ABSTRACT
These days in a place like New Delhi, when leaving for Gurgaon, for instance, it is possible to drive on a road along a residential area for a long stretch without being able to either leave the road or divert by turning right or left, like in US-American suburbs: there are high gates, walls, watchmen, even surveillance cameras that prevent one from doing so. Likewise, in the opposite direction, when driving towards Greater Noida, one is struck by plots of land on which completely new master-planned communities are mushrooming, often still just announced by glamorous hoardings promoting new shopping paradises (Plate 3.1), lush green townships, world cities, exotic islands as future habitats in a place like New Delhi and the NCR.
