The book examines the history, population growth, civic services, infrastructure , planning and urbanisation of South Asia. The concern is to study how the mega cities that are vital for economic growth can be managed efficiently, income and unemployment opportunities they generate can be spread across sections and the policies under which they operate can be made environmentally sensitive. With numerous illustrations, the scholars here discuss issues relating to local governance, finance, housing, slums and water scarcity by focusing on the mega cities of the region. The authors point out that the problems of the megacities in the countries of South Asia are similar and emanate from a common history of human settlements. They are successful in forwarding an alternative urban strategy to solve problems of urbanisation with particular reference to mega cities.