Abstract While China and India have both experienced large-scale urbanization in recent decades, a substantial proportion of their urban population lives in various forms of informal settlements. The redevelopment of informal settlements takes place in major cities of both countries, but the outcomes vary significantly. In Guangzhou, the redevelopment of urban villages often leads to upscale real estate development and significant improvement in the living conditions of villagers. In Mumbai, slum redevelopment provides free rehabilitation housing for slum dwellers, but their housing quality and service provision remain limited compared to middle-class residents. Drawing on comparative historical analysis and extensive fieldwork conducted in China and India from 2016 to 2019, this study demonstrates that the divergent outcomes of urban redevelopment are primarily shaped by the different models of urban governance in China and India. Whereas urban governance is coordinated in China, it is transactional in India. The two models of urban governance shape the policy process in distinct ways and lead to varied redevelopment outcomes. The comparison demonstrates that urban governance is a multilevel process shaped by the distribution of authority across governmental levels and the interaction between state and non-state actors.

Keywords Urban governance; Informal settlement; Redevelopment; China; India

CLC F291   Document Code A   Artical Number 2097-4582(2024)03-0086-15