This project examines major development initiatives in Gujarat and their impact on people and place. One of the central focuses was the Gujarat Metro Rail project, which began in 2014 with the goal of improving transportation across Ahmedabad. I began this inquiry during the launch of Phase 2. I travelled across the fully operational Phase 1 lines and visited multiple construction sites along the expanding Phase 2 corridor.

Everything was in flux: both people and landscapes. Vast empty plots had transformed into real estate hotspots. Around many of the Phase 2 construction sites, temporary sheds housed hundreds of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. For them, both the spaces they inhabit and the spaces they labour in are constantly shifting, mirroring the transformation unfolding around them.

Development, while promising efficiency and growth, often displaces the very people and reshapes the very landscapes it claims to serve.