This story originally appeared in the September 2011 edition of the Searchlight South Asia newsletter created by Intellecap for the Rockefeller Foundation.

By Nisha Kumar Kulkarni

Over the last two decades, alongside the story of India’s impressive economic growth is the story of its urbanization. Average economic growth has been 6-7% per annum over the last 20 years. Urban centers like Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai have seen their industry and populations explode to new highs, placing tremendous strain on existing systems and infrastructure. The story of urban India’s success, though, seems skewed: media reports and research make allusions to the notion that South Indian cities have handled urbanization more successfully when compared to their northern counterparts. Is this indeed the case? And if yes, why so? » Continue reading “Regional Trends in Urbanization”

Dear Reader,

Cities are complex, organic things, each one with its own energy, identity, character even.  That is partly because since early civilization, the diverse populations of cities have made them hubs of industry, commerce and innovation.

But as they have proliferated, so have the challenges in ensuring a decent quality of life for urban residents. Today, rapid urbanization has created a host of problems that need urgent and innovative solutions that will provide all denizens the proverbial trifecta of urban need: roti, kapd aur makaan (food, clothing and shelter).

But the solutions no longer rest with a single entity, such as the government, the private sector or civil society. Increasingly a coalition of innovators, researchers and executors are collaborating to address myriad urban issues. » Continue reading “Urbanscape: New Challenges, Newer Solutions”

This story originally appeared in our May 19th, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to subscribe

Although today’s cities face many challenges, they also posses the potential to be socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable and economically thriving.

By Prathima Manohar

The 21st century is the age of cities. Earlier this decade, we reached a historic milestone when over 50% of humanity started living in cities. Urbanization may be at the heart of some of the world’s most pressing problems today from climate change to poverty, but if leveraged appropriately, urbanization can be at the heart of the solutions. Cities can offer a remarkable way to create a socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable and economically thriving society.

In the coming years, policymakers face difficult challenges of balancing environmental concerns, promoting robust economic growth, safeguarding social justice, as well as ensuring good quality of life. Clearly, cities are complex systems and we need to embrace a wide variety of innovative strategies at macro and micro levels to bring alive the visions of the ideal city that is green, equitable, vibrant and pleasant. But the principles of urban planning based on dense, walkable, mass transit driven, mixed use communities integrated with high performance buildings and infrastructure can lead to transformative change. » Continue reading “Socially Inclusive Cities”

Saiban Office, Karachi

About forty-five minutes from the city center of Karachi, the land starts to stretch into a flat field of dust. The Karachi wind is strong, and if you turn your head the wrong way at the wrong time, you’ll get a mouthful of sand. Plastic bags from a nearby landfill get caught in the shrubs creating ugly fake plastic trees. Of late, this land is being snatched up by Karachi’s land gangsters: land mafia, land suppliers, middlemen, and illegal sub-dividers.  But, years ago, before anyone wanted this land, a man named Tasneem Siddiqui envisioned this as a field of dreams and staked his claim.

Siddiqui is the founder of Saiban, a housing development organization targeting the low-income population. Here in this dusty expanse, Saiban has created a township of 2,800 houses. This settlement is a unique joint venture between the government, who gave the land, and Saiban, who took on the onus of developing it for the low-income segment. In return, Saiban got 100 extra plots to sell at market rate, which serves as a revolving kitty for the project.

In the last issue of Beyond Profit, we published an article called What’s Wrong with Being Poor. As I toured the settlement, I thought of that question, and came back with the answer. I was looking at it. » Continue reading “The Other Side of Pakistan: A Room of One’s Own”