Urban Design Collective
Community Engagement
“Your Fly Is Down!!!” – That & Other Important Things You Should Know While Teaching A Class…
Teaching is a weird thing to do. Especially at the collegiate level, where one must nonchalantly address a mass of humanity that you cannot identify and that barely recognises you a member of it’s own species. To do this is daunting enough; but to do it well is almost impossible. Nonetheless an increasing number of … Continue reading
Participatory Planning Around the World: Part 3 of 3
In order to have a coherent ecosystem, there needs to be porosity in the interactions between different communities. You know city planning is moving in the right direction when the immediate challenges of the locals are addressed, by understanding them at a grass root level. Planners are experts in design with technical knowledge. Citizens are … Continue reading
Building Capacity for Participation: Part 2 of 3
In our previous post about the challenges to public participation in Indian cities, we included an image describing five types of public participation for city building. Over the years, with our determination to bring participatory planning into the mainstream, the UDC team has taken on projects that exist throughout this spectrum of participatory modes, tackling numerous … Continue reading
Is collaborative city building the new urban utopia? : Part 1 of 3
The global discourse on cities has been fueled over the past decade by the many United Nations annual reports on global urbanization trends; all of them predicting an increasing rise in urban populations. In India alone, the 2016 report predicts that there will be 7 megacities with a population of over 10 million by 2030. … Continue reading
What Does Blockchain Mean for Urban Systems? : Part 3 of 3
Blockchain technology is a culmination of many different digital concepts, as discussed in our introductory post. But what makes it groundbreaking is the idea of radical decentralization that this technology offers. Decentralization at a large scale is very powerful and can transform how a city functions and how people interact with each other. For example, … Continue reading
Blockchain and It’s Applications : Part 2 of 3
As we get into the discussion on Blockchain technology’s impact, it is a good time to see this quick video that provides a great explanation of the variety of industries that can benefit from Blockchain applications. We’ll be back soon with more thoughts on Blockchain for cities!
What is Blockchain Anyway? : Part 1 of 3
Meet Cathy. She loves bread. Two slices of bread for breakfast really makes her day. But there is one hitch. She is gluten sensitive. Which means she can only have gluten free bread. And there are plenty of those in the market too. Just that, how can she be so sure? How can she trust … Continue reading
Weekly Roundup 150 – 6th to 12th January 2018
FEATURE REPORT/ ARTICLE OF THE WEEK ‘When it Comes to Urban Planning, Strategy Isn’t Enough‘ By Steven Pedigo and Alisa Pyszka When it comes to addressing the most urgent priorities of our urban communities — issues like job creation, brain gain, affordable housing, and racial equality — city governments often look to strategy as their first … Continue reading
Weekly Roundup 149 – 30th December 2017 to 5th January 2018
FEATURE REPORT/ ARTICLE OF THE WEEK ‘Space-starved urban villages are fire hazards waiting to happen‘ By Gulam Jeelani, Shiv Sunny, and Tanushree Venkatraman The Kamala Mills fire incident throws sharp light on how urban spaces are being tightly packed with commercial complexes, that more often that not flout basic safety norms. Read the whole piece here. … Continue reading
Weekly Roundup 148 – 23rd to 29th December
FEATURE REPORT/ ARTICLE OF THE WEEK ‘Cycle-sharing, the next ‘disruption’‘ By Amit Bhatt Ever since Mysuru and Bhopal launched India’s first true bicycle sharing systems in June, the buzz around cycling has been growing. In the last one month alone, there have been more than a dozen cycle-sharing launches, mostly through private sector companies, including … Continue reading
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