Unfriendly neighbourhoods

In their rush to meet the housing requirements of cities, planners are turning a blind eye to the quality of the built environment

How cities can cope with climate change-induced floods

Restoring wetlands, mapping flooded areas, reducing emissions from cities will help

Simply Put : Ahmedabad wall

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 

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

Habitat III: the biggest conference you’ve probably never heard of

More than 25,000 delegates will meet in Quito in October to set out a New Urban Agenda for the UN, to be implemented over the next 20 years

Commons: Local bodies must take lead

There is a pronounced lacuna in the governance and regulations of urban commons

Speeding towards ecological catastrophe

Unplanned development

Creating foraging-friendly cities can strengthen people-biodiversity connections

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

A day in a ragpickers’ slum in New Delhi

Ragpickers have remained out of the formal system of employment or benefits, and their condition is getting worse due to alienating policies

The Bulldozer in the Countryside

Imagine an assembly line construction of 17,000 homes on 3,500 acres of land costing US $135 million. Just on the borders of expanding cities. …

Why Chennai floods are a man-made disaster

An analysis shows that in just four decades, urbanisation in the city increased by almost 20 times

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 …

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

3 reasons Jakarta is the fastest sinking city in the world

Scientists say that by 2050, the capital of Indonesia will be entirely submerged

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 …

Don't quit at Quito: Follow the health pulse of the New Urban Agenda

The new report, 'Health as the pulse of new urban agenda', released by the WHO in Quito, has outlined the guiding health principles that should …

New agenda for Africa’s sustainable urbanisation to be adopted at UN meet in Quito

Weak planning of urbanisation is resulting in lost opportunities for growth and transformation for Africa

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