Settlements and Transport

Human settlements with sustainability, equity, and fulfillment. Sustainable, equitable means including non-motorised and public transport

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This features both rural and urban areas, and the search to make human settlements sustainable, equitable, and fulfilling places to live and work in. This includes: sustainable architecture, localized generation of basic infrastructural, water and energy needs, urban biodiversity conservation, waste/garbage minimisation and recycling, efficiency and frugality in the use of these basics, the defense and revival of common and open spaces, participatory budgeting and planning of settlements.

We would also like to include stories of sustainable, equitable means of transport that can be accessed by all and that do not create ecological and social problems as is the case with a focus on privatized motorized transport. Stories on the promotion of public transport, cycling, walking, human/animal powered and other forms of ecologically sustainable and equitable transportation, planning for equitable access, reclaiming the roads and parking lots for public use, and so on, are featured.

Expensive, elitist models that may be ecologically sustainable but are not relevant for most people, are likely to be avoided here.

Built to last

A Rajasthan village has cylindrical houses that help people cope with extreme weather events

‘Ugly Indians’ clean up Bangalore

The Bangaloreans in the Ugly Indians civic group have spent every week of the past year trawling the city's central business district with face masks, gloves, buckets, broomsticks and mops. Their mission is to "spot-fix" Bangalore, dirty street by dirty street, and has inspired the confidence to throw their "Ugliness Challenge" at other cities.

Mendha Lekha residents gift all their farms to Gram Sabha

The Gram Sabha of Mendha Lekha village in Gadchirolli district in Maharashtra has done away with private ownership of agricultural land using the Maharashtra Gram Dan Act 1964. The intent is to further strenghthen the gram sabha by moving towards community ownership of land.

In a Quake’s Wake, Hunnarshala Builds Homes — and Entrepreneurs

Today, more than a decade after the Gujarat disaster, Hunnarshala has come a long way. One of the goals of its founders was to retain a community feel — a potentially challenging task in an area where caste is a key issue and it is easy to get mired in sectional disputes and attempts to corner the assistance available. But Hunnarshala has managed to stay out of caste controversies.