Archives - Question of Cities

How do we design gender-sensitive cities? Start by listening to women and other genders

Cities are not gender-neutral but women and other genders have been ignored while planning and designing a city. So, the specific needs of women such as informal workplaces, day-care centres for children, safe hostels and reliable public transport are yet…

Cities must reclaim urban land as a collective good beyond private accumulation

Real estate is now the major mode of capital accumulation in our cities. The planning system is expertly manipulated to ensure the profitability of the real estate sector so that if property developers do not get enough, the city gets…

India’s urbanisation must not, cannot, leave behind her urban poor

People migrate to cities for work but most Indian cities lack housing, water and sanitation, employment opportunities, and basic services such as health care and education to accommodate and meet the needs of migrants. Although the middle class and the…

How Mumbai lost its open spaces, water bodies

Mumbai’s growth in the British era and post-independence years saw a frenzy of construction. This ‘development’ came at a cost. The city lost water bodies, marsh lands, open spaces and green zones. As population multiplied and the city expanded, more…

Sinking Mumbai: Have we woken up to the climate crisis and rising sea level?

Most parts of South Mumbai will be under water by 2050, drowning prominent landmarks and businesses, warned the chief of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation last year. There are contesting projections of just how much of the financial capital will be submerged…

Growing pains: Why Chennai’s run-in with disasters will only worsen

The growth of Tamil Nadu’s flood-prone and water-scarce capital has come at a cost. As Chennai looks to expand, the increasing built-up areas and shrinking water bodies could well be a recipe for disaster. Chennai faces multiple ecological challenges in…