Assemblages of Living Together: Residential Cohabitation in Peri-urban Areas of Chengdu and Hyderabad

At a time when China and India are urbanizing rapidly, the transformation of the urban peripheries has brought into close proximity social groups who previously had little or no contact with each other. In this article, I approach the question of residential cohabitation by investigating similar typ...

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Main Author: Liubing Xie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre d’Etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud
Series:South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/7334
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author Liubing Xie
author_facet Liubing Xie
author_sort Liubing Xie
collection DOAJ
description At a time when China and India are urbanizing rapidly, the transformation of the urban peripheries has brought into close proximity social groups who previously had little or no contact with each other. In this article, I approach the question of residential cohabitation by investigating similar types of residential areas in Chengdu and Hyderabad, which are emblematic of those found in the urban peripheries: autoconstructed communities and gated communities. Inspired by research on urban assemblages, and on the basis of fieldwork conducted in each setting, I introduce the notion of “assemblages of living together.” I have identified three key assemblages associated with three distinct forms of residential cohabitation: the interspersion of autoconstructed communities and gated communities, heterogeneity within the same residential communities, and vertical cohabitation of villager landlords and migrant tenants. Between and within the various assemblages of living together, I have observed two main types of relationalities between residents: different social groups are physically proximate but socialize separately according to certain norms that often materialize as physical boundaries such as walls, roads, and different floors of the building; at times interdependence between different social groups emerges, but it is based on unequal interactions.
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spelling doaj.art-96a4f14009e243169bbbbbdd8db211fc2024-02-12T15:39:09ZengCentre d’Etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du SudSouth Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal1960-60602610.4000/samaj.7334Assemblages of Living Together: Residential Cohabitation in Peri-urban Areas of Chengdu and HyderabadLiubing XieAt a time when China and India are urbanizing rapidly, the transformation of the urban peripheries has brought into close proximity social groups who previously had little or no contact with each other. In this article, I approach the question of residential cohabitation by investigating similar types of residential areas in Chengdu and Hyderabad, which are emblematic of those found in the urban peripheries: autoconstructed communities and gated communities. Inspired by research on urban assemblages, and on the basis of fieldwork conducted in each setting, I introduce the notion of “assemblages of living together.” I have identified three key assemblages associated with three distinct forms of residential cohabitation: the interspersion of autoconstructed communities and gated communities, heterogeneity within the same residential communities, and vertical cohabitation of villager landlords and migrant tenants. Between and within the various assemblages of living together, I have observed two main types of relationalities between residents: different social groups are physically proximate but socialize separately according to certain norms that often materialize as physical boundaries such as walls, roads, and different floors of the building; at times interdependence between different social groups emerges, but it is based on unequal interactions.https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/7334residential cohabitationperi-urbanizationautoconstructiongated communityrural migrant
spellingShingle Liubing Xie
Assemblages of Living Together: Residential Cohabitation in Peri-urban Areas of Chengdu and Hyderabad
South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal
residential cohabitation
peri-urbanization
autoconstruction
gated community
rural migrant
title Assemblages of Living Together: Residential Cohabitation in Peri-urban Areas of Chengdu and Hyderabad
title_full Assemblages of Living Together: Residential Cohabitation in Peri-urban Areas of Chengdu and Hyderabad
title_fullStr Assemblages of Living Together: Residential Cohabitation in Peri-urban Areas of Chengdu and Hyderabad
title_full_unstemmed Assemblages of Living Together: Residential Cohabitation in Peri-urban Areas of Chengdu and Hyderabad
title_short Assemblages of Living Together: Residential Cohabitation in Peri-urban Areas of Chengdu and Hyderabad
title_sort assemblages of living together residential cohabitation in peri urban areas of chengdu and hyderabad
topic residential cohabitation
peri-urbanization
autoconstruction
gated community
rural migrant
url https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/7334
work_keys_str_mv AT liubingxie assemblagesoflivingtogetherresidentialcohabitationinperiurbanareasofchengduandhyderabad