With urban expansion in almost global overdrive, opportunities for citizens to improve their own urban environment are growing steadily. Handmade Urbanism examines the possibilities of urban transformation that stem from community initiatives. It showcases projects that focus on the provision of social infrastructure, aiming to improve the living conditions of residents in the more impoverished areas of five major cities across the world: Mumbai, São Paulo, Istanbul, Mexico City and Cape Town. The publication includes interviews with experts and community leaders that help to clarify approaches to local struggles, as well as the DVD documentary Urban Future, which provides the reader with further information from the ground.