Installing Automobility

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"Automobiles are deeply embedded in Western cities. However, what's more significant is their rapidly growing presence in the megacities of the Global South. Scenes of streets choked with private vehicles are now a daily occurrence in many metropolises. Despite this, current scholarship has not adequately appreciated the significance of this shift toward driving. Prioritizing private motorized transport has a lasting impact on upon cities, and the decisions that establish that priority have gone largely underexamined. This book fills this gap by describing the introduction of the phenomenon of automobility in Bengaluru (a rapidly growing metropolis of about 10M people in southern India) that is rooted in historical experience and in the spatial, technological, and social interventions of a range of urban actors. The imbrication of these different facets, says Gopakumar, gives automobility its juggernaut-like quality that threatens to reorder the city for enhanced automotive travel. At the same time, he demonstrates that the edifice of automobility in Bengaluru is not a monolith but is a contingent achievement that is susceptible to continuous grinding down. Making novel connections between the fields of mobility studies, STS, and urban and environmental studies, this book offers important insights to scholars who recognize that streets are central to urban sustainability and equity, and that recovering streets from the grip of automobility could have large environmental and social benefits"-- Provided by publisher