GENRE: Voices

Whoever forms the new Uttarakhand government in March will have several important urban issues to deal with. The first part of this article had given 10 specific suggestions for the new government to consider in its efforts to make urban development in the state sustainable and inclusive. In this second part, we again take a look at 10 data-driven competitions of the central government, which explicitly expose the poor performance of Dehradun and the state’s urban frameworks. Swachh Survekshan 2021 This was the world’s largest sanitation survey which covered 4320 cities across India. The results, announced in November 2021, saw Indore…

Urban planning experts and allied interests have for long grappled with exactly how much open space Mumbai needs, and what more can be done to improve Mumbai’s natural environment. Given the likely impacts of climate change, especially in the context of the latest IPCC report warning the city of climate change catastrophes, urban planning in Mumbai appears to have reached a critical point of inquiry.  Extensive research already outlines Mumbai’s open space deficit as an outcome of administrative disputes, land availability, acquisition financing, lack of holistic policy implementation, and other reasons across social, economic and environmental aspects. While the search…

BBMP has spent over 100 crores on fixing, remodelling, and maintaining drains in just one ward - HSR Layout. Their Stormwater Drain Department does not maintain records like work registers or the progress reports of works. BBMP has been indicted for ineffective and inefficient collection of waste, non-compliance with waste management rules, and lack of scientific processing facilities at landfill sites. These are just three instances of impropriety and poor performance in local government bodies.All these are issues that citizens should demand accountability from their elected reps and officials. One easy way to be aware of such issues is to…

Mumbai is the most stressful city to drive in globally, according to a study by Hiyacar, a UK based car sharing company. It is also ranked 5th in global vehicular congestion by the TomTom traffic index of 2021, a global traffic index. Not surprisingly, traffic congestion, road rage incidents and the stress of commuting long distances to work is adversely affecting the physical and mental health of drivers. Additionally, the state of the city’s roads, poorly built, burdened by pothole and unsafe dividers has led to a 15% increase in road accidents in the first six months of 2021. Deaths…

How has Bengaluru city's sweeping transformation over the last 30 years impacted its street-based sex workers? Bengaluru, which has no specific red light area, has hosted a vast landscape for street-based sex work – a category of informal labour that is not strictly illegal, but is considered undesirable and in urgent need of rescue and rehabilitation. However, in the last three decades, the meaning of ‘public space’ has undergone a dramatic change in Bengaluru, alongside the definition of who ought to legitimately constitute the ‘public’ or 'desirable worker'. Consequently, an entire ecology around street-based sex work has slowly disintegrated, pushing…

Cities are drivers of economic growth in any country. They start attracting people as they develop economically. Cities also play an important support role in the development of the rural hinterland. In the past few decades, the Indian economy has grown rapidly which shows the high population growth in urban areas in India.  However, this rapid growth has not been managed very well and urban India is increasingly seeing problems such as, inadequate infrastructure for the growing population, poor service delivery, pollution, poor health care, housing, irregular elections and other issues that continue to impede cities across India from achieving…

This is the third of the three-part analysis of various mobility policies/plans for Bengaluru that aim to regulate the use of private vehicles to reduce road traffic congestion, improve public transport, and create the right infrastructure for non-motorised transport, particularly cycling and walking through the mobility intervention. Given the problems and delays plaguing the expansion of the metro lines and suburban rail system, for Bengalureans, the city bus remains the only alternative to using personal vehicles. The financially troubled transport corporations are trying to augment their fleets and increase and improve services. One aspect of these efforts has been the…

This is the second of a three-part analysis of various mobility policies/plans for Bangalore that aim to regulate use of private vehicles to reduce road traffic congestion, improve different modes of public transport and encourage its use, and create the right infrastructure to enable and encourage safe use of non-motorised transport, particularly cycling and walking. The only way to regulate and reduce the use of private vehicles is for the city to provide different modes of affordable and efficient public transport. Ensuring availability of quality public transport services and non-motorised transport (NMT) infrastructure finds prominent mention in the approved Comprehensive…

Anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” But, what about systems that make it harder for groups to materialise and facilitate change? Let us imagine, as a thought experiment, that a group of like-minded individuals, wanting to transform a city, is established. These might be people who have the time, space, energy and intent to do this. Those with wealth and cultural capital could bring resources in, and those marginalised by the state could bring intent and a personal drive.…

Is India’s annual budget a political exercise or an attempt to frame a stable and long-term development, fiscal and monetary policy framework? If it is the former, the yearly tamasha makes sense. If the latter, it absolutely does not. No sustained development will happen in a system that can change policy from year to year. Certainly a central budget is needed. We need to know how much the government earns and how much it spends, and on what. Defence, foreign policy and managing money matters on the macro scale constitute the budget’s main objectives. Beyond that, what else does the…