Development handcuffed

Court questions sealing relief law

UNCERTAINTY prevails over the law the government has been using to legalise illegal constructions in Delhi. In December 2011, the Supreme Court had taken cognizance of the law and asked the government to explain how it adheres to the Masterplan for Delhi, 2021. The hearing scheduled for March 13 did not take place. The new date has not been scheduled yet.

Real estate: Market happy, but civil society finds it lacking

With schemes to improve housing for the urban poor, this year’s Budget has been largely hailed as real-estate friendly.

Dharavi's real estate threat

Poised on the northern edge of south Mumbai is a piece of real estate developers would love to get their hands on. Rubbing shoulders with upmarket Bandra, Dharavi is known as Asia's largest slum, but it's actually much more than that--it's a settlement in which people live and work, producing a wide array of goods and services. The government's plan to 'redevelop' Dharavi is threatening a huge number of livelihoods.

Owning the road

When roads become an extension of living rooms

High on skyscrapers

In 2009, the world’s urban population outstripped rural population for the first time. This demographic landmark has drawn mixed reactions from thinkers, policy makers and activists.

Will future cities be friendly?

It is rather naive to delink urbanisation from the rising lifestyle aspirations and the imperatives of economic development. Opportunities, power and prestige are some of the irresistible attributes of the growing urban centres which attract migrants on a large scale. In India economic liberalisation and urbanisation have become complimentary to each other. Although the wave of urbanisation is sweeping the entire Asian subcontinent and giving it the kind of preeminence that Europe and North America enjoyed due to their industrial socio-economic set up, it is India and China which are drawing attention. It is estimated that by 2025 around 2.5 billion Asians will turn city dwellers which will be nearly 54 per cent of the world’s urban population.

Slums as self-confrontation

Many see slums as failed parts of cities. They are regarded as parts of a city that do not conform to ruling ideas of an ideal city held by people in other parts of the city. There have been some changes in the way people have looked at slums ever since colonial cities emerged.

Skyscrapers rise on lakebed

The promoters of South City, Kolkata’s tallest housing complex comprising four 35-storey towers, have sought clearance for a fifth tower. This triggered a fresh round of protests; residents and activists said the towers flout environmental norms.

Builder-driven housing schemes are a risk

P S N RAO, head of housing department at the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, spoke to DOWN TO EARTH on the shortcomings of the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY)   On the housing scheme