It is appropriate in 2007, the year in which more than half the world’s population is living in cities for the first time in the history of mankind, that the Urban Age project should turn its attention to India and its cities. Today an increasing number of India’s population of over 1.1 billion is fuelling urban centres across the subcontinent, with over 300 million city dwellers making up one tenth of the world’s urban population. India’s status as a developing nation with a growing urban economy, coupled with the sheer magnitude of people and social potential, provides an ideal platform for the analysis and discussion on the future shape of urban society. The Urban Age’s principal aim is to shape the thinking and practice of city leaders and sustainable urban development. Initiated by the London School of Economics and Political Science and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society, Urban Age is structured around international and multidisciplinary events and research supporting the creation of a new urban agenda for global cities. Having studied and visited New York, Shanghai, London, Mexico City, Johannesburg and Berlin we now focus on the major Indian cities of Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore with a special focus on Mumbai.

This conference newspaper, the eighth edition since 2005, follows the sequence of this enquiry. The first section contains essays on the dynamics of urban India and reflections by Urban Age experts on globalisation, governance and climate change on cities. A central data section presents new research produced on Indian cities, offering a comparative overview with the six other Urban Age cities. The final section offers a focus on Mumbai, with essays and statistical information on one of the world’s largest, most intense and complex conurbations, in Suketu Mehta’s words, ‘the Maximum City’.

Ricky Burdett
Director, Urban Age