This book presents Rahul Mehrotra's writings over the last thirty years and illustrates his
long-term engagement with and analysis of urbanism in India. This work has given rise to a new
conceptualization of the city. Mehrotra calls it the Kinetic City which is the counterpoint to
the Static City as familiar to most of us from conventional city maps. He argues that the city
should instead be perceived read and mapped in terms of patterns of occupation and
associative values attributed to space. The framework is established in this publication by
Rahul Mehrotra's anchor essay which draws out its potential to allow a better understanding of
the blurred lines of contemporary urbanism and the changing roles of people and spaces in urban
society. The emerging urban Indian condition of which the Kinetic City is symbolic is
examined in this publication through a selection of writings curated by Mehrotra which led to
and then subsequently built on this framework. The theory is reinforced by different
perspectives that Rahul Mehrotra brings to bear on discourse and on the profession of
architects and urban designers thanks to his career as an architect urban designer
conservationist educator and advocate for the city. From essays such as Evolution Involution
and the City's Future: A Perspective on Bombay's Urban Form to more generally applicable
ruminations such as Our Home in the World this book offers an in-depth look at the last thirty
years of reflection and theorizing behind Mehrotra's work. The publication is divided into
three parts. The anchor essay Negotiating the Static and Kinetic Cities and other
contributions (twenty-one in total) make up the main section. A second book within the book is
dedicated to an expansive complimentary photo essay by the photographer Rajesh Vora
illustrating the key themes transaction instability spectacle and habitation. The last
section presents an illustrated bibliography of Rahul Mehrotra's wide range of research and
writings.
