Local Meets Global: Establishing New Perspectives in Urban HistoryLessons from Ahmedabad

Urban theorists assert that cities need to be understood not only in terms of their internal systems but also in terms of their national and global connections. This study provides an analysis of these global connections for the city of Ahmedabad, India, through the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. It highlights three events and discusses their international ramifications: the arrival of Gandhi in 1915; the increasingly global reach of local manufacturing and cultural institutions; and the international censure of the Hindu-Muslim violence in the city, especially in 2002. It closes with a plea to urban historians to heed the arguments of the theoreticians and consider fully the significance of global connections in the study of individual urban histories.