Open Spaces - Question of Cities

Central Vista redevelopment could rob Delhi of its iconic public space – and shrink democracy

The once sprawling lawns, wide pathways and iconic buildings at Rajpath in New Delhi are being erased by the Rs 13,450-crore Central Vista redevelopment project which began in 2019. The India Gate and the Rajpath area, the largest public space…

The rural in the urban: Warli women of Mumbai’s National Park

The women of the Warli tribe living in the protected forest, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai, are a unique lot…

If Aarey shrinks, Mumbai will gasp for breath

Aarey Colony, also called Aarey Forest, at the northern end of the city has long functioned as its lungs, providing the city…

Hyderabad’s Khajaguda Rocks and its ecology yield to posh urban spaces

The luxury apartments, commercial buildings, and spanking new roads at Khajaguda have come up at a huge cost – the loss of…

Brace for impact: Brutal heat due to unsustainable urbanisation will wallop the urban poor

Extreme weather events including intense heat waves, among other manifestations of Climate Change, were flagged off years ago in the reports by…

Heat’s on Bhubaneswar, it’s time to heed warnings

Odisha, which has been lauded for its disaster management during cyclones, faces another climate challenge: Heat. Its capital Bhubaneswar started as a…

Scorching heat waves demand a review of Ahmedabad’s urban development model

Ahmedabad had a rude wake-up call after an intense heat wave claimed 1,344 lives in May 2010 and it responded with the…

‘This may be the coolest summer. Be ready for
51 degrees C’

As most cities in India reeled under heat waves this summer and Climate Change impact made itself evident, questions emerged about the future: Was India was doing enough to mitigate it, would Heat Action Plans help combat the heat waves,…