Smart cities and the poor: towards an agenda for inclusive urbanisation in India
"Developing countries worldwide have been embarking on 'smart cities' programmes using new technology solutions to improve public services. Faced with severe problems of the digital divide, poverty, unemployment, inequality, and financial and social exclusion, these cities have to negotiate hard in order to reach their goals. This book examines urban governance, digital divide, poverty, unemployment, financial and social exclusion and presents a theoretical perspective on inclusive cities, urbanization, migration, slums and affordable housing. The book aims at formulating and implementing an agenda for inclusive, equitable, and sustainable urban development in tune with the UN-SDGs, the New Urban Agenda of Habitat III, and India's new national urban missions. It probes into the scope of adopting inclusionary urban planning, zoning, and housing, financing inclusive city development and poverty alleviation through municipal finance reforms using findings and lessons from detailed field studies of Indian cities. It also suggests an Agenda for Slum-free and Poverty-free cities in an attempt to make these cities more people-focused, humane and inclusionary. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of political science, policy studies, public administration, urban studies, urban planning and management, urban sociology and geography, besides being of interest to policy researchers, community workers, grass roots researchers, policy makers, and sociologists"--