Walls That Endure: Colonial Continuities and Hidden Lives in Calcutta's Segregated Spaces
Abstract
Focusing on Calcutta, India, this study reveals how the spatial segregation left over from colonial rule continues in a hidden form to this day, profoundly shaping urban structures and social inequalities. Combining photographic interpretation, historical archive analysis and urban spatial investigation, this paper analyzes how the physical separation between the "White Town" and the "Black Town" in the colonial period evolved into the "implicit segregation" in the postcolonial era. The key findings show that infrastructure differences, media discourse construction, and institutional exclusion jointly maintain spatial oppression based on class and caste, resulting in the continuous squeeze of the living space of the bottom groups. The unique value of this study lies in the demonstration that "development" itself may create a new type of poverty, and points out that colonial logic forms a hierarchical "other" production mechanism through the internalization and replication of the local elite. The conclusion emphasizes that colonial violence is far from over, and its ghosts are embedded in the narrative of urban governance and development in the form of institutionalized genes, continuing to produce poverty and inequality.
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