Read Of The Week (March 5 to March 11)

Indian policy has been characterised by a denial of urbanisation. This has prevented us from meaningfully addressing the blizzard of policy issues that come with the phenomenon: governance deficit, infrastructure shortfall, mismanagement of land, lack of focus on growing city economies, improper access to potable water, incessant flooding, traffic congestion, insufficient urban green and public spaces, and the marginalisation of the urban poor, migrants and vulnerable communities, among others. Consequently, cities have truly become India’s blind spot. And blind spots can be fatal.

In this book, Devashish Dhar gives fresh insight into how we have reached this point of exasperation and provides policy solutions and innovations to tackle the complex issues that plague our urban spaces. His training and work in urban policy lead him to conclude that Indian cities will be at the forefront of driving key global political-economy trends in the coming decades and that our cities are critical to achieving India’s promised destiny. With an astute analysis of the past and future prospects of Indian cities, India’s Blind Spot is a comprehensive study of the phenomenon of Indian urbanisation.

Devashish Dhar is a former Public Policy Specialist at NITI Aayog. He is a Mason Fellow from the Harvard Kennedy School and Li Ka Shing Scholar from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore.