Urban Development and Forced Displacement in Aravind Adiga’s The Last Man in Tower

Aravind Adiga’s The Last Man in Tower explores the dark side of urbanization in contemporary India. The novel examines the social, psychological, and ethical consequences of forced displacement caused by real estate development in Mumbai. Through the story of the Tower’s residents and their struggle against corporate greed, Adiga critiques economic inequality, gentrification, and the erosion of human values in a rapidly modernizing society. This paper examines urban development and forced displacement in The Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga, situating the novel within the socio-economic transformations of contemporary Mumbai. The narrative foregrounds the tension between rapid urban redevelopment and the erosion of community life, as a real estate developer’s lucrative offer to demolish an aging apartment complex exposes the moral, economic, and psychological vulnerabilities of its residents. Through the character of Masterji, who resists the buyout, Adiga dramatizes the human cost of neoliberal urbanization and the ethical fractures produced by speculative capitalism. Drawing on urban studies and postcolonial theory, this paper argues that the novel critiques the ideology of “development” as a hegemonic discourse that legitimizes dispossession in the name of progress. The disintegration of collective solidarity within the Vishram Society symbolizes the broader fragmentation of middle-class values under market pressures. Adiga portrays the city not merely as a physical space undergoing transformation, but as a contested terrain where aspirations, anxieties, and survival instincts collide. Ultimately, the novel reveals how forced displacement operates not only through physical eviction but also through coercion, intimidation, and the internalization of capitalist desire. By foregrounding the lived experiences of those caught between hope and helplessness, The Last Man in Tower offers a compelling critique of urban redevelopment in globalizing India