Urban expansion in the early twentieth century had a profound impact on India's urban land economies. Historians argue that in this period, urban India went through an increasing marketization of land and that improvement trusts had a significant hand in accelerating land speculation. In the case of Bombay, we still understand little of the relationship between the activities of the Bombay Improvement Trust and rising land values. The article examines key legal disputes around compensation for land acquired by the Trust for public purpose before and after World War I. Such cases show how the Trust and the judiciary shaped changing expectations around what comprised ‘market value’ and consequently became deeply involved in Bombay's land economy. Where officials had earlier resisted valuations that they believed encouraged speculation, after the 1920s the resolution of disputes incorporated future value as a legitimate and necessary part of the economy.

中文翻译：

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争论“市场价值”：孟买改良信托基金和 20 世纪初孟买投机性土地市场的重塑

二十世纪初的城市扩张对印度的城市土地经济产生了深远的影响。历史学家认为，在这一时期，印度城市经历了越来越多的土地市场化，而改良信托在加速土地投机方面发挥了重要作用。就孟买而言，我们仍然对孟买改善信托的活动与土地价值上涨之间的关系知之甚少。这篇文章探讨了第一次世界大战前后关于信托基金为公共目的而获得的土地的补偿的主要法律纠纷。这些案例显示了信托基金和司法部门如何围绕“市场价值”形成不断变化的预期，从而深入参与孟买的土地经济。官员们早些时候拒绝了他们认为鼓励投机的估值，