Available land per capita in India is expected to decline fourfold by 2050 relative to 1960. Land scarcity would be far more acute in urban India, resulting in high land prices and growth of urban slums. A key question that needs to be addressed is whether increasing land prices largely reflect the supply and demand imbalances or whether land regulation, urban governance, and the speculative demand for land are pushing up land prices. Also, land issues have assumed tremendous significance in the context of ease of doing business. An assessment of alternative approaches to achieving efficient use of land would be imperative as urban growth intensifies.

The present volume comprising 10 papers is organised under three major heads — Institutional and Regulatory Factors Influencing Supply of Land, Patterns of Urban Housing and Land Prices, and New Initiatives in Urban Development. The book is motivated by a round table on issues focusing on land and urbanisation organised earlier by NCAER. It is hoped that this volume would be of immense relevance to scholars, urban planners, business planners and policymakers working in the area of urban land.