This open access book is the first of its kind that examines the urban development trajectory, sustainability, and urban policies' role across seven different countries in Asia and Africa. It offers theoretical and policy contributions emerging from a rigorous analysis of conditions on the ground in each city, combined with a critical engagement with urban policy in the respective city/country. It examines key developments in national urban policy over the years and maps emerging urbanization trends, social cohesion and social inclusion, including public health and neighbourhood planning, particularly in light of the 2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals. It is an essential reading for graduate and post-graduate level students interested in urban studies, public policy, and urban planning. 

Debolina Kundu is Director at the National Institute of Urban Affairs, India. She has over 25 years of professional experience in the field of development studies and worked as a consultant with various national and international agencies on issues of urbanization, urban development, migration, poverty, governance and exclusion. She was the Country Principal Investigator and partner of the Centre for Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhood (SHLC) support by United Kingdom Research and Innovation. She is Editor-in-Chief of the journals of Environment and Urbanization, Asia (SAGE) and Urban India (NIUA). She serves as a member on various committees constituted by the Government of India and state governments.

David Everatt is Professor of Urban Governance at the School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; and a former Head of the same School. He is a past Chair of the South African Statistics Council and serves on the Board of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation. He is Principal Investigator for an Urban Health Demographic Surveillance Site in Gauteng province, South Africa, under the aegis of the Gauteng Research Triangle which draws together the universities of Johannesburg, Pretoria and the Witwatersrand.

Keith Kintrea is Emeritus Professor of Urban Studies and Housing at the University of Glasgow. Until 2022 he was Deputy Director of the Centre for Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods (SHLC). His research mainly focusses on urban neighbourhoods and the impact they have on resident’s lives and life chances. His most recent book (with Rebecca Madgin) is Transforming Glasgow: Beyond the Postindustrial City (Policy Press, 2020). He is a Fellow of Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS).

Ya Ping Wang is Professor in Human Geography at Shaanxi Normal University and Emeritus Professor at the University of Glasgow. Until 2023 he was Chair in Global City Futures and Director of the Centre for Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods (SHLC). He is author/co-author of four books: Urban Poverty, Housing and Social Change in China; Planning and Housing in the Rapidly Urbanising World; Housing Policy and Practice in China; and Urban Inequality and Segregation in Europe and China. He is a Fellow of Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) and a Fellow of Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE).