Sustainability - Question of Cities

India’s climate action planning needs ecological vision and social sensitivity

The National Action Plan on Climate Change of 2008 was criticised for lacking depth, vision, and urgency; these have not been addressed in the 2015 revision. There is concern on how individual development projects in cities conform to the climate…

Mainstreaming Climate Change in Navi Mumbai’s Development Plan

Navi Mumbai, the satellite city planned and built nearly 50 years ago to decongest Mumbai, has chalked out its draft Development Plan…

Right to clean air: Stop the smog

The Right to Environment includes the right to clean air. But are we really breathing clean air? The rising ailments show that…

Delhi’s real town planner, the Yamuna, still gasps for life

Over the decades, even as multi-crore programmes to clean the river are expanded, the Yamuna and its floodplain continue to be polluted.…

Digitalisation cannot be an unqualified “smart” solution to urban issues

As many cities become smarter by harnessing digitalisation and technology, sustainable development and ecology have been pushed behind. Smart Cities Mission, offered…

Policing in Cyberabad: India’s techno dystopia encroaching on people’s rights

Hyderabad’s policing has turned “cop-less” as police personnel were replaced with cameras, traffic offences automated, and smartphones replaced the old batons. For…

Sustainability and people’s participation in the era of smart solutionism

The Smart Cities Mission was launched to improve the quality of life through digitalisation and data-driven solutions. This included interventions such as…

Digital connect in Smart City Bhubaneswar still has poor network

Odisha’s capital, Bhubaneswar, is transforming itself digitally into a “smart city.” As the city transitions from the traditional to tech-based mode with digitalisation picking up pace, it is worth asking if this has improved citizens’ lives. The experiences on the…

‘We need to ask where our data is being used and who is encashing it’

What does digitalisation look like in the urban periphery, the smaller towns? Urban studies scholars and researchers set out to Bhiwandi, on…

Water in the city: A matter of ecology, public health, and livelihoods

The importance of wetlands and waterbodies in urban planning has come to the fore after the devastating floods in India’s Bengaluru. They…