Evolution of the Concept of Justice in the Indian Society and its Spatial Representation

The perception of the concept of justice may change over time in every society. This can lead to differences in social systems, and of course, spatial and physical systems of cities. This study focuses on the philosophical and social interpretation of justice in India and deals with changes in the definition of justice in this society in different periods of time. Accordingly, it has been tried to point out how each understanding of justice leads to evolutions in the formation and development of human settlements in India. To this end, this article analyzes five cases (cities of Jaipur, Udaipur, Chandigarh, Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad) over different periods to study the evolution of the idea of justice in India and its spatial and physical representation in human settlement in this society. The findings show that the perception of justice among Indian citizens has changed in three stages from “justice as unequal casts” in the pre-modern era, to “justice as providing minimums for the masses” in the modern era, and recently to “justice as increasing capabilities” in the post-modern era. These three eras can also be outlined in the shaping process of Indian cities. In the first period of time, it was rulers who formed the city.In the second era, the technocrats alongside with rulers designed cities. Finally, in the third period of time, rulers, technocrats and people renovate slums in a participatory way.