The best of QoC 2023
As 2023 comes to a close, it is customary to compile year-end lists of the work done throughout the year. At Question of Cities, we join the bandwagon not as an exercise in self-congratulation but more as a reflection of…
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.…
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…
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…
When celebrations also mean bad air, deafening noise and waste mounds
The glitter and bonhomie of festivals in India bring in unwanted and unhealthy guests in the form of pollution and waste. Every year, in the north of India especially, the winter air which is laden with emissions and is hazardous…
How cities subtly changed the flavour of festivals
People in cities celebrate their traditional cultural festivals - with a difference. As city living becomes more demanding and public spaces shrink, festival rituals are adapted. Festival celebrations, altered to suit modern urban living but retaining some rituals that people…
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…
Addressing water inequity in Dhulikhel is critical for environmental justice
The water security in Dhulikhel, a thriving mid-hill town 24 kilometres from Kathmandu, is determined by the interplay of history, geography, caste and similar socio-cultural dimensions. Amid rapid urbanisation, the impact of Climate Change and ineffective water governance in new…
The green does not have to lose the battle to the grey in our cities
Large swathes of green cover are being cleared to make way for construction and infrastructure across cities in India. Trees are being cut, large canopies felled, old trees badly and unscientifically pruned. Urban plans and projects do not take trees…
‘Cities are valued as places of commerce and not well-being, so trees are seen as dispensable’
In an age when cities are building more malls, parking lots, offices, schools and colleges, there seems to be hardly any room for trees. We have stopped valuing the natural resources and the ecosystem they support; as cities turn grey…