This article focuses on the place of local governance in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indian cities. It situates pandemic governance in the evolving debates around decentralisation and its various strands, such as participative governance, service delivery, institutional capacity and performance, proximity of institutions and representatives, and representative democracy. The pandemic was a crisis that placed multiple governance and service delivery challenges on the state. Local governments had to innovate and deliver on multiple fronts in a highly uncertain and challenging context. To what extent were these innovations linked to the past trajectories of local governance? What happened to these innovations after the pandemic? On the basis of case studies of two highly diverse cities, the article argues that pandemic governance was circumscribed by the past trajectories of local governance. Further, it seeks to ask whether the pandemic contributed to an awareness of the need for democratic decentralisation or whether it intensified ongoing trends towards de-democratisation.

Amita Bhide

International Development Planning Review

International Development Planning Review’s editorial policy is to reflect international development planning policy and practice. This includes a focus on the physical, economic and social conditions of urban and rural populations. The journal explores current national and international policy agendas, achievements and strategies in this area, offering material of interest to its established academic and professional readership as well as to a broader critical audience.

The editorial policy of the International Development Planning Review aims to reflect the policies and practices of international development planning, focusing on the physical, economic, and social conditions of urban and rural populations. The journal explores current national and international policy agendas, achievements, and strategies in this field, providing material of interest to its established academic and professional readership as well as to a broader critical audience.

《International Development Planning Review》的编辑方针旨在反映国际发展规划的政策与实践，重点关注城市和农村人口的物质、经济和社会状况。该期刊探讨当前国家和国际政策议程、成就与策略，为其既定的学术和专业读者群体以及更广泛的批判性受众提供相关材料。

Category	Quartile
社会学	4
社会学, 发展研究	4
社会学, 区域与城市规划	4

Gaining agency? Pandemic governance and the Indian city

ivySCI AI Smartly Parses PDF, Answers Researchers' Questions, and Helps You Understand Papers in Seconds

Journal Info

Category	Quartile
REGIONAL & URBAN PLANNING	4