Welcome to the 100th edition of Question of Cities.

It has a special and warm ring about it—the 100th edition. When Question of Cities was launched as an online journal focused on cities, nature and people in ways that went beyond the popular or the obvious, we were often asked if there was a need and a niche for it. Obviously, the trustees of the Participatory Urban Design and Development Initiative and the then-nascent team of the journal felt a deep need for it. And, over 100 thoughtful and engaging editions, we have created the niche. 

Over these years, Question of Cities has become a forum to chronicle the contradictions inherent in the present-day perspectives of urban development and start conversations on the two themes we have focused on: nature and people. We have used different formats from think pieces and reported essays to interviews, photo essays or illustrated essays, fact sheets, and more. We have published over 500 pieces from over 45 cities so far. Some of these have been recommended for reading in well-known universities; others like the QoC-CANSA Fellowship essays were used in discussions at the Conference of Parties (COP).

We have had well-regarded names talk to us or write in the journal—international urbanists Saskia Sassen and Rachel Keeton; India’s foremost environmental campaigners and thinkers like Claude Alvares and Ramachandra Guha; veteran architects and designers like KT Ravindran, Prem Chandavarkar and Narendra Dengle; planners and architects like PK Das, Alan Abraham, Tallulah D’Silva, Bhawna Jaimini and Nidhi Batra, urban researchers and academicians like Dr Harini Nagendra, Dr Chandni Singh, Dr Amita Bhide, Dr Rajashree Kotharkar, Hussain Indorewala among others. Along the way, with them, we have learned too. 

Cities, as they are, are neither equitable and inclusive for millions living in them nor ecologically sustainable and viable. We remain convinced that when cities are seen primarily as engines of growth and development, the focus remains limited to the economic impulse and profit-making while difficult questions of sustainability and equity are side-stepped. Though the economy of cities is undeniably important, it also commodifies them, it locks ecology into a false binary with development, eventually making cities unsustainable and exclusionary. The abysmal state of ecology in our cities, the severed relationship between people and nature, and the clear and present danger of climate change continue to be issues of deep concern to us. 

At the intersection of urbanisation, ecology and social equity, Question of Cities will continue to raise, every fortnight, the difficult questions and strengthen the forum for us all to have conversations about our cities. In this 100th edition, we bring cities differently to you—as letters written by people who have lived and worked in them, built a relationship with them, despair about them but also offer ideas to improve them socially and ecologically. These letters to Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Thrissur and Chennai, Kolkata, Dehradun, and Tinsukia are really conversations, or the starting point of conversations, about each city. 

We urge you to read each one, engage with its ideas, and write back to us. And, of course, continue reading Question of Cities and share it in your circles. We value each one of you. 

On behalf of the Question of Cities team, 

Smruti Koppikar
Founder Editor
March 6, 2026