Urbanization from within : a theory of urban transition from 21st-century India / Gregory F. Randolph.
| Author/creator | Randolph, Gregory F. author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2026] |
| Description | xiii, 199 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm. |
| Subjects |
| Series | Modern South Asia |
| Contents | Urbanization from within: Introduction -- Morphing places and moving people -- From urbanization to pauperization -- Translocal lives -- A bootstrapped urban economy -- Ekta and the new Bihar -- Linking urban evolution to development -- Beyond Bihar -- Postscript: Place, time, and urban theory |
| Abstract | "Urbanization is generally narrated as a tale of mass rural-urban migration. This book challenges that conventional wisdom, drawing on the case of India. It argues that twenty-first-century urban transitions are also defined by another process, urbanization from within, in which villages are becoming urban towns through internal population growth, densification, and accompanying social and economic change. Migration is still part of this phenomenon, but rather than the migrant's destination, it is the migrant's origin that is urbanizing. Circular flows of people--and the resources, experiences, and expectations they carry and transmit to their hometowns--interact with other local and global forces to facilitate this new form of urbanization. On the one hand, these emerging towns lie at the intersection of demographic intensity and economic marginality, reflecting the uneven development processes of the twenty-first century. On the other hand, they represent incremental improvements in living standards and are subtly reshaping social structures, raising progressive possibilities. Whether places urbanizing from within foster human and economic development depends on policymakers and planners understanding the conditions of their emergence and acting to address their limitations and needs. The book relies on various sources of evidence: qualitative research in the Indian state of Bihar, analysis of geospatial data and large-scale surveys, econometric modeling, and an integration of scholarship from urban studies, geography, planning, economics, sociology, and history. Fundamental mechanisms underlying urbanization from within make it likely to unfold in other parts of the urbanizing Global South, heightening its importance for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners"-- Oxford Academic |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN | 9780197769089 |
| ISBN | 9780197769072 hardcover |
| ISBN | 0197769071 hardcover |
| ISBN | 019776908X paperback |
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