Nature - Question of Cities

Patrick Geddes: Urban planning for social and cultural renewal

Scotsman Sir Patrick Geddes has been considered as the father of city planning in modern times. He brought his belief that town planning was not mere ‘place’ planning but essentially ‘people’ planning, to the nearly 50 plans he drew up…

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…

Indore 2.0 bears no stamp of its first master planner, Sir Patrick Geddes

One of the first cities in India to be planned expansively by the Scottish biologist, geographer and town planner, Sir Patrick Geddes, Indore in Madhya Pradesh is fast losing its natural beauty and charm. The city’s development is not people-oriented…

How Vadodara’s citizens joined forces to save the iconic Vishwamitri river

The highly polluted Vishwamitri river in Gujarat’s Vadodara was dying and the municipal corporation floated the idea of a riverfront which would have spelt the death knell for the river. From academics who first woke up with the alarm bells…

Hyderabad’s Khajaguda Rocks and its ecology yield to posh urban spaces

The luxury apartments, commercial buildings, and spanking new roads at Khajaguda have come up at a huge cost – the loss of the city’s prehistoric rocks and an entire ecological system that the rock formation supported. The sprawling 150-acre site,…