Urban Ecology

Specific focus on citizens, municipal corporations and governance in fast-growing cities; rapid diminishing of urban ecosystems and the impact of natural resources. Emphasising the environment as the pivot in urban planning.

Cooling India’s Urban Poor Houses Down

Urban Poor settlements can be found in huge numbers across the country's metropolitan cities. Generally home to daily wage labourers and low-income families, these...

The Endless Battles of Children with Breathing Difficulties in Bengaluru

The voices of patients and caregivers ring loud and clear: worsening air quality in parts of the city is directly affecting the quality of life that our children can enjoy.

Teach ‘Em Young: Appreciating Biodiversity Through Our Classrooms

There is a need to develop a language and vocabulary that communicates the essence of the natural world to young students. Citizen science interventions such as Nature Classrooms and Suttha Muttha are encouraging children to go beyond what's in their textbooks to observe, feel, and hear all that is around them.

Behind the Facade of Forest Conservation Lay One Lakh Displaced Residents of Khori Gaon

The abuse, mistreatment and erasure of the residents of Khori Gaon in the name of forest conservation is emblematic of the challenges that marginalised residents (being termed as ‘encroachers’) face across the country.

Reimagining Public Spaces for the Urban Poor Post COVID-19

For the poor and socially marginalized groups already living on the edge in India's cities, the pandemic has dealt a severe blow, isolating them physically, socially and economically. Access to public spaces can transform the lives they lead.

Your Corporator: The Elected Representative You Forget to Vote For

Corporators have the agency and opportunity to attend to, if not solve, the most immediate and proximate woes of an urban citizen. Yet, municipal elections continue to be one of the most ignored aspects of Indian democracy, with local politics playing subordinate to state and national politics.
Khori Gaon

Damaged, Desolate & Dirty: What Rehabilitation Looks Like for Khori’s Residents

Rehabilitation for those citizens evicted from Khori Gaon still remains a distant dream.

Life in Traffic, Not Fantastic: Why Are Bengaluru’s Roads So Bad?

The poor condition of Bengaluru's roads are well-documented and have been groaned about since time immemorial. Roads are laid in the city only to be dug up again, leaving commuters stuck in traffic for hours on end. But why are Bengaluru's roads so bad? Who is responsible for them? And why is this such a persistent problem?

The Hits and Misses of the Pusa Capsule, the Delhi Government’s Solution to Stubble...

As the Delhi Government pushes the Pusa decomposer as a successful alternative to stubble burning, New Delhi's farmers highlight its hits and misses.

Behind the “Green” Rationale of Evictions

84,000 Indians were forced out of their homes for “ostensible environmental” reasons in 2020, but there may be more at play here than conservation measures.