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Research vertical 17
How a state where town and village blur into each other can plan for housing, water, waste, transport and public space.
Much of Kerala is neither clearly urban nor clearly rural. Census figures over recent decades have shown a large rise in places with urban characteristics that are still governed as panchayats. This continuum creates particular challenges for planning and services.
Waste management failures, water shortages, flooding in towns and rising housing costs are urban problems that affect most of the state’s population. Municipal governments have limited revenue and capacity. Planning laws were largely designed for a sharper distinction between town and country.
The vertical works closely with Mobility, Environment and Federalism, and with elected representatives in urban local bodies.
How should planning work in places that are urban in character but rural in administration?
What is the most effective way to manage solid waste in dense, mixed settlements?
How can municipalities raise more of their own revenue fairly?
What kind of housing do young families and migrant workers need, and who will build it?
A transhipment port creates few jobs by itself. Whether Thiruvananthapuram benefits depends on the logistics, housing, skills and services that grow around it, and on planning that starts now.
Scholar Two
Metro lines attract attention and investment. Buses carry far more people in Kerala, and their decline deserves at least as much concern.
Research Fellow Two
Landslides in Kerala's hill districts have taken many lives in recent years. This special report brings together geology, land use, local governance and the experience of survivors to set out how hill communities can be made safer.
Researcher Three, Scholar Three, Research Fellow Two
An internship project that set out to map how household waste is collected, sorted and transported in one urban ward, and what the process revealed about the system.
Intern Two, Research Fellow Two
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