Rémi De Bercegol: The emergence of municipalities. Analysis of the reorganization of powers resulting from decentralization on the governance of small towns in Uttar Pradesh

Through the observation of basic public services, this thesis examines the reorganization of political and technical powers following the implementation of decentralization reforms. In India, this issue has already been the subject of several case studies in rural areas and metropolitan cities. The purpose of this work is to supplement this body of work by placing it in the distinct context of small Indian towns. Until now, these towns have attracted little attention from researchers and planners. This lack of interest reflects a bias in the way Indian urbanization is thought about, where the term "city" refers primarily to metropolitan areas, considered to be the engines of economic growth, at the expense of the rest of urban India. However, a significant proportion of the urban population now lives in this type of town and is therefore just as affected by the changes introduced by the new urban policies resulting from decentralization. As part of this doctoral work, a survey was conducted in four small towns with 20,000 inhabitants selected in eastern Uttar Pradesh, interviewing politicians, engineers, and residents. The empirical research analyzed the formation of local governments from a multi-level perspective in order to understand the institutional transformations that have taken place since the reform. The results of the study provide a picture of the process of emergence of municipalities in small towns.

Thesis defended on March 14, 2012