Urban development in the 12th Plan: Who's in? Who's out
It seems likely that the 12th Plan will also incorporate the same old gendered assumptions that have effectively invisibilised women -- particularly working class women -- from urban policies in India, writes Kalyani Menon-Sen
The ground beneath their feet: Housing rights and resettlement in Delhi
Kalyani Menon-Sen tells the story of resettlement of basti residents in Delhi, a story of grandiose rhetoric in policy documents and diminishing entitlements on the ground
Decadal journeys: Debt and despair spur urban growth
Census 2011, which reports a higher growth of urban population than rural as millions give up farming, does not record footloose migration, which drives desperate people to search for work in multiple directions with no clear destination. This is a giant drama that we have not even begun to measure, says P Sainath
The exodus from rural India
For the first time since 1921, India's urban population has increased more than the rural. In 1921, influenza left its fatal imprint on the enumeration. The 2011 Census speaks of another tragedy: the collapse of millions of livelihoods in agriculture and related occupations. And the ongoing, despair-driven exodus that this has sparked in the countryside, writes P Sainath
Swept off the map
A new book, based on a study of 2,577 households from Yamuna Pushta two years after they had been moved to Bawana in the outskirts of Delhi, documents the devastating impact of urban displacement. The study found that displacement significantly raised both unemployment and dropout rates from schools
A tale of two cities
It's London, not Shanghai, that we in India should be emulating. London is emerging as the world's foremost global city
The high-rise hang-up
By 2020, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region is estimated to have 28.5 million people, more than even Tokyo. By 2050, it may have as many as 40 million. Unfortunately, Mumbai's architects and urban planners are obsessed with building taller and faster, not with the footprint of cities, or open spaces and partnerships between classes and communities
Turning mill land to mall land
The Supreme Court's recent verdict on the sale of mill lands in Mumbai has implications for the future development of all cities in India, and the redevelopment of derelict industrial lands in other cities
McKinsey's Mumbai
What happens when top honchos of companies and international consulting firms decide how cities should be managed? You get thousands of crores in public funds spent to meet the needs of 125,000 of Mumbai's motorised elite
Living and dead monuments
Mumbai's Victoria Terminus has been declared a World Heritage Site, joining the ranks of the Taj Mahal and Ajanta/Ellora. But VT as a monument has over 3 million commuters passing through it every day. That is a great danger, for unless people are aware of the heritage in their midst, it is hard to preserve it