Category Archives: Equity in Planning

Taming street-people: India’s grand civilizational project

Posted on July 18, 2011 by

A status message by a friend on Facebook has had me thinking for many weeks now. He wrote: Ranchi is an amazing city. In my first 30 minutes there, two schoolchildren, one bike rider and a goat tried to kill … Continue reading →

Posted in Car-free streets, Equity in Planning, Indian National Movement, Mumbai, Planning History, Ranchi, Safety, Skywalk, social spaces, Street Vendors, Suburban Rail | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

The real failure of Delhi’s Commonwealth Games

Posted on October 1, 2010 by

Squatter settlements being hidden by Commonwealth Games boards (source: India Together) The past week has been brutal for Delhi’s Commonwealth Games, which is due to begin in a few days. BBC reported poor living facilities and unhygienic restrooms. Time.com ridiculed … Continue reading →

Posted in commonwealth games, Delhi, Equity in Planning, homeless persons, Needs of the poor | 10 Comments

Metros and social justice: the case of Mumbai

Posted on September 5, 2010 by

Amitabh Bachchan, the famous Bollywood actor, recently stirred up a controversy when he complained in his blog about the intrusion of his privacy due to the construction of the Mumbai Metro near his mansion “Prateeksha” in Juhu. The city responded … Continue reading →

Posted in Equity in Planning, Metro, Mumbai, Rehabilitation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Transportation in the United States: An open letter to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra

Posted on July 21, 2010 by

Mr. Chavan, USA is just beginning to realize that there are big flaws in the way it has planned its transportation infrastructure. These mistakes have resulted in huge petroleum imports that drain USA’s exchequer, in a greenhouse gas footprint that threatens the survival of the human species, in an infrastructure demand that helps no one but the contractors who build the infrastructure, and in the all-round destruction of America’s oldest cities. That is the “world-class” transportation infrastructure that you seek to emulate. Continue reading →

Posted in Bike-renting, Bus Rapid Transit, Buses, Car-free streets, Congestion Taxes, Cycle lanes, Cycling needs, Equity in Planning, Footpaths, Governance, Highways, How do cities work?, Land-use Planning, Mumbai, Needs Assessment, Needs of the poor, Participatory Planning, Pedestrian Needs, Planning in Context, Suburban Rail, Suburbs, Transportation Planning, United States | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 50 Comments

Book Review – Slumming India: A chronicle of slums and their saviours

Posted on July 20, 2010 by

Slumming India by Gita Dewan Verma is an attempt to make sense of some of the most baffling conflicts surrounding urban slums in the 1990s and early 2000s. In such issues, the maze of allegations and counter-allegations is incredibly deceptive, and even intelligent people are prone to losing track. Verma tries – and arguably succeeds – in untangling the strands and providing the reader with some clarity on the subject. Employing Orwellian satire and Chomskyian matter-of-factness in equal measure, Verma weaves an intricate pattern that explains how, despite more than half a century of planning in India, slums have thrived, feeding on the despair of their residents. Continue reading →

Posted in Delhi, Equity in Planning, In situ development, Indore, Master Plans, Planning History, Sites and services model, Slums | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment