Entrepreneurs and state officials have been transforming Bangalore from a city where the “backend” technology work of the world is sent to a new startup hub known for entrepreneurship and innovation. Since 2012, I have been tracking the multiple sites and practices through which this “startup city” is produced. One key site in developing citizens as entrepreneurs is through a specific focus on developing women as entrepreneurs.

The “haphazard” nature of urban planning in India habitually becomes a topic of public debate whenever our cities encounter a major crisis, like the urban flooding that Chennai witnessed recently. Since urban planning and its enforcement are routinely declared the culprit of India’s “dysfunctional” cities, it is important to examine the roots underpinning India’s current urban planning regime.

As the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic resulted in a near-complete lockdown of the Indian economy, digital platforms were in turmoil amidst raging protests from their workers. Delivery service platforms such as Swiggy faced workers’ agitation against repeated paycuts and scaling down of their monthly incentives at a time when they were forced to deliver in containment zones, risking personal health and braving violence from the police forces on the ground.