Archives - Question of Cities

The life and times of Jane Jacobs, the urban activist who revitalised city planning

Jane Jacobs and her community-based ideas of urban planning snowballed into a movement as her influence spread. The urbanist and activist single-handedly transformed city-making and fought for a healthy, vibrant city. A series of engaging illustrations charts the life, times…

Making new cities in climate emergency calls for respecting nature

A city does not exist outside of its natural conditions, no matter how much air conditioning or bottled water we use. As Climate Change continues to increase in intensity and variability, it is necessary to pay attention to building sustainable…

How Navi Mumbai developed into an urban jungle edging out nature

The planned satellite city on the outskirts of the oversaturated Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, was built from scratch. Its landscape was once an ecologically-rich rural one with hill ranges, dozens of wetlands, creeks and intertidal areas, tropical semi-evergreen and deciduous vegetation,…

‘Why Joshimath, Mussoorie and Nainital are also threatened towns’

When Joshimath, a hill town in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, suffered the destruction caused by subsidence in January, the large infrastructure projects were halted but it may have been a bit too late. It was mere damage control. Numerous committees,…

Battered and forgotten, Joshimath holds a lesson in urbanising at the cost of environment

It’s been more than three months since the subsidence in the hill town of Joshimath, Uttarakhand, made headlines. Deep cracks appeared in houses, roads and fields --- triggering anger and anguish among the residents, who had been alerting authorities about…

For sustainable cities, begin by ‘seeing’ the unseen people in them

When people migrate to cities to make a living, they join the deprived urban classes in living a life of bare existence in hostile or inhospitable settings that are characteristic of large cities. Together, this large swathe of urban population…

Adivasis in cities: From people to paupers

A complex set of factors from displacement by huge development projects to landlessness and inadequate employment opportunities has pushed adivasis from their ecosystems in isolated lands and forests and into cities. Here, they provide services mostly in the informal sector…

Mumbai’s Kolis are living on the edge on their own turf

The Kolis, earliest inhabitants of the city when it was still an archipelago, have shaped the city. They helped landfill the sea waters between the islands and make the seven islands into a city. However, as the juggernaut of urbanisation…

Mumbai’s shiny new Coastal Road spells doom for the city’s Kolis

Lives and livelihoods of the oldest inhabitants of Mumbai, the Kolis, have been drastically affected ever since the Coastal Road construction began. The ongoing infrastructural work has not only altered the familiar coastline of the city but also the way…

Heat Action Plans: The way ahead as India sizzles with higher temperatures

As cities in India brace for a harsh summer once again, the importance of Heat Action Plans has been underlined. A good plan implemented effectively can reduce heat-related illnesses and deaths. A draft model plan, complete with the framework, has…