Urban Planning | Development and design of urban landscapes

Rivers are our home (but) what will the waters remember – plastic?

“The Mithi,” wrote the legendary poet Eunice D’souza, “will carry you on a raft of garbage to a dying sea.” As rivers in our cities turn into receptacles of waste and victims of poor planning, the loss of what they…

‘Save the Yamuna floodplains from government-sponsored encroachment’

The Yamuna is being choked, artificial grass is being watered with ground water, ornamental plants and bamboo trees planted, the riverbank has…

‘Give the river back its space. Give it a new spatial
role in a city’

São Paulo and Mumbai are similar in that the cities have seen massive urbanisation at the cost of rivers. The Tietê and…

Why cities must reconnect with their rivers, renew river-people relationship

Rivers are slowly being erased from people’s lives and imagination in cities. Seen as water sources, as dumping yards for waste, and…

Vrishabhavathi: A river’s struggle in Bengaluru’s landscape

Our imagination of rivers often contrasts with what we see in our cities. They are integrated into urban systems as stormwater drains,…

To rekindle Delhi’s relationship with the Yamuna, clean it up

The Yamuna has been Delhi’s lifeline for centuries but the city now has a severed, mostly utilitarian, relationship with it. Only two…

‘Rivers have emotions, like human beings. Their waters rise’

As the plan to develop the Mula-Mutha riverfront in Pune gathers momentum, many residents and environmental activists believe it’s a death knell…

Giving rivers room to move: Rethinking flood management for nature and people

The idea of allowing rivers to reclaim space on their floodplains is not new. There have been programmes such as the ‘Room for the River’ in the Netherlands since the mid-1990s and the ‘Making Space for Water’ strategy in England.…

Overtourism has led to touristified destinations, unsustainable ecology, and angry locals

What was once pleasurable travel has turned into a massive global industry of tourism. While its place in the economy of a…

Community-based tourism offers hope and sustainability in the Northeast

Away from the colour and clamour of mega festivals, in a few towns and villages of Sikkim, Nagaland and Meghalaya, community-based tourism…