Title/Position: Professor
Department/Faculty/Institution: Manipal School of Architecture and Planning, Manipal University
Degree(s)/School(s): PhD (Urban Studies and Planning -MIT Cambridge Mass), MS Arch S (MIT Cambridge Mass), B.Arch (School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi)
E-mail: solly.benjamin@gmail.com
MCRI Projects: B3: Land and Housing Markets; B5: Regional Governance and Suburbanization; B7: Transportation; B8: Everyday Suburbanisms; C4: South Asia Research Cluster
Background: Solomon Benjamin's research interests are located in the intersect between urban land, economy, and the politics of governance in Indian metros and small towns, with a particular interest in land market in the rapidly expanding urban peripheries. A related interest is in the role of the elite groups in shaping neo-liberal flavors to policy dialogues. His background is in Urban Studies, and his doctoral work was undertaken at the Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. Benjamin also completed an earlier Masters in Settlements Design from the Department of Architecture at MIT, Cambridge Massachusetts.
Research Interests: Urban land; Housing; Governance; Civic politics
Select Publications:
Benjamin, S. (2011). Arguments for the Imperfect City. The City as Studio. RAQs Cyber Mohalla Press.
Benjamin, S. & Raman, B. (2011). Illegible Claims, Legal Titles, and the Worlding of Bangalore. Tiers Monde. Institut D'etude Du Developpement Economique Et Social De Paris.
Benjamin, S. (2011). Commoning contests the ‘Urban Commons’: Some thoughts on the de–commoning of Bengaluru. Vocabulary of Commons. Foundation for Ecological Security. Bangalore: WQ Judge Press, pp. 295 to 312.
Benjamin, S. (2010). Manufacturing Neoliberalism: Lifestyling Indian Urbanity. In S. Banerjee-Guha (ed.) Accumulation by Dispossession: Transformative Cities in the New Global Order. New Delhi: Sage.
Benjamin, S. (2008). Occupancy Urbanism: Radicalizing Politics and Economy beyond Policy and Programs. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 32 (3).
Benjamin, S. (2008). Inclusive or Contested? Conceptualizing A Globalized Bangalore. In D. Mahadevia (ed.) Inside the Transforming Urban Asia – Policies, Processes, and Public Action. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company.
Benjamin, S. (2008). Milieux d’affaires, société civile & politiques anti-pauvres. Villes et Resistances Sociales. Agone. 38/39.
Bhuvaneswari, R. & Benjamin, S. (2006). Urban futures of poor groups in Chennai and Bangalore: How these are shaped by the relationship between Parastatal and Local Bodies. In N. Jayal, A. Prakash & P. Sharma (ed.) Local Governance in India: Decentralization and Beyond. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Benjamin, S. (2005). Un-planned, illegal, non-conforming: An emerging subversive of touts, pirates, and the “ghosts” in “bare act”. Sarai Reader. 5.
Benjamin, S. (2004). Urban land transformation for pro-poor economies. Geoforum. 35 (2): 177-187.
