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Question of Cities

Question of Cities

Menumenu

Shobha Surin

  • Trees
  • Climate Change
  • Natural Environment

The green does not have to lose the battle to the grey in our cities

Large swathes of green cover are being cleared to make way for construction and infrastructure across cities in India. Trees are being cut, large canopies felled, old trees badly and unscientifically pruned. Urban plans and projects do not take trees…
By Shobha SurinOctober 20, 2023
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  • Housing
  • Amenities
  • Right to the City

Jaga: Odisha’s land title to slum dwellers worthy of emulation

In a landmark move, pushed by slum dwellers’ movements, the Odisha government introduced a law which made the Jaga Mission possible. Instead of evicting slum dwellers from nearly 3,000 slums in its cities, including from prime areas in the capital…
By Shobha SurinJuly 14, 2023
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  • Climate Change
  • Heat Index
  • Urban Planning

Heat index, or the temperature it feels like, will change the way India measures heat

Mere air temperature or land surface temperature, conveyed as minimum and maximum temperature twice a day, is no longer enough to combat heat during the harsh summer. The heat index, which layers temperature with other factors such as relative humidity,…
By Shobha SurinJune 2, 2023
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  • Built Environment
  • Interview
  • Jane Jacobs

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…
By Shobha Surin and Jashvitha DhageyMay 5, 2023
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  • Amenities
  • Land Use
  • Urban Planning

Vending zones add to Bhubaneswar’s beauty, but many wait for kiosks

Odisha’s capital Bhubaneswar went on an overdrive to look spic and span for the ongoing International World Cup hockey tournament. As part of this, hawkers were removed from their traditional vending spaces and shifted to dedicated zones. Organising hawkers in…
By Shobha SurinJanuary 27, 2023
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  • Built Environment
  • New Cities
  • Urban Planning

Bhubaneswar’s urbanisation caught between old temple town and new city

The new city of Bhubaneswar was built from scratch but in the frenzy of building Odisha’s capital, the existing Old Town was pushed into the background. Inclusion and integration were crucial while the new city was being built but there…
By Shobha SurinJanuary 27, 2023
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  • Climate Change
  • Natural Environment
  • Right to Environment

Right to Environment: It’s time to foreground it and for people to claim it

People’s Right to Life in India assumes, and indirectly devolves into, the Right to Environment based on judicial interpretations and orders. As pollution of air and water deepens across India, urban space becomes more congested or privatised, and Climate Change…
By Shobha SurinDecember 2, 2022
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  • Digitalisation
  • Infrastructure
  • Sustainability

Digital connect in Smart City Bhubaneswar still has poor network

Odisha’s capital, Bhubaneswar, is transforming itself digitally into a “smart city.” As the city transitions from the traditional to tech-based mode with digitalisation picking up pace, it is worth asking if this has improved citizens’ lives. The experiences on the…
By Shobha SurinOctober 7, 2022
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  • Climate Change
  • Rivers & Waterbodies
  • Urban Planning

‘We get flash floods but we have never experienced this type of flood’

Assam, and its neighbouring region, was lashed by the harshest monsoon rain in years, resulting in massive inundation and floods across 32 of the state’s 36 districts, displacing lakhs of people and destroying crops and property. Weeks later, people continued…
By Jashvitha Dhagey and Shobha SurinJuly 15, 2022
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  • Built Environment
  • Housing
  • Inequality

A tall order: Housing as part of the ‘Right to the City’ is long, hard work

The Delhi High Court’s judgment in the Shakur Basti petition in 2019 foregrounded the Right to the City for slum dwellers, bringing hope for those who were facing forceful eviction. The verdict, widely seen as progressive, spelled out the rights…
By Shobha SurinJune 17, 2022
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Question of Cities is India’s only online journal dedicated to urbanisation, ecology and social equity. We strive to document stories and develop dialogues on these themes to imagine, create and re-create cities. The journal is published by the Mumbai-based trust, Participatory Urban Design and Development Initiative (PUDDI).
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