Karol Bagh, known to many as the refugee neighborhood populated by refugees from the India-Pakistan partition is also a bustling and crowded commercial area of Delhi. One of the first planned extensions in Delhi was called the Western Extension Area (WEA) and was developed pre-independence as one of the first and largest city extensions in Delhi. Few know that this coincided with the building of the Imperial Capital of “New” Delhi in the early half of the twentieth century. Proposed as one of the largest city extensions by the Delhi Improvement Trust (DIT), to respond to the overcrowding of the walled city of Delhi, the development of this area, however, tells a story quite contrary to the making of the grand Imperial Delhi – built primarily for the British and Europeans. Colonial architecture and urban planning have a long legacy in many Indian cities particularly Delhi. But often ignored behind the grand avenues, colonial bungalows and monumental official buildings of New Delhi is the planning of the native parts of the city which were as much an outcome of colonial rule as the making of its imperial buildings and European quarters. With the example of WEA as the first planned extension of the city for its native population, this paper critically examines and decodes archival records, communication and data from 1900–1940, to examine how colonial control of urban resources and the techniques of governance, facilitated spatial segregation and inequality in the city that continue to carry an imprint in the city space even today.

Urban history, Delhi, colonial ideology, improvements, Karol Bagh-western extension

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1. Abu-Lughod J. Tale of Two Cities: The Origins of Modern. Compar Stud Soc Hist. 1965;7(4):429–57.
2. Datta P. Planning the City: Urbanisation and Reform in Calcutta: 1800–1940. New York: Columbia University Press; 2012.
3. Gupta N. Delhi Between Two Empires: 1803–1931: Society, Government and Urban Growth. Delhi: Oxford University Press; 1981.
4. Hosagrahar J. Indigenous Modernities: Negotiating Architecture and Urbanism. New York: Routledge; 2005.
5. Kataria D. Planning Shahjahanabad: 1910s–1930s. Soc Sci. 2019;47(Jul–Aug):1–18.
6. King A. Colonial Urban Development. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul; 1976.
7. Legg S. Spaces of Colonialism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing; 2007.
8. Metcalf TR. Ideologies of the Raj. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1995.
9. Oldenburg VT. The Making of Colonial Lucknow, 1856–1877. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 2014.
10. Spodek H. City Planning in India under British Rule. Econ Polit Wkly. 2013;48(1):53–61.
11. . Delhi Improvement Trust. Administration Report for 1937–1939. Finance Dept. File 1(31), National Archives of India; 1940.
12. Administration Report of the Delhi Improvement Trust for years 1937–1939. Finance Dept. File 1(31), 1940. National Archives of India. Available from: [online].
13. Delhi Gazetteers 1883–84, 1912–13, Arya Press.
14. Final Report of the Delhi Town Planning Committee, July 1913.
15. Hume AP. Report on the Relief of Congestion in Delhi. Simla: Government of India Press; 1935. Delhi Archives.
16. Proceedings of the Imperial Delhi Committee, September 1914.
17. Proceedings, Legislative Assembly Question Delhi Municipality Proposed Improvement and Congestion problem, Dept. Education, Health & Lands, File 53–82, 1936, NAI.
18. Whitehead RB. Report on the Administration of the Delhi Crown Lands. Delhi: Delhi Archives; 1908.

Karol Bagh, known to many as the refugee neighborhood populated by refugees from the India-Pakistan partition is also a bustling and crowded commercial area of Delhi. One of the first planned extensions in Delhi was called the Western Extension Area (WEA) and was developed pre-independence as one of the first and largest city extensions in Delhi. Few know that this coincided with the building of the Imperial Capital of “New” Delhi in the early half of the twentieth century. Proposed as one of the largest city extensions by the Delhi Improvement Trust (DIT), to respond to the overcrowding of the walled city of Delhi, the development of this area, however, tells a story quite contrary to the making of the grand Imperial Delhi – built primarily for the British and Europeans. Colonial architecture and urban planning have a long legacy in many Indian cities particularly Delhi. But often ignored behind the grand avenues, colonial bungalows and monumental official buildings of New Delhi is the planning of the native parts of the city which were as much an outcome of colonial rule as the making of its imperial buildings and European quarters. With the example of WEA as the first planned extension of the city for its native population, this paper critically examines and decodes archival records, communication and data from 1900–1940, to examine how colonial control of urban resources and the techniques of governance, facilitated spatial segregation and inequality in the city that continue to carry an imprint in the city space even today.

Urban history, Delhi, colonial ideology, improvements, Karol Bagh-western extension

🔒 This is a subscription article

Full text is available to subscribers and institutional members. Please choose an option below to access it.

1. Abu-Lughod J. Tale of Two Cities: The Origins of Modern. Compar Stud Soc Hist. 1965;7(4):429–57.
2. Datta P. Planning the City: Urbanisation and Reform in Calcutta: 1800–1940. New York: Columbia University Press; 2012.
3. Gupta N. Delhi Between Two Empires: 1803–1931: Society, Government and Urban Growth. Delhi: Oxford University Press; 1981.
4. Hosagrahar J. Indigenous Modernities: Negotiating Architecture and Urbanism. New York: Routledge; 2005.
5. Kataria D. Planning Shahjahanabad: 1910s–1930s. Soc Sci. 2019;47(Jul–Aug):1–18.
6. King A. Colonial Urban Development. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul; 1976.
7. Legg S. Spaces of Colonialism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing; 2007.
8. Metcalf TR. Ideologies of the Raj. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1995.
9. Oldenburg VT. The Making of Colonial Lucknow, 1856–1877. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 2014.
10. Spodek H. City Planning in India under British Rule. Econ Polit Wkly. 2013;48(1):53–61.
11. . Delhi Improvement Trust. Administration Report for 1937–1939. Finance Dept. File 1(31), National Archives of India; 1940.
12. Administration Report of the Delhi Improvement Trust for years 1937–1939. Finance Dept. File 1(31), 1940. National Archives of India. Available from: [online].
13. Delhi Gazetteers 1883–84, 1912–13, Arya Press.
14. Final Report of the Delhi Town Planning Committee, July 1913.
15. Hume AP. Report on the Relief of Congestion in Delhi. Simla: Government of India Press; 1935. Delhi Archives.
16. Proceedings of the Imperial Delhi Committee, September 1914.
17. Proceedings, Legislative Assembly Question Delhi Municipality Proposed Improvement and Congestion problem, Dept. Education, Health & Lands, File 53–82, 1936, NAI.
18. Whitehead RB. Report on the Administration of the Delhi Crown Lands. Delhi: Delhi Archives; 1908.