Page 2 - Bibek Debroy

Notes on urban prosperity

Cities need a newer vision of urban prosperity - one that goes beyond GDP - and addresses the pillars of sustainable development

Urbanisation and urban dynamics

Cities are not just an economic landscape. In the post-Covid world there is a need to understand the role culture plays in how a city grows beyond its economic allure

Envisioning a truly smart city

The success of the smart city mission depends on urban local bodies, and it is imperative to carve out a bigger role for them in the national development strategies

Strengthening urban local bodies

The emphasis on making urban areas liveable and sustainable for its people is what should guide our understanding of urbanisation in today's world

Making cities smart and sustainable

Rethinking cities to make them more liveable is a key component of smart cities but this requires building fair, participatory, sustainable and inclusive urban development policies

Urbanisation without chaos: How to plan and govern our cities

A governance ambiguity widens the gaps between the core of a city and peri-urban areas, resulting in a highly scattered and unorganised urbanisation

India@100: What's ahead for urbanisation?

With an expected urban population of close to 630 million by 2030, the emphasis should not be on urbanisation alone but on planned urbanisation

Urbanisation's different strokes

The waves of urbanisation have been uneven around the world and are intrinsically tied to the level of development and industrialisation in a country

Urban woes and construction catastrophe

The logic of developing a city should be to foster ease of living for its people and not profits for its developers

What makes an area urban?

The variations in determining what can be classified as cities are as dynamic as cities themselves

Increasing the pace of India's urbanisation

The rate of urbanisation needs to be moderated in a way that the influx of population is not concentrated in bigger cities only

Urbanisation and development

The relation between economic growth rate and the degree of urbanisation is mutually reinforcing, as higher economic growth results in high incomes that influence the rate of urbanisation

Gains in translation

Before 1914, there was no proper copyright legislation in India

Srinagar to Leh

But was trade to Ladakh and beyond really that important, as opposed to strategic importance of the road?

Kalka to Shimla by road

There were multiple reasons for building this road - possible trade ties with Tibet, strategic cum defence reasons, connectivity to hill stations.

The spectre of BJP

Though Ghose pegs the book to the present government, blamed for an increase in illiberalism, let's focus on that core liberal agenda

A bridge over the Damodar

When one reads old district gazetteers, one marvels at the wealth of material and at the reading habits of the authors

On the grand trunk road

What is a "trunk road" and who decided GT Road and BT Road should be trunk roads? Also, what does it take for a truck road to become an "imperial" trunk road?

Gurgaon in 1883

What was the irrigation system like? And how were ailments treated?

Naming trains after individuals? It happens in Britain or Pakistan

More than controversies, the intention is probably not to make trains distinctive through names, after individuals or otherwise