The Challenges of Urbanization in India are unprecedented in scale and significance. The magnitude of the challenge can be understood from the sheer fact that our urban areas may be required to accommodate 250-300 million people in addition to the population that they are already home to at present in about two decades from now.

This report documents how efficient land use planning can improve household resilience to rising oil prices by enhancing travel choices; how allowing more people to live closer to job centers can boost employment rates and income levels for low-wage workers while reducing exposure to congestion for all; and how smart growth policies, when well applied, reduce government infrastructure costs, en

This paper considers how the official poverty line in India would have to change, if it were to be set at a level that allowed urban households to afford minimally adequate accommodation. It discusses the difficulties in incorporating housing needs into poverty lines, noting that households that rent accommodations are treated differently in India's poverty statistics from those who are owners.

This publication suggests solutions that can be built into the design of urban development projects undertaken by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to address the common problems and grievances of the urban poor, and to improve urban governance overall.