Urban planning - Question of Cities

Walk the talk on public transport, invest with sound mathematics

Cities are all about space. Both private and public transport must be seen from this perspective. Private transport is uneconomical for cities, especially like Mumbai, because cars carry fewer people but occupy more comparative space than other modes like buses.…

New cities, old predicaments: Role of planning in climate mitigation

Urban planning and policies play a crucial role in the relationship between cities and the climate crisis. This is evident in the new ‘cities’ or sub-cities developed around Hyderabad, the latest being Neopolis, in the neoliberal framework where the state…

Climate justice eludes the displaced from Karachi’s Orangi Nala

After the heavy floods in 2020, the decision to remove illegal settlements along one of Karachi’s streams, Orangi Nala, to make way for water was a double blow to the residents. Three years later, they await justice. With climate-related catastrophes…

As floods ravage cities, the game changer is to plan with nature

Every monsoon, cities across India witness flood fury. Urban flooding, which is becoming more frequent and intense every year causing devastation and disrupting lives, has spawned mitigation measures. They are essential but are they enough? As Climate Change makes its…

Gurugram: Navigating the waters between urban planning and floods

The bustling and swanky city in Haryana and part of the National Capital Region, Gurugram – earlier Gurgaon – witnessed rapid urbanisation in the past few decades but, in the process, lost a staggering 389 water bodies and many open…

Drain the rain: Why urban India floods, how to build sponge cities

Urban floods have become an inseparable part of city life every monsoon. Lives are lost, livelihoods are disrupted, and property and infrastructure worth thousands of crores are damaged or destroyed. With the increasing challenges that Climate Change has brought and…

Adivasis in cities: From people to paupers

A complex set of factors from displacement by huge development projects to landlessness and inadequate employment opportunities has pushed adivasis from their ecosystems in isolated lands and forests and into cities. Here, they provide services mostly in the informal sector…

Mumbai’s shiny new Coastal Road spells doom for the city’s Kolis

Lives and livelihoods of the oldest inhabitants of Mumbai, the Kolis, have been drastically affected ever since the Coastal Road construction began. The ongoing infrastructural work has not only altered the familiar coastline of the city but also the way…

How adopting green measures made air more breathable

As all major cities across the world grapple with poor air quality, it becomes imperative to take responsibility and translate plans into action. A series of seminars and talks from local to national and international level on Climate Change ends…

Gandhinagar’s urban sprawl turns greenest city into a planned mess

Like the other planned cities, Gujarat’s capital Gandhinagar has veered away from the original master plan and developed into an urban jungle. The Sabarmati, on the banks of which the city was planned, is plagued by pollution with the renovation…