Ecology - Question of Cities

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.…

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…

Digitalisation cannot be an unqualified “smart” solution to urban issues

As many cities become smarter by harnessing digitalisation and technology, sustainable development and ecology have been pushed behind. Smart Cities Mission, offered as the one-stop solution to many urban problems, has a chequered report card. Studies have shown that “smart…

Digital connect in Smart City Bhubaneswar still has poor network

Odisha’s capital, Bhubaneswar, is transforming itself digitally into a “smart city.” As the city transitions from the traditional to tech-based mode with digitalisation picking up pace, it is worth asking if this has improved citizens’ lives. The experiences on the…

‘We need to ask where our data is being used and who is encashing it’

What does digitalisation look like in the urban periphery, the smaller towns? Urban studies scholars and researchers set out to Bhiwandi, on Mumbai’s periphery and part of the larger Mumbai Metropolitan Region, to try to answer the question. In the…

Walking in the footsteps of Patrick Geddes in the crucible of his ideas

Edinburgh was both the inspiration and the workshop for the Scotsman who defied easy categorisation during his lifetime and later. Though the man and his pioneering work may not be as deeply and often remembered at every turn of the…

By leaves we live: Finding Patrick Geddes in Mumbai’s Aarey

As trees are cut and trimmed in the lush green expanse of the Aarey forest for the Metro car shed paving the way for more construction, it marks yet another rupture in the relationship between people and nature which informed…

The rural in the urban: Warli women of Mumbai’s National Park

The women of the Warli tribe living in the protected forest, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai, are a unique lot negotiating their pastoral lives with the demands of India’s commercial capital. They have seen their lives and livelihoods…

If Aarey shrinks, Mumbai will gasp for breath

Aarey Colony, also called Aarey Forest, at the northern end of the city has long functioned as its lungs, providing the city with fresh air and a vast expanse of green amidst grey concrete. A portion of Aarey was finally…