Inclusive Cities and Global Urban Transformation: Infrastructures, Intersectionalities, and Sustainable Development

This open access book addresses the problem of global urban development that excludes various groups of people from the benefits of urban growth and sustainable development. Using the intersectionality and agency of urban dwellers and citizens, it outlines possibilities of responsive urban governance that builds on principles of the inclusive city. The book's first section presents various cases of digital, smart, logistical, and green infrastructure that drive a city's growth and sustainable development while excluding various citizens from these benefits. The second and third sections focus on the intersectionality and agency of urban citizens vulnerable to marginalization in different urban contexts—such as the elderly, people with various physical and mental challenges, women, and children. The last section presents the cases of potential forms of responsive governance and possibilities for future inclusive city planning and development. This book appeals to students of urban and development studies and planning and related disciplines, such as human and cultural geography, applied anthropology, sociology, sustainability sciences, architecture, and design. It is also helpful for activists and practitioners as illustrative cases presented in the book show various experiences and possibilities for making a city inclusive.

Ajay Bailey is a Professor of Social Urban Transitions at the International Development Studies group at the Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University. He leads the research line Global Migration, Culture, and Place working at the interface of anthropology, geography, demography, and public health. He holds the prestigious Dr. T. M. A. Pai Endowed Chair in Qualitative Methods at Manipal University, India, named after Dr. Tonse Madhav Ananth, the founder of the university. As an anthropologist and a cultural demographer, Prof. Bailey has produced 45+ top peer-reviewed international publications; one highly cited monograph; and has supervised 12 PhD researchers. His work significantly contributes to expanding the field of transnational mobilities, aging, inter-generational relations, health systems research, and health services, reducing barriers to care, while establishing meaningful North-South and South-South collaborations.

Kei Otsuki is Professor of International Development Studies at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. She holds a Ph.D. in Development Sociology from Wageningen University and M.Sc. and B.A. degrees from the University of Tokyo. Prior to Utrecht University, she worked at United Nations University as a research associate. Her research interests center on equitable and sustainable development, environmental justice, and remaking of geopolitics of development, especially regarding impacts of investment-induced displacement and resettlement on new land and resource frontiers. She has conducted field research on new settlement experiences in Latin America, especially Brazil, and Kenya, Ghana, and Mozambique, as well as in Japan. She is currently leading a number of international research projects including two on conservation and new extractivism-induced displacement and resettlement projects in Mozambique; and a new initiative to address displacement and resettlement induced by urban infrastructure development in the global Southern cities.