
Sustainable Urbanisation
Research Programme
Over half of the world population is currently urban and urban population is estimated to grow further. Much of the growth in mega cities (over 10 million population) is predicted to be in less developed countries.
With a population of over one billion and over 60% working age population, India would experience rapid urbanisation in the next decade. The population size, increasing economic development, industrialisation, urbanisation and lifestyle changes in India are accompanied by pressures on its natural resources including air quality and demand for clean water. The country also requires large scale development of infrastructure and the necessary resources to enable sustainable urban development.
This programme explores policies and practices for enabling sustainable urban development through improving air quality, provision of adequate and safe water and food, as well as energy efficient transport services and other infrastructure where people can breathe, live and move comfortably.
Publications
Smart Cities for Sustainable and Inclusive Urban Transitions: Some options for India (2019). Ehtisham Ahmad, Giorgio Brosio and Ruth Kattumuri. LSE India Observatory Working Paper 10.
Governance and Governed: Multi-Country Perspectives on State, Society and Development (2018). Madhushree Sekher, S. Parasuraman and Ruth Kattumuri (eds.). Springer, Singapore.
Public Investment for Sustainable Development (2017). Ehtisham Ahmad. LSE India Observatory Working Paper 8.
Sustainable Urban Development in India: A tale of two Mahindra World Cities (2017). Ruth Kattumuri, Sunil Kurian and Mahindra World Cities Team. LSE India Observatory Working Paper 5.
A More Sustainable Energy Strategy for India (2017). Montek Ahluwalia, Himanshu Gupta and Nicholas Stern. LSE India Observatory Working Paper 2.
"Dragon and Elephant, Shoulder to Shoulder": Non-traditional Security Cooperation between China and India (2016). Xiaofeng Yu and Ruth Kattumuri. Journal of International Security Studies, 3. Beijing, China.
Evidence and the policy process from an Indian perspective (2016). Ruth Kattumuri. In: Hantrais, L., Lenihan, A.T. and MacGregor,S. (eds.) International and Interdisciplinary Insights into Evidence and Policy. Routledge.
Historical Developments and Goals of Social Protection Policies in India (2015). Ruth Kattumuri and Manju Singh. Social Security Studies, 2: 24-38.
Evidence and the policy process from an Indian perspective (2015). Ruth Kattumuri. Contemporary Social Science Special Issue, 10(2): 191-201. Taylor & Francis Group. Oxford, UK
Historical Developments and Goals of Social Protection Policies in India (2013). Ruth Kattumuri and Manju Singh. In: James Midgley and David Piachaud. (eds.) Social Protection, Economic Growth and Social Change: Goals, Issues and Trajectories in Brazil, China, India and South Africa. Edward Elgar.
Railroads of the Raj: Estimating the impact of transportation infrastructure (2011). Dave Donaldson. LSE Asia Research Centre Working Paper 41.
India Development Report 2011 (2011). D.M. Nachane. Oxford University Press, India.
Democracy, Development and Decentralisation in India: Continuing Debates (2010). Chandan Sengupta and Stuart Corbridge. Routledge India.
Challenges for Urban Local Governments in India. (2007). Rumi Aijaz. LSE Asia Research Centre Working Paper 19.
On the Allocation of Public Goods to Villages in India (2003). Santanu Gupta. LSE Asia Research Centre Working Paper 10.
Other References from LSE
Title | Author(s) | Year | Focus Area | Theme |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tales of the City: What Do Agglomeration Cases Tell Us About Agglomeration in General? | Giulia Faggio Olmo Silva William C. Strange | 2019 | Global | Urbanisation |
City of refuge or digital order? Refugee recognition and the digital governmentality of migration in the city | Georgiou, Myria | 2019 | Global | Urbanisation |
New urban governance: A review of current themes and future priorities | Nuno F. da Cruz, Philipp Rode & Michael McQuarrie | 2018 | Global | Urbanisation |
New urban governance: A review of current themes and future priorities | da Cruz, N.F., Rode, P. and McQuarrie, M. | 2018 | Global | Urbanisation |
Featured Research
This presentation discusses ideas and cases for sustianable urbanisation in the context of the investments made by governments into smart cities in developing countries across the world.
Smart, Resilient and Sustainable Infrastructure (2019). Kattumuri, R.
People

Dr Ruth Kattumuri is Co-Director of the India Observatory and is responsible for developing multi-disciplinary research and programmes. With over two decades of experience in higher education in UK and India, Dr Kattumuri has pioneered several innovative knowledge development programmes