Over the next 20 years, most low-income countries will, for the first time, become more urban than rural. Understanding demographic trends in the cities of the developing world is critical to those countries - their societies, economies, and environments. The benefits from urbanization cannot be overlooked, but the speed and sheer scale of this transformation presents many challenges. In this uniquely thorough and authoritative volume, 16 of the world's leading scholars on urban population and development have worked together to produce the most comprehensive and detailed analysis of the changes taking place in cities and their implications and impacts. They focus on population dynamics, social and economic differentiation, fertility and reproductive health, mortality and morbidity, labor force, and urban governance. As many national governments decentralize and devolve their functions, the nature of urban management and governance is undergoing fundamental transformation, with programs in poverty alleviation, health, education, and public services increasingly being deposited in the hands of untested municipal and regional governments. Cities Transformed identifies a new class of policy maker emerging to take up the growing responsibilities. Drawing from a wide variety of data sources, many of them previously inaccessible, this essential text will become the benchmark for all involved in city-level research, policy, planning, and investment decisions. The National Research Council is a private, non-profit institution based in Washington, DC, providing services to the US government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The editors are members of the Council's Panel on Urban Population Dynamics.

This book examines the issues of urban governance and local democracy in South India. It is the first comprehensive volume that offers comparative frameworks on urban governance across all states in the region: Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The book focuses on governance in small district-level cities and raises crucial questions such as the nature of urban planning, major outstanding issues for urban local governance, conditions of civic amenities such as drinking water and sanitation and problems of social capital in making urban governance work in these states. It emphasizes on both efficient urban governance and effective local democracy to meet the challenges of fast-paced urbanization in these states while presenting policy lessons from their urbanization processes. Rich in empirical data, this book will be useful to scholars and researchers of political studies, public administration, governance, public policy, development studies and urban studies, as well as practitioners and non-governmental organizations.

What is urban about urban China and India? -- Land grabs and protests from Wukan to Singur -- Urban redevelopment in Guangzhou and Mumbai -- Airpocalypse in Beijing and Delhi -- Territorial and associational politics in historical perspective.

Urban areas are integral to India's growth and development, accounting for around two-thirds of the country's GDP. Analysing India's rapidly expanding process of urbanisation, the book identifies the key challenges and opportunities and proposes suitable managerial and policy reforms. It addresses critical issues and puts forth suggestions for better planning financing alternatives and, most importantly, better governance for improved service delivery and affordable housing. Divided thematically into three sections, the volume takes into account the important facets of urbanisation, including the state of urban infrastructure and planning in India with due attention to sustainability, the role of finance in urban development and its dependence on governance, and methods to generate good governance in public institutions, and the impact on housing and climate change.The 11 essays included in this book have been written by leading analysts and practitioners, who propose critical reforms and policy interventions. The volume will be indispensable to students and scholars of urban economics, development studies, urban planning, business practitioners, policymakers as well as the informed general reader.

This book presents fundamental and applied research aimed at the development of smart cities across India. Based on the exploration of an extensive array of multidisciplinary literature, this book discusses critical factors of smart city initiatives: management and organization, technology, governance, policy, people and communities, economy, infrastructure, and natural environment. These factors are broadly covered under the integrative framework of the book to examine the vision and challenges of smart city initiatives. The book suggests directions and agendas for smart city research and outlines practical implications for government professionals, students, research scholars and policy makers. A lot of work is happening on smart cities as it is an upcoming area of research and development. At international level, and even in India, the concept of smart cities concept is a hot topic at universities, research centers, ministries, transport departments, civic bodies, environment, energy and disaster organizations, town planners and policy makers. This book provides ideas and information to government officials, investors, experts and research students.

This IEA volume brings together a set of essays written by leading authors on themes relevant to the study of economic development. The book covers a range of topics many of which are relevant to policy issues. The contributors bring new insights from empirical research in a range of economies with chapters including discussions of the UN development agenda, fiscal policy in Latin America, poverty data in Africa and Jordan, and monetary policy in South Africa. Contemporary Issues in Development Economics is an essential read for researchers, scholars and policymakers interested in economic development in low- and middle-income countries.