About this book:

*Mapping Madras* provides a comprehensive cartographic and spatial history of the city of Chennai, tracing its evolution from the 1639 establishment of Fort St. George to its modern status as a digital metropolis. The book argues that maps were not merely passive records of urban growth but active instruments of colonial power used to enforce racial segregation, categorize land for taxation, and re-engineer the natural landscape. By examining diverse artifacts—from early nautical charts and the Great Trigonometrical Survey to revenue cadastrals and sanitary maps—the text reveals how British administrative priorities transformed organic indigenous settlements into a legible, governed imperial port.

The narrative details the physical and social restructuring of the city through infrastructure and planning. It explores the creation of "White Town" and "Black Town," the engineering of the Buckingham Canal and the Madras Harbor, and the mid-20th-century shift toward suburbanization and industrial corridors. A significant portion of the book focuses on the environmental and social consequences of this development, documenting the loss of traditional water tanks and green commons, the marginalization of informal economies, and the recurring struggle against natural disasters like cyclones and floods. These historical layers are shown to persist in the contemporary urban fabric, influencing current issues of drainage, housing, and public health.

As the city transitioned from the colonial "Madras" to the national "Chennai," the book highlights a shift in cartographic philosophy. The introduction of master plans, zoning, and aerial photography in the postwar era signaled a move toward technocratic management, while the 1996 renaming of the city marked a symbolic reclamation of indigenous identity. The text also emphasizes "counter-cartographies," such as participatory community mapping and heritage surveys, which challenge official narratives by documenting oral histories, local place names, and the spatial memories of marginalized residents.

In its final chapters, the book addresses the "digital turn," exploring how GIS, remote sensing, and open data have revolutionized urban governance and disaster response. It concludes with a critical reflection on the ethics of representation, examining how the power to map remains tied to issues of privacy, digital divides, and the politics of visibility. Ultimately, *Mapping Madras* serves as both a visual atlas and a critical guide, suggesting that understanding the city's future requires a deep engagement with the historical maps that first drew the lines of its urban life.

What You'll Find Inside:

• The book exposes how colonial cartography deliberately engineered spatial segregation through concepts like 'White Town' and 'Black Town,' embedding racial hierarchies into Madras's urban fabric that continue to influence social dynamics today.
• It traces the transformation of Madras's water systems from natural rivers (Cooum, Adyar) to engineered canals (Buckingham Canal), revealing how hydraulic infrastructure shaped urban development patterns and later contributed to environmental challenges.
• The work demonstrates the evolution of mapping technologies from cadastral surveys and the Great Trigonometrical Survey to aerial photography, GIS, and remote sensing, showing how each technological shift transformed urban planning capabilities and governance approaches.
• It examines how maps have documented both formal colonial planning initiatives and informal realities on the ground, including street economies, slum formations, and community resistance to top-down development projects.
• The book concludes with critical ethical considerations of cartographic representation, questioning whose stories maps tell, whose interests they serve, and how mapping practices can be reoriented toward more equitable and just urban futures.

Who's It For:

This book is essential reading for urban planners, historians, geographers, and heritage professionals interested in understanding how cartographic practices shape urban development. It will particularly benefit those studying South Asian urban history, colonial legacies in city planning, and the use of maps as tools for both control and community empowerment. Researchers working with GIS, historical maps, or spatial analysis will find methodological insights, while policymakers can gain perspective on the long-term consequences of planning decisions encoded in cartographic practices.