Built Environment - Question of Cities

Plastic chokes drains but bans are not enough

India’s ban on plastic in 2022 was to restrict the manufacture, distribution, stocking, sale and use of 19 single-use plastic items. An impractical approach and flawed implementation has resulted in hordes of plastic waste which chokes stormwater drains, washes up…

Linear parks hold power to transform cities and be climate warriors

The simple but powerful idea of creating long stretches of parks along physical infrastructure and natural areas can transform a city by…

Smart Cities Mission: Reflections on gains and losses, nine years on

Most of the 100 cities chosen under the Smart Cities Mission, launched with great fanfare in 2015, have spent or allocated funds…

Deconstructing Hyderabad’s investment ‘climate’ and technological ecosystem

Market-led growth exploits natural resources, increases pollution, and creates vulnerabilities and inequities which worsen the climate impact on people. This essay examines…

How most Indian cities moved from public to private transport modes

Public transport, often led by a robust network of cleaner fuel-driven buses, is increasingly seen as the silver bullet in fast-growing cities…

Delhi’s buses hold the key to better public transport and climate action

Between 1981 and 2021, motor vehicles in Delhi increased by a staggering 21 times, showing people’s shift away from public transport. This…

Cycling in Mumbai: Frail and failed transit plans for the masses

The climate-friendly mode of transport has been sidelined in the city’s mobility infrastructure which backs large automobile-centric projects. The absence of dedicated…

The framework for public transport in our cities: Thoughts and suggestions

An efficient public transport system must compete with the convenience and comfort of a personal vehicle. The choice of the public transport system must be guided by a city’s mobility vision stated in its Comprehensive Mobility Plan. Its operations need…

Kolkata: When the circle of mobility comes back to trams, buses, and ferries

Once served well by its dependable bus system, tram network, and ferries on Hooghly River, the city has seen a predictable shift…

Sorry, but flyovers will never ease Guwahati’s traffic woes

The scourge of metropolitan cities – congested roads, rising motorised vehicles, growth in private transport – is now in Assam’s largest city…