The socio-technicities of campaigning as a form of planning: lessons from the <i>Hamara Shehar Mumbai Abhiyaan</i> in Mumbai and the <i>Main Bhi Dilli</i> campaign in Delhi

Urban planning in Southern cities is generally a technocratic exercise, often detached from the realities of informal settlements, workers and marginalized groups. It can reinforce socio-spatial inequalities by prioritizing globalized visions over inclusive, people-centred plans. This paper reflects on two civil society organizations (CSO)-led campaigns: Hamara Shehar Mumbai (2011–2016) for Mumbai’s Development Plan 2014–2034 and Main Bhi Dilli (2018–2021) for Delhi’s Master Plan 2021–2041. Drawing from first-hand engagement, it explores how these initiatives sought to democratize planning through socio-technical strategies. Operating within rigid state-led frameworks, they expanded participation by leveraging both formal and informal modes. Their approaches – co-producing knowledge, engaging with maps and innovating participatory tactics – enabled limited but meaningful influence. Despite constraints, they created spaces for community-led engagement. Positioned as ‘limited insurgencies’, these campaigns highlight the potential of coalitions to outlive formal timelines and seed long-term ‘socio-technical infrastructures’ for counter-planning rooted in lived experience, resisting exclusionary, top-down planning in Indian and Southern cities.