Question Of Cities

Question Of Cities We ask the difficult questions about cities and seek answers.

Can humans truly build a forest with a few native species and art-themed woodlands has been the lingering question since...
05/08/2026

Can humans truly build a forest with a few native species and art-themed woodlands has been the lingering question since the first of the 70 lakh saplings were planted this month in the Central Ridge.

Restoration plans should have furthered the idea of ecological coherence; they show anything but coherence and, in fact, they violate key environmental laws including the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

In 1989, open forest and scrub areas comprised 77.5 percent; by 2020, these had shrunk to 33.4 percent while the built-up area had doubled from 6.6 percent to almost 12 percent.

The restoration plans include removing the invasive species and planting native ones but environmentalists like Pradip Krishen say the latter are not a part of the ecosystem of the Ridge.
Ecologically-sound restoration, experts say, would be the revival of a functioning ecosystem, not just planting a set of trees, an ecosystem that brings out the complex relationship between species, writes Ankita Dhar Karmakar

Read the full report through the link in bio.

[Delhi ridge, central ridge, invasive species, vilayati kikar, jamun, mango, dhau, aravallis, mangar bani, ecology, environment]

Amid the transformation in cities, a question steadily crowded out is what happens to the ecological systems when urban ...
03/08/2026

Amid the transformation in cities, a question steadily crowded out is what happens to the ecological systems when urban land is treated primarily as a surface for construction.

Urban tree canopies, water bodies and wetlands, green spaces and corridors are not even acknowledged, let alone counted, in project feasibility reports and hardly appear as line items in a Smart City budget.

Ecological systems take decades to develop and, when disrupted, do not simply reset or cannot be replicated. Nature-positive models also carry economic returns.

If urban ecological systems were classified as infrastructure — which functionally they are — they would be subject to different protections, different accounting, and different political weight.

Building with nature calls for mandatory ecological baseline assessments, documenting biodiversity and hydrology of sites before projects are undertaken, biodiversity-sensitive design standards, ecosystem services valuation in project appraisals, and community involvement, but the most important is political will.

Read the full essay by independent researcher, Dr Sanchi Singh through the link in bio.

All illustrations by Nikeita Saraf

www.questionofcities.org

[Built environment, nature, ecology, planning, urban design, bengaluru]

The recent Kalladi landslide showed that, like fear after the Choolarmala landslides two years ago, key questions too di...
30/07/2026

The recent Kalladi landslide showed that, like fear after the Choolarmala landslides two years ago, key questions too did not fade. Just how much cutting, tunnelling and construction can these mountains absorb, how much engineering intrusion is too much?

The landslide is unlikely to bring the Rs 2,134-crore twin tunnel project to a close but it should focus on the impact of projects on the sustainability of the fragile mountain landscape at a time of rapid climatic change.

The debate can no longer be whether Wayanad needs roads and other infrastructure but whether these can be planned without accounting for the fact that the mountain landscapes are living ecosystems.

The reimagined development paradigm must factor in ecological truths that healthy slopes reduce landslide risks and only stable mountain ecosystems can continue to support tourism, and change the very system of evaluating projects for their cumulative impact on the landscape.

Read the full essay by KA Shaji, through the link in bio.

www.questionofcities.org

[Wayanad, kerala floods, development, mountains, choolarmala landslides]

For climate adaptation to move from crisis management to a transformative rethinking of urban life, the three loops of l...
27/07/2026

For climate adaptation to move from crisis management to a transformative rethinking of urban life, the three loops of learning framework – improving immediate responses, questioning planning assumptions to integrate ecology, and building adaptive co-management – is useful.

Bengaluru’s floods and responses show a repeated cycle: Ecological damage increases flood risk and floods trigger new engineering projects. The need is to focus on the rules and assumptions that shape its development, among other steps.

Chennai, a coastal city, cannot be governed through rigid engineering alone because coastlines, tides, rainfall systems are inherently dynamic. Integrating ecology into plans and adaptive co-management would make climate responses equitable.

Delhi’s Heat Action Plans can embed climate adaptation directly into land-use regulation, housing policy, transport planning and public health systems, besides institutional coordination, learning from local knowledge, inviting community participation in mapping and so on, write Dr Arvind Lakshmisha and Dr Harini Nagendra

Read the full essay through the link in bio

Illustrations by Nikeita Saraf

www.questionofcities.org

[Three loops, environmental journalism, built environment, City planning, delhi heat action plan]

26/07/2026

Jantar Mantar was the capital's designated protest site where the action used to be neatly tucked away behind barricades, under careful police watch. Groups of protesters would arrive here with placards and banners, and with police permission, occupy some space for a fixed duration. If the very purpose of protests is to signal something significant to those in power, then that does not happen.

The past month's CJP protests have shattered that narrative. The space was truly transformed to become a microcosm of a self-sustaining world - people, volunteered, citizens, everyone joined hands to make sure the space kept functioning despite brutal police crackdown.

Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned now, and the protest, called off. Yet, it remains to be seen, how this public memory of Jantar Mantar influences future protests here, and in other spaces of the city, reports Ankita Dhar Karmakar

www.questionofcities.org

[Sansad march, cjp protest, jantar mantar, Dharmendra pradhan, pradhan resigns, cockroach janta party, cjp, NEET, paper leak]

When luxury hotels are planned near Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, a UNESCO world heritage site, or ...
25/07/2026

When luxury hotels are planned near Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, a UNESCO world heritage site, or a twin tunnel directly beneath Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park, it shows a complete disregard for nature, for the interdependent web of ecology, and its vast and complex ecosystems. As India develops and redevelops cities, at the cost of their natural wealth that remains unmapped, the urgent need is to reflect on the relationship between the built environment and ecology. Planners and governments either ignore it or feign concern. Only a few follow the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous words  “I follow in building the principles which nature has used in its domain”. 

In this second edition of the series exploring the built environment, drawn from the impressive submissions received in response to the Call for Papers by Question of Cities, there are observations, reflections, discussions, suggestions, and reportage on the theme.

Read all the essays through the link in bio.

All illustrations by Nikeita Saraf

www.questionofcities.org

[Built environment, cityplanning, ecology, urbanism, urban nature]

The way cities are planned and built reveals a disconnect and inequity in how they treat the marginalised, the informal ...
24/07/2026

The way cities are planned and built reveals a disconnect and inequity in how they treat the marginalised, the informal workers, women and children, many of whom bear the brunt of the extreme weather conditions.

“When a city doesn’t plan with women and children as important elements, it doesn’t get built to accommodate their lives even though women constitute 50 percent of the population,” says Dr Nandita Shah, co-founder of Akshara Centre (Nandita Shah)

It is the same story for informal settlements and people with informal livelihoods which are “invisible in planning documents…Delhi’s informal settlements are not even properly mapped in the Master Plan,” says urban practitioner Aravind Unni (Aravind Unni)

“Build community centres, public spaces, and programmes for children and women as non-negotiables. Play and open usable spaces are not something you inherit because you come from money, it should be a basic right for all,” suggests Natasha Sharma, co-founder and festival director of Govandi Arts Festival in Mumbai. (Natasha Sharma)

In this multi-header interview, Question of Cities speaks to Dr Nandita Shah on how gender concerns can reflect better in urban planning; Aravind Unni on why it is imperative to plan for informal livelihoods and informal settlements; and Natasha Sharma on the need to include children and spaces for them in urban plans.

Read the full interview through the link in bio.

The narrow streets, winding lanes, and intimate localities were once the social spaces at the threshold of public and pr...
22/07/2026

The narrow streets, winding lanes, and intimate localities were once the social spaces at the threshold of public and private life. Beyond nostalgia, their rapid erasure or deliberate destruction must be reflected upon. The aangan (courtyard) and kotha (terrace), for instance, with intimate open spaces, carried family or group associations and social relevance. Many have been immortalised in songs and sayings.The mohalla (neighbourhood) wielded invisible control over young women by older women and men but was also an extended kin group with obligations and responsibilities. As spaces in our cities become homogenous, flattened, devoid of social meaning or significance, focused on their productive capacity, planners and architects must recognise and reflect the threshold social spaces in their designs.

Read the full essay by Dr Indra Munshi through the link in bio.

www.questionofcities.org

Illustrations: venkatesh varada

[Public commons, aangan, kotha, gali, urban planning, City planning]

Modern architecture has become mesmerised by the skyline and silhouette, and forgotten the human scale, the intimate two...
16/07/2026

Modern architecture has become mesmerised by the skyline and silhouette, and forgotten the human scale, the intimate two metres at which people experience the building.

Bandra Kurla Complex, among similar areas, show the now default typology of blank podium towers, buildings with unbroken walls or reflective glass facades at street level, disjointed public spaces, and absence of street life all of which offer nothing to passersby.

Mumbai knew how to build as a civic act, for people. Kala Ghoda was an example till it became an exclusive curated space but Ballard Estate and Shivaji Park show how it was done.

If Tokyo, Singapore and European cities can build so that shade, shelter, and porosity are not just design preferences but civic obligations, mandated by rules, there is no reason Mumbai cannot.

Read the full essay by Jalaja Amonkar through the link in bio.

www.questionofcities.org

All illustrations by Nikeita Saraf

[Cities, planning ,urban planning, kala ghoda, bkc, Mumbai, shivaji park, urban design]

The abysmal living conditions and perpetual stress for millions in cities like Mumbai are not accidental but the intende...
14/07/2026

The abysmal living conditions and perpetual stress for millions in cities like Mumbai are not accidental but the intended outcome of planning that’s increasingly skewed towards exclusive city-making and profiteering.

The prevailing approach to planning has manufactured social and ecological crises—and continues them. It undermines the larger perspective and purpose of planning and judges “development” by a few multi-crore projects.

The way forward is to initiate planning by recognising and integrating all the existing realities of people, places, geography of the land, natural areas, and make planning an open and participatory exercise.

Land use equity and the idea of land as a common property resource, not to be privatised under any pretext, should be at the heart of land use plans.

Spatial planning done on these principles would support and facilitate the achievement of multiple rights for all, and make planning an exercise for millions to reclaim rights.

Read the full essay by urban planner, architect and activist PK Das (PKDA Architects) through the link in bio.

All illustrations by Nikeita Saraf.

www.questionofcities.org

[spatial planning, urban planning, urban design, city planning, built environment]

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