GENRE: Voices

How big is your city? Growing up in Chennai, my knowledge and therefore idea of the city extended possibly between school, home, and a few other places I frequented. While this has expanded, I don’t think I realised how big it actually was. In October 2022, it was reported that the Tamil Nadu government had cleared a 5-fold expansion of the city - from 1189 km2 to 5904 km2. I was a bit shocked that my city was already 1189 km2 big and now had gotten even larger.  Read more: Holistic plan by CMDA necessary for Chennai’s expansion What makes…

As Bengaluru expands, civic agencies like BBMP and other parastatal bodies like BWSSB struggle to meet citizens' demands for better infrastructure. We spoke to urban governance researcher Neha Sami, from the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, about Bengaluru's governance model in a two-part interview. In part one, Neha stressed the need for stronger local government and better public consultation for an equitable city. In part two, she outlines how the increasing private sector influence in governance, planning and finance can further weaken local governments. She also spoke about why private sector involvement might become important in some cases and how…

Vasudevan S had been living in the tenements of the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) located in Meenabal Sivaraj Nagar since 1977 before having to move out in 2021 for its reconstruction. "In the three decades after we moved in, these houses had turned 'unlivable'," he says. The broken staircases, dysfunctional lights, caved ceilings and leaky pipes are how he describes the building. Perhaps, the description fits most of the TNUHDB tenements in Chennai. Lack of maintenance of the buildings is said to be a significant reason for these buildings to be in a dilapidated condition. The TNUHDB…

The recently elected state government, along with BBMP and BDA officials, has been busy trying to 'fix' Bengaluru's issues. The measures include reinstating BBMP's re-structuring committee and initiating the Brand Bengaluru committee. Activists have criticised such committees as elitist and have called for more democratic urban planning. But how can we devise an inclusive, equitable plan for Bengaluru? Neha Sami, Associate Dean, School of Environment and Sustainability, at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), attempts to answer this question. Neha is a researcher with a background in urban planning and environmental governance. Her research broadly focuses on governance in…

As Chennai’s IT corridor grew and expanded, the need for housing around the new offices was felt. Large residential apartment complexes came up in various parts where these offices were concentrated. One such area is Perumbakkam, where many IT professionals, among others, have come to reside in recent years. While this could be seen as a huge sign of progress for the city, the civic amenities that are present in these localities leave a lot to be desired. The residents battle irregular water supply, improper sewage system, lack of adequate pedestrian infrastructure, rising crimes and most of all, bad roads.…

Recently, Chennai has lost many trees to rains, cyclones and civic work. But the act of preserving existing tree cover and carrying out urban greening activities is only happening in pockets of the city.  There have been instances of tree felling for work on stormwater drains across the city. Many avenue trees were lost in areas such as K K Nagar. Very little has also been done to protect old trees in the city, with the instance of the felling of a centuries-old baobab tree on Greams Road being a prime example.  In order to prevent a repeat of such loss…

Everyday, around 40 lakh passengers use the bus and about five lakh people travel by Namma Metro. Yet, there is some hesitancy, in Bengaluru, to choose buses and metro over cars and bikes. To understand why this is the case and how it can change, Citizen Matters, Bengaluru, organised a webinar 'Why not public transport?' The panellists included Srinivas Alavilli, Fellow, Integrated Transport and Road Safety, World Resources Institute (WRI) India; Shreya Satish Mokhashi, Assistant Urban Planner at Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT); Jayenkumar Desai, Head of Strategy and Transformation VMware Software India Pvt Ltd; and Lalithamba BV, a…

Dharavi, Asia's largest slum is in the heart of Mumbai. Spread over 535 acres, approximately 8.5 lakh people live in approximately 55,000 dwelling units in Dharavi with a population density of 3.4 lakh per square km. One of the many communities, living in Dharavi for decades, is the traditional potters community. 'Kumbhar' means pots and 'Wada' means colony. Dharavi's Kumbharwada is where the magic of clay has been happening for decades together. Kumbharwada occupies about 12.5 acres in Dharavi, and is home to 500 potters’ families. A well-settled and internationally famous colony, however, struggles during the rains. Production reduces drastically…

At around 10 am on July 26, the loud noise from a construction site inside the Kosasthalaiyar river came to a halt. The construction workers slowly walked out of the river, while the inland fishers from the villages around Ennore surrounded the construction site with their boats.  It was an unusual protest, one without black flags or loud slogans. While many of the fishers stayed in their boats, a few of their representatives came down to explain the reason for their protest.  Soon the construction site below the Ennore Creek Bridge was packed with hundreds of police personnel. The protest…

Government-owned built heritage in Chennai seems to have never had it so good. All over the city, many Indo-Saracenic structures are getting much-needed restoration and if not that, at least a facelift. In the last decade or so, there has certainly been a change in attitude as far as the authorities are concerned over the built heritage of the colonial kind. And this is to be welcomed. It is certainly not the happy ending as far as the battle to preserve heritage is concerned but it is undoubtedly progress. The question remains, will this influence private players and more importantly…