Urban Planning | Development and design of urban landscapes

‘Deep flaw or blind spot in Indian environmentalism is that it largely ignored cities’

Cities built at the cost of ecology are becoming uninhabitable and unsustainable. Between the Gandhian perspective which is hostile to city life and the other that cities are engines of growth, both flawed, cities face ecological crisis and issues of…

Feminism meets environmentalism but women left out of decision-making

As women, across barriers of caste and class and other social indices, assert themselves, they also touch upon environmental issues that are…

Resistance, confrontation,
anti-extractivist struggles in the Global South

Rising heat waves, illegal mining, degradation of water bodies and depletion of trees are increasing across the world, especially in countries of…

Margins to mainstream: Ambojwadi shows the way to climate vulnerability mapping

Among the most marginalised of informal settlements in Mumbai, Ambojwadi is a picture of climate crisis where heat stress and flooding exacerbate…

Research: How local communities can assert voice in mapping

Marginalised urban communities bear disproportionate impacts of climate change with heat stress, floods and so on, but they are hardly consulted in…

Singareni Colony’s story of localised climate mapping

Neighbourhoods in cities are distinctively shaped by terrain, built environment, typologies, social dynamics, politics, and historical and spatial contexts. As a result,…

Communities are central to climate plans and action

From advocacy work and campaigns against unsustainable development projects, especially in areas with marginalised populations, mapping the areas for climate vulnerability was…

‘Vulnerability mapping directly improves lives of those most affected by climate risks’

The devastation from floods, droughts and heat across India every year has heightened the need for effective strategies and adaptive measures. The report, Mapping India’s Climate Vulnerability: A District Level Assessment, by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, analyses…

‘The Republic of Dhobi Talao’ with filmmaker Rafeeq Ellias

It rarely makes it to the chronicles and tourist guides of south Mumbai but Dhobi Talao is a world unto itself —…

Meandering through
a non-touristy less-known Gangtok

The picturesque town nestled along the majestic Himalayas houses century-old colonial buildings and bungalows which people often miss. The Gangtok Walk takes…