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The cities are distinctly engine of economic growth, which depends upon speed at which innovations are brought out and trigger entrepreneurship. Smart city initiatives are one of the opportunities to unleash innovation and entrepreneurship in developing countries like India. Entrepreneurial ecosystem research in smart cities is still in its nascent phase. Therefore, the study aims to bring out elements for a start-up ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship in smart cities.

Focus group discussion has been applied to gain a variety of insights and opinion from selected participants with diverse expertise.

The study proposes a framework for developing a start-up ecosystem in smart city. The findings suggest the technology infrastructure along with the elements of start-up framework as knowledge hub, public policy, entrepreneurship and city economy.

The study does not show the impact of smart city strategies over an extended period.

A robust entrepreneurial framework usually impact on utilization of technologies for economic activities and regional development. The innovators, policymakers, city administrators, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and various stakeholders in society will get benefit from the outcomes of this study.

The evolution of smart cities is a social initiative with various stakeholders –such as governments, residents, businesses and entrepreneurs. The creation of start-up ecosystem in smart cities requires several levels of interventions such as new programs and institutional reforms.

The research explores pillars and constituents that describe a start-up ecosystem in smart cities and nurtures a collaborative culture of innovations and entrepreneurship.

In the post-WTO era, the volume of international trade has grown in a good amount in India. At the same time, the continuous lowering and removing of the trade barriers of different forms create several impacts on poverty and inequality. In this chapter, we tried to capture the issues of inequality, specially the gender inequality, which has worsened a lot in the last two decades. In one side, trade openness enhanced the growth, but at the cost of increasing inequality. Theil index and Atkinson index both show an increasing trend of inequality. The Gender Inequality Index (GII) and the Inequality-adjusted Human Development or Gender Development Indices are also showing increasing inequality. The state-wise analysis of such inequality indices is varying a lot over the study period. This chapter throws some insight into these issues and concludes that in the post-WTO era income inequality has increased a lot with a very few exceptions. In some states (like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Punjab) only export have increased the employment in the unorganized sectors. The study concludes that exports have generated additional employment and incomes in the economy, but these gains have not trickled down to the poor. The study is confined to Indian cases only and covers the time period 2000–2001 to 2018–2019.

To minimize risk of coastal communities arising from cyclones, several risk mitigation initiatives have been taken in countries. Cyclone shelters have proven to be an important critical infrastructure in saving lives from cyclones. A large number of coastal critical infrastructure in the form of multi-purpose cyclone shelters (MPCS) are built to provide safe shelter during disasters. Often observed, such critical infrastructures are non-operational during the normal period, which makes them difficult to use during any disaster. Efforts have been made to keep these infrastructures in working condition. This research paper aims to bring together various management practices adopted for the MPCS in the South-Asian region with a focus on Bangladesh, and India. It also suggests ways to improve these practices for sustainable management of the MPCS.

India and Bangladesh are the most vulnerable countries in the South Asian region. As per the Global Climate Index, India and Bangladesh come in the list of “in extreme risk” countries in the world and are vulnerable to several natural hazards, especially climate-induced hydrometeorological hazards. India has a vast coastline and out of 7,516 km of coastline, a large extent, i.e. 5,700 km is prone to cyclones and that keeps 40% of the population vulnerable living within 100 km of the coastline. On the other hand, Bangladesh has a coastline of 580 km, which is equally vulnerable to tropical cyclones. Safeguarding communities from impending coastal risk through coastal cyclone shelters are of prime concern. This paper uses a qualitative approach to analyze secondary data, and literature in the field of critical infrastructure, sustainability, cyclone shelter, and management practice for cyclone shelters.

To provide sustainability and community ownership of the MPCS, various service plans are adopted in different countries. This paper provides insights on service and sustainability efforts made for the proper functioning of the MPCS in India and Bangladesh. It also provides insight into the roles played by different institutions involved in maintaining the MPCSs.

The research reiterates understanding of the cyclone shelter management from different geographic locations in the South Asian region. Various gaps identified in shelter management practices are discussed in the paper and key recommendations are proposed for better management of cyclone shelters.