URBAN PLANNING

What is common among urban waterways, economics and culture? All three are intertwined, and can complement as well as transform each other. But they can also lead to weakening urban systems if they are poorly planned, as the Indian port city of Kochi has shown. However, the city has seen recent attempts at overall upgrading of systems and researchers from the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) emphasise the role that the city’s waterways can play in this makeover effort. Kochi’s crisscrossing canals and rivers linked to a backwater system can significantly impact its socio-economic and cultural…

A common sight in many Indian cities are decrepit or waste-laden canals that were once integral to the local economy. Cities have grappled with the mammoth task of cleaning and restoration of such canals with limited success. Often people who have made a life on the banks and margins become collateral damage to these efforts. Now Alappuzha in Kerala could pave the way for an alternative. The Canalpy Project A model canal-restoration project, Canalpy, is taking shape in the backwaters of Alappuzha. Funded by the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), the effort is supported by Cochin University College of…

Efforts to tackle the burgeoning solid waste crisis looming in Chennai have gained momentum. With the city generating a whopping 4500 tonnes of garbage on a daily basis, measures to tackle the growing challenges of waste management began with an attempt by the Corporation of Chennai to revive source segregation last year. The attempt has seen lukewarm response with only 40 of the total 200 wards having implemented varying degrees of segregation. This was followed by the ambitious announcement of the Tamil Nadu government that the state would ban all plastic products beginning January 2019. Now, the people of Chennai…

This summer, Jaipur’s temperatures are soaring upwards of 40 degree Celsius. Jaipur witnessed its hottest day (as of June 4, 2018) on April 26 when a temperature of 43.2 degree Celsius was recorded. Of late, at least some parts of the city are beginning to exhibit signs of climate change typical of large cities. With more concrete and asphalt replacing natural vegetation, “urban heat islands” are becoming a reality and Jaipur is a good example of this. Urban heat islands are pockets of densely populated areas in a city where temperatures are higher than the rest of the city, thanks to packed…

For my first post, I’ve decided to chronicle the three-year struggle to get Corporation of Chennai to provide a raised permanent concrete median opposite the Perambur Railway Station extending upto Adayar Ananda Bhavan, covering Venkatraman Canal Street and Perambur High Road intersection, similar to the median installed opposite to the Railway Kalyana Mandapam on Perambur High Road. In April 2015, residents from Perambur filed petitions with the Corporation of Chennai asking them to replace the existing median made up of concrete blocks. The centre median made up of concrete blocks had surfaced or carpeted with the level of road due…

At a time when cities across India are rapidly losing green cover, Naya Raipur, the administrative capital of Chhattisgarh, stands out in its endeavour to ensure that the city has adequate greenery. The Naya Raipur Development Authority (NRDA) was established with the aim of creating a greenfield city with parks, botanical garden and a jungle safari. Naya Raipur's greening efforts aim to make it a model city with the target of 27% green cover under the Harihar Chhattisgarh mission. The 25-year development plan for the city envisions a 500-meter wide green belt of an area of 15.09 square kilometers surrounding the…

What is a Master Plan? Many of us complain that Chennai has grown ‘unplanned’. Technically that is not true. Chennai has been having various ‘plans’ guiding the expansion of the city since 1957. The First Master Plan for Chennai was published in 1975. Both the transport terminal and  wholesale market from Central Business District were shifted to the current CMBT and Koyambedu Market as a strategy to decongest the Central Business District then. So the master plan matters. The Second Master Plan was published in 2008 - this plan is a guiding document till 2026, another 8 years from now.…

Chennai Metro Rail stations wear a festive look now, with citizens from all quarters and strata of society thronging the various stations of the city. Happy faces of citizens and positive feedback accompany the never-before- seen crowds at the various Metrorail stations. "It is an engineering marvel. The train entering and exiting the tunnel is really awesome at Saidapet Bridge with River Adyar in the background. The stations are compact and well made", said C R Balaji, a citizen activist. Thanks to Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL)'s decision to offer free rides, to celebrate the inauguration of the two stretches…

Arshel Akhter, the newly-elected Bicycle Mayor of Guwahati, discovered his love for cycling as he explored his city on two wheels. Along with a healthy lifestyle, the software developer-turned-banker-turned-stocks investor found that with cycling came a supportive and active community of enthusiasts from across all professions and ages. Now his mission is to expand this community to include not just hobbyists but people across all walks of life as he works to invigorate cycling in his city. Arshel envisages a future where the coming generation will readily take to cycling without any apprehensions that prevail currently. “We need more cycling…

The Tamil Nadu government’s decision to expand the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) to eight times its current size has earned a fair share of criticism from city activists and residents. This became particularly evident during the public consultative meeting organised by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) recently. Even though the second master plan for Chennai, proposed in 2008, has proved to be a damp squib, the state government had, via a notification in January 2018,  proposed to expand CMA from the current 1,189 sq.km to a whopping 8,878 sq.km.  The proposal, if implemented, will urbanise a total of 1,709 villages…