Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Gurgaon is Haryana’s largest city and is located 30 kilometers south of Delhi. Over the past 25 years the city has grown to become an icon of ‘urban India’. Most Continue reading →

In the moment of mass hawker evictions in Mumbai, a few thoughts.

Last week the city of Mumbai successfully evicted 4500 hawkers from its streets. The streets looked cleaner, pedestrians seemed happier, and residents rejoiced. “A special squad has been formed to Continue reading →

Eco-Villages: Few thoughts

With increasing pressure on countries for reducing carbon emissions and building for climate resilience new practices and models of development are seen emerging. One of them, is the idea of ‘eco-villages’. Bringing Continue reading →

Green-Washing Mumbai: Part 2

As described in my previous post, the Open-Mumbai exhibition demonstrated a plethora of possibilities of greening the city and programming unused or seemingly neglected areas of the city for ‘public Continue reading →

Green-Washing Mumbai: Part 1

Taking a slight segue from the general narrative on our blog, I would like to introduce an extremely interesting phenomenon that is currently taking shape in Mumbai- articulating the need Continue reading →

The Cycle of Evictions and Re-locations: PART 3

The previous posts (PART 1 and PART 2) laid out the context within which the spectacle of the Commonwealth games took place; however, the spectacular nature of evictions as well Continue reading →

The Games and Beyond—Visions and Compromises: PART 2

See PART 1 The winning bid for the XIX Commonwealth Games quoted in 2003 was Rs. 1,899 crore (420 mi USD) for the successful planning and execution of the games. Continue reading →

Commonwealth Games 2010, New Delhi, India: PART 1

Urban and rural developments in India have heavily impacted the lives of the poor by facilitating economic growth and global competition, and in the bargain producing large populations of displaced Continue reading →

Are There Many “Informalities”? Reflections from my past work…

As part of a one-year research fellowship, at the Kamla Raheja Vidhyanidhi Institute for Architecture, I studied processes of urban development and land acquisition in Mumbai, through the academic year Continue reading →

Occupy Everything! :: Urban Informality as a Form of Protest

It would be a missed opportunity not to extend this space, and discussion around urban informality in various cities around the world, to the recent sites of ‘occupation’ in the Continue reading →

On Migrations and Displacements

Intro Post by  Lubaina Rangwala [The above image is part of a photo essay titled “We Who Built Your Games”, featured in the October 9th, 2010, issue of the Tehelka. Continue reading →