Grantee Spotlight: New Book Exploring Agency in Delhi Slums

September 22, 2025

We are delighted to announce that Professor Pauline Dixon and Dr. Steve Humble from Newcastle University, two grantees of the Rising Tide Foundation, have published a new book, “Urban Life in Delhi Slums: Stories of Community, Solutions and Resilience.” The book is a result of a multi-year research project that was supported by the Rising Tide Foundation, which aimed to uncover and understand the power of community-led solutions in informal settlements.

The book investigates urban life in the slums of Delhi and challenges the common perception that these settlements are merely marginal and dependent places. Drawing on extensive data, the book demonstrates how individuals, families, and social groups often self-organize to solve complex societal problems. These solutions include creating community-driven essential services and opportunities for enterprise. By analyzing the different contexts in which households operate within their communities, and the ability of individuals to adapt to various types of slums, the authors build a picture of how these communities’ function, while highlighting the bottom-up resilience, dignity, and agency present within them.

The book presents the results of the project, supported by Rising Tide, which sought to showcase that far from being dependent, when communities are free to innovate, they can overcome significant barriers. By documenting these private and community-driven approaches, the book promotes policy change that puts individual freedom and empowerment at the heart of development.

To find out more about the book, please visit this link.

This book has been made open access and is free to download.