Question of Cities

The post-independence new towns in India are similar in their design concepts. These industrial towns were designed with a clear demarcation of residential sectors according to an official hierarchy, a classic example of ‘rubber stamp’ planning. The implementation of these plans had to be fast and efficient. Reference to the rich urban design of Indian cities was never considered as a guiding factor.

On weekends, and sometimes even on weekdays, Gujarati Street in Kozhikode looks different and crowded. Even its entry, characterised by wall art, refurbished buildings, and beautifully curated storefronts, contrasts sharply with the other beachfront streets with an almost “European-style” appearance, according to an entrepreneur who runs an artisanal textile store in the street.

On June 5, 2026, children in Lallubhai Compound, a Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) colony in Mankhurd, Mumbai, celebrated World Environment Day in Indradhanush (Rainbow) Garden[1], a 13,000 square feet greened, open space which they co-designed and are the caretakers and users of since 2023.

Santosh is a gig worker on his way to deliver an early evening snack order from a restaurant in Bengaluru’s Indiranagar to a business park in Domlur, roughly 2.5 kilometres between them. Traffic is backed up but inching forward, egged on by impatient honks and exasperated sighs of exhaust fumes fill the air. Santosh feels that everyone is desperately trying to run away. He would too, if he could but ‘paapi pet ka sawaal hai’. It’s a good thing, this traffic, around these gated buildings.

“I can never understand an architect who designs 500 houses all exactly the same. It doesn’t take much to put all the components into at least half a dozen other combinations.” These words by British-born Indian architect Laurie Baker hold true when looking at high-rise residential buildings and apartments. A pioneer of sustainable, low-cost housing. Baker was known as the “architect of the poor”. His low cost, energy efficient architecture infused soul into buildings.

On June 5, 2026, children in Lallubhai Compound, a Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) colony in Mankhurd, Mumbai, celebrated World Environment Day in Indradhanush (Rainbow) Garden[1], a 13,000 square feet greened, open space which they co-designed and are the caretakers and users of since 2023.

As a child growing up in Nagpur, the city’s lakes were its breath. A day out at Ambazari or Futala lakes was an event. Relatives who lived in the vicinity made it special. Down by the water, the air felt cooler. The dense tree cover offered protective shade. We lounged around for hours despite the heat, throwing specks of food to the fish, watching birds in rhythm, and munching on packed lunches. Years later, I returned here as a researcher.

Rome had its famous seven hills, marble aqueducts, and epics. Shimla has seven hills, timber, Mall Road, and the legacy of the British summer capital with promenades and curated views. Over decades, Shimla acquired an urban ego too. People and businesses flocked. The town’s skyline was improvised – hotels on cliffs, apartment blocks stacked like Lego sets, and floors hastily added to both. Shimla now looks less British, more Jenga, especially along the Mall and the Ridge.

In June 2019, Chennai’s four principal reservoirs – Poondi, Chembarambakkam, Red Hills and Cholavaram – were nearly empty https://india.mongabay.com/2019/06/chennai-water-crisis-once-again-exposes-the-citys-climate-vulnerability/. A city of over ten million people found itself confronting an unprecedented water crisis. Hotels were shut, offices transitioned to work-from-home, and many neighbourhoods waited weeks for municipal water tankers, paving the way for a thriving private tanker market.

Resham Mehta and Rama Raghavan The relationship between land and water in cities is not fixed. Acknowledging the true nature of rivers not as fixed channels but as dynamic systems constantly in flux, moulding the landscapes they flow through and getting reshaped, is the starting point of sustainable and sensitive urban river management. Overlooking or disregarding this nature of the relationship is an invitation to disaster.