Hyderabad is the second largest metropolitan region in India. The advent of globalization in India has opened the door for Hyderabad to brand itself as the popular destination for high-tech industries. In 1999, the entrepreneurial state government initiated Andhra Pradesh Vision 2020, a strategic document to develop the state by attracting foreign direct investments and developing specific growth engines in order to leapfrog toward the information society. Hyderabad was chosen to be the spine of the state governments’ visioning strategies and efforts have been made to brand it as the ‘world-class’ high-tech hub of India. Since then, Hyderabad has been under massive urban restructuring. This profile provides an overview of the origins and history of Hyderabad, the changing political economy of the state and resultant urban restructuring and followed by an exploration of emerging urban challenges and socio-spatial complexities of the expanding metro.

Highlights

  • Hyderabad has been projected as a high-tech, smart city of India.
  • Hyderabad’s restructuring has been done emulating visioning exercises.
  • Urban restructuring have led to development of world-class high-tech and smart enclaves attracting elite digeratis.
  • With increasing population and limited infrastructure, urban challenges of Hyderabad increased manifold in recent time.
  • It has also resulted in widening inequality affecting Hyderabad’s liveability.