Neha Thirani speaks with Rahul Mehrotra, urban planner and chairman of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, about the challenges facing "emerging India," including its parasitic gated communities, preservation, and 392 "urban time bombs."
While India's infamous urban slums, such as Dharavi in Mumbai, may be the most prominent urban challenge afflicting the country, Mehrotra observes that the informal city is just one side of the immense challenge that the polarization of the built environment presents.
"What results from that polarization are conditions like gated communities, whether they are vertical gated communities or communities at the edge of the city. Because gated communities usually have their own water supply, sewage disposition, they are actually parasitic on the city because they don't give to the city. They exclude the city but engage with the city on their own terms, and so it's not a two way kind of exchange."
And while the challenges facing India's mega-cities may get the majority of the attention from researchers, academics, and officials, Mehrotra sees the 392 towns of approximately 50,000 inhabitants that "make up the larger landscape of India" as a potential "urban time bomb." He has reason to be optimistic about these areas, however, because, "the possibility for planners and governments to intervene yet exists and is not as complicated as it is in the megacities."
FULL STORY: A Conversation With : Urban Planner Rahul Mehrotra

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Bend, Oregon Zoning Reforms Prioritize Small-Scale Housing
The city altered its zoning code to allow multi-family housing and eliminated parking mandates citywide.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

LA Denies Basic Services to Unhoused Residents
The city has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for trash pickup at encampment sites, and eliminated a program that provided mobile showers and toilets.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
planning NEXT
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie