This book is a chronicle of our times, offering a glimpse into what needs to be done, to redress the chaos that is urban development. Written with honesty, it is the story of the slumming in our cities and how a large number of urbanites living on pavements came to be slumwalas and how a number of urban development walas are letting our cities slowly die.

This book is an earnest effort in understanding the slums and their needs by taking a case study of Kalaburagi, India. This study aims to contribute sustainable methodologies to advance the living conditions of slum dwellers and for better execution of slum policies. The core objectives are: 1) mapping the existing slums of Kalaburagi (formerly Gulbarga) city using slum ontology from very high-resolution data and validating the slum map through ground survey and using reliable data; 2) developing a model to understand the factors which are responsible for the present growth as well as to predict the future growth of slums; 3) estimating the housing demand of urban poor and suggesting a suitable site for the rehabilitation program; and 4) suggestions for the better intervention of government policies with special reference to in-situ program. Urban is the future, and slums are its reality. Sustainable development goals are directly and indirectly concerned about the increasing urbanization and the slums. Housing the urban poor and affordable housing to all are the national missions. Practically making these plans successful depends on a deep understanding of urban issues and proper methodology and technology to handle it. The participatory slum mapping, cellular automata slum model, housing demand analysis, and the spatial decision support system demonstrated in the book help in monitoring and managing the slums and thus lead towards a slum-free India.

A book that challenges the conventional notion of a slum. Spread over 175 hectares and swarming with one million people, Dharavi is often called 'Asia's largest slum'. But Dharavi is much more than cold statistic. What makes it special are the extraordinary people who live there, many of whom have defied fate and an unhelpful State to prosper through a mix of backbreaking work, some luck and a great deal of ingenuity. It is these men and women whom journalist Kalpana Sharma brings to life through a series of spellbinding stories. While recounting their tales, she also traces the history of Dharavi from the days when it was one of the six great koliwadas or fishing villages to the present times when it, along with other slums, is home to almost half of Mumbai. Among the colourful characters she presents are Haji Shamsuddin who came to Mumbai and began life as a rice smuggler but made his fortune by launching his own brand of peanut brittle; the stoic Ramjibhai Patel, a potter, who represents six generations from Saurashtra who have lived and worked in Mumbai; and doughty women like Khatija and Amina who helped check communal passions during the 1992-93 riots and continue to ensure that the rich social fabric of Dharavi is not frayed. It is countless, often anonymous, individuals like these who have helped Dharavi grow from a mere swamp to a virtual gold mine with its many industrial units churning out quality leather goods, garments and food products. Written with rare sensitivity and empathy, Rediscovering Dharavi is a riveting account of the triumph of the human spirit over poverty and want.

When photographer Eloise Leyden spent a year traveling around India, she became fascinated not only by the vibrant beauty of the land and the warmth of its people, but also by the countrys sizable population of stray dogs. Leydens empathy with animals is captured perfectly in this colorful, touching collection of images of dogs roaming the bustling city streets, scavenging in markets, basking on sandy beaches, and sleeping just about anywhere. Leyden, who undertook voluntary work for an animal charity during her travels, reveals the close bond that often develops between the dogs and their fellow streetdwellershumans and animals alikeand documents the efforts of individuals and groups to promote the welfare of the strays.

Have slums become 'cool'? More and more tourists from across the globe seem to think so as they discover favelas, ghettos, townships and barrios on leisurely visits. But while slum tourism often evokes moral outrage, critics rarely ask about what motivates this tourism, or what wider consequences and effects it initiates. In this provocative book, Fabian Frenzel investigates the lure that slums exert on their better-off visitors, looking at the many ways in which this curious form of attraction ignites changes both in the slums themselves and on the world stage. Covering slums in Rio de Janeiro, Bangkok and multiple cities in South Africa, Kenya and India, Slumming It examines the roots and consequences of a growing phenomenon whose effects have ranged from gentrification and urban policy reform to the organization of international development and poverty alleviation. Controversially, Frenzel argues that the rise of slum tourism has drawn attention to important global justice issues, and is far more complex than we initially acknowledged.

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.

1.1 General Background The word ‘slum’ has a slangy connotation in British society from where this word is thought to be originated. In the eastern end of London, this word means ‘room,’ and it evolved over time to mean ‘back slum’ giving the sense of ‘back allay, street of poor people’ (Etymological Dictionary). The Slum is variously named, often interchangeably used, in different parts of the globe viz. shanty town, favela, rookery, gecekondu, skid row, barrio, ghetto, bidonville, taudis, bandas de miseria, barrio marginal, morro, loteamento, barraca, musseque, tugurio, solares, mudun safi, karyan, medina achouaia, brarek, ishash, galoos, tanake, baladi, trushebi, chalis, katras, zopadpattis, bustee, estero, looban, dagatan, umjondolo, watta, udukku, and chereka bete (UN-Habitat, 2003). Below are some of the definitions of slum given by some eminent social scientists working in the field of slums. Merrium Websters’ American Dictionary defines slums as “a densely populated usually urban area marked by crowding, dirty run-down housing, poverty, and social disorganization” whereas the Oxford Dictionary defines slums to be a “squalid and overcrowded urban street or district inhabited by very poor people” and it also tells that the slums consists of type of “houses or buildings unfit for human habitation”. As per, the Cambridge online dictionary, a slumis “a very poor and crowded area, especially of a city” in which the living conditions are “untidy or dirty”. Colin's dictionary states that “a slumis an area of a city where living conditions are very bad and where the houses are in bad condition” and it also lists some of its synonyms like hovel, ghetto, shanty, etc.

With the number of cities and towns going up to about 8,000 now, both the JnNURM and the 12th Five year Plan document focusing on India’s urban rejuvenation, and with the current focus on developing 100 smart cities, total sanitation for all houses by 2019, at least 500 habitations to be provided the basics and a new Mission on Low Cost Affordable Housing, there is a considerable interest among a cross section of society on understanding the complexities of urban India and the way forward. The book discusses these complexities and explains the possible strategies for their solution. Prominent urban thinkers of India have come together to discuss key urban issues of India in this book. The book includes chapters on urban planning, water, solid waste management, transport, finances, slums, PPPs, and governance. India’s Urban Confusion will be a standard reference for urban planners, policymakers, government officials, local bodies/development authorities/other para statals, and academics interested in urban studies, economics, and development studies.​

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY “Inspiring . . . extraordinary . . . [Katherine Boo] shows us how people in the most desperate circumstances can find the resilience to hang on to their humanity. Just as important, she makes us care.”—People “A tour de force of social justice reportage and a literary masterpiece.”—Judges, PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times • The Washington Post • O: The Oprah Magazine • USA Today • New York • The Miami Herald • San Francisco Chronicle • Newsday In this breathtaking book by Pulitzer Prize winner Katherine Boo, a bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human through the dramatic story of families striving toward a better life in Annawadi, a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport. As India starts to prosper, the residents of Annawadi are electric with hope. Abdul, an enterprising teenager, sees “a fortune beyond counting” in the recyclable garbage that richer people throw away. Meanwhile Asha, a woman of formidable ambition, has identified a shadier route to the middle class. With a little luck, her beautiful daughter, Annawadi’s “most-everything girl,” might become its first female college graduate. And even the poorest children, like the young thief Kalu, feel themselves inching closer to their dreams. But then Abdul is falsely accused in a shocking tragedy; terror and global recession rock the city; and suppressed tensions over religion, caste, sex, power, and economic envy turn brutal. With intelligence, humor, and deep insight into what connects people to one another in an era of tumultuous change, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, based on years of uncompromising reporting, carries the reader headlong into one of the twenty-first century’s hidden worlds—and into the hearts of families impossible to forget. WINNER OF: The PEN Nonfiction Award • The Los Angeles Times Book Prize • The American Academy of Arts and Letters Award • The New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New Yorker • People • Entertainment Weekly • The Wall Street Journal • The Boston Globe • The Economist • Financial Times • Foreign Policy • The Seattle Times • The Nation • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Denver Post • Minneapolis Star Tribune • The Week • Kansas City Star • Slate • Publishers Weekly