are bound to lose something from
the past. However, it seems from the experience of cities such as Gurgaon,
Hyderabad, Bangalore etc that even as they transform themselves into growth
powerhouses, the essence of their culture is not entirely lost. They have
adapted to these changes in a manner that does not restrict their entry into
the future but at the same time maintains their connect with the past. Each of
these cities has come up with some internal divisions of the old and the new-
New and Old Gurugram, New and Old Hyderabad & Bangalore and Bengaluru.
More often than not, this division is organic and doesn’t require any policy
level intervention even though some people may argue otherwise. This new
kind of development seems to be a common trend in most cities that observe
services driven growth. Whether or not there is a direct correlation between
this kind of developmental path and services led growth is hard to establish.
Incomes are soaring, property prices are exorbitant, malls have become the
order of the day and glossy buildings outline the city’s geography. While a
surface level understanding of these cities makes this development seems like
a rosy picture, a deeper analysis of the same shows us the complexities of this
development path. Regardless of the benefits of this growth, there seems to
be a definite loss of cultural heritage, which might not be economically
accountable, but should at least be acknowledged.

ihttps://www.hindustantimes.com/gurgaon/the-melting-pot-of-people-and-cultures/story-
ahLHkWcGHT19gmxgZG1PVK.html
ii
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/26624/10/11_chapter%202.pdf
iii
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurgaon
iv
https://www.ndtv.com/gurgaon-news/the-gurgaon-story-a-mirror-to-indias-growth-458043
v
https://www.hindustantimes.com/gurgaon/the-melting-pot-of-people-and-cultures/story-
ahLHkWcGHT19gmxgZG1PVK.html
vi
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/26624/10/11_chapter%202.pdf