ABSTRACT
The process of urbanization runs the risk of harboring economic and spatial inequality which is not neutralized automatically through fl ow of rural-urban migration. The labor force is relatively less mobile, for various sociocultural reasons that are not necessarily guided by economic reasons. Macroeconomic policies that stimulate growth are not suffi ciently distributive to neutralize location-specifi c growth. Cities tend to attract high-value investments and create shortages of common urban resources, like land. As the competitive value of land is beyond the reach of, especially, the vulnerable section of society, direct government intervention is required in terms of demarcation of land for the deprived section and speedy provision of basic services to reduce economic and spatial inequality. The modern urban agenda, followed by the Government of India, emphasizes effi ciency and competitiveness for overall economic development. In this chapter, I attempt to analyze whether this is in tune with the concept of inclusive growth.
