Urban planning - Question of Cities

Reforms in Hyderabad: From World Bank to land bank

The erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh was the World Bank’s first sub-national loan experiment. The eventual privatisation of the public sector and projects also meant de-collectivisation of land as the state acquired it for ‘development’. Financial markets used land as…

Mumbai’s contested land use and the jostle for space

The pattern of land use in India’s commercial capital has meant that it is among the most dense cities in Asia. This is Mumbai’s reality – visual reality with tall towers packed so closely that breeze does not move between…

Public housing calls for governments to regulate land prices

High land prices in our cities, which do not follow the supply-demand equation, determine how land is used, what kind of houses are built and in which areas, what amenities and infrastructure are accessible to whom. There’s no way that…

‘Give the river back its space. Give it a new spatial
role in a city’

São Paulo and Mumbai are similar in that the cities have seen massive urbanisation at the cost of rivers. The Tietê and Pinheiros rivers, in the Brazilian city, and the Mithi in Mumbai are choked by myopic policies and apathy.…

‘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…

Designing urban spaces for children’s mental well-being

In national emergencies such as pandemics, natural disasters, and war-like situations, it is the physical and social fabric that keeps the society together and also safeguards the mental well-being of children. Even otherwise, they require spaces that cater to their…

Climate’s sizzling frontier: Northeast heats up, must plan with nature

Summer temperatures have risen to record highs and, importantly, nights have become warmer in Guwahati with the rapid urbanisation. People have taken to air conditioners and cold drinking water. Guwahati is not alone. From Shillong’s hills to Aizawl’s ridges to…

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…

‘Better dust upon leaves than in the lungs of the citizens’

Patrick Geddes, the Scottish biologist, conservationist, sociologist and town planner who spent long years working in India, believed it was important that the natural assets of a town, and everyone’s fair share of them, are protected, nurtured, and integrated into…