Right to the City - Question of Cities

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

After Delhi rolled out its zero-ticket ride for women in 2019, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana followed. Early reports suggest that it has dramatically increased women’s use of buses, and how and why they commute. It has led to…

Watching over the water of our lakes and wetlands

Thane and Navi Mumbai, old and new cities respectively which are often overshadowed by Mumbai, have seen their ecological abundance of rivers, creeks, wetlands, hills and forests threatened by ‘development’ plans and infrastructure projects. Professionals, environmentalists, architects, traditional communities like…

Delhi’s double whammy of heat and polluted air demands review of Heat Action Plan

If air pollution is hazardous and deadly for people, then poor quality air combined with high temperatures is worse, as seen in this ethnographic-like study of Delhi’s Sanjay Colony. However, the city’s Heat Action Plan (HAP) does not recognise, let…

Ignoring the right to shelter keeps Dhaka’s poor cornered

Severely affected by climate change in their homes, between a thousand and 2,000 people migrate to Dhaka every day in search of work. The continued migration from rural Bangladesh has transformed the city into a super-dense place, housing nearly 44…

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…

How the lack of rights worsens climate events for Delhi’s informal workers

As climate-related weather events scorch, flood and chill New Delhi, its informal workers, an estimated 80 percent of its workforce, are left grappling with myriad challenges of living in a city that would not function if not for their labour.…

Housing as a way to claim citizenship and exercise rights in Indian cities

The city is a key site where various notions of citizenship are claimed and contested. Since much of urban India lives and works in the realm of “informality”, urban residents often gain their rights over housing not through formal legal…

Jaga: Odisha’s land title to slum dwellers worthy of emulation

In a landmark move, pushed by slum dwellers’ movements, the Odisha government introduced a law which made the Jaga Mission possible. Instead of evicting slum dwellers from nearly 3,000 slums in its cities, including from prime areas in the capital…

Living the homeless life as Delhi’s shelter homes lie vacant

With thousands of shelterless people battling Delhi’s inclement weather on the streets, the Right to the City seems to be a far-fetched dream. Most pavements and spaces under flyovers in India’s capital, Delhi, have people living there. The number of…

Anniversary Edition

Making nature and people in cities the focal point of dialogues

As Question of Cities completes a year, we present to you some of the best and the most-read essays or on-ground stories through the year – with the added value of having the writers reflect on a few key questions.…