Delhi - Question of Cities

Following the arc from the Aravallis to Delhi’s air

The need of the hour is to recognise Delhi’s rising air pollution from an integrated ecological perspective. Indeed, various anti-pollution measures of the past years must continue – and be implemented more seriously – but the acute crisis demands more.…

Imaginations, protests and politics for better cities in 2026

The rapid development and redevelopment in cities in the business-as-usual mode has meant an extractive cost to nature with millions of people having no say. Cities built this way have led to unimaginably high levels of pollution, rising heat and…

‘Ecology and landform give rise to urban form. Town planning flattens it to 2-dimension’

Cities have been turned into a mechanical mode of counting numbers with excel sheets, looking at which plot of land can be sold for what kind of profits. Urban design necessarily responds to landform; without landform, there is no urban…

Delhi’s Biodiversity Parks show a face of urban ecological restoration

Delhi’s seven biodiversity parks offer a glimpse into how urban ecological renewal can take shape and why it is critical in the time of rapid urbanisation and intense climate change. Spread over nearly 3,000 acres, these parks, thoughtfully and scientifically…

Who owns the city’s ecology? Lessons from Amita Baviskar’s Uncivil City

As Delhi’s air turns foul, reading or revisiting Uncivil City: Ecology, Equity and the Commons in Delhi is timely. It not only makes sense of the city’s unfolding environmental crises but asks who gets to belong in the city. “Bourgeois…

A kilometre in South Delhi, two starkly different densities

The building and people densities across the upscale Sainik Farms and the poorer Sangam Vihar are too stark to ignore – languid life in a low density neighbourhood in one, constant struggle amidst high density in the other. Both are…

Shab-Parak: Night fliers of Delhi bus that’s a community

As India’s national capital sleeps, night buses keep the city connected and their commuters find the true meaning of accessible and affordable public transport. Shab-Parak, a short film which won the silver at the Nagari 2024 awards, captures the story…