URBAN PLANNING

As cities grow rapidly, traffic, buildings, and loss of green cover inevitably follow. In 1974, the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) covered 1,189 sq. km; by 2022, it had expanded to 5,904 sq. km, bringing with it challenges of governance. Gaps in governance are foremost on the minds of the 28.3 lakh Chennai voters set to elect their Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) on April 23rd. The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government made 505 promises in 2021, of which it claims to have met 80%. But as residents and citizen groups come up with their manifestos ahead of the April…

Step out on any morning in an Indian city, and you will find women contributing significantly to the vibrancy of urban life: walking children to school, waiting at bus stops, navigating crowded markets, heading to work, stitching together livelihoods and families across multiple trips and responsibilities. Urban India is home to about 181.6 million women, nearly 48% of its population. Yet, women hardly have a voice in how cities are planned, designed, and governed.  Globally, there is growing recognition that women-centric urban planning and governance work better for everyone. A 2021 study by UN-Habitat found, for instance, that gender-inclusive planning…

Editor’s Note: This article is the third in a three-part series.Part 1: Bengaluru’s Peripheral Ring Road: Two decades on, who really benefits?Part 2: Peripheral Ring Road: Bengaluru farmers allege unfair payouts threaten their future Two decades after the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) was announced, the project is far from completion. For farmers, it has meant years of uncertainty and mounting financial losses, while residents remain unsure about the usefulness of the long-pending road development. In an earlier article, we explored how the PRR project could lead to forced migration and threaten the livelihoods of farmers. In Part 2 of the…

Editor's Note: This article is part of a three-part series. Part 2: Peripheral Ring Road: Bengaluru farmers allege unfair payouts threaten their futurePart 3: Bengaluru’s Peripheral Ring Road: Traffic relief or ecological disaster? Krishna Ramesh, a farmer from Kachamaranahalli village, 21 km from the centre of Bengaluru, has lived under the shadow of a land acquisition notice since 2007. His five acres, the only land he owns, are among 2,558 acres notified for the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project, now rebranded as the Bengaluru Business Corridor. The land sustains his family, yielding over ₹1 lakh a month. If the Bangalore…

The Karnataka government has notified the draft Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) rules — over three years after the BMLTA Act came into being — and has invited suggestions/objections by February 2nd, 2026.   The BMLTA was meant to be a unified transport body to regulate, monitor, develop and plan urban mobility in Bengaluru. The government had failed to constitute the Authority within the statutory timeline of six months. Now, the much-delayed draft rules propose to strip away all forms of transparency and accountability! One controversial clause (Rule 24) proposes to grant deemed approval to projects initiated between 2022…

The KEB Junction on 27th Main Road in HSR Layout highlights a typical urban planning failure. The junction prioritises vehicle movement over pedestrians. Resident Sachin Pandith, along with the HSR Community Task Force, has been working to address these issues and make the area safer. According to Sachin, residents have been engaging with officials and filing complaints for more than five years, yet nothing has changed. Encroached footpaths, unclear signage, and unsafe pedestrian crossings have created a hostile environment for walkers. In addition, the poorly located bus stop leaves little space for buses to halt, often turning the stretch into…

Children and adults pedalling to school, work and play — this was a common sight on Pune's streets not so long ago. Once known for its vibrant cycling culture, the city still has many groups and communities that promote non-motorised transport. However, with the rise of motorised vehicles, cycling has not only taken a back seat, but has also become unsafe and inconvenient due to poor infrastructure. This is despite Pune having dedicated cycle tracks and lanes. The decline in cycling infrastructure is reiterated by a recent audit, which found that only 11% of cycle tracks in Pune fell in…

In Varthur, east Bengaluru, residents watch in dismay as leachate from garbage trucks seeps into the Varthur Lake. “We need a local composting or bio-methanisation plant right here in the ward,” insists Jagdish Reddy, a resident. He points out that irregular waste collection and burning of leaf litter are not just polluting water bodies but also affecting air quality. Across the city, the problems are varied, but the frustration is the same. In HSR Layout’s 5th sector, open drains reek, and roads flood with the slightest rain, says Jyothi G Prabhu. Meanwhile, Gunjur resident Chetan Gopal points out that the…

The constant tug of war between legally registered property owners and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), now the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), over stormwater drain (SWD) and lake encroachment clearance is not new to Bengaluru. The city remembers one of the most prominent instances of this face-off that surfaced in August 2016, when the BBMP demolished 10 structures in Shubh Enclave Layout on Haralur Road. City authorities claimed that the layout had encroached on a secondary drain connecting Kasavanahalli and Kaikondarahalli lakes.  In November 2024, BBMP, now restructured as GBA, declared that they had cleared up all SWD encroachments, despite…

As Indian cities expand at an unprecedented pace, the consequences of rapid urbanisation are becoming increasingly visible: frequent flooding, water scarcity, heat stress, and the loss of natural ecosystems. Once-porous landscapes are now sealed with concrete, leaving rainwater with nowhere to go but into overburdened drainage systems. Even moderate rainfall events can now bring cities to a standstill. In this context, nature-based solutions, such as sponge parks, offer a timely and practical response to India’s urban challenges.  What is a sponge park? Sponge parks are engineered wetlands designed to absorb, store, filter and slowly release rainwater, mimicking the functions of…