Digitisation and Participation in Urban Governance: The Contribution of ICT-Based Spatial Knowledge Management in Indian Cities

Abstract

In India, the importance of urbanisation is increasingly being recognised, not only in terms of the size of the urban population, but also the importance of large cities in driving economic growth (Kennedy et al. 2014). The latest census, from 2011, indicates that 31 per cent of the population lives in cities, of which almost half live in cities with a population greater than one million. The number of metropolitan cities (more than one million inhabitants) has increased from twenty-three in 1991 to fifty-three in 2011 (Tripathi 2013). India is one of several regions (including South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa) expected to urbanise strongly in the coming thirty years, and therefore, it is strategic for analysing the role of local governance processes. Throughout his work, Bert Helmsing recognised that local government is an important actor in local and regional development processes. His perspective on the socioeconomic institutional embedding of government in regional networks has been inspiring for my approach in analysing how digitisation, informatisation and participation have changed the way governments function and their interaction with citizens within their mandates.