Gandhi, Kanchan and Sabhlok, Anu creator text Economic & Political Weekly monographic eng

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61(6), Feb 7, 2026: p.67-72 The outcomes of digital governance initiatives in smart cities through the lens of three “smart” projects of Chandigarh are investigated. Deemed a planned utopia, Chandigarh is one of the most heavily surveilled cities in India. The panoptic city is used to surveil some groups of people more than others. Key decisions regarding the implementation of these schemes rest with urban administrators, planners and politicians. The city’s elite citizens find ways of getting their voices included in the urban arena. But the lack of public participation, particularly of the marginalised groups, deepens spatial and social inequality and increases discontent. We examine how these technologies, particularly surveillance urbanism, can transform infrastructure, services and social lives in cities and their peripheries. The data for this paper were collected through interviews with bureaucrats, residents, RWA leaders in Chandigarh and media reports. –Reproduced https://www.epw.in/journal/review-urban-affairs/surveillance-society-and-impacts-digital.html Economic & Political Weekly 260427