Cities 43 (2015) 48–58

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Cities
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities

City profile

Hyderabad: Visioning, restructuring and making of a high-tech city

Diganta Das ⇑
Humanities and Social Studies Education, NIE, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), 1 Nanyang Avenue, #3-03-131, Singapore 637616, Singapore

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Hyderabad is the second largest metropolitan region in India. The advent of globalization in India has
Received 11 August 2014 opened the door for Hyderabad to brand itself as the popular destination for high-tech industries. In
Received in revised form 13 November 2014 1999, the entrepreneurial state government initiated Andhra Pradesh Vision 2020, a strategic document
Accepted 13 November 2014
to develop the state by attracting foreign direct investments and developing specific growth engines in
Available online 9 December 2014
order to leapfrog toward the information society. Hyderabad was chosen to be the spine of the state
governments’ visioning strategies and efforts have been made to brand it as the ‘world-class’ high-tech
Keywords:
hub of India. Since then, Hyderabad has been under massive urban restructuring. This profile provides
Hyderabad
Andhra Pradesh
an overview of the origins and history of Hyderabad, the changing political economy of the state and
Telangana resultant urban restructuring and followed by an exploration of emerging urban challenges and
Cyberabad socio-spatial complexities of the expanding metro.
High-tech ! 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Smart city

Introduction the state at the time, envisioned transforming Hyderabad into a

world-class city through making of ‘knowledge enclaves’ similar to
Hyderabad is the state capital of Telangana, a recently formed Malaysia’s Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) and Silicon Valley of
state of southern India and functions as the central administrative, United States (Sen & Frankel, 2005). Inspired by Malaysia’s Vision
industrial and commercial hub of the state.1 From its humble 2020, the state government asked McKinsey Consultancy to prepare
origins as a small town founded in 1591, it has developed to become Andhra Pradesh (AP) Vision 2020 that would sketch out the state’s
one of India’s fastest growing metropolises with a population of development strategy. The vision document suggested making
approximately 7.7 million (Census of India., 2011) which is further Hyderabad as one of the engines of growth through the creation of
expected to increase to about 19 million by the year 2041 (GoAP, high-tech knowledge enclaves (GoAP & Government of Andhra
2013). As per the United Nations (2014) document on World Pradesh, 1999). Furthermore, the World Bank also suggested similar
Urbanization Prospects (2014), Hyderabad metropolitan region is prescription to the state in order to receive more foreign direct
ranked 38th in the world and by 2030, it will be 28th most populous investments (FDIs) and achieve a desired growth trajectory by
urban region in the world. Located centrally on the Deccan Penin- ‘leapfrogging’ toward an information society. Working on these sug-
sula, Hyderabad acts as the link between southern and northern gestions, the state government initiated massive restructuring of
India. From its origins as a small town, today Hyderabad surrounds Hyderabad to promote and brand it as a world-class knowledge
nearly 650 km2 and the larger metropolitan region extends up to hub of Information Technology (IT), Information Technology Enabled
7228 km2.2 During 1994, Chandrababu Naidu, the chief minister of Services (ITES) and biotechnology (Naidu & Ninan, 2000). Hydera-
bad’s urban restructuring experiment also reflects the increasing
emphasis on city-centric development in India, often initiated by
⇑ Tel.: +65 67903405. political leaders and elites impressed with ongoing neoliberal seduc-
E-mail address: diganta.das@nie.edu.sg tive processes around the world (see Bunnell & Das, 2010). Building
1
Telangana officially became the 29th state of India bifurcated from Andhra on the existing research, this profile attempts to provide an insight
Pradesh state with effect from June 2, 2014. Hyderabad was the capital of undivided into Hyderabad’s recent urban restructuring and emerging
Andhra Pradesh for nearly six decades. While Hyderabad is now the official state
capital for Telangana, it is also the shared administrative capital of residual Andhra
challenges.
Pradesh for 10 years while deciding on the new state capital (see http:// In what follows, the next section of this profile provides a brief
www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27658817). Reference to Andhra Pradesh in overview of the geographical location and history of the city. The
this present article connotes to the erstwhile undivided state of Andhra Pradesh (AP). successive section reflects on demographic change and migration
2
While Hyderabad municipality has a physical boundary of nearly 650 km2, the
aspect, followed by a section on the larger restructuring processes
metropolitan region of Hyderabad extends far beyond to the surrounding peri-urban
region. and making of Hyderabad as engines of growth. It is followed by a

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2014.11.008
0264-2751/! 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 D. Das / Cities 43 (2015) 48–58 49

critical account of evolving urban expansion and development of Population of Hyderabad

enclaves in the peripheries. Finally, this profile summarizes the 7.7
challenges of the city-region pertaining to infrastructures, traffic
and issues of social exclusion. 5.7

4.3
Location and history
2.5
Hyderabad is situated in the coordinates of 16"300 and 18"200 1.8
North latitudes and 77"300 and 79"300 East longitudes (Fig. 1). At 1.13 1.25
a larger spatial scale, Hyderabad forms the urban core of the
Hyderabad Metropolitan Region which by spatial extent is the sec- 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011
ond largest metropolitan region in India, occupying a land size of
Fig. 2. Hyderabad’s population (in millions) 1951–2011 (Census of India, 2011).
about 7228 km2 (GoAP., 2013). Above 550 m from sea level, the
city is characterized by many hillocks and beautiful rock forma-
tions found on the Deccan plateau. Several natural water tanks,
raised on four grand arches, was built in the centre of the city
some of them pretty large in size, further make the city very attrac-
(see Photo 1). It represents the richness of ancient Hyderabad’s
tive. The climate of the city is semi-arid with temperatures reach-
landscape architecture and has remained as the most important
ing nearly 40 "C during May and falling to 15 "C during December.
landmark in Hyderabad (Bagchi, 2008).
Hyderabad experiences an average annual rainfall of around 80 cm,
Soon, Hyderabad increasingly became the primary trade hub of
July to September being the highest rainy season (Hong Kong
south India and also developed as a cultural centre of arts and reli-
Observatory, 2012).
gion. In 1687, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb invaded Hyderabad.
The most significant development related to origins of Hydera-
Since then, the region was ruled by many Nizams (Governors)
bad as a city occurred with the advent of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty in
appointed by the Mughal emperor. However, in 1724, the Nizam
the early 16th century (Austin, 1992). The Qutb Shahis laid the
Asaf Jah I, declared himself independent of the Mughal Emperor
foundations of the modern city of Hyderabad. The dynasty con-
(Austin, 1992). Although Hyderabad was built by Muhammad Quli
trolled the Hyderabad region (then known as Golconda) for about
in 1591, it received worldwide recognition during the rule of the
two hundred years, from early 16th century to the end of the 17th
Nizams due to their pomp and pageant of wealth and jewellery.
century.
The Nizams ruled the region for more than 200 years. However,
In 1591, one of the Qutb Shahis, Muhammad Quli, laid the
starting from 1766, the Nizams sovereignty had declined consider-
actual foundation for the beautification and development of
ably and slowly the British gained authority over the Nizams. In
Hyderabad as a city with new buildings, civic spaces, shopping
1947, the British India was partitioned into India and Pakistan on
areas and roads in a grid pattern throughout the city, which were
the basis of religion and communal arrangements (Cohen, 2007).
heavily influenced by Persian design. Muhammad Quli sought to
At first the Nizam of Hyderabad state, chose not to join either
build Hyderabad as a ‘replica of Paradise’ covering an area of only
and kept Hyderabad independent. Nizam’s Hyderabad state had
three and a quarter square kilometres (Austin, 1992). The magnif-
an enormous area extending into present day Maharashtra and
icent ‘Charminar’ or the ‘four minarets’, a rectangular building
Karnataka state. However, later in 1948, Hyderabad was ultimately
integrated into a union with India. Finally, in 1956, the state of
Andhra Pradesh was formed integrating Telugu speaking districts
of Nizam’s region. Hyderabad city was made the state capital
(Table 1).
The formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956 also brought a radical
change in the social and economic composition of the city. Large
empty areas were transformed with new brick and mortar build-
ings and the increasing population led to emergence of a ‘complex
urban settlement’ of Hyderabad (see Luther, 2006: 345; Alam and
Khan, 1972). The new émigrés were increasingly settling down in
the expanded frontiers of the city, opening new business establish-
ments and trading centers. Rich peasant class families migrated to
the city from coastal Andhra region and entered into the business
of cinema production and distribution, education and print and
electronic media sector – shaping not only the future of the city
but also the political landscape of the state (see Srinivasulu,
2002). In contrast, the old long-time residents of the city, concen-
trated around the older part of the city and Secunderabad canton-
ment area as they found comfort in cultural and religious
similarities with other residents there. While the newly-extended
part of the city was burgeoning with wide roads, shopping and
trading complexes along with new residential areas, the old city
area retained its original characteristics with narrow alleys, open
shops and colorful open-bazaars (see Das, 2010: 109, Austin,
1992,). When Andhra Pradesh was formed in 1956, it had 3 distinct
geographical regions – Telangana in the north-west, coastal And-
hra in the east and Rayalaseema in the south and south-west. How-
ever, due to increasing ‘economic backwardness of Telangana and
Fig. 1. Map of India with location of Telangana and Hyderabad. cultural domination by people of coastal Andhra’ (Parthasarathy,
50 D. Das / Cities 43 (2015) 48–58

Table 1
Civic and planning organizations of Hyderabad.

Organizations Jurisdiction Functions

Civic body
Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) 172 km2 (1960–2006) Delivery of civic services within the corporation limit
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) 650 km2 (2007 onward) Delivery of civic services within the expanded corporation limit
Planning body
Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) 1861 km2 (1975–2006) Land-use planning, zoning regulations and infrastructure creation
Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority 7228 km2 (2007 onward, re- Land-use planning, coordinating, zoning regulation and infrastructure
(HMDA) structured again in 2013) planning
Special development area
Cyberabad Development Authority (CDA) 52 km2 (2001–2013) Planning and development of IT enclave
Hyderabad Airport Development Authority (HADA) 458 km2 (2008–2013) Planning and development of international airport and logistics hub
Buddha Purnima Project Authority (BPPA) 902 ha (2000–2013) Tourism planning and development

2010: 2), people of Telangana region demanded separation from cities in India. According to the Census of India, 2011 report,
Andhra Pradesh. The separation struggle went on for decades and Hyderabad’s total urban population was 7.7 million, making it
finally in 2014, Telangana achieved independent statehood with the sixth largest metropolitan city in India (Fig. 2). Hyderabad’s
Hyderabad as its capital (PTI, 2014a). The residual Andhra Pradesh population has increased steadily over the last half of the century
state now has two regions – coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. (see Mulligan & Crampton, 2005). Recent projected population
Hyderabad is also the administrative capital of residual Andhra estimates exceed 9.4 million (Siddique, 2014). It has also been
Pradesh for 10 years within which it is expected to develop a observed that in the last decade, the growth of the city has been
new state capital. much faster in the peripheries than in the core (Ramachandraiah
& Prasad, 2008). Hyderabad is the primate city of the state, a
Demography position it has maintained for a long time.
Hyderabad is also home to a number of heavy industries in the
Asia is home to nearly half of world’s population today (Dahiya, public sector, several scientific research institutions and the
2012) and major cities in India positively contribute to this. Since headquarters of the South-Central Railway zone. The majority of
1991, Hyderabad has emerged as one of the most populous capital these heavy and labor-oriented industries and institutions were

Fig. 3. Hyderabad Metropolitan with erstwhile civic authorities and special enclaves.
 D. Das / Cities 43 (2015) 48–58 51

setup during the 1960s and 1970s (Ramachandraiah & Prasad, introduction of economic liberalization also brought changes in
2008). The location of these industries created enormous employ- (economic) decision-making powers where the centre (federal
ment opportunities and led to in-migration of skilled workers and government) had to increasingly share powers with its states –
their families to Hyderabad. Therefore, since the early 1970s, the sub-national regions (Krueger, 2002). The process of the federal
Hyderabad witnessed a massive influx of people in search of better government sharing more power with states in the new market
living conditions and opportunities from the surrounding districts economy has been described by Kennedy (2007) as a re-scaling
(Ramachandraiah & Bawa, 2000). This has led to considerable of provincial states. State capitals and major urban centres in India
pressure placed on existing urban infrastructure, such as housing, today, compete for foreign investment and organize roadshows to
water, power and transport. Unplanned land-use and lack of ade- attract industries. Banking on these processes of reterritorialisation
quate civic facilities led to the formation of slums. It is important (see Brenner, 1999, 2004), the state government has been trying to
to note that nearly 25% of Hyderabad’s population lives in slums transform Hyderabad into an engine of growth for the state
(Census of India, 2011). (Kennedy, 2007).
The city’s urbanization process was impacted by the pressures Chandrababu Naidu, the chief minister of erstwhile AP in 1995,
of increasing population due to influx of migrants. While the used the opportunity of liberalization to reform the state economy.
increase in population during 1970s and 1980s was fundamentally Traditionally, the economy of AP was dominated by the agricul-
due to the setting up heavy manufacturing industries around the tural sector. However, the share of agriculture in the state economy
city, after 1991, it was due to the processes of urbanization over- declined significantly between 1980 and 1995 and manufacturing
lapped with the liberalization of the economy both at the federal sector, remained stagnant (Naidu & Ninan, 2000). By 1995–1996,
and state levels (Rao, 2007). Since early 2000, with the projection the state Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of AP was far below the
of Hyderabad as the high-tech destination and facilitating it with national average. The state government’s expenditures on subsidy
city-centric informational infrastructures attracted several and welfare were deemed to be excessive, comprising around 10%
domestic and foreign software industries such as Microsoft, Oracle, of the state GDP (Rao, 2002). As the revenue earning was declining
Google, Dell, Infosys, Wipro and Amazon. The new urban-centric and expenditure increasing, the state economy was heading for a
economic initiatives led to a fresh wave of migration to the city – crisis. To recover the state economy, Naidu took loan from the
largely consisting of highly skilled digeratis (see Rediff, 2004). World Bank under the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP).
Their concentration is often visible around the new high-tech Along with the loan, the World Bank advised the state government
enclave in the south-western fringe of the city. In what follows, to cut government expenditures and introduce economic reforms
the next section delves more into the urban restructuring, polit- (Kirk, 2005).
ico-economic landscape of the region, visioning exercises and the To control the fiscal deficit, Naidu progressively reduced the
ways it shaped the contemporary urban fabric of Hyderabad. government subsidies on welfare programs, especially provided
to the poor citizens of the state. At the same time, priorities were
Urban restructuring of Hyderabad given to attract foreign investments in tertiary industries such as
information technology, biotechnology, finance and banking. In
Manuel Castells have noted that a city is ‘not a place but a pro- order to learn from other experiences and experiments, Naidu
cess’ (Castells, 1996: 417). Cities today are being increasingly began traveling around the world, met political leaders, policy
shaped and re-shaped by the processes of globalization in both makers and attended economic forums.
Global North and South. Economic, political and social changes
are happening in a more intense way through cities, shaped by cit-
ies and often shaped cities (see Taylor, 2007: 11). That said, it is
noteworthy what Jane Jacobs said nearly four decades earlier – ‘a
city seems always to have implied a group of cities, in trade with
one another’ (Jacobs, 1970: 35). Cities are very much distinguish-
able due to their ‘complicated and diverse’ economies (Jacobs,
1970: 50). With proliferation of globalization and services sector
development, especially due to Information Technology (IT), cities
have become the agents of change for their nations – an engine of
growth. With IT, cities of both Global North and South are net-
working more often than ever. Today, global cities such as New
York, London and Tokyo are highly connected to Bangalore (see
Sudhira, Ramachandra, & Bala Subrahmanya, 2007) and Hyderabad
– generating global space of flows. With immense demand for
development of IT and ITES sector in India coupled with economic
liberalization policy initiative, cities have come to the prominence
and are being viewed as engines of growth (Das, 2010). Taking
advantage of larger politico-economic changes, Hyderabad began
treading the path of city-centric infrastructural development, pro-
jecting itself as high-tech and smart so to attract FDIs especially in
services sector including ancillary developments of gated residen-
tial complexes, ultra-modern shopping malls and multiplexes. In
doing so, restructuring of the city became imminent.

Changing political economy and the city

Since 1991, India moved from a command and relatively closed

economy to liberal market economy (Rudolph & Rudolph, 2001).
Along with fundamental changes in the economic policies of India, Photo 1. The Charminar (by author).
52 D. Das / Cities 43 (2015) 48–58

Photo 2. The Cyber Towers: Hyderabad’s first ever intelligent building (by author).

Vision 2020: From Malaysia to India (Bunnell, 2004; Bunnell & Das, 2010; Sen & Frankel, 2005). The AP
Vision 2020 identified a set of ‘growth engines’ for the state. It
In 1997, Naidu travelled to Southeast Asia to meet potential emphasized development of services sector as the key to achieving
investors and to ‘market the state’ (Naidu & Ninan, 2000: 135). rapid growth and prosperity and a license to leapfrog. Therefore,
He was very impressed with the larger technology related develop- emphasis was placed on developing IT-related services, biotechnol-
ments of Singapore and Malaysia – especially Multimedia Super ogy, tourism, logistics, healthcare and educational services.
corridor (MSC) near Kuala Lumpur (Bunnell & Das, 2010; Moser, The efforts for the development of the services sector called for
2010; Sen & Frankel, 2005). Soon after coming back from his South- investments in premium urban infrastructure. Being already shown
east Asia tour, Naidu initiated a $350 million knowledge enclave in some advancement on the IT front, Hyderabad received the highest
Hyderabad, known as ‘HITEC City’ (Hyderabad Information Tech- priority. The state government formulated the first AP State IT Pol-
nology and Engineering Consultancy City) in an area of 65 ha icy in 1999 to attract IT enabled services firms to Hyderabad. This
(Sen & Frankel, 2005). Banking on the locally available engineering policy was followed by a second policy in 2002 and third in 2005.
pool and availability of 1.4 million square feet of IT space helped Through these policy initiatives, the government provided lucrative
Hyderabad to attract many international IT giants to setup offices incentives to IT firms to establish their software centres in Hydera-
and research centres. The first phase of HITEC City was inaugurated bad. In 2002, Hyderabad became number one in the city competi-
in 1998 with the completion of the ‘Cyber Towers’ (see Photo 2), a tiveness ranking of major cities in India to attract businesses
ten-storey ‘intelligent’ building with 580,000 square feet area fit- (NASSCOM, 2002). Several national and international survey
ted with dedicated optic fiber links, satellite connections, 24-h reports also mentioned Hyderabad as the IT Hotspot of India.4
electronic security system, shopping points, banking facilities and Besides IT, the state government also created a Biotechnology Policy
uninterrupted power supply3 to facilitate hundreds of software in 2001 to develop Hyderabad as a biotech destination with a pro-
engineers and technicians. Later, as the demand increased, several posed 600 square kilometre specialized enclave, known as Genome
local and global real estate firms began constructing more intelligent Valley, about 30 km north of Hyderabad city centre. Hyderabad today
buildings. The policy initiatives of creating HITEC City provided a projects itself as a smart, high-tech destination within India (see PTI.,
boost to Hyderabad’s urbanization, and spawned massive 2014b). Increasing emphasis on industrialization encouraged by new
developments of gated residential apartments, ‘intelligent’ offices economic policy initiatives, resulted in rapid increase in urban activ-
and shopping malls around the HITEC City area. ities in the periphery region of the city along with unplanned urban
Continuing with economic reform and new policy initiatives, in sprawl (Ramachandraiah & Prasad, 2008; Dupont, 2007). These devel-
1999, the state government formulated the ‘Andhra Pradesh Vision opmental trajectories demanded spatial restructuring through better
2020’, a policy document with the help of the well-known consult- land-use planning and governance (see Shaw & Satish, 2007).
ing firm, McKinsey and Company (Sen & Frankel, 2005). This docu-
ment was heavily inspired by the Malaysian Vision 2020 through
Spatial restructuring of the city
which Malaysian government envisioned creating technologically
advanced society and ‘leapfrogging’ toward a developed economy
Hyderabad has had a long experience of municipal administra-
tion. Since 1869, Hyderabad has had a municipal administration,
3
While Chandrababu Naidu was cutting down the subsidies on power and water administrated by the then police commissioner of the city. In
supply provided to the rural farmers for irrigation purpose as part of the economic 1870, the Hyderabad Municipality covered 55 km2 with a
restructuring of the state, at the same time he also made sure that the high-tech
enclave of Cyberabad received adequate power and water supply and other facilities.
4
Attracting businesses became high on the agenda rather than delivering subsidized Cited in Rediff business news, 2004 (http://www.rediff.com/money/2004/dec/
services to poor farmers. 13bpo.htm, accessed on May 8, 2008).
 D. Das / Cities 43 (2015) 48–58 53

Fig. 4. HMDA Master Plan 2031 map.

population of about 350,000. In 1950, two separate corporations governments carried on similar trajectories. In 2006, the state gov-
were created, one for Hyderabad city and another for Secundera- ernment proposed to create an expanded and new city planning
bad cantonment area. Later in 1960, both were merged into the body by replacing HUDA. In 2008, the new planning body was
newly formed Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) with formed through a government act and renamed as Hyderabad
an area of 172 km2. In due course, as the physical growth of the city Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA). The objective of
has expanded rapidly increasing economic importance of the city, forming the new planning authority was to ensure systematic
the demand for civic amenities also increased. In 2007, the state and planned development of the city and its periphery. From ear-
government decided to merge 12 municipalities surrounding the lier 1861 km2 of erstwhile HUDA, the new HMDA boundary was
Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad and formed Greater Hydera- expanded to more than 7228 km2 amassing 55 mandals (smaller
bad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) with an area of nearly administrative divisions) from the surrounding peripheries making
650 km2 (see Fig. 3). it the second largest urban region in India after Bangalore (see
In 1975, the state government created the Hyderabad Urban Fig. 4). Development of HMDA paved the way for the state govern-
Development Authority (HUDA) in order to facilitate better land- ment to create a mega-urban region with a single authority to plan
use planning for the emerging city. The major aim of HUDA was and implement developmental objectives. In 2013, the state gov-
development of ring towns and growth centres around Hyderabad. ernment introduced Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Plan
Four ring towns were proposed – (1) Ramchandrapuram-Patan- 2031 to promote a balanced development of the metropolitan
cheru; (2) Medchal; (3) Ghatkesar; and (4) Shamshabad. Ring region (GoAP., 2013). As seen from the Fig. 4, the new master plan
towns were primarily proposed to control the congestion and orga- envisioned creating specific residential zone along the growth cor-
nize the metropolitan growth of Hyderabad (Rao, 1990). However, ridor and around urban nodes. Along with commercial and manu-
the development of ring towns did not happen as proposed. There- facturing zones, the new master plan envisioned development of a
fore, the organized growth of Hyderabad’s metropolitan area and multiple use zone for industrial/commercial purposes along one
the reduction of congestion in the central core did not materialize kilometre of both sides of the outer ring road, as shown in Fig. 4.
as expected (Ramachandraiah & Prasad, 2008). Initially the total
area of HUDA was 1692 km2 and It included both city municipality Cyberabad development authority
boundary and the surrounding peripheral region. During mid-
1990, the state government, as part of the urban reform process While the process of restructuring the metropolitan boundaries
further extended HUDA’s boundary to 1861 km2 (Table 1). The was underway, re-configuration and delimitation of space for spe-
re-shaped HUDA included the existing municipality boundary as cial purposes was also taking place. Following Vision 2020 policy
well as 125 surrounding villages. suggestions, the state government prioritized development of
high-tech enclaves in Hyderabad as a way to spark IT-driven
Hyderabad metropolitan development authority growth. In 2001, the state government declared creation of Cybera-
bad Development Authority (CDA) as a special enclave for the loca-
While the spatial restructuring of Hyderabad began vigorously tion of IT firms; research institutions and allied services around the
during the chief ministership of Chandrababu Naidu, successive existing ‘HITEC City’ area in Hyderabad (GoAP & Government of
54 D. Das / Cities 43 (2015) 48–58

Fig. 5. CDA Land use map.

Andhra Pradesh, 2001). In conjunction with the name Hyderabad, ment, the international airport has been completed and inaugu-
this new cyber enclave has been named ‘Cyberabad’. The CDA cov- rated in March, 2008 along with a luxury hotel. The second
ers an area of 52 km2 in the western periphery of the city. phase of development includes cargo complexes and industrial
The CDA was conceived as a self-contained enclave providing zones.
premium infrastructures, such as gated residential housing, Along with the development of premium cyber and airport
intelligent buildings, shopping malls and transport facilities among enclaves, the state government also gave attention to developing
others. The master plan of the CDA was characterized by mixed adequate infrastructure for tourism. Based on the diversity of geo-
land-use with more than 25% of the total land area for residential graphical and historical sites, the AP Vision 2020 mentioned the
purposes and more than 32% for software industries (see Fig. 5). potential to develop the tourism sector (GoAP, 1999: 32). In
Along with residential and software industries, the CDA includes 2000, a special development area, covering 900 ha surrounding
Indian School of Business, University of Hyderabad, the Indian the HussainSagar Lake was formed for the purposes of tourism,
Institute of Information Technology, a sports complex and a golf eco-tourism and theme park development. This special purpose
course. The creation of the CDA paved the way for the development authority has been named as Buddha Purnima Project Authority
of special enclaves meant for special purposes (Ramachandraiah & (BPPA). The BPPA identified seven major tourism development
Prasad, 2008). Further, to provide global connectivity to the elite pockets for beautification and enhancement around the HussainSa-
digeratis, a premium expressway was built to connect Cyberabad gar Lake. These pockets of development included such projects as
with the newly built international airport (see Fig. 4). the creation of NTR memorial and garden, a plaza, several parks
and a laser show project (see Fig. 6).
Hyderabad airport development authority While development of special enclaves were meant for special
economic purposes, in yet another restructuring drive, CDA, HADA
To achieve the desired growth trajectory and to leapfrog toward and BPPA have been merged with HMDA in 2013, paving the way
an information society, the state required heavy investment in pre- for single authority for the larger metropolitan region (GoAP.,
mium infrastructure for global connectivity. Therefore, in 1996, the 2013). The progressive spatial restructuring of the city through
state government initiated the construction of a new international merger and acquisition of surrounding municipalities, mandals
airport at Shamsabad, 21 km southwest of Hyderabad’s city centre. and special enclaves served two purposes – first, to achieve
To promote the planned development of the area around the inter- administrative efficiency through better land-use management
national airport, the government declared a special development and secondly, to generate economic opportunities by leveraging
area and called it as Hyderabad Airport Development Authority Hyderabad as growth-engine. However, Ramachandraiah and
(HADA). HADA covers around 458 km2 in the south-western Prasad (2008) observed that these configurations and reconfigura-
periphery of the metropolitan (see Fig. 3). The master plan of HADA tions of Hyderabad served political purposes rather than increase
proposed the promotion of an international airport and ancillary in administrative efficiency and proper growth of the city. Toward
economic activities such as a cargo hub, aviation engineering southern part of the Musi River, where a large number of Muslim
hub, free trade zone, luxury hotels, residential apartments and populations reside, the spatial restructuring processes of the city
other additional services to make the enclave a growth centre have nearly bypassed the pocket (see Naidu, 1990). With massive
(GoAP & Government of Andhra Pradesh, 2003). The region is being restructuring of Hyderabad, and in-migration of population to this
connected to the core of the city by radial roads and by an express- primate metropolitan region, challenges of providing basic urban
way link to Cyberabad. A Metro train link has also been proposed amenities have increased manifold. The next section details some
and construction is underway. As part of the first phase of develop- of the most prominent challenges that Hyderabad is facing today.
 D. Das / Cities 43 (2015) 48–58 55

Fig. 6. Planned tourism development in BPPA region.

Emerging urban challenges sought to increase the efficiency of the selected municipalities and
thereby to reduce urban poverty. Several other state and national
As the city expands to surrounding regions and the population government plans were also implemented to reduce urban poverty
rapidly increases, the challenges of managing Hyderabad have and to improve the slum environment. With the help of funding
grown manifold in last few years. Basic infrastructural supports through Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
such as housing, water supply, power distribution, transport facil- (JNNURM), the city authority aims to provide water supply to all
ities, waste and sewage treatment for the city are still limited by 2016 (Nastar, 2014: 5). Further, to develop slum-free cities,
within the municipal boundary. Infrastructure related to social another national project known as – Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) has
development, such as education, health care support, housing facil- also been initiated in Hyderabad to provide better housing opportu-
ities for the poor, sports and other recreation facilities are not up to nities for the clum dwellers (Sharma, 2011). However, the provision
the standard and need larger investment and planning efforts. of basic amenities to the vulnerable population in the city is still
Overall, water supply, traffic problems and development of slums inadequate and needs further government support (see Photo 3).
and poor housing are the most prominent challenges that rapidly The traffic density of Hyderabad has increased dramatically in
growing Hyderabad is facing today (see Rao, 2007). recent years with increase in private vehicles and two-wheelers.
Hyderabad is surrounded by some of the poorest districts in the The total number of vehicles plying in the roads of Hyderabad is
state (Ramachandraiah & Bawa, 2000). Due to the semi-arid estimated to be more than two million (Ramachandraiah, 2007).
climate in the region and a lack of proper irrigation facilities, agri- However, there is only a small increase public bus service. Further
cultural output in the surrounding districts is relatively low. This lack of adequate road infrastructure and massive increase in num-
has prompted many to migrate from rural areas to Hyderabad for ber of vehicles has resulted in massive traffic congestion at major
employment opportunities. This has resulted in a rapid increase traffic points along with increasing vehicular pollution within the
of slum settlements within the city (Rao, 2007) as affordable hous- city (see Photo 4). A long history of poor road design, narrow and
ing facilities are not available. There are nearly 1600 slum locations unplanned network of roads, lack of maintenance and shortages
identified within Hyderabad metropolitan region (Census of India, of parking facilities have made the traffic situation further worse.
2001). The majority of slums were built during the mid-1980s and According to Ramachandraiah (2007), ‘Hyderabad has the dubious
served as initial entry points to Hyderabad (Rao, 2007). The distinction of being a large metro city without adequate footpaths
migrants used these slums as their ‘first step toward a better life’ that forces pedestrians to walk on the roads’.
(Afshar & Alikhan, 2002; 1153). These slums lack basic health The reasons for such traffic problems can also be attributed to
and civic amenities such as safe drinking water, adequate power the overcrowded core area with its old network of narrow radial
supply, paved roads and an adequate number of public toilets – roads meaning that often vehicles need to cross through the centre
making it challenging to achieve good quality of living (see Goli, in order to travel to different parts of the city. The construction of
Arokiasamy, & Chattopadhayay, 2011). With funding from the UK unplanned buildings and their illegal extensions along the major
Department for International Development, the state government routes has also made widening of roads very difficult. Further, an
initiated the constitution of Andhra Pradesh Urban Services for inefficient public transport system and the sharp increase in pri-
the Poor programme in 1999 for a period of 9 years.5 Through this vate vehicle ownership in recent years can also be attributed to
programme, the establishment of proper municipal infrastructure the current traffic situation of the city (Rao, 2007). Public transport
accounts for only 40% of total passenger transport
5 (Ramachandraiah, 2007). Among private vehicles, motorcycles
Cited from http://www.apusp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task
=view&id=27&Itemid=52. constitute of 78% of total vehicles (GoAP, 2003).
56 D. Das / Cities 43 (2015) 48–58

Photo 3. Struggling for the drinking water is a common scenario in slums of Hyderabad (by author).

Photo 4. Traffic congestion in a major traffic node in Hyderabad (Photo: author).

To tackle the traffic problems, a network of 158 km outer-ring 158 km) have been built so far (Suares, 2014). Along with ORR, a
roads (ORR) have been proposed to decongest the traffic problem US$ 2 billion metro train project is also under way to provide
of the metropolitan region and to provide orbital linkage to arterial world-class transport facilities befitting Hyderabad’s future global
roads, access to the international airport and to other important status. Hyderabad’s metro train, once completed will consist of 3
urban nodes. Several radial roads were also proposed to connect corridors with a total of 72 km. However, the plan to improve
the ORR with core of the city. About 125 km (out of the planned transportation system in Hyderabad was criticized for not
 D. Das / Cities 43 (2015) 48–58 57

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