University of KwaZulu-Natal Durban, South Africa

With a multi-campus, residential, teaching and research-led setup, the University of KwaZulu-Natal is one of the top institutions in the African continent. The research and knowledge produced by the various students and scholars of the University are centred around the formal and informal economy, the nature of poverty, the characteristics of the poor and socio-economic empowerment. Backed by research, the University has over the years, expressed itself in practical interventions for the upliftment of the wider South African society. The University reviewed South Africa's first poverty reduction policies in the post-apartheid era and also hosted a 10 year panel study on poverty dynamics in KwaZulu-Natal.

Institute of Urban and Regional Planning, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Graduate Program in Urban and Regional Planning (PUR) was created in 1971 at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. In 1987, it was sheltered by the Institute for Research and Urban and Regional Planning (IPPUR). Research at the Institute is concentrated on the conflicting dynamics that constitute collective subjects and configure the historical contexts in which territories are materially and symbolically appropriated. The Institute's contribution will enable a more refined understanding of the relationship between violence and inequality in relation to the formation of territorial policies, as well as public safety, in Rio de Janeiro over the next four years.

Savitri Mahila Mandal (grassroots women's group) Mumbai, India

Savitri Mahila Mandal is a self-reliant organisation of marginalised women initiated by Committee Of Resource Organisations (CORO). The grassroots organisation works on issues related to violence against women, women’s health with the focus on sexual and reproductive health, and access to basic amenities, in slum communities. The Savitri Mahila Mandal has more than 9,000 members from 300 Mahila Mandals in the M Ward area of Mumbai. It is collaborating with the CUPG in developing a case study of the M Ward in Mumbai as a part of this project.

NEED Vikas Sanstha Mumbai, India

NEED Vikas Sanstha works towards rehabilitating indigenous communities of tribal and urban families in Maharashtra. The main focus of the organisation's work is in the field of nutrition, education and employment for development (NEED). Since 2005, the organisation has been at the forefront to facilitate meaningful initiatives, reaching out to more than 1,500 marginalised communities. It is working with the CUPG towards building a case study on spatial transformations around the Jogeshwari- Vikhroli Link Road.

Nisha Kundar Jogeshwari (East), Mumbai, Maharashtra

A resident of Satellite Park in Jogeshwari-East, Nisha Kundar has been actively involved in community protests and movements against the construction of the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road. She holds a M.Arch Degree in Urban Design and has studied issues related to land ownership, informal settlements and urban commons in Jogeshwari-East as a part of her thesis- ‘Reclaiming Land as an Urban Common’. As a fellow and an urbanist, Kundar assists with mapping and understanding the core issues in the transformation of the area.

Sanjay Kadam Kamathipura, Mumbai, Maharashtra

Sanjay Kadam has been actively involved in a range of social issues related to gender, safety and urban development. Right from advocating safe sex practices in the red light blocks of Kamathipura as part of the Balbir Pasha Campaign launched by Population Services International, to engaging locals to voice their opinions on the Dharavi Redevelopment Project during his stint with Partners for Urban Knowledge, Action and Research (PUKAR), Mumbai- Sanjay has helped reach out to several hidden neighbourhoods and communities in the city. Kadam has helped research staff with the introduction to the area and mapping of the communities residing there.

Ramanuj Pathak Nalasopara, Maharashtra

Ramanuj Pathak is a Bhojpuri folk singer and migrant in the city. He grew up in Mariahu, Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh and now lives in Santosh Bhuvan, Nalasopara, in the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation approximately 50km from Mumbai, which is one of our field study sites. Pathak composes music in the Bidesia Folk Tradition that rests heavily on the theme of separation. He regularly performs and organises shows on the periphery of Mumbai and Jaunpur. Apart from helping with mapping and community engagement, Pathak has also written songs in Bhojpuri for the project. The songs speak of his and the migrant’s experience living in the city.

Transparent Chennai Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Transparent Chennai is a research organisation involved in the creation and dissemination of research on civic issues in Chennai. The organisation works towards enabling residents, especially the poor, to have a greater voice in planning and city governance. The organisation was the state partner for Tamil Nadu in this project, studying the urban housing sector in Chennai and governance transformations in Coimbatore.

Parisar Pune, Maharashtra

Parisar is a civil society organisation working on advocacy for sustainable development. It has worked in diverse areas including heritage preservation, protection of urban biodiversity and sustainable agriculture. During the last decade, the focus has been on developing sustainable urban transport. Parisar was a city collaborator for Pune and studied urban governance transformations in the city focusing on transport and roads.

Centre for Environment Education Pune, Maharashtra

Headquartered in Ahmedabad, CEE, Pune is the central regional cell of the national institution that focuses on the promotion of environmental education for sustainable urban development. It is supported by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and affiliated to the Nehru Foundation for Development. CEE was the city collaborator for Pune, studying urban governance transformations in the city along with Parisar with a special focus on the sewerage sector. Pranjal Deekshit, an Assistant Professor with the Centre for Water Policy, Regulation and Governance at the School of Habitat Studies, was the city collaborator studying the water sector in Aurangabad.

Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Xavier Institute of Management is a state partner for Odisha on this project. Besides imparting management education, XIMB provides training, action research and consulting services in the field of development. Professor Kajri Misra associated with the Department of Rural Management and Development along with her team of research assistants, Namita Subudhi and Tanuwary Khudusia, studied the housing sector in Puri along with the urban governance transformations in Bhubaneswar. They laid special focus on issues related to sewerage, drainage, city bus service and housing sectors.

Mizoram University (MZU) Aizawl, Mizoram

Established in 2000, MZU is an eco-friendly university, the first few among Indian universities to be run completely on solar power. The university's department of social work was a city collaborator for Lunglei town in Mizoram, examining the case of the housing sector. Dr E Kanagaraj, Head of the Department of Social Work and Dr Kalpana Sarathy (formerly with Department of Social Work) led the project in Lunglei with research assistance from Priscilla Jahua.
The governance transformations in Aizawl was studied by a team from CUPG including Lalitha Kamath and Smita Waingankar, who were assisted by Lalsiampuii Tochhawang in Aizawl.

Resources and Livelihoods Group Pune, Maharashtra

Resources and Livelihoods (or ReLi) Group was one of the four independent groups of PRAYAS, a research and advocacy organisation in Pune that worked on issues related to natural resources and peoples’ livelihoods. In the UIRF supported project led by Pranjal Deekshit and Seema Kakde, the organisation was involved in the preparation of town-level reports for 10 towns of Maharashtra. This included developing background notes and reports on solutions to local problems in the towns, as well as tools and resource kits for civil society organisations to do their own studies on town level issues.

The Madras Institute of Development Studies Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Founded in 1971, Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) was reconstituted as a National Institute of Social Science Research in March 1977 under the joint sponsorship of the Government of India through the Indian Council of Social Science Research and the Government of Tamil Nadu. As part of the project, Assistant Professors Karen Coelho and M. Vijayabaskar, from MIDS studied Namakkal, Kancheepuram and Nagercoil towns and prepared town-level background notes for these towns as well as a state-level background paper and status report on urban reforms in Tamil Nadu.

The Institute of Development Studies Jaipur, Rajasthan

The Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur was established in 1981 on the initiative of a group of academics, scholars and administrators of Rajasthan and is being supported by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) and the Government of Rajasthan. As part of the project, IDS undertook research on Ajmer and Pushkar towns in Rajasthan, and prepared town-level background notes for these towns as well as a state- level background paper and status report on urban reforms in Rajasthan.

Indore School of Social Work Indore, Madhya Pradesh

Established in 1951, Indore School of Social Work has been committed to excellence in its teaching, research and professional practice in social work. ISSW, Indore undertook research in Ujjain and Indore towns in the state of Madhya Pradesh for this project. The School prepared town-level background notes for these towns as well as a state-level background paper and status report on urban reforms in Madhya Pradesh.

KIIT School of Rural Management (KSRM) Bhubaneshwar, Odisha

KIIT School of Rural Management (KSRM) was conceived, keeping in view the current human resource and knowledge development needs of the country's rural economy. In the first phase of project activities. KSRM carried out research studies in the towns of Angul, Berhampur and Nayagarh in the state of Odisha. The school also prepared a state-level background paper and status report on urban reforms for Odisha.

All India Institute of Local Self Governance (AIILSG) Mumbai, Maharashtra

All India Institute of Local Self Governance is an autonomous research and training institution in India. The institute's Regional Center for Urban & Environmental Studies (RCUES) in Mumbai has been engaged in building the work capabilities of senior and middle-level municipal officials and elected members from the states of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan & the union territories of Diu, Daman, Dadra and Nagar Haveli. As part of the project, the Institute provided expertise on governance from its pool of experts, and technical and financial assistance in printing and circulation of newsletters.

Maharashtra Mahila Parishad (MMP) Mumbai, Maharashtra

Maharashtra Mahila Parishad is an organisation that has been working in urban and peri-urban parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region for more than 15 years. It works with women councillors, politicians and personnel, providing them with training and counselling. Along with AIILSG, the organisation provided technical assistance in printing and circulating newsletters as well as organising joint workshops as part of the UIRF supported project.

Resources and Livelihoods Group Pune, Maharashtra

Resources and Livelihoods (or ReLi) Group was one of the four independent groups of PRAYAS, a research and advocacy organisation in Pune that worked on issues related to natural resources and people livelihoods. In the UIRF supported project led by Pranjal Deekshit and Seema Kakde, the organisation was involved in the preparation of town-level reports for 10 towns of Maharashtra. This included developing background notes and reports on solutions to local problems in the towns, as well as tools and resource kits for civil society organisations to do their own studies on town level issues.

Aurangabad

Ram Baheti

Reader in Social Work Department in Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University Aurangabad, Trade Union Activist

Nilima Pande

Reader in Social Work Department in Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University Aurangabad, Founder member of Adoption Agency.

Bhalchandra Kango

Secretary of CPI State Council and trade union activist

Sangli

Shankar Pujari

Social and political activist, and founder of ‘Sangali Jilha Nivara’, Pujari worked as a town level collaborator for Sangli. Pujari has served as the Corporator of Sangli – Miraj Kupwada Municipal Corporation during 1985-1990. Since 1978, he is actively engaged in issues surrounding housing and basic services for slum dwellers, the homeless and bidi workers. He has published an information booklet on 'Maharashtra Gunthewari Law' (in Marathi) which is widely used by other activists as reference material on the issue. He is also involved in agitation on ‘gunthewari issues’ in Kolhapur, Pune, Solapur and Latur.

Akola

Samyak Samaj Pratishthan

For the last 53 years, Samyak Samaj Pratishthan has been working in Akola, Buldhana and Washim district for the employment of below poverty line youths and farmers and capacity building of dalit women for political participation in Aurangabad, Akola and Chandrapur. They also conduct training for women elected representatives and heads of micro-credit organisations to assist in the utilisation of minority regional development funds of the central government, among other things. They were involved in helping the CUPG in collating data in Akola.

Ratnagiri

Shrish Vasant Damle

Shrish Vasant Damle worked as a town level collaborator for the ‘planning’ component of the project. He has completed his Master’s from Mumbai University, with a specialisation in Rural Development, and has a Bachelor’s in Journalism. He worked as a journalist for 27 years, and for 16 years served as the chief editor of Ratnagiri Times (daily newspaper of Ratnagiri). He is also associated with two NGOs namely PEM and Swayamsethu.

Solapur

Shrikant Kamble & Santosh Pawar served as town-level collaborators in Solapur.

Shrikant Kamble has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and a Master’s in Journalism. For over 15 years, he has worked with newspapers such as Lokmat in Solapur and Latur. He has also written extensively on issues related to urban and rural development, municipal governance and labor issues. He has received many awards in journalism.

Santosh Pawar holds a Master’s degree in journalism and has been working in electronic and print media for the last 8 years. He is based in Solapur and is a sub-editor with the local Marathi newspaper, Lokmat. Pawar holds expertise in urban issues as well as cooperative sector issues.

Ambur

The Madras Institute of Development Studies Chennai, Tamil Nadu
www.mids.ac.in

Founded in 1971, Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) was reconstituted as National Institute of Social Science Research in March 1977 under the joint sponsorship of the Government of India through the Indian Council of Social Science Research and the Government of Tamil Nadu. As part of the project, Prof Karen Coelho and Prof M Vijayabaskar, assistant professors from MIDS studied urban planning and local economic development of Ambur town in Tamil Nadu. The institute developed a case study on Ambur town and a policy brief on economic governance and spatial planning in the state of Tamil Nadu.