Background

The 2011 Census of India reported that 31.2% of the population lived in urban areas, a figure which has grown in recent years and continues to increase each passing day. With more individuals and families making their way to cities hoping to find better livelihoods, urbanization has become a defining feature in any attempt to understand growth, both of places and people, in the last two decades. As of 2023, approximately one-third of the total population of India lived in cities, indicating an increase in urbanization by more than 4 percent from the last decade. 

As we observe urban spaces closely, it is not difficult to observe how rapid growth in population has significantly outpaced the development and construction of essential urban infrastructure and services – be it inadequate public transportation, limited access to clean water and sanitation, or unreliable housing options. These everyday gaps in infrastructure are accompanied by socio-economic inequalities, which further exacerbate the predicament of underprivileged people who inhabit cities. Further, the lack of protective policies and lapses in their implementation work against any efforts to serve local communities, making cities places where social biases and hierarchies flourish. 

Today, on top of these social, economic, and infrastructural inadequacies, it becomes easy to overlook how cities are constructed without ample attention to sustainable solutions. What one requires to rebuild cities inclusively are targeted interventions as without them, it would be difficult to truly address the struggles faced by communities living in the most neglected areas. The Urban Connect was created in order to address these challenges: the project is premised on innovative, community-centered interventions that focus on sustainability, accessibility, and inclusivity. One step, one city at a time, we hope to create safer cities for tomorrow.