Religion and Urbanism Reconceptualising sustainable cities for South Asia Routledge Research in Religion and Development Series

Conceptions of 'sustainable cities' in the pluralistic and multireligious urban settlements of developing nations need to develop out of local cultural, religious and historical contexts to be inclusive and accurately respond to the needs of the poor, ethnic and religious minorities, and women.

Religion and Urbanism contributes to an expanded understanding of 'sustainable cities' in South Asia by demonstrating the multiple, and often conflicting ways in which religion enables or challenges socially equitable and ecologically sustainable urbanisation in the region. In particular, this collection focuses on two aspects that must inform the sustainable cities discourse in South Asia: the intersections of religion and urban heritage, and religion and various aspects of informality.

This book makes a much-needed contribution to the nexus between religion and urban planning for researchers, postgraduate students and policy makers in Sustainable Development, Development Studies, Urban Studies, Religious Studies, Asian Studies, Heritage Studies and Urban and Religious Geography.

1. Religion, Urbanism and Sustainable Cities in South Asia Part I: Urban history, religion and heritage 2. Origins of Buddhist Nationalism in Myanmar/Burma? An urban history of religious space, social integration and marginalisation in colonial Rangoon after 1852 3. Religious Heritage in the Old City of Kabul 4. Revisiting planning for Indian Cities: the pilgrim city of Amritsar 5. Tradition versus urban public bureaucracy? Reshaping pilgrimage routes and religious heritage around contested space 6. Recognising the Spatial and Territorial Nature of Religious Communities in Colombo, Sri Lanka Part II: Informality, marginalisation and violent exchange 7. Religious structures on traffic lanes: Production of informality in New Delhi 8. Animals and urban informality in sacred spaces: Bull-calf trafficking in Simhachalam Temple, Visakhapatnam 9. Karachi - A Case Study in Religious and Ethnic Extremism: Implications for Urban Sustainability Part III: Reflections 10. Including Religion as well as Gender in Indian Urban Planning Policy: with reference to Lessons from the UK 11. Religion and Urban Policy for South Asia: Where Next?

Yamini Narayanan is a Lecturer in International and Community Development at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.