Equitable Cities

Ashok B Lall is the Principal of Ashok B Lall Architects in New Delhi, India. He is a visiting professor at the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) in New Delhi, and Chair for Design and Technology at the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture (KRVIA) in Mumbai. He was Dean of the TVB School of Habitat Studies till 2007. The firm Ashok B Lall Architects was established in New Delhi in 1981. The practice has executed projects for educational research institutions in many parts of India, and specializes in low-energy sustainable architecture. Recent projects in India include the Indian Institute of Health Management Research, Jaipur; Sehgal Foundation, Gurgaon and Development Alternatives World Headquarters, New Delhi. He is currently l initiatives for the improvement of public spaces in cities and affordable housing.

- Shriti Das

The becoming of a city is a result of subliminal dialogue between a vision and its subsequent inhabitation. The vision is conceived, built and bequeathed by architects and urban planners. The built-forms are inhabited by its citizens and shaped thereon. But if the vision is eschewed from the citizen’s aspiration; the city comes under duress. Effective urban development must facilitate equitable opportunities and commercial progress. Often the infrastructure and development of cites pertains to wealth generation in the city. The idea, that how cities will be designed so that they can offer equal opportunity and wealth distribution is left unaddressed. Secondly, cities, owing to the world urbanising at a rapid rate, must take on the responsibility of leading low-carbon urban living while offering a safe, comfortable and dignified living condition.