Delhi: Rethinking Indian urbanism through the capital’s multi-nuclei development

This chapter focuses on the development of the megacity of Delhi. The capital of India is of great interest because its architecture and urban planning significantly reflect many of the cultural, economic, and political changes that have taken place in other areas of the subcontinent, but at the same time, it developed a unique identity. The chapter explores the urban history of Delhi, highlighting the independent nuclei structure that characterises the megacity. Delhi provides an attractive ‘multi-nuclei’ development model for contemporary urban conglomerations. The chapter shows how, even if apparently Delhi is one of the biggest and most chaotic megacities of the world, the city, in many ways, is still functioning at the neighbourhood level, on a much more minute scale. This aspect has been often neglected, but it is decisive in understanding the capital’s identity and the unique soul of Indian urbanism.