Urban Transformations in India

In 2018, following a major call by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), together granted some £2 million in funding to five exciting projects exploring some of the major challenges facing developing cities today.

Bringing together academics and practitioners from India and the UK, their research has examined a range of issues, including smart urbanism, migration, mobility, sanitation and age-friendly design. They include the following:

• Learning from Small Cities: Governing Imagined Futures and the Dynamics of Change in India’s Smart Urban Age
• From the Margins: Exploring Low-income Migrant Workers’ Access to Basic Services and Protection in the Context of India’s Urban Transformation
• UNDERstanding Indian Urban Governance REFORM: A Comparative Analysis of the Smart City Mission Reforms and Their Impact on Sustainable Urban Mobility
• Rurality as a Vehicle for Urban Sanitation Transformation – RUST
• Ageing Well in Urban Environments: Developing Age Friendly Cities and Communities

The findings will support the development of more inclusive and sustainable urban policies in India and elsewhere.