Recent Posts by Madhav
Cutting Across Siloes, Catalyzing Transformative Change: WRI India’s Deep Dive Approach in Bengaluru
Cutting Across Siloes, Catalyzing Transformative Change: WRI India’s Deep Dive Approach in Bengaluru
Bengaluru is one of the world’s fastest growing metropolitan economies. A favored destination for investors and talent alike, this leading innovation hub is one of the largest technology clusters worldwide and home to 400 Fortune 500 companies. However, the planning ...
5 Ways India Can Use Innovation to Meet Its Urbanization Challenges
5 Ways India Can Use Innovation to Meet Its Urbanization Challenges
India is projected to overtake China as the most populous country in the world this year. The shifting demographics are bound to create heightened demand for education, health care, jobs and civic amenities, putting existing systems under stress. Current urban ...
Physical Distancing on Mumbai’s Trains Is Nearly Impossible, and Station Design Is a Big Reason Why
Physical Distancing on Mumbai’s Trains Is Nearly Impossible, and Station Design Is a Big Reason Why
Mumbai’s suburban rail system is the world’s busiest, serving 7.5 million riders a day. This photo story is an attempt at documenting moments of precarious travel in Mumbai city, as part of a larger investigation focused on infrastructure design that ...
From My Window: A View of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mumbai
From My Window: A View of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mumbai
Inequality is shaping how people are experiencing COVID-19 in cities to a startling degree. The vulnerability of the urban poor is striking everywhere, but the divide is more visible in some places than others. This is where I live on ...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/embarq/13710884395/in/album-72157643626879643/
Urban Stories 2017: India’s Top Issues to Watch in the Year Ahead
As the year comes to an end, Urban Stories explores the emerging trends, key decisions and major changes on the horizon for cities around the world in 2017. With a new installment each day from India, Brazil and Washington, D.C., ...
Unlock Bangalore: Making the Right Decisions for Sustainable Growth
Unlock Bangalore: Making the Right Decisions for Sustainable Growth
Bangalore is India’s third most populous city and is among the top 100 cities that contribute to the global economy. 75 percent of Bengaluru’s income is from the service sector, with over ₹ 500 billion (approximately US $7.6 billion) from ...
Delhi’s Diet Plan
Delhi’s Diet Plan
Kudos to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and all others in the Delhi government responsible for announcing a car-restriction program. It is great to see city leaders realize that private vehicles cannot solve its mobility problem and start a diet programme. ...
New services are venturing to transform the way the auto-rickshaw sector is managed in Chennai, India - to the benefit of users. Photo by Mattheui Aubry/Flickr.
Compact, Connected, and Coordinated: A Vision for India's Smart Cities
Last Thursday could be a turning point in the history of India’s urbanization: the Modi government has unveiled its ambitious Smart City project, which aims to build 100 smart cities across the country. Additionally, the AMRUT program will aim to ...
Ahmedabad, India Smart Cities
Smart Cities No Longer an Urban Legend
This article was originally published in The Economic Times. Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally launches the government’s ambitious Smart Cities initiative, which aims to tackle key issues resulting from India’s rapid urbanization. In addition, the ‘Atal Mission’ and ‘Housing ...
Connect Karo 2015, New Delhi
Urbanizing India: A Closer Look
From April 15 to 16, 2015 in New Delhi, city and transport leaders from around the world came together for the third annual edition of WRI India’s CONNECTKaro conference. This year’s theme of Smart Cities for Sustainable Development and focused on ...
India's road to safety
The road to safety
This article was originally published in The Indian Express. As Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City, announces a package of assistance on road safety through Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Global Safety Initiative, here is an ugly truth: India has one ...
Energy and sustainable cities are key to India's economic growth
The two things India must get right for its economic future
Taking even a quick look at India’s current pattern of growth, it’s not hard to see both the rising energy insecurity and the stress that cities across the country are experiencing. Congestion, urban sprawl, and poor access to reliable energy ...
With the right priorities and development strategies, India’s smart cities initiative has the potential to make cities more sustainable, inclusive, and safe. Photo by rebel/Flickr.
What will it take to create smart cities in India?
In June 2014, the Government of India announced its ambitious plan to build smart cities across the country. This plan will be administered by the Ministry of Urban Development, and will focus on building new smart cities and redeveloping existing ...
In the past two decades, Indian cities have grown tremendously—not only in population, but in geographic size. Photo by Peter Vandeput/ Flickr.
Three challenges facing India’s growing cities
Population growth and rapid urbanization are combining to create huge challenges for Indian cities. According to McKinsey, Indian cities are expected to grow from 340 million people in 2008 to a whopping 590 million in 2030. Meeting demand for urban services ...
Mumbai train station
Smart urban design for India’s sustainable future
Indore’s new Bus Rapid Transit system, the iBus, recently completed a successful run of a hundred days. This system is not just a first in the city, but also in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The iBus spans an 11.4-kilometer ...
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