Climate Change - Question of Cities

Sustainable drainage essential to solve Guwahati’s flood crisis

Assam is highly vulnerable to climate change and its largest city, Guwahati, bears the brunt of it. The change in rainfall pattern has made Guwahati flood-prone over the years but the city is unprepared to deal with the natural calamity.…

Vulnerabilities of informal settlers continue to exacerbate amid policy conundrum

Kathmandu’s squatter settlements have grown four-fold from 1985 to 2022, and they continue to expand. Mostly migrants, the squatters lack legal tenure to the place they occupy. Living under pathetic conditions in structures which are not houses, their lives are…

The COP28 climate agreement is a step backwards on fossil fuels

In a significant move, countries have agreed to shift from fossil fuels. But, the agreement falls short in addressing the use of fossil fuels at the heart of the climate crisis. Such an approach is inconsistent with the scientific consensus…

Wake-up call: India’s air pollution-related deaths among highest in the world

As winter sets in, the air quality in most cities in India turns critically poor. Triggered by climate change, the situation worsens every year, impacting people’s physical and mental health. More than 2.3 million Indians died prematurely due to pollution…

Urban spaces and mental health: The important correlation we miss

In the race to construct cities with mega projects, the relationship between the built environment and people’s mental health is rarely acknowledged. Asocial behaviour and mental illnesses like anxiety and depression are the outcome of urban planning and design. While…

The silent epidemic: Air pollution infiltrates our lungs, our lives, say people

No one has been spared by the effects of air pollution. A nagging cough, throat infection, lung ailments, breathing problems, and tiredness have become common. Doctors have been seeing a rise in patients with the same symptoms and yet cities…

Climate adaptation funds are not reaching frontline communities: What needs to be done about it

After the brouhaha at the launch of the Loss and Damage Fund during COP27 last year, the reality has sunk in that the marginalised and vulnerable communities around the world have a long and difficult road to access the resources.…

Festivals in cities, beyond celebrations, shape public place and identity

Cities are theatres of celebration of different kinds of festivals, from the traditional and religious to the contemporary and cultural. People congregate and celebrate, but the story of festivals in cities does not end there. Festivals help to shape –…

The neoliberal state and the environmental cost of Neopolis

That Hyderabad’s urban planning trajectory is informed by neoliberal logic is evident in the new sub-city Neopolis. This approach sees the urban environment purely through an economic lens which severely affects the natural infrastructure of the place. Despite the government’s…

New cities, old predicaments: Role of planning in climate mitigation

Urban planning and policies play a crucial role in the relationship between cities and the climate crisis. This is evident in the new ‘cities’ or sub-cities developed around Hyderabad, the latest being Neopolis, in the neoliberal framework where the state…