Opinion Noida at 50: An economic hub, an awkward social outlier
In this city of migrants, belonging and representation are foreign concepts. The city can be defined not only by new buildings and malls, but also by creating space for the personal to evolve into the cultural
The message also emphasised that the villagers of Noida need to recognise that they are now part of a city. The urban sectors sit cheek by jowl with the villages (File Photo) 
The 50th anniversary celebrations of Noida have begun in full swing. At the beginning of the celebrations, the ACEO of the Noida Authority proclaimed, “Fifty years ago, Noida began from zero — and today, it’s a hero.” Born in 1976 during the Emergency as part of India’s push toward rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, the new town sought to relieve the burdens of Delhi. Noida falls entirely within the newly created district of Gautam Buddha Nagar, carved out from the districts of Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr. The most striking feature of Noida remains that — its adjacency to Delhi.
When I moved to Delhi and then Noida a couple of years ago, I realised that in the acutely class-conscious lanes of Delhi, saying you live in Noida still feels like a bit of a coming-out moment. In the recently released romantic comedy film, Nadaaniyan, the middle-class hero, on being bullied for living in Greater Noida, rebuts, calling it “Greatest Noida” and adds, “I’m not the slightest bit ashamed to be from Noida”.
Today, Noida houses thousands of companies, and the Noida Authority boasts a budget close to 8,800 crore. There are high-rise buildings, glass towers, golf courses, and multiple malls mapping the city. More than six lakh people travel between Noida and Delhi everyday as per the estimates of the traffic police. Two lines of the Metro — magenta and blue — thread the distance between Delhi and Noida. According to its official website of the Noida Authority, it has an abundance of “skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled labour.”
In a message celebrating the anniversary, I came across a list of Noida’s world-class achievements — Film City, Cyber Hub, Education Hub, Sports City, and now, Jewar Airport. The message also emphasised that the villagers of Noida need to recognise that they are now part of a city. The urban sectors sit cheek by jowl with the villages — sometimes greasing Noida’s big city aspirations by providing cheap domestic and construction labour, housing migrant labour, filling the multiple blue-collared jobs; and sometimes obstructing it by being an infrastructure eyesore, a safety concern. It is also marked by caste rivalries, at times perceived as a hub of crime, and poses challenges through the rise of wealthy villagers who made quick money by selling their land.
The 50-year-old history of Noida, not taught in the numerous elite schools in the city, is slim. There are no heritage walks in Noida. The history of the acronym-city is meagre — a few vague mythological references, the odd battle, and the more recent monuments from the Mayawati era. So much of the city, the high-rises and posh sectors, seem airdropped from nowhere. Often in the news for wrong reasons, a social-media clip about tourism in Noida jokingly marks the sites of top headline crimes.
The quality of life in Noida is not much different from other metropolitan cities. The sewerage network lies incomplete, the groundwater is not safe to drink, the air quality is as bad as Delhi, maybe a little better sometimes, there are huge income disparities, sulfur fumes from industrial and sewage sources can cause breakdown of appliances like ACs more often. On the other hand, Noida is an economic powerhouse and contributes roughly 10 per cent to the GDP of Uttar Pradesh.
Noida sits on the curious contradictions of a city that is both a powerful economic hub and an awkward social outlier. It offers a unique lens to examine India’s urban experiments. The city’s story lies squarely in its geography; in Uttar Pradesh neighbouring the national capital. However, from the perspective of their global aspirations — at times aiming to resemble Dubai, at others seeking to mirror Japan, this local context is invisibilised.
In the city, like most others, despite having all the necessary amenities, the residents often grapple with the “having nothing to do” syndrome. They cross the border to attend music festivals, historical walks, lectures and partake in the culture of the urban conglomerate of the National Capital Region.
In this city of migrants, belonging and representation are foreign concepts. Even after more than 30 years of the enactment of the 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts, the city is ruled by a bureaucratic authority and not by an elected body. This is an opportune moment to reflect on what is inherently Noida about Noida — aspects that are abundant yet often overlooked in favour of a narrow sense of city pride rooted solely in economic success. The 50-year mark is a good reminder to honour the nascent sub-culture that this city has built for itself. The city can be defined not only by new buildings and malls, but also by creating space for the personal to evolve into the cultural.
Backgrounding these contradictions is Kailash Kher’s city anthem played by the garbage-collecting vehicle: “UP ki shaan Noida, shehron ki jaan Noida.”
Upadhyay is an independent researcher and writer
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