Tag: cities

‘Building smart cities starts with people, not technology’

Loknath Das

When The Jetsons, the candy-coloured cartoon family, came on TV screens in the 1960s, they presented a utopian world powered by technology. From humanoids, holograms, smartwatches and phones, to video chat, drones and 3D printed food, they used things that were straight from a science fiction novel. Now, these things have become an everyday reality, and countries are trying to utilize them to create a smart world. “Smart”, however, doesn’t mean just installing digital interfaces in traditional infrastructure. Building smart cities, in fact, start with people, not technology. It means using…

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[Startup Bharat] Meet edtech startups that are taking quality education to non-metro cities across India

Loknath Das

India’s small towns and cities harbour big dreams and ambitions. But often, students from these cities are at a disadvantage as they don’t have access to the quality education their counterparts in metros do. How will experimentation and innovation flourish if students can’t build on a solid foundation of learning? Students in the metros gain from big players like Byju’s, Khan Academy, and AlmaMapper, but those in Tier II, III, and IV towns are often forced to migrate to educational hubs, including Kota and Hyderabad, or Tier I cities for their education.…

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Cities around the world seek to emulate NYC’s elevated park

Loknath Das

The success of New York City’s elevated park, the High Line, has inspired a slew of projects across the United States and internationally that repurpose rusting ribbons of steel and concrete as green space in hopes of rejuvenating neighborhoods or reclaiming overbuilt riverfronts. Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami, London and New York’s capital of Albany are among the cities with High Line-style projects completed or in the planning stages. All seek to capture at least some of the popularity of the 23-block-long railroad viaduct in lower Manhattan planted with trees, shrubs and…

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Indians dumping cars in favor of Uber, Ola in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai: Reasons

Loknath Das

Indians are now buying fewer cars in the bigger cities, and now there are numbers to support this. In the last 12  months between April 2017 and March 2018, car sales in Mumbai dipped by a whopping 21%, 11% in Bangalore and 4.5% in Chennai. In Delhi, which has India’s highest car penetration, sales grew by just 1.6%. So, why are Indians living in big cities buying fewer cars? Here are some reasons. Rise of Ola and Uber Cab aggregating apps such as Ola and Uber have made the second car…

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African and Asian Cities must urbanise sustainably. Is Green Finance the solution?

Loknath Das

The world’s fastest-expanding cities are now in the global South. Rural to urban migration, combined with the effects of urban population growth, could add another 2.5bn to the world’s urban population by 2050. According to the UN, close to 90 percent of this increase will be in Asia and Africa. At the same time, low-income countries are most affected by climate change and rarely have the means to finance resilience and adaption efforts. The cost of climate change adaptation in Africa has been estimated by the African Development Bank to be in the…

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Travel diaries: The cities where you can find luxury, for less

Loknath Das

Istanbul, Bangkok, and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam have been identified as some of the international destinations where travellers can sleep like a king, on a pauper’s budget. After crunching the numbers from 2016, online booking site Hotels.com has come up with a list of the destinations where travelers can find luxury for less. That is, stay in five-star hotels for $150 (approx Rs 10,000) or less. Charles Bridge (Karluv Most) and Old Town Tower, the most beautiful bridge in Prague, Czech Republic. (Shutterstock) A scan of the top…

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From Colmar to Prague: 5 cities to visit for the best of the European spring

Loknath Das

From chocolate egg hunts to Easter farmer’s markets, Europe offers picture postcard perfect destinations that explode in a kaleidoscope of colours during the annual miracle that is spring. From chocolate egg hunts to Easter farmer’s markets, Europe offers picture postcard perfect destinations that explode in a kaleidoscope of colours during the annual miracle that is spring. For travellers looking for a long weekend getaway that showcases the best of spring, Brussels-based outfit European Best Destinations, which works to promote culture and tourism on the continent, has released a list of…

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