Columns

urban update

Are Indian cities ‘disaster’ ready?

Many recent natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and cyclones have raised concerns over the preparedness of Indian cities to tackle them in an efficient manner to reduce the loss of life and property. The million dollar question is: do our cities have a plan and system to keep citizens safe during disasters…

Cities under Threat

Building safe cities needs a radical surgery of existing urban safety and security mechanism. There is a growing need that local governments improve their safety mechanism to make cities impregnable through traditional ways and means such as
improving intelligence systems and also through enrooting integrated technological tools for crime and conflict prevention

urban update

Of safe cities and governance!

Among the essential conditions for any society to be called developed and modern, an element of safety of its citizens should be of paramount importance. There should be no two opinions about that now

Public, policing go hand in hand

Building a good rapport with the local community is a major challenge for police officials in Indian cities. This is crucial for weaving sturdy safety net of surveillance and policing to nip criminal activities in the bud

Upgrade cities for a greener tomorrow

Making cities energy efficient should be the top priority of governments in all developing countries as it will not only save energy and cut Greenhouse Gas emissions but also improve financial health of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) by cutting down expenditure on their energy bills that burn big holes in the pockets of cash-strapped municipal bodies for a greener tomorrow

Urban mobility in the age of smart cities

The urbanization process impacts the spatial distribution of land uses and travel demand created by the distribution of activities. Therefore it becomes imperative that the mobility of people and goods should be planned appropriately to minimize congestion and other environmental impacts on the cities

urban update

The stars are aligning

Government schemes, local innovations, financial support, and knowledge sharing from multilateral organisations, foreign governments and…

Special Purpose Vehicles to Steer the Mission on smart cities

The Mission on Smart Cities requires the actual programme for each such City to be driven by the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) that would be created in the months to come. There are anxieties as well as hopes about this model of urban development, which is quite unique in many ways, at least for India