‘A book that is . . . as eccentric and anarchic as its subject’—William Dalrymple In this extraordinary portrait of one of the world’s largest cities, Sam Miller sets out to discover the real Delhi, a city he describes as being ‘India’s dreamtown— and its purgatory’. He treads the city’s streets, including its less celebrated destinations—Nehru Place, Pitampura and Gurgaon—places most writers ignore. His encounters with Delhi’s people, from ragpickers to members of the Police Brass Band, create a richly entertaining portrait of what the city is and what it is becoming. Miller is, like so many of the people he meets, a migrant in one of the world’s fastest growing megapolises and the Delhi he depicts is one whose future concerns us all. Miller possesses an intense curiosity; he has an infallible eye for life’s diversities, for all the marvellous and sublime moments that illuminate people’s lives. This is a generous, original, humorous portrait of a great city; one which unerringly locates the humanity beneath the mundane, the unsung and the unfamiliar.

Visit The Delhi Minisite Here! This Is An Extraordinary Portrait Of One Of The World&Rsquo;S Largest Cities.&Nbsp; Sam Miller Sets Out To Discover The Real Delhi, A City He Describes As Being &Lsquo;India&Rsquo;S Dreamtown&Mdash;And Its Purgatory.&Rsquo; He Treads The City Streets, Making His Way Through Delhi And Its Suburbs, Visiting Its Less Celebrated Destinations&Mdash;Nehru Place, Rohini, Ghaziabad And Gurgaon&Mdash;That Most Writers Ignore. Miller&Rsquo;S Quest Is The Here And Now, The Unexpected, The Ignored And The Eccentric. All The Obvious Ports Of Call&Ndash;The Ancient Monuments, The Imperial Buildings And The Celebrities Of Modern Delhi&Mdash;Make Only Passing Appearances. Through His Encounters With Delhi&Rsquo;S People&Mdash;From A Professor Of Astrophysics To A Crematorium Attendant, From Ragpickers To Members Of The Police Brass Band&Mdash;Miller Creates A Richly Entertaining Portrait Of What Delhi Means To Its Residents, And Of What The City Is Becoming. Miller Is, Like So Many Of The People He Meets, A Migrant In One Of The World&Rsquo;S Fastest Growing Megapolises And The Delhi He Depicts Is One Whose Future Concerns Us All. Miller Possesses An Intense Curiosity; He Has An Infallible Eye For Life&Rsquo;S Diversities, For All The Marvellous And Sublime Moments That Illuminate People&Rsquo;S Lives. This Is A Generous, Original, Humorous Portrait Of A Great City; One Which Unerringly Locates The Humanity Beneath The Mundane, The Unsung And The Unfamiliar.

TABLE of CONTENTS: Premessa / Foreword. Turismo e interculturalità, D. Dolcini - R.P.B. Singh - Da incredibile a credibile: strategie nazionali di promozione turistica in India, M. Angelillo - “Blockbuster movie, blockbuster location”: cineturismo e costruzione dell’immagine dell’Italia per il pubblico indiano, S. Cavaliere - L. Barletta - Gazing at Italy from the East: A Multimodal Analysis of Malaysian Tourist Blogs, O. Denti - Russo e italiano nei contatti linguistici: immagini riflesse, L. L'vovna Fedorova - M. Bolognani - “The Past Is a Foreign Country”: History as Representation in the Writings of William Darlymple, D.E. Gibbons - ‘Please Do not Stand over the Buddha’s Head (Pay Respect)’: Mediations of Tourist and Researcher Experience in Thailand, A. Jocuns – I. de Saint-Georges – N. Chonmahatrakul, J. Angkapanichkit - ‘For Your Eyes Only’: How Museum Walltexts Communicate East and West. The Case of the Peggy Guggenheim Foundation, S.M. Maci - Word-formation in the Arabic Language of Tourism, C. Solimando

In every city, the urban spaces that form the public realm—ranging from city streets, neighborhood squares, and parks to public facilities such as libraries and markets—account for about one-third of the city’s total land area, on average. Despite this significance, the potential for these public-space assets—typically owned and managed by local governments—to transform urban life and city functioning is often overlooked for many reasons: other pressing city priorities arising from rapid urbanization, poor urban planning, and financial constraints. The resulting degradation of public spaces into congested, vehicle-centric, and polluted places often becomes a liability, creating a downward spiral that leads to a continuous drain on public resources and exacerbating various city problems. In contrast, the cities that invest in the creation of human-centered, environmentally sustainable, economically vibrant, and socially inclusive places—in partnership with government entities, communities, and other private stakeholders—perform better. They implement smart and sustainable strategies across their public space asset life cycles to yield returns on investment far exceeding monetary costs, ultimately enhancing city livability, resilience, and competitiveness. The Hidden Wealth of Cities: Creating, Financing, and Managing Public Spaces discusses the complexities that surround the creation and management of successful public spaces and draws on the analyses and experiences from city case studies from around the globe. This book identifies—through the lens of asset management—a rich palette of creative and innovative strategies that every city can undertake to plan, finance, and manage both government-owned and privately owned public spaces.

This book examines the active role of urban citizens in constructing alternative urban spaces as tangible resistance towards capitalist production of urban spaces that continue to encroach various neighborhoods. The collection of narratives presented here brings together research from ten different Asian cities and re-theorises the city from the perspective of ordinary people facing moments of crisis, contestations, and cooperative quests to create alternative spaces to those being produced under prevailing urban processes. The chapters accent the exercise of human agency through daily practices in the production of urban space and the intention is not one of creating a romantic or utopian vision of what a city "by and for the people" ought to be. Rather, it is to place people in the centre as mediators of city-making with discontents about current conditions and desires for a better life.

Speculate This! is a concise, provocative manifesto advocating practices of "affirmative speculation" over and against contemporary forms of speculation that quantify and contain risk to generate financial profit for a privileged few. This latter mode of speculation is predatory and familiar, its fallout evident in ongoing environmental degradation, in restrictive legal claims on natural resources in distant lands, and in the foreclosures, evictions, and unemployment resulting from the financial collapse of 2007–08. While such exploitive speculation seeks to reduce uncertainty and pin down the future, the affirmative practices championed by the authors of Speculate This! engage uncertainty, contingency, and difference, and they multiply, rather than reduce, possible futures. In these affirmative practices, social relations and the creation of goods and knowledge are not driven by the desire for financial gain or professional status. Whether manifest in open-source software, eco-communes, global activist movements, community credit networks, or experimental art, speculative living affirms our commonality. As a collaborative work coauthored by a group of anonymous scholars, Speculate This! argues for and embodies affirmative speculation.