This book explores the unique trajectory of urbanization in South Asia, from the earliest beginnings of civilization to the present-day mega cities, the life in the cities with its associated issues of inequality, struggle, management of scarce resources, migration and the informal sector of the economy. Contributions from renowned scholars, this book provides fresh insights into the continuity of ancient urban civilizations and their influence on modern cities, making it an essential resource for understanding the region’s unique urban landscape. It is a great resource book for students and researchers specializing in urbanism in South Asia, urban history, and urban ethnography, particularly urban anthropology.

Subhadra Channa is a retired professor of anthropology from Delhi University. Her areas of research interest are in gender, cosmology, inequality and marginalization, identity and urban studies. Her publications include Gender in South Asia (Cambridge University Press), The Inner and Outer Selves (Oxford University Press), Life as a Dalit (Ed, Sage), Religious Pluralism in India (Ed, Routledge), The Dhobis of Delhi: An Urban Ethnography from the Margins (Oxford University Press) and Sacred Landscapes (ed, Routledge). She has twelve books and more than eighty papers to her credit.  She was the senior vice president of the IUAES and is at present the co-editor of Reviews in Anthropology. Her awards include two Fulbright teaching fellowships, Charles Wallace and several visiting professorships, as well as the Distinguished Teacher Award from Delhi University.