Cities of Dragons and Elephants : Urbanization and Urban Development in China and India

Urbanization is one of the most important phenomena in economic development. In the past three decades, Asian urban populations expanded by almost one billion, a figure expected to double in the next three decades. Clearly, both the scale and pace of urbanization in Asia is unprecedented in human history and will dominate the global urbanization landscape. Asia's urbanization, in turn, is dominated by what is happening in China and India, the two most populous, fastest growing economies in the world.

Cities of Dragons and Elephants: Urbanization and Urban Development in China and India aims at addressing the two most fundamental issues of urbanization: why and where to urbanize. Contributed by a team of top experts from both countries, it uses original research to explore both the speed and scale of urbanization and urban systems or spatial distribution of urbanities in different-sized citites. It examines various drivers of urbanization alongside the benefits and costs and the role of markets, governments, and NGOs.

Cities of Dragons and Elephants presents evidence-based policy suggestions regarding the labor market, the land and housing market, FDI and the capital market, education, environment, poverty, and inequality. It uses the similarities betwen India and China to draw conclusions and implications of enormous relevance to many governments and institutions in Asia and beyond.

Guanghua Wan, Professor and Director, Institute of World Economy, Fudan University,Ming Lu, Distinguished Professor of Economics and Director, Shanghai Institute for National Economy; Research Fellow, China Institute of Urban Governance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Guanghua Wan is Director of the Institute of World Economy, Fudan University, China. Previously he was the Research Director and Head of the Poverty and Inequality Group at the Asian Development Bank. He has also previously held positions as a Senior Economist at the United Nations and taught at a number of universities in Australia and China. Trained in development economis and econometrics, Prof Wan is a multi-award winning scholar on the Chinese economy and an expert on Asia, with a publication record encompassing over 150 articles and numerous books. Dr Wan is an Honorary Professor of over ten top universities in China, and is among the top 4% economists in Asia.

Ming Lu is a Distinguished Professor of Economics and Director of the Shanghai Institute for the National Economy, and a Research Fellow at the China Institute of Urban Governance at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Fudan University, Singapore Management University, and Dongbei University of Finance and Economics. He has consulted for the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. His research covers labor economics, regional and urban-rural development, and the Chinese economy. His most recent work evaluates urban and regional development policies and their effects on resource allocation and economic sustainability.