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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →“6 Metros: Urban Planning and Implementation Compared” is a two-volume comparative study by Shirish B Patel, Oormi Kapadia and Jasmine Saluja, published in Mumbai by Vakils, Feffer & Simons Pvt. Ltd. It examines how planning histories and implementation have played out in London, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Delhi and Mumbai, then offers recommendations aimed mainly at Indian city extensions and new cities. The “equal city for all” in the title expresses the book’s aspiration. The descriptions available describe that aim without defining “equality” in measurable terms, so read the phrase as the book’s framing, not as a finding that any of the six cities has achieved it.
What the two volumes contain
The set is split by function. Signposts carries the authors’ core beliefs and the comparative chapters that set the six cities against one another. Mapping holds the city-by-city research that underpins those comparisons. The publisher’s book note on Environment & Urbanization, which lists the book as published in 2023, describes the pairing this way: “The two volumes are intended to be read together as if they were single books in sequence.” The note was prepared by David Satterthwaite; the available material does not state his role, so it is cited here without a title.
The book is listed at 656 pages. That figure describes length only. The descriptions reviewed do not give per-volume page counts, and they do not report headline outcome statistics for any city.
The six cities and how they are grouped
The book does not present one city as a model. It arranges four international metros as comparison cases alongside two Indian metros, and its recommendations are directed at the Indian context. The table shows how each city sits in that structure.
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| City | Country or territory | Role in the book |
|---|---|---|
| London | United Kingdom | International comparison case |
| New York | United States | International comparison case |
| Tokyo | Japan | International comparison case |
| Hong Kong | China (special administrative region) | International comparison case |
| Delhi | India | Indian metro; the principal recommendations apply to Indian city extensions and new cities |
| Mumbai | India | Indian metro; the principal recommendations apply to Indian city extensions and new cities |
Because each city carries its own physical setting, history and political economy, the book’s comparisons are meant to show where practices diverge and why, not to establish that a practice from one city can be copied into another.
The themes the comparisons cover
The cross-city subjects give a reader a practical checklist for judging any urban planning account. The book addresses:
- Land control. How cities acquire and manage control over land.
- Land use and zoning. How land is allocated to purposes and regulated.
- Transit and future alignments. How transport networks are planned and how land is protected for them.
- Housing. Planned and unplanned housing, and how each is produced and absorbed into the city.
- Open space. Public open space and common land.
- Amenities. Education and health provision.
- Density and form. Density, urban form and urban fabric.
A further theme runs across all of them: how local histories, environmental settings and political economies determine whether a practice can travel between cities.
The common-land argument
The clearest worked example of the book’s reasoning appears in a 2023 excerpt published by Scroll.in, titled “In a new book, urban planners highlight why having ‘common’ land will benefit big metropolises.” The excerpt sets out two linked arguments.
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- Common land in large metros. The authors argue that common land can benefit large metropolises.
- Reserving land for networks. Land can be reserved for transit or arterial-road systems so that development respects future network alignments. The excerpt says this applies even where construction is isolated, discontinuous or outside current administrative boundaries.
These are the authors’ arguments as presented in an excerpt. The available coverage does not show that either approach has produced measured results in any of the six cities, so treat them as reasoning to test against local conditions rather than as proven outcomes.
How to read the set
- Start with Signposts. Read the authors’ core beliefs and the comparative chapters to understand the questions they ask of each city.
- Check the claim against Mapping. When a comparison matters to your work, locate the city-level material in Mapping before relying on it.
- Read each city against its own context. Note its physical setting, history and political economy before deciding whether a comparison transfers.
- Watch for data gaps. Expect thinner statistics for some cities and sub-city areas, especially on how processes work, as the book note itself flags.
Limits to keep in mind
- No single best city. The book describes successes and failures in each case. It does not rank the six cities.
- Local context governs transfer. Cross-city lessons sit within distinct local histories, environments and political economies.
- Uneven statistics. Some city-level and sub-city statistics are incomplete, particularly on processes rather than outcomes.
- Stated scope. The recommendations are principally for Indian city extensions and new cities. The book note says the analysis may also be relevant to other places, but it does not claim that for every setting.
Who the book suits
- Planners, students and policy staff working on Indian city extensions or new cities.
- Readers comparing land, zoning, transit and housing rules across different national systems.
- Viewers of urban documentaries who want the planning reasoning behind the cities they see on screen, rather than a visual overview.
Format and where to find it
The natural purchase is the complete two-volume set, 6 Metros: Urban Planning and Implementation Compared. The publisher is Vakils, Feffer & Simons Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai. The ISBN, current edition, price and stock status were not verified for this article, so confirm them with the publisher or a bookseller before ordering. Buying both volumes together is the only way to follow the sequence the authors intend.
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