Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

What exactly is 'small change'?Build a bus stop in an urban slum and a vibrant community sprouts and grows around it - that is the power of small changes that have huge positive effects.This book is an argument for the wisdom of the street, the ingenuity of the improvisers and the long-term, large-scale effectiveness of immediate, small-scale actions. Written by Nabeel Hamdi, the guru of urban participatory development and the master of the art, Small Change brings over three decades of experience and knowledge to bear on the question 'what is practice'?.Through an easy-to-read narrative style, and using examples from the North and South, the author sheds light on this question and the issues that stem from it - issues relating to political context, the lessons of the 'informal city', and the pursuit of learning that challenges convention. The result is a comprehensive, yet imaginative, guide to the forms of knowledge, competencies and ways of thinking that are fundamental to skilful practice in urban development.This is powerful, informed, critical and inspiring reading for practitioners in the field, students and teachers of urban development, those who manage international aid and everyone looking to build their community.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgements (p. viii)
• Foreword (p. x)
• Introduction: Design, Emergence and Somewhere In-between (p. xv)
• Part 1 The Setting
• 1 Street Work and Dev-talk: Who Controls the Truth? (p. 3)
• Part 2 Encounters in Practice
• 2 Departures and Arrivals (p. 23)
• 3 The Composting Bin: Looking for Starters (p. 34)
• 4 Power Points, Bullet Points and Waste Collectors: Learning from Precedent (p. 37)
• 5 Needs and Rights: Some Formal Planning (p. 49)
• 6 In Search of Community and the Structure of Place (p. 58)
• 7 The Bus Stop: Cultivating Community (p. 73)
• 8 Pickers, Sorters and Tap Attendants (p. 77)
• 9 The Pickle Jars (p. 84)
• Part 3 Learning Practice
• 10 Plan-Analyse-Survey: Planning From Back to Front (p. 93)
• 11 Governance and Networks: Organizing from Inside Out (p. 107)
• 12 Rigour and Relevance: It Can be Both (p. 116)
• 13 Playing Games - Serious Games (p. 130)
• Acronyms (p. 142)
• Notes and References (p. 143)
• Index (p. 152)