This volume decentres the view of urbanisation in India from large agglomerations towards smaller urban settlements. It presents the outcomes of original research conducted over three years on subaltern processes of urbanization. The volume is organised in four sections. A first one deals with urbanisation dynamics and systems of cities with chapters on the new census towns, demographic and economic trajectories of cities and employment transformation. The interrelations of land transformation, social and cultural changes form the topic of the “land, society, belonging” section based on ethnographic work in various parts of India (Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu). A third section focuses on public policies, governance and urban services with a set of macro-analysis based papers and specific case studies. Understanding the nature of production and innovation in non-metropolitan contexts closes this volume. Finally, though focused on India, this research raises larger questions with regard to the study of urbanisation and development worldwide. CONTENTS 1. Introduction: Reclaiming Small Towns / Marie-Hélène Zérah, Eric Denis Part I: Placing Small Towns: Dynamics of Urbanisation and Systems of Cities 2. Unacknowledged Urbanisation: The New Census Towns in India / Kanhu Charan Pradhan 3. The Substantial Share of Small Towns in India's System of Cities / Elfie Swerts 4. Income Ranking of Indian States and Their Pattern of Urbanisation / Basudeb Chaudhuri, Boishampayan Chatterjee, Mainak Mazumdar, Safayet Karim 5. Urbanisation in a Decade of Near Jobless Growth / S. Chandrasekhar 6. Comparison of Peripheral Metropolitanisation in Haryana and Rajasthan, India / Milap Punia, Rajnish Kumar, Laxman Singh, Sandeep Kaushik 7. On Global and Multiple Linkages in the Making of an Ordinary Place: Parangipettai-Porto Novo / Eric Denis, Zarin Ahmad Part II: Land, Society, Belonging 8. Multilayered Urbanisation of the South Canara Territory / Solomon Benjamin 9. Practices of Territory in Small and Medium Cities of South India / Bhuvaneswari Raman 10. Territorial Legends: Politics of Indigeneity, Migration and Urban Citizenship in Pasighat / Mythri Prasad-Aleyamma 11. Wealth, Mobility, Accretive Citizenship and Belonging: Why Everyone Comes to Kullu and How they Remain / Diya Mehra 12. Hindu Temples and Development of Localities in Tamil Nadu (South India) / Pierre-Yves Trouillet Part III: Small Towns Between Rural and Urban Administration: Public Policies, Governance and Urban Services 13. The Other Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission: What Does It Mean for Small Town India? / Sama Khan 14. Shedding Light on Social and Economic Changes in Small Towns Through the Prism of Local Governance: A Case Study of Haryana / Marie-Hélène Zérah 15. Purdah and Politics: Women's Participation in Local Governance / Aditi Surie, Marie-Hélène Zérah 16. New Urban Territories in West Bengal: Transition, Transformation and Governance / Gopa Samanta 17. Does Administrative Status Matter for Small Towns in India? / Partha Mukhopadhyay Part IV: Producing and Innovating in Non-metropolitan Contexts 18. Development on the Urban Fringe: The Prosperity of Kartarpur, a Small Town-Cluster in Punjab : Rémi de Bercegol, Shankare Gowda 19. From Ox-Carts to Borewell Rigs: Maintenance, Manufacture and Innovation in Tiruchengode / Yann Philippe Tastevin 20. Globalisation, Productive Spaces and Small Town Transformation: The Case of Machlipatnam and Pedana in Coastal Andra Pradesh / N. Sridharan 21. Mapping Small Towns' Productive and Employment Configurations / Elfie Swerts, Eric Denis 22. Commuting Workers and the Integration of the Rural-Urban Economy / Ajay Sharma 23. Non-timber Forest Products and Small Town Economies / Manoj Nadkarni