Emerging Work Trends in Urban India : COVID-19 and Beyond.

Foreword by Shashi TharoorChapter 1 IntroductionChapter 2 Future Workplaces: A Global PerspectiveChapter 3 Workplace Transitions in India: An OverviewChapter 4 Services Industry: Consumerism and UrbanismChapter 5 Technology-Labour Nexus and Industry 4.0Chapter 6 Workers in the Urban Informal SectorChapter 7 Digital Divide: From Smartphones to BroadbandChapter 8 Smart Cities: Innovations and InequalitiesChapter 9 Conclusion

This book offers an overview of India⁰́₉s emerging digital economy and the challenges and opportunities for urban workplaces. It examines contemporary economic and social transformations in India by focusing on how new technologies and policies are shaping urban work practices and patterns. The book emphasises on inclusive and equitable practices that consider the needs of the formal and informal sector workforce as essential to India⁰́₉s urban development. Drawing on insights from the intersections of society, economy, and environment along with theoretical frameworks from across disciplines, it examines key issues related to work trends in Indian urban economy and its digital landscape, including Industry 4.0 and technology-labour nexus, smart cities and innovation, urbanism and consumerism, workplace transitions such as remote working and service industry, digital divide, skill development initiatives, and the impact of socio-economic inequalities and disruptions. The authors provide perspectives on the digital future of urban work in India and other emerging economies in the post-Covid-19 phase, and underscore the importance of enacting balanced policies, remodeling institutions, and equipping the labor force for adapting to new demands towards determining future employability and investments. This book will interest students, teachers and researchers of urban studies, urban sociology, sociology of work, labour studies, human and urban geography, economic geography, urban economics, development studies, urban development and planning, public policy, regional planning, politics of urban development, social and cultural change, urban sustainability, environmental studies, management studies, South Asian Studies, and Global South studies. It will also be useful to policymakers, non-governmental organisations, activists, and those interested in India and the global economy.