Climate Change - Question of Cities

How Kerala is coping with one of its harshest summers

Many cities across Kerala experienced a high heat summer in early March. Experts say there is no doubt that this summer will see temperatures up by one to 1.5 degrees Celsius, even 2 degrees Celsius in some parts. The high…

Ahmedabad’s Heat Action Plan has more hot air, less gas to propel it forward

The idea of Heat Action Plan for cities has come a long way from 2013 when the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation rolled out its plan for the city that was scorched by a heat wave resulting in at least 1,344 deaths.…

‘Urban art festivals are event-centric. They can be visceral provocations and part of a larger ongoing public discourse’

It was the festival time in Mumbai with a number of them making the most of the city’s short-lived winter. Each neighbourhood festival had a different social fabric, brought people together including communities that are otherwise in the margins, asked…

How adopting green measures made air more breathable

As all major cities across the world grapple with poor air quality, it becomes imperative to take responsibility and translate plans into action. A series of seminars and talks from local to national and international level on Climate Change ends…

A compendium on Odisha’s planned city and its transformation

The interesting story on how Odisha’s capital, Bhubaneswar, was planned and built has found its way into many research papers and reports. German architect Otto Koenigsberger’s master plan emphasised on organising the town “in such a manner that it forms…

COP27 failed to move the needle on climate action, poor will suffer as cities face climate disasters

Another climate summit is over and after hours of debates and discussions, it’s back to the ground to act on the pledges taken – and also to question whether climate action plans and policies are working. This year’s extreme climate…

Cities have to walk the central government’s talk on climate action

Besides the usual negotiations and national commitments, the recently-concluded Conference of Parties (COP27) in Egypt saw the launch of initiatives for cities such as the Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation (SURGe) and Beat the Heat: Nature for Cool…

‘Every rupee a city spends now on projects must have a climate lens’

If cities are at the forefront of mitigation and adaptation against Climate Change, then a network of cities forged across international borders would go a long way in addressing the issue. Mayors and leaders of cities in the international C40…

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 2018-2038. The plan, however, fails to address ecological issues, especially the imminent hazards brought on by Climate Change.…

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. Delhi takes from the Yamuna but treats it as a receptacle for its waste. As long as this…