SOCIO-SPATIAL CHALLENGES OF ARTISANS IN UDAIPUR: RETHINKING URBAN REGENERATION STRATEGIES

This thesis investigates the socio-spatial challenges of artisan communities in Udaipur, India, and it explores how urban regeneration strategies can better support their livelihoods. Although Udaipur is internationally celebrated as a heritage and tourism destination, regeneration processes often prioritize monuments, real estate, and tourism infrastructure over the everyday practices of artisans who are vital to the city’s cultural identity. Despite their role as custodians of intangible cultural heritage, artisans face precarious livelihoods, limited market access, and gendered exclusions, while their needs remain largely overlooked in planning and policy frameworks. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, the research combines spatial mapping, household surveys, and interviews with artisans, NGOs, and government officials to examine how inadequate workspaces, infrastructural deficits, and planning exclusions affect artisans’ socio-economic well-being. The findings reveal a persistent gap between policy intent and ground realities: state-led initiatives emphasize heritage tourism and aesthetic revitalization but fail to address the spatial and functional requirements of artisanal communities. Women artisans are particularly disadvantaged, as home-based production, restricted mobility, and statistical invisibility constrain their participation in urban development agendas. By reframing artisans as central actors in cultural continuity rather than peripheral economic agents, this study argues for more inclusive regeneration strategies. Proposed measures include dedicated artisan zones, improved workspace accessibility, stronger market linkages, and participatory governance models that embed artisanal voices into urban policy. In doing so, the research contributes to wider debates on regeneration in contexts where informality, inequality, and heritage intersect, while also engaging with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals—particularly SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), alongside the principles of SDG 5 (Gender Inclusivity) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). Together, these perspectives highlight pathways toward more culturally rooted, equitable, and socio-spatially just urban futures.