Tapati Guha-Thakurta is one of the eminent art historians in the country. Her work includes the fields of cultural history, history of art and visual studies. She has written widely on the themes of art, nationalism and modernity, monuments and museum practices.

In this podcast, Tapati takes the case of two embattled sites of contemporary India - Ayodhya and Bodh Gaya and brings to light how historical and archaeological monuments are radically recast through a series of institutional interventions and mediations. In the first part, she takes us on a journey describing how Ayodhya underwent a change from a mosque to a demolished site to a site of contestation. In the second part, she talks up Bodh Gaya, a ruin that was remade into an archaeological monument, which too becomes a site of dispute.

Tapati Guha-Thakurta is one of the eminent art historians in the country. Her work includes the fields of cultural history, history of art and visual studies. She has written widely on the themes of art, nationalism and modernity, monuments and museum practices.

In this podcast, Tapati takes the case of two embattled sites of contemporary India - Ayodhya and Bodh Gaya and brings to light how historical and archaeological monuments are radically recast through a series of institutional interventions and mediations. In the first part, she takes us on a journey describing how Ayodhya underwent a change from a mosque to a demolished site to a site of contestation. In the second part, she talks up Bodh Gaya, a ruin that was remade into an archaeological monument, which too becomes a site of dispute.

A. Srivathsan is an architect and urban designer, and currently Center Head at the Center for Research on Architecture and Urbanism, CEPT Research and Development Foundation, CEPT University Ahmedabad. He was previously the Academic Director of the University, and before that taught for a decade and worked as a senior journalist with The Hindu, the national newspaper. His research and writings include the themes of urban history, planning policies and contemporary architectural practices. Srivathsan’s recent work includes work on evidence-based affordable housing policies for Chennai, a study conducted for Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission.

In the introductory episode, Srivathsan will talk about 'what 'Book-a Week' podcast is all about' and 'what is its format'. Every week young scholars from the fields of architecture, urbanism and design research will interview authors of recent books on diverse topics from architectural history, design theory, and ecological thinking to urban studies and anthropology. Each episode is imagined as a reflective, genial conversation on the book, its context, significance and relevance in today’s time.

Vishram Patil is a social scientist and planner with over three decades of experience in working with MMRDA, which is a regional planning and development authority for Mumbai Metropolitan Region. He has worked on regional planning, financing of urban infrastructure, land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement. He dealt with social safeguard issues and was involved in actual LA and R&R of various mega infrastructure projects funded by multilateral and bi-lateral agencies.

In this podcast, Mr. Vishram Patil talks about the development of Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) Policy and process in the context of large urban infrastructure projects. He borrows from his rich experience of working on R&R projects in Mumbai to highlight the legal process of resettlement and the challenges in its implementation. He concludes by outlining how the process can be improved to have better outcomes for affected populations.

A. Srivathsan is an architect and urban designer, and currently Director, Center for Research on Architecture and Urbanism, CEPT University Ahmedabad. He was previously the Academic Director of the University, and before that taught for a decade and worked as a senior journalist with The Hindu, the national newspaper. His research and writings include the themes of urban history, planning policies and contemporary architectural practices. Srivathsan’s recent work includes work on evidence based affordable housing policies for Chennai, a study conducted for Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission.

In this podcast, using Chennai’s Planning history, Srivathsan explains how master plans have become the single most important measure, tool and the end of planning. Despite its repeated failure, master plans remain entrenched in planning practice and establishments. He argues that it is time to rethink this approach. To begin with it would be productive to acknowledge the limited capabilities of plans, build on them and find an alternative approach to planning a city.

Vidyadhar Phatak, is one of the leading urban thinkers in the country with rich practice and teaching experience. He is the former Chief Planner of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and also the former Dean of Faculty Planning, CEPT University. Mr Phatak was the director of National Housing Bank from 2006 to 2012 and also worked on several urban planning reforms as a consultant with the World Bank. Over the last 40 years, he has worked on land markets, land-based Fiscal Tools, urban Planning reforms and housing.

A. Srivathsan is an architect and urban designer, and currently Director, Center for Research on Architecture and Urbanism, CEPT University Ahmedabad. He was previously the Academic Director of the University, and before that taught for a decade and worked as a senior journalist with The Hindu, the national newspaper. His research and writings include the themes of urban history, planning policies and contemporary architectural practices. Srivathsan’s recent work includes work on evidence based affordable housing policies for Chennai, a study conducted for Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission.

In this final episode of land related subjects, Vidyadhar Phatak in conversation with A. Srivathsan, explains the idea of Land value Capture (LVC) and Value Capture Financing (VCF) pointing out the fine-drawn differences between the two concepts. He explains the importance of these financing tools in generating hitherto untapped land value gains for financing infrastructure projects particularly the metros. Further, he explains two broad approaches to LVC viz. Land developmental and fiscal tools. He briefly elaborates the fiscal measures. In the end, he highlights the challenges in adopting LVC practices in a manner that integrates the urban planning, legal and public finance dimensions of the land market.

Bimal Patel is an architect, urbanist and academic. He is President of CEPT University. He also heads HCP which is a multi-disciplinary design, planning and management practice based in Ahmedabad. Bimal Patel's research focuses on architecture and urban planning, real estate markets, regulatory frameworks and land management. He has won numerous awards including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (1992). In 2019 he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honours.

B.R. Balachandran is an urban planner with over 25 years of experience, currently engaged in doctoral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. After 10 years at Environmental Planning Collaborative, Ahmedabad, in 2007, he co-founded Alchemy Urban Systems, a planning practice in Bangalore and also served in senior advisory roles at institutions such as CDD Society, BORDA and ITDP. While engaged in research on post-disaster recovery in the US, he has continued to work on planning projects in India.

In the fifth and final episode of their series of conversations on making city planning work in India, Dr. Bimal Patel and B.R. Balachandran discuss why city planners in India are often resigned to not seeing their plans implemented despite numerous experiences to the contrary. They discuss three important aspects of making implementable plans: (i) ensuring that plans are fair and equitable in distributing the costs and benefits of planning; (ii) working with the political process of planning, communicating plans effectively, engaging in dialogue and negotiating with stakeholders and (iii) focusing on raising resources for implementing the plans. In the end, they recap the main elements of the whole podcast series.

Rutul Joshi is an architect-urban planner teaching at CEPT University. His doctoral research focused on conceptualising the poverty-mobility linkages for Indian cities. Since then, he has continued to work on issues related to transport equity and new approaches to reform urban planning practices. Recently, Rutul led a multi-year research project on contextualizing transit-oriented development for Indian cities with a monograph on TOD planning as the key project output. This was used to train several government planners and officials. Rutul also writes occasionally in the newspapers and media on civic issues.

Any discussion about land use and transport is essentially a discussion about the dynamic relationship between access and location in a city. The locational advantage could be multiplied by higher access and poor spatial configurations could impair accessibility. This podcast explains how this plays out in Indian cities. It begins by clearing some of the misconceptions about the relationship between land use and transportation. Then it swiftly moves into elaborating the Indian experience and points to the impediments for better integration of land use and transport planning. In the end, it outlines the possible models of making them work together at various scales of planning in Indian cities.

Bimal Patel is an architect, urbanist and academic. He is President of CEPT University. He also heads HCP which is a multi-disciplinary design, planning and management practice based in Ahmedabad. Bimal Patel's research focuses on architecture and urban planning, real estate markets, regulatory frameworks and land management. He has won numerous awards including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (1992). In 2019 he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honours.

B.R. Balachandran is an urban planner with over 25 years of experience, currently engaged in doctoral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. After 10 years at Environmental Planning Collaborative, Ahmedabad, in 2007, he co-founded Alchemy Urban Systems, a planning practice in Bangalore and also served in senior advisory roles at institutions such as CDD Society, BORDA and ITDP. While engaged in research on post-disaster recovery in the US, he has continued to work on planning projects in India.

In the fourth episode of their series of conversations on making city planning work in India, Bimal Patel and B.R. Balachandran discuss the importance of keeping affordability in mind when framing regulations, norms and standards. Starting with housing affordability, they talk about how unrealistic norms and standards can be counterproductive, resulting in outcomes that are quite the opposite of what they set out to achieve, often excluding and rendering illegal, large sections of urban population. They also discuss what approach we should take to norms and standards, keeping affordability in mind.

Bimal Patel is an architect, urbanist and academic. He is President of CEPT University. He also heads HCP which is a multi-disciplinary design, planning and management practice based in Ahmedabad. Bimal Patel's research focuses on architecture and urban planning, real estate markets, regulatory frameworks and land management. He has won numerous awards including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (1992). In 2019 he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honours.

B.R. Balachandran is an urban planner with over 25 years of experience, currently engaged in doctoral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. After 10 years at Environmental Planning Collaborative, Ahmedabad, in 2007, he co-founded Alchemy Urban Systems, a planning practice in Bangalore and also served in senior advisory roles at institutions such as CDD Society, BORDA and ITDP. While engaged in research on post-disaster recovery in the US, he has continued to work on planning projects in India.

In the fourth episode of their series of conversations on making city planning work in India, Bimal Patel and B.R. Balachandran discuss the importance of keeping affordability in mind when framing regulations, norms and standards. Starting with housing affordability, they talk about how unrealistic norms and standards can be counterproductive, resulting in outcomes that are quite the opposite of what they set out to achieve, often excluding and rendering illegal, large sections of urban population. They also discuss what approach we should take to norms and standards, keeping affordability in mind.