The Habitat Conference held at Vancouver, Canada in May-June 1976 can be considered as a high water mark in the study of human settlements on a global scale. Habitat Asia, in three volumes, brings to the reader the first systematic assessment of the impact of this conference on material policies in the Asian region. The survey is focused on the recommendations approved by the national governments and the follow-up action they have taken to implement the same. It gives a fairly comprehensive idea of how the countries covered by the survey are responding to the international call for a new policy on human settlements a policy which would enhance the quality of life of the people inhabiting Asia's urban and rural settlements. The present volume, the first in this trilogy, discusses the Indian situation and the relevant trends in national development. Six case studies of urban and rural settlements serve as ample illustrations of the problem under study. The responses in the shape of various policies and programmes both at the national as well as the state levels are analysed in detail. The conclusions drawn are stated in a forthright and hard-hitting manner. This series of volumes is bound to make people sit up and do some rethinking on this vital human problem in more positive terms.