Why we should place pedestrians first to create better cities

Apart from pedestrian infrastructure being equitable, continuous, shaded and comfortable, the discourse on pedestrianisation needs to be about …

Will Indian cities again drown this monsoon?

Even moderate rainfall can lead to major flooding in well-planned urban areas despite the presence of storm water drainage system

Urban commons: Need to develop financing framework

Urban commons are mainly dependent on governments, particularly local governments that are more often than not financially weak

Budget by the people

Pune Municipal Corporation has been successfully implementing participatory budgeting since 2005

Here comes the megacities

By 2100, at least 10 cities are predicted to have population over 50 million. How can society keep pace?

Urban commons

Down to Earth reaches out to experts to understand the scope and limitations of reimagining urban commons

Earth day musings: Can this pandemic change the idea of a city?

Post-pandemic, the new normal in our cities need to be more humane and inclusive and urban renewal must be designed on a human scale

Urban commons: Rethink their management

Loss of urban ‘commons’ and ‘communing’ among larger public have a direct impact on the way a city and its society are …

What Nigerian cities can learn from the rest of the world

The rapid rate of urban population growth, fuelled by massive rural to urban migration, has overwhelmed public sector resources in the country

Road to cool cities: Codes based on unique ‘urban form’ can be helpful

Urban India is a heat trap, but road orientation, building materials and zone-specific master plans can drastically enhance thermal comfort

Bihar plans policy change to push urbanisation

The state government has prepared a draft seeking changes to ‘old criteria’ for notifying semi-urban or rural area as urban 

Creating foraging-friendly cities can strengthen people-biodiversity connections

Urban foraging can help solve food crisis by changing how we eat

Transit-oriented development is a step towards a more liveable tomorrow

Transition to greener, more sustainable cities will require a lot of change managers other than architects

Maharashtra expands EV subsidies — but with a deadline

The revised EV policy aims to realise the state’s ambition to have 10% EVs among new vehicle registrations by 2025

Urban commons: Almost ignored in city planning

Commons act as a nutritional buffer, safety net for migrants; middle-class, wealthy residents no less dependent

Aarey's Chipko moment

The plan to clear Mumbai's last green cover is facing stiff resistance from citizens and non-profits

Murky science of comfort part 3: Industry defined standards make us feel uncomfortable without ACs

The Heat, Ventilation and Air Conditioning industry has made sure that we get used to heating and cooling appliances by setting arbitrary …

Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (July 14, 2022)

Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal

If sanitation is treated as a community problem, we can make something happen for very little money

Just like a better iPhone is not the solution to poor telecom connectivity, sanitation cannot be solved by a smart, well-designed product, sold …

Why rapid urbanisation in peri-urban areas is a concern for Chandigarh

 Kharar, an urban settlement in Chandigarh, is witness to fast-track development in the past few years

Niti Aayog’s new strategy: A call for growth or acceptance of failure

Celebrating India's 75th year of Independence is a matter of pride, but achieving a "New India" needs more than a textual articulation

In Telangana’s Badanpet, a dumpsite turns into a rock garden, nursery

As of now, this nursery is self-reliant in supplying saplings for horticultural purposes, park development, road median development, greening and …

36 per cent cities to face water crisis by 2050

An estimated 400 million people currently live in cities with perennial water shortage. The number is slated to go up to 1 billion by 2050 due to …

When Indian women negotiate with local authorities to improve their lives in a slum

Women in a settlement in the north-eastern peri-urban part of Indore learnt that gentle, perseverant negotiation was the best way forward

Here are some measures to upscale Delhi’s flood resilience

Climate-resilient designs and infrastructure can enhance the city’s capacity to withstand extreme weather events