In the wake of the notorious gang rape of a young woman in Delhi, and in the run-up to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York, 4-15 March 2013, today we launch a series of articles focused on how we can eliminate violence against women and girls in our cities, produced in collaboration with the Huairou Commission, as part of their Global Day of Action for Safer Cities.
Mukta Naik describes how urbanists, activists and authorities have made the most of each others' expertise after recent crimes in Delhi and Gurgaon.
From Western rules of thumb about the affordability of mortgages to an obsession with high-rise private sector developments, India's approach to affordable housing is full of hopelessly outdated assumptions.
Despite contributing to key export sectors of India's economy, all levels of government seem to conspire to overlook the needs of Gurgaon's migrant workers.
Despite claims of lack of accountability and transparency on both sides, NGOs and governments need to learn to trust each other lest basic services for the urban poor continue to go undeveloped.
While Delhi turns its back on ragpickers by contracting out its solid waste management, Pune has successfully integrated its ragpickers into a formal workforce.
While governments remain focused on economic indicators and the image a city projects, writers who wish to remain egalitarian must discount both of these in favour of the basic needs of all people.
Mukta Naik is an architect and urban planner, working with Delhi-based micro Home Solutions. She is currently a Fellow with the Future Institute and…
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The Global Urbanist is an online magazine reviewing urban affairs and urban development issues in cities throughout the developed and developing world.
Its readers are drawn from the urban policy and international development sectors, and include urban planners, officers in local, national or international government agencies, civil society leaders, and researchers.
