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About this book
This research focuses on Punjab, across the India–Pakistan border, specifically on the cities of Amritsar and Lahore. Their proximity, shared colonial past, socio-cultural ties, and entangled urban heritage offer a unique setting for comparative research on postcolonial urban governance and transformation. The book examines how governance practices shape urban dwellers’ access to housing and services in specific neighbourhoods and contribute to the (re)production of socio-spatial in/exclusion. Rather than relying on a property rights lens, it adopts and expands Access Theory, conceptualising access as the ability to derive benefits from material, institutional, and symbolic resources. This lens foregrounds governance mechanisms and power relations that enable, control, and maintain access over time. Case studies in Amritsar and Lahore engage with theoretical mergers—such as access assemblages, evolutionary governance, and city\scapes—to explore neglected dimensions of urban processes, including human/non-human interfaces and socio-material infrastructures. By unraveling contestations over access, the research traces evolving governance arrangements and dependencies. While grounded in these two cities, the findings contribute to broader debates on postcolonial and South(east)ern urbanism, especially in border regions.
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Helena Cermeño is an architect, urban planner, and researcher exploring governance and urban (in)justice through the lenses of housing, infrastructure, and heritage.
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Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Access to the City
Book Subtitle: Governing Housing, Services, and Urban In/Exclusion in Amritsar and Lahore
Authors: Helena Cermeño
Series Title: Stadt, Raum und Gesellschaft
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-48228-2
Publisher: Springer VS Wiesbaden
eBook Packages: Social Science and Law (German Language), Social Sciences, Humanities and Law (excluding publishing partner content) (German language)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature 2025
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-658-48227-5Published: 25 June 2025
eBook ISBN: 978-3-658-48228-2Published: 24 June 2025
Series ISSN: 0935-7548
Series E-ISSN: 2628-8133
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXV, 340
Number of Illustrations: 43 b/w illustrations, 8 illustrations in colour
Topics: Urban Studies/Sociology