ABSTRACT
The current dynamics of inequality in the city, whether a big or small place, thriving or in decline, are often understood in the context of two processes: large-scale economic restructuring and technological change at global and local scales. The urge to understand the dynamics of inequality in the context of work on urban poverty and its links not just to city size but also to urban growth rates is evident. Despite substantial differences in patterns of urbanization, smaller cities dominate in other large economies such as Indonesia and South Africa as well. But definitional variation and demographic importance are not the primary issue here. The focus instead is on whether small cities broadly construed, but particularly in the Indian context, are more unequal than their bigger counterparts. The ethnographic narrative of this and other conflicts reveals a much more complicated set of outcomes of durable inequalities. Also, smaller surveys and studies suggest that inequality is rising.
