Right to the City - Question of Cities

‘In India, play is a luxury…parents and teachers should understand its importance’

As cities expand, the number of open spaces and in-between spaces for play are shrinking. Playgrounds and gardens are an afterthought. Mumbai has seen creative ways to resist the erasure of spontaneous play emerge despite the incessant construction, congestion, and…

How Delhi’s poor and homeless beat the heat on their own

The country’s capital recorded this year’s first heat wave in early April, with temperatures touching 40.2 degrees Celsius. With summer making an early and harsh onset, the most vulnerable people – the homeless – have only themselves to rely upon…

Placing platform workers in the city’s urban imagination

The city is the place of work for millions of platform or gig workers in India who number an astounding 7.7 million in official records but could well be three times that. Yet, the relationship between them and the city…

At Hyderabad airport, drivers agitate for the bare minimum

It took nearly ten years, collectivisation, and dogged unionising for the drivers of aggregator taxis at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport to get even a resting room for themselves. Their fight for other basic amenities continues. But, as two of…

The ‘build more’ way has failed. How to build better cities?

The construction industry, India’s second-largest contributor to the national GDP, rules the roost in cities, determining housing and other basic amenities, turning natural areas and common property resources into buildings or highways, and yet failing to address the shortfall in…

Why we must plan and build child-responsive cities in India – now

Children and urban development are rarely discussed in the same sentence. Given the definitive research on children’s physical, cognitive, and social development being influenced by the spaces they live, travel and play in, the subject deserves more attention – and…

The journey from dingy to vibrant, meaningful spaces in Govandi

The cramped and ill-maintained Natwar Parekh Compound in Mumbai’s Govandi is hardly a place children can feel at home, run around, explore the world and learn. But they, facilitated by civil society organisations, have turned their dingy spaces into Kitab…

Tag: Right to the City

‘In India, play is a luxury…parents and teachers should understand its importance’

Placing platform workers in the city’s urban imagination

At Hyderabad airport, drivers agitate for the bare minimum

The ‘build more’ way has failed. How to build better cities?

Why we must plan and build child-responsive cities in India – now

The journey from dingy to vibrant, meaningful spaces in Govandi

Three trends in cities we will closely watch in 2025

Gender-walking through Kolkata to reimagine a better city for all

Zero-fare is women’s ticket to freedom, work, and study