Table of Contents

Preface
I: WHOSE LAND IS IT ANYWAY?
A New Town is Born
A Mutiny, A Martyr and Some Myths
Farmer, Farmer, Give Me Your Land
The Murky Tales of Noida Extension
Formula 1: Zipping through the Fields
II: THE IMPACT OF ACQUISITION
Poof! The Cash is Gone. Where’s My Gun?
The Cost of Building
No Home for the Bristled Grassbird
III: NEW OWNERS OF AN OLD LAND
Isles of Urbania
The Creation of an Education Bazaar
IV: THE SCHIZOPHRENIA OF THE PERI-URBAN TOWN
The Big, Fat Gujjar Wedding
Urban Villager
Art and the City
Greater Noida Heavens
V: GROWTH PANGS OF YOUNG TOWNS
The Complexities of Adolescence
Our Cities, Our Future
Annexures
Bibliography

About the Author

Vandana Vasudevan studied economics at Lady Shri Ram College (Delhi University) and trained in management at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. She has worked in leading banks and media companies for over 15 years. In parallel she has been writing for leading publications including a fortnightly column in the business daily Mint.

Reviews

In Urban Villager, the writer elucidates how the push for urbanization has led to as many challenges as the opportunities it has nurtured...[it] explores the dynamics of these challenges from her vantage as a resident of Greater Noida, a suburb of New Delhi.
*The Financial Express, 1 December 2013*