Aravind Unni - Question of Cities

Mapping heat stress shows Delhi street vendors’ precarity

Street vendors, indispensable to cities but structurally excluded from urban planning, infrastructure and legal protections, are forced to deal with continuous, unavoidable and hazardous heat. A longitudinal action-research study in Delhi found that vendors suffered monetary losses due to heat,…

COP is broken. Can India call it out, reimagine climate action?

The recently-concluded Conference of Parties, COP29, showed the process is compromised, hijacked by fossil fuels lobbies and developed countries, and unable to come good on climate actions urgently needed by millions in the developing nations, including India. Termed as the…

A new urban agenda for India built on reflections of the last decade

Since 2014, cities have found a special focus in the government’s policies and programmes. But how did some prominent programmes like Swachh Bharat Mission, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Smart Cities Mission fare? Broadly, while some gains are evident, they overlooked…

After COP28: The implications for India’s cities and vulnerable communities

For the millions in India’s cities, the recently-concluded annual climate summit, or COP28, appears inconsequential and detached from their lived realities of heat waves, bitter cold, and unprecedented rainfall. The urban poor and marginalised communities find themselves on the periphery…