With urban inequality widely recognized as central to many of the most pressing challenges facing the world, there is a need for a deeper understanding of cities of the South on their own terms. This text aims to document and make sense of urban transformations across a range of cities, as well as the conflicts and struggles for social justice these are generating.

Research findings presented in the book are also highly relevant for practitioners and policy makers in the pursuit of improving urban livability since wellbeing, or quality of life, is increasingly considered as an important criteria alternative to income growth to evaluate economic, social and urban development.