This issue of Urban India marks the 40th anniversary of the journal. This anniversary coincides with the period of great uncertainty due to COVID-19 pandemic. Indian cities which play a tremendous role in shaping the urban future of the country have  been disproportionately affected, suffering from high rates of unemployment and job loss and emerging as hotspots for the spread of the virus. This can be attributed to many factors; including failures in the planning and service provision of cities as well as structural deficiencies within systems of urban governance.

Forthcoming Issue !

The pace of land and housing growth has been phenomenal in India. Although the urbanisation rate lags behind other rapidly urbanising countries such as China, the spatial manifestation of the rapid urban growth can be witnessed in urban extensions, high-end residential enclaves as well as proliferation of slum communities and settlements. A research conducted by the McKinsey Global Institute showed that this pattern of development will continue.

Contemporary research in urban India is a reflection of current developments in urbanisation and urban policies. To elucidate, urbanisation in the country is at times hidden as cities and agglomerations expand beyond municipal boundaries as leapfrog development, very often not accounted as “urban” in the census enumeration. These new urban nodes are often than not unplanned and messy and result in urbanisation which is unacknowledged. Such uncontrolled growth of built up areas results in urban sprawl at times through encroachment of wetlands which in the long run affects the microclimate of the region. In contrast, the presence of natural amenities like river, lake, beach, forest and hill have an influence on the property value, and property buyers like to either pay a premium or factor them implicitly in their choice of property and its value.

India, one of the largest countries of the global south, is at a crucial juncture of urbanization facing several challenges of urban growth. The current issue of the journal collates some of the studies addressing crucial themes of informalization of the urban economy, rural-urban linkages, mapping micro-urban concerns of the pedestrians, case of housing, experiences of slum eviction and the paradox of elderly population owing to youth outmigration in urban areas. All the research papers, included in this issue, have dealt with empirical data and review of literature relevant to their field of study.India, one of the largest countries of the global south, is at a crucial juncture of urbanization facing several challenges of urban growth.

Urban India has attracted the interest of scholars and academicians across the globe. The sheer magnitude of urban population, haphazard and unplanned growth of urban areas and lack of adequate infrastructure have attracted the attention of scholars and researchers. The current issue of Urban India addresses some of these challenges. This issue particularly looks at the domain of employment, migration and crime through a gendered lens using primary and secondary data sets. The issue of development in smart cities, land acquisition, rise in temperature triggering climate change, measuring bio-diversity using city biodiversity index and importance of small and medium towns in the socio-economic development of the country are some of the topics covered in this issue.

URBAN INDIA is a bi-annual journal published by the National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi. The July-December 2017 issue (Volume 37, No. 2), covers articles focusing on monetization of urban land, informal manufacturing sector, quality of life, linkages between urbanization and development, challenges of migration and social protection, influence of urbanization on soil infiltration rates, nature of slum growth and scope of private participation in municipal solid waste management.

This issue of Urban India covers research articles addressing urban environment issues ranging from managing safe drinking water through community participation to water sensitive urban development, and role of traditional wisdom in the urbanising landscapes of ancient towns.

According to the United Nations, 2.5 billion people are predicted to live in urban areas by 2050. This clearly emphasizes the need for a more efficient and sucessful urban planning agenda. Asia and Africa " will face numerous challenges in meeting the needs of their growing urban population, including for housing, infrastructure, transportation, energy and employment, as well as for basic services such as education and healthcare". 

This volume continues the journey of following and monitoring India's urbanisation saga through various research papers, new stories and book reviewes. This volume has a section on data analytics where three different studies, utilizes statistical model/test, underscoring the role of robust analysis in managing urban issues.

While the earlier half of 2015 would be remembered for of some of the most promising national initiatives unveiled for cities by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Government of India, namely the Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) and last but not the least, Housing for All; the second half of 2015 is noticeable for several global initiatives that pose to hold substantial influence on local developmental issues particular to urban environment, planning and governance.

The early half of 2015 has been quite eventful for communities, scholars and practitioners associated with urban India. It has seen the official launch of some of the most promising initiatives unveiled for cities by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Government of India, namely the Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) and last but not the least, Housing for All. Collectively the schemes pose to be a reckoning and unprecedented force of such a scale, in transforming the living conditions of so many city dwellers in a planned manner in the history of human civilization.

This special issue of Urban India is dedicated to theoretical understanding, reportages and empirical findings on the nationwide status of capacity building and associated urban reforms, to meaningfully inform the current policy discourse.

The special issue on Migration presents a macro overview of internal migration in India and unique insights from the field on how rural people take migration decisions; what they experience in the city and the unique challenges they face in the process. The collection of articles in this issue inspire to think afresh about the issue of migration in Indian cities and urge to find creative responses to some of the pressing concern of urbanisation that cities are facing today.

This edition refers to reform initiatives in the urban infrastructure sector, urban local governance and waste water management, access to basic amenities, urban property ownership records, and discussion on indicators of metropolitan cities such as economic performance, employment status, poverty, inequality. 

With an overarching theme of low carbon and climate resilient cities, this publication discusses how Delhi can be made a low carbon city, addressing biodiversity conservation through low carbon strategies, decoding urbanisation and GHG emissions, frameworks for sustainable urban habitat and climate change. Transit and landuse integration, pedestrian accessibility index and the concept of smart city for sustainable urban growth and development is also of prime focus. 

This edition refers to a range of topics that discuss property tax, micro small & medium enterprises, urban public spaces, urban reforms, energy eficiency in ULBs, financing urban infrastructure, urban poverty alleviation and a critical review on Delhi Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

The publication provides insights on slums in Mumbai and a sociological perspective of slums in Amritsar, that evolves in understanding the dire need for low-income rental housing. Further on, other articles emphasize on non-formal water mining, initiatives in participatory governance, maximizing non-tax revenues, urban public private partnership projects and ICT for green & sustainable cities. 

This edition assesses the vulnerabilities of Indian cities to climate change, discusses the need for a flexible planning approach, evaluates the financial health of Indian cities, understands factors affecting voting behaviour of registered voters, studies the impact of environmental design, analyzes social networks in rural-urban migration and examines urban growth & its impact on environment & public health. 

The publication addresses urbanisation and access to basic amenties in Indian cities, capacity building of ULBs, crisis of the urban poor, revitalisation of historic districts, identifying reforms, urban housing, decentralized urban governance and role of citizen particiption.   

The journal constitutes articles on green space preservation in cities, IT & IT enabled services, municipal credit rating for urban sector financing, quality of life, property tax reforms, sustainable transport principles, socio-economic profile of slum India and institutional readiness for public private partnerships. 

The edition highlights issues and challenges of urban India, making of slum-free cities, progressing towards reforms pathway and good governance, using GIS application in urban heat islands, bridging urban-rural hinterlands, studying Chandigarh periphery zone and the city of Shimla to retrospect water supply system. 

This publication constitutes a variety of water related topics highlighting water supply for urban poor, urban water supply schemes, harvesting rainwater, water pricing regime; alongwith discussing a community-led sanitation program, a financing mechanism for municipal solid waste management, introduction to multi modal transportation system and examines the model municipal law.     

This edition of journal highlights the need for establishment of a title registration system; in-situ upgradation of slum settlement in Delhi; fiscal performance of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai; importance of security tenure in mitigating the housing problem in cities; importance of property tax as a revenue to urban local bodies and need for scientific method of assessment; and spatial pattern related to migration in districts of Maharashtra.

Wiith this issue, Urban India completes thirty years of its publication.

This publication discusses multitude of urban thematic areas encompassing sustainable water supplies, special economic zones, fiscal performance of urban local bodies, megacities, basic urban services, planning & urban management, employment generation, inclusive societies and urbanisation as a holistic perspective. 

The publication comprises of articles that discuss urban decentralization, pro-poor governance of urban risks, urbanization on surface and ground water using Remote Sensing & GIS techniques, housing for inclusive cities, culture & migration, role of ICT in changing urban forms and sustainable urban development in the Indian context.   

This issue draws rural-urban comparisons of crowding in houses, examines urban governance in the city of Bangalore, talks about the National Urban Transport Policy, land use transformations around metro stations specifically that of Kolkata, planning for human settlements, strengthening the urban local bodies through municipal accounting reforms and reviewing a book on 'Solid Waste Management in Indian Cities'. 

The publication refers to envisioning city transformation for Mumbai, discussing urban financial management in developing countries, pattern of urbanisation in the state of Karnataka, pricing policy for public transport, studying the impact of drinking water quality and sanitation on child health.

This issue throws light on institutional innovations of urban governance, usbanisation and development scenario in the state of Maharashtra, property tax reforms, discussion on migration of women workers, waste picking as an activity, and a book review of 'Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits'.  

This issue discusses a multitude of aspects within the urban sector, laying emphasis on typologies of female migration, municipal finances in Maharashtra, HIV/AIDS amongst migrants and financial reforms. It also constitutes proceedings from a regional workshop conducted on model municipal law and presents a book review on 'Solid Waste Management in Resettlement Colonies of Delhi: A Study of People's Participation and Urban Policy'.  

The publication discusses case study scenarios for the state of Maharashtra on urbanisation and occupation, city of Bangalore on causes of rural-urban migration, city of Delhi on managing basic services in resettlement colonies. A conceptual inquiry on urban water systems is also examined.