Climate Change | How climate change affects cities

The best of QoC 2023

As 2023 comes to a close, it is customary to compile year-end lists of the work done throughout the year. At Question of Cities, we join the bandwagon not as an exercise in self-congratulation but more as a reflection of…

Delhi’s double whammy of heat and polluted air demands review of Heat Action Plan

If air pollution is hazardous and deadly for people, then poor quality air combined with high temperatures is worse, as seen in…

Ignoring the right to shelter keeps Dhaka’s poor cornered

Severely affected by climate change in their homes, between a thousand and 2,000 people migrate to Dhaka every day in search of…

Sustainable drainage essential to solve Guwahati’s flood crisis

Assam is highly vulnerable to climate change and its largest city, Guwahati, bears the brunt of it. The change in rainfall pattern…

Vulnerabilities of informal settlers continue to exacerbate amid policy conundrum

Kathmandu’s squatter settlements have grown four-fold from 1985 to 2022, and they continue to expand. Mostly migrants, the squatters lack legal tenure…

The COP28 climate agreement is a step backwards on fossil fuels

In a significant move, countries have agreed to shift from fossil fuels. But, the agreement falls short in addressing the use of…

Climate adaptation funds are not reaching frontline communities: What needs to be done about it

After the brouhaha at the launch of the Loss and Damage Fund during COP27 last year, the reality has sunk in that…

When celebrations also mean bad air, deafening noise and waste mounds

The glitter and bonhomie of festivals in India bring in unwanted and unhealthy guests in the form of pollution and waste. Every year, in the north of India especially, the winter air which is laden with emissions and is hazardous…

The neoliberal state and the environmental cost of Neopolis

That Hyderabad’s urban planning trajectory is informed by neoliberal logic is evident in the new sub-city Neopolis. This approach sees the urban…

New cities, old predicaments: Role of planning in climate mitigation

Urban planning and policies play a crucial role in the relationship between cities and the climate crisis. This is evident in the…