Ahmedabad: The Middle‑Class Megacity

Abstract

This chapter explores the nexus between the middle class and neoliberal politics in the remaking of Ahmedabad as a “Megacity” between 2003 and 2014. The middle class is deeply invested in the discursive and material processes of transforming Ahmedabad into a Megacity in ways that advance largely exclusionary economic and political agendas. The Megacity project offers the middle class more direct opportunities to realize its political interests without depending on electoral democracy. This chapter argues that through the processes of crisis, participation, celebration, and capture, the middle class has successfully mediated its aspirations and interests vis-à-vis the broader agenda of neoliberal urbanism. Finally, it revisits the city’s development trajectory since 2014 and notes how spectacular infrastructure projects have scaled up the earlier processes of neoliberal urbanism. © 2026 selection and editorial matter, Sarosh Anklesaria and Lily Chiindividual chapters, the contributors.