Blogs By Our Fellows

Over the past few months, I have been focusing on water governance—not just as an enabler of growth but as the very center of sustainable urban planning. The challenge is to make water management actionable for all stakeholders. A simple Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) Calculator helps estimate how much rainwater a building or institution can capture, […]

“Smart cities promise efficiency, but can they also promise safety? For women, technology could be both a shield and a barrier.” Urban planning and policy debates in India increasingly talk about “smart cities.” The promise is simple: technology can make our cities more efficient, more responsive, and more connected. But for women navigating public spaces, […]

Harnessing Rainwater to Secure India’s Urban Future: Industry’s Role and a Calculator’s Impact As I stand on my balcony in Gurugram, watching the monsoon rains drench the city yet leave water shortages unresolved, I reflect on the past months that I’ve spent grappling with India’s water security challenges. With a background in sustainable urban planning, […]

Urban planning shapes how people live, yet those who design our cities rarely reflect their full diversity. While women now make up over half of students in architecture and planning courses in India, they remain underrepresented in leadership and technical roles. This gap is rooted in history. Urban planning in India was formalised in colonial […]

What happens when participation isn’t symbolic, but structural? In the climate conversation, we often hear who suffers first or suffers most. But often left out and equally important is who responds first and how. The burden of climate disruption has long been heavier on the margins: low-income neighbourhoods, informal workers, vulnerable geographies. But what if […]

The signs of climate disruption in cities are no longer abstract. We have seen how Bengaluru experiences this crisis; unevenly, and often through gaps in governance, funding, and execution. We’ve also been familiar with how climate action hinges not just on what’s planned, but on who carries it, and how long they stay with it. […]