In today's edition of The Nutgraf, I write about the politics of the city's objects, and how they were built.
I write about air-conditioned airports, expressways, pavemented roads, the Utility Building, and the city's town hall.
Bengaluru’s solutions are Bengaluru’s problems.
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The authorities who designed the road assumed that people would come in cars or private vehicles which would take them directly into their tech offices.
Except, thousands used public transport, usually buses.
And had to figure out how to get to the other side
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Accidents were routine. Many died crossing a road trying to get to their office, or to get back home. Parents even made their kids give up classes that was just across the road.
Complaints were made to the BBMP, the city's municipality. There were online petitions.
Nothing.
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So finally, the companies took matters in their own hands, and financed and built a skywalk for their own employees.
It was built at a cost of ~5 crore. The money wasn't the problem. It wasn't even a rounding error for these companies.
That's the red skywalk you see today.
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After this, companies in ORR got involved in urban development.
They helped get funding to accelerate the metro construction.
Many even hired cranes on standby so vehicles that broke down could be removed to keep traffic flowing.
Even the WSJ covered it. See their lead image.
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Everyone knows that Bengaluru’s public infrastructure is broken. We've seen the dug-up roads, abandoned flyovers, and encroached lakes.
So they see this skywalk as a success story.
Public private partnership.
Hyperlocal urban development.
A marketplace solution.
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Many believe that the big problem in Bengaluru is the lack of development.
Not true.
The bigger problem is what people *think* successful development is supposed to look like.
The solution is part of the problem.
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Back in 1980, the political theorist Langdon Winner (
@langdonw
) published a journal article titled ‘Do Artifacts Have politics?’
As one of most influential academic papers ever, it’s been cited by 1000s, and is mandatory reading if you work in society, politics, and technology.
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Winner asks a simple question:
Do technological objects have political properties? Do they have attributes that give them power and authority?
You may be tempted to say no.
You may argue that technology isn’t inherently political.
Its usage is what makes it political.
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Not true, says Winner. He argues that objects, just by whether they are built, or the way they are designed, can have political qualities.
All of which has little to do with who wields them.
He makes his point using a memorable example.
Bridges in Long Island, New York.
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Bridges in Long Island are quite low, which was done deliberately by Robert Moses, who was responsible for designing the urban landscape of New York.
All to make sure that cars and lower clearance vehicles can get to Long Island, but buses could not.
Why?
Well...
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Once you go down the rabbit hole, you discover all kinds of things, like why Bangalore has other kinds of politics to deal with. (via
@TVMohandasPai
)
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The Nutgraf is India's leading paid newsletter about business and technology. Every Saturday, I tell a story by synthesizing the events of the last week in one broad narrative arc.
Today's edition, though is free.
Please read. RT. Share. Etc.
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Special thanks to
@acorn
and
@PostitAcademic
who gave me their time and expertise which enabled me to craft today's edition.
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