Recent analysis of politics of urban space has undergone a paradigmatic shift from a mainstream approach dominated by Pluralism to a Power-Conflict (political economy) Perspective(s) developed by neo-Marxist and radical-Weberian approaches. While the former places emphasis on the migration, metropolitan growth and ecological distribution in the city, the latter concentrates on the broader politico-economic context of urban development and change by concentrating on the issues such as collective consumption, capital accumulation and the role of the state in urban development.

The main objectives of this course are to introduce the students to the power-conflict approach and to analyse the urban development and change by employing the insight provided by it.