Where does your city rank in being prepared for the future? Srikanth Vishwanathan and VR Vachana break down the ten instruments of change that holds back development of our cities in the Annual Survey of India's City Systems. They suggest action items in the short and medium term that can help us achieve good systems in cities.

Ever complained how bad our cities are? How bad your commute is? You’ll get to hear from people who are working to solve these problems in their own way. 

This is your weekly soapbox for Urban Sustainability with Sathya Sankaran

Stock video and picture credits to various contributors on Pexels, Pixabay, Mixkit. All rights belong to respective owners.

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Timecodes

00:00 - Preview & intro

02:18 - ASICS & City Systems

08:09 - Urbanisation

12:36 - Key findings

16:34 - Spatial mess

19:26 - Street design

24:52 - 74th CAA and the cities

38:37 - City and the citizens

41:28 - City finances

46:22 - Incapacity in administration

——

Profile of Srikanth VIshwanathan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/srikanth-viswanathan-087b2735/

Profile of VR Vachana - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vrvachana/

The 2023 ASICS Report by Janaagraha - https://www.janaagraha.org/resources/asics-2023/

UDRPFI guidelines for Master Plans - https://smartnet.niua.org/content/d19f4f87-aaa1-4e9a-9651-534cb28ddd3c 

Srikanth Vishwanathan on City finances, Episode 32: Where is the money in our cities going? - https://youtu.be/fIMKPW59jqM 

Vinayak Bharne on Liveability in cities, Episode 26: How do we achieve liveability in cities? - https://youtu.be/DK0vy1cGviE

Ravichandar V on restructuring city governance, Episode 24: Should Bengaluru be split? - https://youtu.be/EmqquGZQx1s 

Dr Anjali Karol Mohan on Masterplanning & spatial development plans, Episode 18: Should cities abandon Masterplans? - https://youtu.be/hhMgngZHvjY 

Alok Prasanna Kumar of Vidhi Legal on constitutional provisions and 74th CAA, Episode 17: Does size matter for cities? - https://youtu.be/helgTk7_0TE 

———

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Amit Bhatt, Managing Director in India for the International Council on Clean Transportation lays down the challenges in reducing our dependence on combustion for transportation and energy needs in our cities. Are cities other than Delhi really as clean as they claim to be? Are all the COP committments really percolating down to action on the ground? What are the complexities in climate change governance that is preventing our transition away from combustion?

Ever complained how bad our cities are? How bad your commute is? You’ll get to hear from people who are working to solve these problems in their own way. 

This is your weekly soapbox for Urban Sustainability with Sathya Sankaran

Stock video and picture credits to various contributors on Pexels, Pixabay, Mixkit, Bloomberg, Countercurrents, News18, InsuranceDekho, Wikimedia commons. All rights belong to respective owners.

—

Timecodes

00:00 - Preview & intro

02:19 - Beyond Delhi

09:33 - Root causes

17:06 - Responsibility football

21:59 - Solving the problem

26:05 - Questionable Pathways?

31:15 - Green stifling growth?

37:53 - Coercion

47:38 - Driving change

——

Profile of Amit Bhatt - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amit-bhatt-7b434324/

International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) - https://theicct.org

Amit Bhatt & Harsimran Kaur: India’s Path to Clean Transport is Electric, Strong Central Policies on Zero-Emission Vehicles, News 18 - https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/indias-path-to-clean-transport-is-electric-strong-central-policies-on-zero-emission-vehicles-5313373.html

Anuj Dhole, Sandra Wappelhorst, and Amit Bhatt: Improving air quality in cities through transport-focused low- and zero-emission zones: Legal pathways and opportunities for India, ICCT - https://theicct.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Legal-pathways-LEZ-and-ZEZ_final.pdf

Amit Bhatt: How Delhi is Becoming a Lighthouse City for Electric Mobility in India, News 18 - https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/how-delhi-is-becoming-a-lighthouse-city-for-electric-mobility-in-india-4660373.html

Amit Bhatt & Garima Agrawal: Electric vehicles could help fight India’s pollution crisis – but the lack of bank loans is a hurdle, Scroll - https://scroll.in/article/981572/electric-vehicles-could-help-fight-indias-pollution-crisis-but-the-lack-of-bank-loans-is-a-hurdle

———

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An Alumni of IIM Bangalore apart from her rewarding career at the executive levels of many corporates in the city Revathy Ashok is the CEO of Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) a non-partisan citizen's group that aims to improve governance in Bengaluru and to enhance the quality of life of every Bengalurean. B.PAC is specifically targeting good governance practices, integrity and transparency in all arms of the government, improving the quality of infrastructure in the city and identification as well as support of strong candidates for public office at all levels with the B.CLIP program. 

In this episode reveals how an India specific PAC can make a difference in civic outcomes. She explains how creating leadership and working with elected representatives is an investment for the long run.

Ever complained how bad our cities are? How bad your commute is? You’ll get to hear from people who are working to solve these problems in their own way. 

This is your weekly soapbox for Urban Sustainability with Sathya Sankaran

Stock video and picture credits to various contributors on Pexels, Pixabay, Mixkit. All rights belong to respective owners.

—

Timecodes

00:00 - intro

02:10 - Good governance

16:13 - Political alignment

22:34 - Aggressive politics

32:22 - BPAC & leadership development

49:40 - CSR & Civic funding

56:12 - Brand Bengaluru

——

Profile of Revathy Ashok - https://www.linkedin.com/in/revathy-ashok-8b91479/?originalSubdomain=in 

Bangalore Political Action (BPAC) - https://bpac.in/ 

Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) - https://dult.karnataka.gov.in/uploads/media_to_upload1638790949.pdf 

Personal to Public campaign by WRI, BPAC, BAF, CFAM and others - https://personal2public.in/ 

The BCLIP civic leadership incubator - https://bpac.in/bclip/ 

———

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Ravichander describes himself as the patron saint of lost causes, and yet he has been instrumental in driving India’s first self assessment scheme for property taxes, India’s first quality road contracting and specification model TenderSURE and recommendations for restructuring Bengaluru city governance. In his current avatar of Brand Bengaluru championing the image of Bengaluru in the eyes of everyone else in the country. 

In this episode we talk at length about what this means. He also Unboxes Bengaluru's newest Habba, Unboxing Bengaluru Habba coming up between 1st & 11th of December.

Ever complained how bad our cities are? How bad your commute is? You’ll get to hear from people who are working to solve these problems in their own way. 

This is your weekly soapbox for Urban Sustainability with Sathya Sankaran

Stock video and picture credits to various contributors on Pexels, Pixabay, Mixkit. All rights belong to respective owners.

—

Timecodes

00:00 - Preview

01:56 - Brand Bengaluru

18:38 - Unboxing Bengaluru Habba

26:35 - Literature and the city

34:05 - Aspirational branding

46:10 - Government support

51:39 - Aggregation vs calendaring

——

Profile of Ravichandar V - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravichandar-v-a97a65/

OoruLabs podcast Episode 24, Should Bengaluru be split? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmqquGZQx1s 

Brand Bengaluru - https://brandbengaluru.karnataka.gov.in

The book, Unboxing BLR - https://www.unboxingblr.com/

The festival, Unboxing BLR habba - https://habba.unboxingblr.com

Bangalore Literature Festival - https://bangaloreliteraturefestival.org 

———

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Website: https://podcast.oorulabs.com 

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Ranjit Gadgil of Parisar, Pune helps us understand the effectiveness and the journey of civic activisim in effecting change in the cities towards environmental sustainability. Being an early mover in this space from Pune the learnings in the space is immense.

Ever complained how bad our cities are? How bad your commute is? You’ll get to hear from people who are working to solve these problems in their own way. 

This is your weekly soapbox for Urban Sustainability with Sathya Sankaran

Stock video and picture credits to various contributors on Pexels, Pixabay, Mixkit and Nihar Thakkar. All rights belong to respective owners.

—

Timecodes

00:00 - Preview

01:08 - Introduction & context

02:43 - NGO effectiveness

07:04 - 2 decades and counting

13:27 - City govt and NGO’s

18:43 - 1st BRT & Bicycle plan in India

32:38 - SUMNET & de-motorization

49:77 - Revitalising city core

54:52 - CSR and Funding

——

Profile of Ranjit Gadgil - https://in.linkedin.com/in/ranjit-gadgil-ba40046 

Parisar website - https://parisar.org

Pune Bus Rapid Transit System (Rainbow BRTS) - https://www.pmc.gov.in/en/bus-rapid-transit-route-brt

Updated National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) - https://www.changing-transport.org/wp-content/uploads/E_K_NUMP_India_2014_EN.pdf

Pune Bicycle plan, Pune Municipal Corporation - https://www.pmc.gov.in/en/bicycle-plan-0

SUMNET - https://www.facebook.com/sumnetwork/ 

———

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Shreya Gadepalli comes back on the show to clearly explain how congestion pricing or road pricing works, dispel the myths, how parking management and the bus can be an integral part of managing throughput on our roads. We talk bus and the future of road transport corporations as well.

Ever complained how bad our cities are? How bad your commute is? You’ll get to hear from people who are working to solve these problems in their own way. 

This is your weekly soapbox for Urban Sustainability with Sathya Sankaran

Stock video and picture credits to various contributors on Pexels, Pixabay, Mixkiet, The Hindu and The New Indian Express. All rights belong to respective owners.

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Timecodes

00:00 - Introduction & context

02:22 - Congestion charging

13:05 - The alternates

16:15 - Paid parking

23:32 - Public spaces

33:34 - Bus talk

48:25 - Powering the economy

——

Profile of Shreya Gadepalli - https://in.linkedin.com/in/shreya-gadepalli

ORR traffic Jam, Deccan Herald - https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/bengaluru/day-after-bandh-bengaluru-roads-choked-with-unusual-traffic-2703411 

Did we miss the bus? | OoruLabs Podcast Episode 3 - https://youtu.be/fhuO2t-7fBw 

Bengaluru plans London-type congestion tax, Economic Times - https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/bengaluru-news/bengaluru-plans-london-type-congestion-tax-here-are-the-9-selected-roads-how-it-will-be-collected/articleshow/103858351.cms 

Bengaluru to get 2,211 buses by March 2024 - https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/bengaluru-to-get-2211-buses-by-march-2024-govt-sets-recruitment-conditions-11579081.html 

———

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Are we ready for the increase in energy intensity from a growing economy and yet be able to transition to clean energy? Deepak Sriram Krishnan, Associate Director for WRI India's Energy Program, walks us through the challenges in entire power system from producer, distributor to consumer. At WRI he also leads work on Clean Energy Initiatives (Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency) for different consumer categories; Clean Energy Transitions and Water-Energy nexus.

Prior to this, he worked with the energy consulting practices of PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte. He is a certified Energy Risk Professional. He is an electrical engineering graduate and holds a master’s degree in electric power systems.

Ever complained how bad our cities are? How bad your commute is? You’ll get to hear from people who are working to solve these problems in their own way. 

This is your weekly soapbox for Urban Sustainability with Sathya Sankaran

Stock video credits to various contributors on Pexels, Pixabay and Mixkit. 

—

Timecodes

00:00 - Introduction & context

01:19 - Power crisis

04:54 - Power sources

08:04 - Solar & wind

13:39 - Coal, gas & nuclear

18:10 - Projections

20:50 - The grid

36:04 - Building as energy source

41:44 - Rooftop solar failure

46:39 - Regressive regulation?

57:22 - Opportunities

01:03:13 - MNRE Vs. MoP

——

Profile of Deepak Sriram Krishnan - https://www.wri.org/profile/deepak-sriram-krishnan 

CEA document - https://cea.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/document_upload/2023/06/NEP_2022_32_FINAL_GAZETTE.pdf 

Bureau of Energy Efficiency - Impact assessment of EE measures in the country https://beeindia.gov.in/sites/default/files/publications/files/Impact%20Assessment%202021-22_%20FINAL%20Report_June%202023.pdf 

Energy Efficiency in Commercial and Residential Buildings - https://beeindia.gov.in/en/programmes/buildings-0 

Blockchain in rooftop solar, pilot project - https://www.mercomindia.com/uttar-pradesh-blockchain-rooftop-solar-trading

Reading material on EAct amendment - https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-electricity-amendment-bill-2022; https://prsindia.org/files/bills_acts/bills_parliament/2022/Electricity%20(A)%20Bill,%202022.pdf 

Money control article on demand supply mismatch, industry complaints over frequent power cuts - https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/karnataka-industries-fume-over-frequent-power-cuts-seek-proper-supply-11546281.html 

Econivas Samhita - https://econiwas.beeindia.gov.in/tools.php 

Ministry of power guidelines on renewable energy - https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/power/ministry-of-power-releases-comprehensive-framework-to-transform-indias-energy-storage-landscape/103385154#:~:text=In%20a%20major%20push%20for,storage%20duration%20of%201%20hour . 

———

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From software to civil society to managing the Chennai Smart City as its CEO, Raj Cherubal has seen it all. He holds an MS in Physics from the University of Louisville and an MS in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. As an “outsider” in the government trying to bring fresh perspectives, I got him on the show to tell us the inside story. How the government “works” for the citizen. Its structure complexity and the inertia all of this imposes. 

Ever complained how bad our cities are? How bad your commute is? You’ll get to hear from people who are working to solve these problems in their own way. 

This is your weekly soapbox for Urban Sustainability with Sathya Sankaran

Stock video credits to various contributors on Pexels, Pixabay and Mixkit. Cycle track footage by Nihar Thakkar

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Timecodes

00:00 - Introduction & context

01:05 - Most centralised country on earth

12:04 - Stifled capacities from centralisation

14:04 - Decentralisation is not a choice

26:01 - Cookie cutter

51:36 - Government vs private

01:00:20 - Tell me what to do

01:08:23 - Non profit or non-cooperation

——

Profile of Raj Cherubal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajcherubal/

Does size matter for cities? | OoruLabs Talking Heads podcast Episode 17 with Alok Prasanna Kumar of Vidhi Legal https://youtu.be/helgTk7_0TE

Where is the money in our cities going? | OoruLabs Talking Heads podcast Episode 32 with Srikant Vishwanathan of Janagrahaa https://youtu.be/fIMKPW59jqM 

Smart Cities Mission, Government of India https://smartcities.gov.in

Smart Cities India Cycles for Change challenge https://smartcities.gov.in/India_Cycles_for_Change

Smart Cities Freedom to walk, cycle and run challenge with AltMo https://altmo.app/F2WCR

———

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Ashwin Mahesh is an Urbanist, Scientist, Journalist, Politician and a Social Technologist. Watch him discuss the state of education from primary to vocational, its impact on cities and the economy. Insights into what is possible and how institutions and government education regulators are struggling to cope with the demands of the marketplace for jobs.

Ever complained how bad our cities are? How bad your commute is? You’ll get to hear from people who are working to solve these problems in their own way.

This is your weekly soapbox for Urban Sustainability with Sathya Sankaran

Stock video credits to various contributors on Pexels, Pixabay and Mixkit. 

—

Timecodes

00:00 - Introduction & context

01:09 - What is the city betting on?

07:55 - Industry knowledge co-location

10:12 - The Education system

19:00 - Who teaches?

22:30 - Institutional hegemony

26:35 - Education Regulation

31:34 - Rethinking Learning 

34:20 - Vocational learning & employers

43:34 - Cost & quality

46:09 - Geography & Knowledge

52:14 - Way forward

——

Profile of Ashwin Mahesh - https://www.ashwinmahesh.in 

Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) report - https://asercentre.org

Can cities fix the jobs shortage? | OoruLabs Talking Heads podcast Episode 33 with Sridhar Krishna of Takshashila -  https://youtu.be/ClbTKxI4BaA 

Sheepskin effect - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheepskin_effect 

———

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With deteriorating quality of services by city governments, areas with apartment complexes tend to disproportionately suffer because of the density of people. Bangalore Apartments Federation (BAF) is one of a kind collectivisation of more than 1250 apartment owners associations giving themselves bargaining power with city authorities. How have they used their power? Are such dense settlements a boon or bane to the city? We discuss these issues in todays episode with Vikram Rai who is the serving secretary of BAF.

Ever complained how bad our cities are? How bad your commute is? You’ll get to hear from people who are working to solve these problems in their own way. 

This is your weekly soapbox for Urban Sustainability with Sathya Sankaran

Stock video credits to various contributors on Pexels, Pixabay and Mixkit. 

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Timecodes

00:00 - Introduction & context

01:19 - Role of apartments

06:06 - The federation

11:47 - Alphabet soup

32:53 - Collective bargaining

39:10 - Self help

47:09 - Differentiation and incentives 

53:29 -  Future collective

——

Profile of Vikram Rai - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raivikram/

Bangalore Apartments Federation - https://baf.org.in

Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaveri_River_water_dispute 

BAF white paper on KSRA vs KAOA - https://www.baf.org.in/docs/baf-ownership-legal-framework

———

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