Blog Posts: Cities

At the current rate of urbanisation and industrial growth in the country, India will need a 32 feet high landfill site equivalent to the size of Bengaluru to manage its waste. According to the World Bank, in 2010, India was generating approximately 1.1 lakh tonnes of waste every day, and with the consequent increase in waste production, this number is expected to triple by...

Air pollution has become a critical issue in many developing countries lately. The issue has received a lot of media attention, especially since it is responsible for premature deaths and other health issues. However, what hasn’t been highlighted much is that air pollution has economic consequences too. The delay of goods and passenger trains, flights and freight during winter in Delhi due to haze is a straightforward example of how air pollution is affecting our economy. In India, air pollution was responsible for the...

This blog post originally appeared in TheCityFix.

In too many cities today we see a stark dichotomy. On one side we have enclaves for the rich and powerful, full of luxuries and amenities, and access to the bounties of a globalized world. On the other, there are the disempowered and poor, slumdwellers, and recent migrants, who lack even the most basic services.

But we are also seeing new social and political movements to press back against these trends...

India is urbanising at a rapid pace and there is extensive and increasing demand for services like housing, water, sanitation, energy, and mobility. Recent reports on the state of water and energy...

This blog post originally appeared in TheCityFix.

Imagine a city where roads that are normally clogged with traffic and clouded with smog are instead filled with people – rich and poor, young and old, men and women, all laughing, dancing, watching their children play, cycling Raahgand skating without fear of being run over. Yes, that’s what happened on November 17, 2013, when four and half kilometers of roads around the Galleria Market in Gurugram, India...

Imagine a government official working in an Indian state overwhelmed by a multitude of pressing concerns – solid waste burning, water contamination, air pollution. Tracking greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has not been her top priority. And then she gets tasked with generating a climate action plan.

But how can she get started on a plan that will have real impact in the absence of the granular data on GHG emissions from her state? She may not know how many vehicles are on the road (purview of the transport department) or how much solid waste is being generated (overseen by the...

This blog post originally appeared in TheCityFix.

If you drive out of New Delhi west along National Highway 48, you will find yourself reaching a small district in Haryana state named Jhajjar. Just 50 miles from the national capital, its demographic contrast is unmistakable. The bustle and density of New Delhi fades, replaced by agriculture and scattered industry. The population of the district is just 1 million. Jhajjar city has about 50,...

This blog post originally appeared in TheCityFix.

In 2013, the world’s cities accounted for 64 percent of primary energy use and 70 percent of CO2 emissions. Energy use in buildings is the second largest contributor (after transport) to urban GHG emissions and to urban heat islands. Emissions reductions programs for buildings, then, could bring deep decarbonization to cities and other benefits to boot, like lower energy costs....

This blog post originally appeared in TheCityFix.

As today’s urban areas house more than half the world’s population and produce more than...

For some time now, there has been an ongoing tussle between the Government of Delhi and the National Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs about increasing fares for the Delhi metro. Under the existing law, a fare fixation committee reviews the fares for the Delhi metro and periodically suggest revisions. This committee is an apolitical body, includes representatives from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Delhi government and is, typically, chaired by a retired judge. It considers the operating costs, possible revenues at different fare levels, and then makes...