Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Nayar river is vanishing - a yatra reveals conservation goes beyond science and policy" appearing in ‘The Down To Earth’ dated 03.06.2025. The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Nayar …
The Urban Governance and Infrastructure Improvement Project in Bangladesh responds to the growing need for infrastructure and service delivery for the rapidly increasing urban population in Bangladesh by building the capacity of resource constrained pourashavas (municipalities) to deliver services, and by increasing community participation in decision making and subproject implementation, …
Visits to seven small towns in north India reveal how paucity of funds, slipshod planning and a dearth of capabilities have contributed to poor civic services and inadequate infrastructure. Citizens in some areas have organised themselves into neighbourhood committees to tackle problems that the urban bodies neglect, but this has …
While unplanned colonies retain a negative image for most city planners, pragmatic reasons favour their regularisation. A large number of Delhi's residents live in such unauthorised colonies, most of which are now being regularised. But just how many people, and what changes for them through regularisation? This process does not …
The Danish city of Copenhagen has won the European Green Capital Award for 2014. Copenhagen was chosen for its achievements in "eco-innovation and sustainable mobility," for being a role model for the green economy in Europe and for engaging its citizens to feel they are part of the green solution. …
Based on Gujarat’s town planning schemes, Ahmedabad’s Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Cept) University has prepared a master plan for Patna’s town planning scheme. The draft, which has been approved in principle, will guide planned urban development in Bihar. AHMEDABAD: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar may have whipped up …
This paper focuses on the key elements of sustainable building, giving starting points for further research concerning the environmental, economical, social and political implications and offering different concepts, where the decision clearly depends on nontechnical choices. The building and construction sector is the single largest contributor to global Greenhouse Gas …
This report presents a framework, the Urban Risk Assessment (URA), for assessing disaster and climate risk in cities. It is intended to assist in decision making, urban planning, and designing risk management programs. The approach seeks to strengthen coherence and consensus within and across cities in understanding and planning for …
A group of global businesses with operations in India have worked with the Government of Gujarat and the four largest cities in the state (Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara) to identify inclusive and sustainable solutions to key urban development challenges faced by these cities. The companies are part of a …
Urbanisation in India is currently marked by two fundamental trends: lopsided migration to the larger cities and unbalanced regional economic development. In this context, this paper makes a case for the concerted development of small and medium cities as the key focus in the strategy to ensure sustainable urbanisation in …
This study is part of ICLEI’s contribution to the international preparatory process for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as the Rio+20 Conference. It focuses on the role of local governments in the last two decades of global action for sustainable development, looking back at achievements and …
Urban transport determines the shape of a city and its ecological footprint. Many cities in low- and middle-income countries are at a crossroads. Policy decisions taken now, while car use is still relatively low and cities retain a relatively transit friendly, compact urban form, will affect how people will live …
Half of humanity – 3.5 billion people – currently live in cities and by 2055 an estimated 75% of the world's population will live in urban areas. Cities occupy just 2% of the Earth's land, but account for over 70% of both energy consumption and carbon emissions. However, cities present …
This new regional study of 900 cities published by the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities and the Cities Development Initiative for Asia gives an insight into climate change priorities in urban policies, plans and investments of Asian cities. Only 3 percent of Asian cities have a plan to tackle …
Diabetes and climate change are two urgent challenges in the 21st century. IDF has produced a pioneering policy report that establishes both the interconnections between these global risks and the opportunity to combat them together. Launched at Rio+20, the Diabetes and Climate Change Report puts diabetes, NCDs and health at …
Cities are beginning to test ideas and share their experience in developing adaptation plans and identifying adaptive measures. However, the approaches cities are taking to prepare for climate impacts and the overall scope of activity associated with adaptation have not been assessed. To gain insight into global patterns of urban …
A decade has gone since the first line of metro started in Delhi in 2002. Despite its expansion across the city in the past 10 years neither pollution nor congestion levels have gone down as claimed by its advocates. An analysis of the revenue generated by the Delhi Metro Rail …
In A significant move ahead of the upcoming Shimla Municipal Corporation elections, the government on Wednesday cleared the decks for relaxing the ban on new constructions in the town’s green belt. However, the relaxations will only be limited to those who were denied the “right to property” for constructions after …
Voicing his opposition to the proposed monorail, the mode of mass transport that found favour with the AIADMK regime over the Metro rail system, former chief of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation E Sreedharan has said it is disappointing that the authorities chose to pursue monorail proposal instead of completing the …
The Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) has announced that, following the approval by the Standing Committee of the draft resolutions for consideration by the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP 11), the Secretariat has finalized all the draft resolutions. This …
This paper analyzes the dynamics of population growth and urban expansion in the city of Xalapa, Mexico. It focuses on the establishment of informal settlements, which are one of the many threats to forest and farmland conservation (although these settlements are not the only source of the problem). Spatial analysis …
