Archives - Question of Cities

How redevelopment ruined Mumbai’s housing and marred the landscape

Three decades after redevelopment of slums and old buildings took off in Mumbai, in the first flush of liberalisation, the percentage of people in slums is nearly twice that it was in 1991, and the old buildings and chawls have…

Matharpacady: Redevelopment wriggles its way into a heritage precinct

Amid the titled and colourful bungalows in Matharpacady in south Mumbai, patches of redevelopment stick out like sore thumbs. Steeped in heritage and history, the gaothan has about 300 residents living in its 50 to 55 houses. Most residents are…

‘Redevelopment created houses as commodities for transaction, forgot about people’s lives and equity’

Mumbai has resembled a construction site for the past many years with redevelopment on virtually every other street. Together with large infrastructure like the coastal road and the metro network, the multitude of redeveloped high-rises across the city, on plots…

People of Dharavi nonchalant and apprehensive about redevelopment

What was once a small cluster of huts on a marsh in 20th century Bombay is now 595 acres of cramped houses, workshops, factories, tannery and pottery units, schools and more packed into inhospitable living conditions. Infamous for years as…

Libya floods: Derna drowning was a man-made disaster decades in the making

Two dams collapsed upstream towards the Jebel Akhdar (the Green Mountain) in Libya, overwhelmed by the rain surge from Storm Daniel. A seven-metre wave thundered down Wadi Derna through the city, washing whole suburbs into the sea. The Turkish Red…

Women move the narrative from victims to agents of change

At a time when extreme weather events are causing damage and destruction around the world, women are silently turning climate crusaders in their communities and leading mitigation or adaptation measures. Women are affected disproportionately more and in different ways than…

How is India mainstreaming gender in Climate Change adaptation?

Women are often portrayed as victims of Climate Change, or as ‘most vulnerable’ while failing to recognise other realities. Women’s contribution to household-adaptive capacities and intra-household decision-making, often cooperative than combative, is lost. This oversight erases the substantive evidence on…

Pune’s women waste pickers show path to climate action

Women waste pickers have been playing a crucial role towards making Pune zero-waste. Their efforts mean nearly 80,000 tonnes of waste recycled annually which saves the municipal corporation at least Rs 100 crore besides reducing the burden on landfills --…

Climate-induced inflation wrecks women’s food practices in Shaheen Bagh

Shaheen Bagh, a middle-class and predominantly Muslim area in south east Delhi, emerged as the city’s culinary hub after the persistent protest against the draconian Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens in 2019-2020. Though the chaalis futa road…

Greater Dhaka: Making liveable city in times of Climate Change is all politics and planning

Dhaka has been experiencing longer summers with heatwaves, weaker monsoons and shorter winters, indicating the Climate Change impact. Studies show that the situation is likely to worsen in the years to come, both of heat and rainfall. Thousands of underprivileged…