Last night, I completed the 2009 book entitled Delhi, Adventures in a Megacity by author and journalist Sam Miller. The book literally presents a step-by-step overview of this huge metropolis, its storied past, its challenging present, and its potential for the future.

The author decides to walk (saunter) his newfound home of Delhi in a spiral fashion – emanating outward from Connaught Place in the heart of the city. He describes in great details the city’s promising aspects as well as its sad and nasty underbelly. The trip is remarkable for the author’s tenacity, endurance, and ability to present the city in such a manner where the reader feels they are sauntering side-by-side with him.

Urban planners, sociologists, geographers, architects, historians, and economists will all enjoy this read for its applicable insights into their respective fields. The general public will enjoy it for its nuances into what is now arguably the world’s largest city – 2021 projections estimate the population will be a whopping 64 million – see page 270 (more than the entire UK)!

For urban planners, there is a wealth of details on the good, bad, and ugly sides of Delhi. Here are a few tantalizing tidbits from this excellent book: