Right to the City - Question of Cities

Mumbai’s BEST is being killed, political will to revive it is absent

Should the city have robust, reliable and affordable public bus transport or not is the question facing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Maharashtra government. The approximately 3.3 million commuters of BEST buses would vote a resounding yes, if they…

‘BEST is a municipal responsibility, it’s stupid to
think of profit-loss’

The cash-strapped Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), still the most reliable mode of transport, is going through a rough patch with…

Guwahati’s buses a lifeline but unequal, tedious, sometimes unsafe

Despite a good ridership, Guwahati’s bus system puts commuters through inconveniences such as unscheduled stops, delays by drivers and conductors, overcrowding and…

Designing urban spaces for children’s mental well-being

In national emergencies such as pandemics, natural disasters, and war-like situations, it is the physical and social fabric that keeps the society…

Placing platform workers in the city’s urban imagination

The city is the place of work for millions of platform or gig workers in India who number an astounding 7.7 million…

At Hyderabad airport, drivers agitate for the bare minimum

It took nearly ten years, collectivisation, and dogged unionising for the drivers of aggregator taxis at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport to…

‘Women’s access to gig work is challenged by their access to digital infrastructure’

Women gig workers form a niche and gender-segregated part of the expanding platform and gig economy. It will reportedly provide 90 million…

Platforming domestic work will amplify existing vulnerabilities of workers

The platform and gig economy took a leap into the unorganised domestic work sector in March when advertisements promised ‘maids’ at a mere Rs 49 an hour. It swung the focus on a sector that goes below the radar across…

Why we must plan and build child-responsive cities in India – now

Children and urban development are rarely discussed in the same sentence. Given the definitive research on children’s physical, cognitive, and social development…

The journey from dingy to vibrant, meaningful spaces in Govandi

The cramped and ill-maintained Natwar Parekh Compound in Mumbai’s Govandi is hardly a place children can feel at home, run around, explore…