In early 2009, I took a graduate class at Columbia University's SIPA (School of International and public affairs) called "Urbanization in the Developing world". It was taught by Owen D. Gutfreund
This class touched on urbanization patterns in developing countries, and related policy issues using specific case studies of cities in Asia, Africa, and South America. From the syllabus:
Assessing the economic, political, physical, cultural and social circumstances that account for variations and similarities from one case to another, with an emphasis on questions that pertain to governance and policy ... [i]n particular, the explosive growth of squatter settlements, informal housing markets, the massive suburban slums surrounding many of the largest cities in the developing world urban policies related to transportation infrastructure, as well as the provision of potable water and other aspects of urban environmental management.
For this class I wrote two papers. A few of you have asked to read them, so here they are. Please don't steal my work; if you find it useful, let me know, and cite it somehow!
Electronic Governance in Indian Cities
Information Technology (IT) has had a large transformative effect on many aspects of society -- it excels at reducing overhead, increasing efficiency, replacing ad hoc human processes with structured electronic versions, and providing greater transparency. All of these problems plague government services in the developing world. India, as a leader in the IT service industry, has also been a pioneer in applying IT to governance. In this paper, we describe Electronic Governance (EGov), examine and evaluate some of India's EGov systems and, using lessons learned, present some recommendations for future work.
Survey Paper on Bangalore
This paper presents an overview of various aspects of Bangalore that have helped to shape its development, including its history, politics, governance, economics, as well as urban planning issues, highlighting areas with pressing policy questions requiring attention.