Jashvitha Dhagey - Question of Cities

Walking through a green Mumbai, meeting special and rare trees

Oasis in a concrete city, areas like the Five Gardens in Dadar Parsi Colony are a veritable treasure trove for naturalists and tree lovers. Here, besides the ubiquitous Banyan and Peepal, less-seen species in Mumbai such as Almond, Copper Pod,…

Micro-mapping streets and footpaths in a neighbourhood, as a woman

We walk by on badly-designed streets and footpaths or race across at ill-planned traffic intersections made to facilitate vehicles rather than pedestrians, and come to believe that this is a part of wretched and stressful life in a city. Walking…

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…

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 --…

‘We are scared that the polluted Mithi might flood again’

As Mumbai’s most prominent river and natural drainage channel, the Mithi has mostly been struggling to flow despite the restoration work after the destructive 2005 floods. The pollution, concretisation and encroachment that led to Mithi’s pathetic state have also impacted…

Mithi: Desperately seeking course correction, ecological restoration

It’s been 18 long years since the Mithi river was blamed for Mumbai’s worst flood. Ten committee reports and thousands of crores later, the authorities have scrambled to deepen and desilt the river besides construct retaining walls on both the…

25 years on, Mumbai’s SRA model eludes housing crisis but yields hefty profits for builders

When slum dwellers are rehabilitated, they face a new set of problems and challenges. They are pushed into cramped tenements in multi-storeyed buildings, and their struggles continue. The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) model became the default way to rehouse slum…

How India’s financial capital shrunk protest sites, turned down protesters’ volume

Bombay, later Mumbai, has seen huge historical protests. Its protest sites were many – Chowpatty, Hutatma Chowk, Kala Ghoda, Gowalia Tank Maidan (now August Kranti Maidan), Jambori Maidan, Azad Maidan, Dadar station. All of them witnessed massive demonstrations and protests…

Jane Walks: A global movement to connect with cities and communities

How well do you know your city and its neighbourhood? Have you explored its layers of history and observed the nooks and corners that are changing? When Jane Jacobs Walks started in 2007 in the United States, a year after…

Jane Jacobs for generations: Protester, urban thinker, people’s planner

Streets and sidewalks – often regarded as mundane — have immense significance in Jane Jacobs’ urban design vocabulary. Living and working in New York and Toronto, Jacobs (1916-2006) observed, scrutinised, and engaged with cities to emphasise people-centric planning. She is…