Title Page -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: purpose and design of the study -- Introduction -- A review of the literature -- The origins of the 'bottom-up approach' in the planning literature -- Models for institutions that support people-centred planning -- Decentralisation, participation and democracy -- Research question -- Research methods -- Context of metropolitan planning in Kolkata -- Political context -- Socio-economic context -- Planning institutions in India -- Decentralisation of Kolkata's metropolitan planning -- The 'official story' -- Decentralisation in West Bengal -- Partisan politics and urban planning -- Three-tier metropolitan planning -- Agents of change in the decentralisation process -- Actors in planning at the ward level -- Comparative urban politics -- Why study comparative urban politics? -- What is the framework for comparison? -- A comparison with Mumbai, revisited -- Political space for non-partisan grassroots organising -- Politically independent bureaucracy -- Lessons in decentralised planning -- Theoretical implications -- Lesson drawing -- Policy implications -- Lessons and policies for civil society organisations -- Lessons and policies for the political class -- Lessons and policies for planners and bureaucrats -- Lessons for civic activists, NGOs and international agencies -- Future direction of research -- Abstract -- Abbreviations and acronyms -- References -- Curriculum Vitae.