URBIZEN

The Government is making massive efforts to set the ball rolling on the Smart Cities program in India. ULBs are gearing up and creating SPVs and hiring consultants to make their pitch, and access the funds. Much seems to be happening in the background. Self-proclaimed "Smart City Gurus" seem to have sprung out of nowhere, and others are clamoring to get into the scene. International consultants, IT companies and Management wallahs have all jumped onto the bandwagon to make Indian cities "Smart". But if you ask the man on the street about "Smart Cities", he will either give you a blank stare or utter something which is merely an aspect of the concept of Smart Cities. And you will experience the same reaction when conversing with a qualified Architect, Urban Planner or Urban Designer. That, or you might end up in an endless, pointless debate. The point is, in all this brouhaha where does the common-man-on-the-street fit in? Is he a part of this wav...

Urban transformation may not always be "effort-time-money-intensive". Eric Reynolds (of Urban Space Management) mentions about the "Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper" solutions that can be applied to urban spaces. This signals a bottom-up approach to urban issues rather than the top-down traditional approach. Even small urban interventions carried out with minimum resources can improve the livability and image of an urban space and transform it into a "place". Most of these interventions are small-scale, temporary and address an immediate issue at a neighborhood level. More often than not, these are community initiatives for the sole aim of improving their immediate environments. 'Parklets', street painting, wall murals, "happy streets" etc. are all examples of these "Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper" interventions which fall under the umbrella term of "Tactical Urbanism". It is also referred to as guerilla urbanism, po...

Affordable Housing is one of the most important issues for Mumbai's development. due to its complex and dynamic nature it is a big challenge for the Government, urban planner and all stakeholders. In Mumbai, approximately 42% of the people live in slums and about 57% households live in one-room tenements, with 9 out of 24 wards with more than 50% slum population. (Census 2011) Affordability is a relative concept. It means different things to different people. But then how do we define Affordability? A high-level Task Force on Affordable Housing for All, set up by the Government of India in 2008, and headed by Deepak Parekh, has put forth the following definition of affordable housing: (http://www.naredco.in/pdfs/report-high-level-task.pdf) For EWS/ LIG: ≤ 4 years of income or EMI/ Rent ≤ 30% of gross monthly income For MIG: ≤ 5 years income or EMI/ Rent ≤ 40% of gross monthly income Currently the two approaches being adopted to address the issue of affordable housi...