Urban Planning | Development and design of urban landscapes

How redevelopment ruined Mumbai’s housing and marred the landscape

Three decades after redevelopment of slums and old buildings took off in Mumbai, in the first flush of liberalisation, the percentage of people in slums is nearly twice that it was in 1991, and the old buildings and chawls have…

Matharpacady: Redevelopment wriggles its way into a heritage precinct

Amid the titled and colourful bungalows in Matharpacady in south Mumbai, patches of redevelopment stick out like sore thumbs. Steeped in heritage…

‘Redevelopment created houses as commodities for transaction, forgot about people’s lives and equity’

Mumbai has resembled a construction site for the past many years with redevelopment on virtually every other street. Together with large infrastructure…

People of Dharavi nonchalant and apprehensive about redevelopment

What was once a small cluster of huts on a marsh in 20th century Bombay is now 595 acres of cramped houses,…

Greater Dhaka: Making liveable city in times of Climate Change is all politics and planning

Dhaka has been experiencing longer summers with heatwaves, weaker monsoons and shorter winters, indicating the Climate Change impact. Studies show that the…

Nepal’s Melamchi, still recovering from 2021 flood, shows multiple risks of rapid urbanisation

Melamchi, 76 kilometres from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, was bouncing back from the massive 2015 earthquake when the flood in 2021 brought further…

Delhi’s heatwave, floods, and G20 beautification force urban poor to pay heavy price

In the sweltering heat of the Indian capital, the lives of the urban poor have been turned upside down by the ruthless…

Climate justice eludes the displaced from Karachi’s Orangi Nala

After the heavy floods in 2020, the decision to remove illegal settlements along one of Karachi’s streams, Orangi Nala, to make way for water was a double blow to the residents. Three years later, they await justice. With climate-related catastrophes…