Built Environment - Question of Cities

Jantar Mantar apart, Delhi’s streets and borders are now temporal protest spaces

The Boat Club was once a favoured protest space in the national capital, so were the grand avenues of Janpath and Rajpath, and the majestic India Gate. Increasingly, for reasons of security or keeping protesters away from power, protests were…

Protest sites signal democratic strength of cities

India is not new to protests and demonstrations. Its many public spaces have been platforms to question the government of the day…

Reading Jane Jacobs today: Why her urban renewal agenda is still relevant

The doyenne of urban activism, Jane Jacobs, urged professional urban planners to understand that a city is more than its economy and…

Jane Jacobs’ focus on people and everyday lives in cities resonates in India

Jane Jacobs, the American journalist and barefoot urban planner of the 1960s, was often dismissed as a ‘housewife’ and her creatively built…

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…

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…

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…

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…