Extract from the Editorial by Tawa Lama-Rewal and Zérah:
This special issue considers together (i) the role of democracy (or lack of it) in the city (Ramaswamy, Heuzé, Ahmad); (ii) the redeployment of urban politics along with economic restructuring (Rajagopal); and (iii) the role of the city in democracy (Gazdar & Mallah)—which suggests that the three dimensions of urban democracy are not mutually exclusive but on the contrary overlap and reinforce each other. The five papers in this issue focus on four South Asian cities—Karachi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Ahmedabad—while the book review adds elements about Delhi. These papers contribute to afore mentioned debates and bring original perspectives on urban democracy, on three major points.