ABSTRACT

This chapter highlights the importance of the size and function of the “informal” sector in Calcutta’s economy: by most estimates this collection of urban workers comprises 40 per cent or more of the Calcutta labor force, in occupations from garbage collection, material transport, home delivery of consumer products, to small crafts and manufacturing (leather products, printing, etc.). The colonial city was a center of administration, a port, and a European residential enclave. With the achievement of independence in 1947, the spatial divisions of the colonial city (demarcated by class and race barriers) were largely retained, with the native upper class (capital and land owners, political leaders and top government officials) now occupying the privileged space once reserved for the colonizers. The most significant new spatial component of the reforms in Calcutta are its new town projects, particularly New Calcutta. Calcutta’s spatial structure cannot be separated from its political-economic history. This history has been influenced strongly by global and local events.