This book addresses the "urban" and "peri-urban" spaces in India within a single frame. The reasoning is that while the former is studied for its transformation towards more value addition in terms of power and neoliberal economic viabilities, the latter is the land of visible transformation of the built environment. It acquaints readers with how the processes of circulation of migrant labour, the shift in occupations of landowning groups, and the residential cohabitation of diverse social groups contribute to re-scripting social relations, green spaces, and the forging of new subjectivities. The chapters of the book speak of the need to create sustainable cities for uncertain futures, with a quest to reverse global climate change and make an effort to halt urbanization at the cost of the natural ecosystem, all of which have become more urgent in the post-pandemic years. The book addresses different aspects of the evolutionary urban and peri-urban spaces in India amidst the conflict of the environmental and social sustainability agendas with the neo-liberal ascendancy. The integration of urban and peri-urban areas with emerging political and economic equations and the involvement of multiple disciplines to work in tandem for a deep insight into the complex phenomena incorporating diverse actors validate the need for such a volume. This edited volume seeks to record how all these stakeholders-state agencies, political leaders, businessmen, workers, investors, households, builders, real estate intermediaries, business owners, migrants, and many more with their varying capacities to influence outcomes on the ground-interact with one another. It also shows how multiple power relationships are calibrated and recalibrated to produce urban and peri-urban spaces in diverse ways in many parts of India.

Autorentext

Mukunda Mishra is an Associate Professor, Department of Geography, and designated Vice Principal of Dr. Meghnad Saha College in West Bengal, India. Dr. Mishra completed his postgraduate studies in Geography and Environmental Management at Vidyasagar University (receiving top rank in both the B.Sc. and M.Sc. panels of merit) and held a Ph.D. in Geography from the same University. His research chiefly focuses on analysing unequal human development, regional planning, and multi-criteria predictive model building. He has more than twelve years of hands-on experience in dealing with development issues at the ground level in various districts of eastern India. Dr. Mishra has in his credit to publish one monograph and seven edited research volumes so far from the house of Springer-Nature. Dr. Mishra has more than forty research articles and book chapters published in the journals and books of international repute.

Vishwa Raj Sharma is a Professor at the Department of Geography, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, University of Delhi, with more than 20 years of teaching and research experience. He received a Ph.D. from the Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. His field of specialisation is environmental issues, urban planning, and disaster management. His recent book entitled 'Making India Disaster Resilient: Challenges and Future Perspectives' was published by Springer, Switzerland in 2023. Dr. Sharma participated and presented research papers at many conferences in India and abroad. Out of his involvement in multiple research projects, the most recent one he completed is a major research project sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR); and, another one where he acted as co-investigator in an international research project sponsored by Hiroshima University, Japan, Agra. He is a life member of the National Association of Geographers India (NAGI), and an Executive Member of the Association for Geographical Studies (AGS). He acted as a Member of the Advisory Board of the Siddhant Raj Degree College affiliated to Dr. B R Ambedkar University, Agra, and a Member of the Advisory Board, Centre for Disaster Management Studies (CDMS) in Shaheed Bhagat Singh College.

Anjan Chakrabarti is a Professor-Director at UGC Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Centre, The University of North Bengal. Previously, he was an Associate Professor at the UGC Human Resource Development Centre at the University of Burdwan. Before joining Burdwan University, he was an Assistant Professor of Economics at St. Joseph's College, Darjeeling. His research interests are Agrarian Bengal, Development Economics, Sustainable Development, and North East India. He has authored four books on Developmental Issues. He recently published an edited volume, "Indigeneity, Development and Sustainability: Perspectives from Northeast India", Springer Nature, 2024. He completed eight national and International Projects. He just completed a major research empirical project of ICSSR on gender inequality. He has contributed over 60 research articles in various national and international journals and edited volumes. He delivered more than 130 invited lectures in various premier institutes of national and international eminence. He visited Europe and South-East Asian Countries to present his research findings. He also serves as a visiting Professor in various Indian Universities including Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore. He received the Global Education Leadership and Management Excellence Award from the Centre for Professional Advancement, West Midlands, UK, 2021 and the National Pride Award-2024 from the CKNKH Foundation National Committee, India, in 2024.