Urban Design - Question of Cities

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…

‘A happy city is where joy is not a commodity’

Rapid and unplanned urbanisation has hardly left open spaces for children. The carefree running, the cycling without the fear of speeding vehicles, the freedom that open spaces offered are now stories told by the older generations. The way cities are…

What if women designed the city? A voyage from brutalism to biophilia

Biophilic design which addresses the disconnect between people and the natural world, when adopted by women, can foster healthier and beautiful places. It holds the potential to rectify the negative impacts of Brutalist architecture, descending from modernist planning, which codified…

For better cities, map and integrate all open spaces into urban planning

Gardens, promenades, boardwalks, wetlands, salt pans, beaches, promenades, green connectors amid a city’s concrete, are vital open spaces which make it more liveable. The most iconic open spaces combine a multitude of urban functions: ecological, social, public health, public safety,…

Mahalaxmi Racecourse: A public open expanse, threatened by a theme park

One of Mumbai’s largest and most recognisable open spaces, the Mahalaxmi Racecourse, attracts hundreds of joggers, walkers, sportspersons, and yoga enthusiasts among others. The theme park planned here will likely shrink the precious open space, replace the green with some…

Social well-being through open space planning: The Navi Mumbai case study

The new city on a vast greenfield area across the Mumbai harbour was planned in the 1960-70s to decongest the increasingly-dense Mumbai. The master plan for Navi Mumbai, modelled on self-reliant inter-connected nodes, each with amenities for housing as well…

Where pavements hold space for conversations and ideas, besides mobility

Some cities in the world see pavements as insignificant in the urban design, a waste of space on car-centric roads, but other cities have done wonders with them. Besides providing open mobility space for pedestrians and cyclists, pavements were turned…

Urban spaces and mental health: The important correlation we miss

In the race to construct cities with mega projects, the relationship between the built environment and people’s mental health is rarely acknowledged. Asocial behaviour and mental illnesses like anxiety and depression are the outcome of urban planning and design. While…

On streets of India, life unfolds through food, flowers, traditions and people

Urban India lives on its streets, it is said. This is not far from the truth of everyday life for millions in our cities, large or otherwise, where streets come to life at dawn and barely wind down at night,…

‘Gandhinagar is a green ghost capital city – and hardly Gandhian’

When Gujarat’s capital Gandhinagar was conceptualised, it seemed like an ideal place to live in with a vast expanse of greenery. The city has grown in all directions, ignoring the Gandhian principles of minimalism, sustainability, and liveability which are crucial…