Climate Change - Question of Cities

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…

Make space for rivers in cities, draft policies to protect them

Natural rivers and their ecosystems in cities are being ruined in the name of development with projects stripping away them of their ecology, changing their geographical features, and leave a lasting damage on the marine life as well on people…

Pune’s Mula-Mutha sinks into ecological disaster

The ancient river, Mula-Mutha, has been battered by floods, encroachments, and rampant constructions causing massive environmental damage. Turned into a sewer and a dumping site over the years, the neglected river is heavily polluted and filthy. The plan to ‘develop’…

‘Why do we not see that our cities have come up around rivers?’

There is a severe stress on our rivers when we treat them like a resource which can be exploited instead of protecting them. Across cities in India, the story of rivers is similar -- heavily polluted with industrial and household…

Planning and building gender-inclusive cities is the need of the hour

Women and other genders interact differently with the city from the way men do. What work they do, where they live, how they commute, and how they spend leisure hours are determined by what the city offers them – and…