I spent an evening under the stars and a ‘blue moon’ at Sunder Nursery, reminiscing about my childhood and torrid Delhi summers when my father introduced us to local and exotic plants at the government nursery. This was followed by picnics on the sprawling lawns, feeling the chatai rub my back as I lay looking up, desperately trying to identify the constellations twinkling above me.
Nostalgia for those scrubby and scraggly lawns was replaced by a grudging admiration for the architects who had painstakingly designed a space where city dwellers could escape their oven-like homes to a haven of stepwells, baolis, and chhatris inspired by traditional Indian architecture. As part of the Humayun’s Tomb redevelopment project, the Archaeological Survey of India, along with the Aga Khan Trust and its team of urban planners, created a space that made me think: Is redevelopment of a city really bad for urban dwelling?
In the last 5-10 years, the skyline in my city has rapidly changed. From Kidwai Nagar and New Moti Bagh to Sarojini Nagar and Ring Road, extensive redevelopment projects have been carried out in the heart of New Delhi. Where dilapidated government residential quarters dating back to the colonial era once stood with their crumbling facades, glorious modern skyscrapers now tower above the neighbourhood. When development calls, the city needs to catch up.
Yet, the proposed redevelopment of the Delhi Gymkhana Club, another colonial relic, has sparked outrage among a section of people.
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Urban boom
The question of redevelopment becomes urgent given the pressures on growing cities.
According to a UN-Habitat report on the state of Asian cities, the economy in Asia-Pacific is the most dynamic in the world. However, it notes that in seeking rapid economic growth, the urban environment and fallout from climate change have been neglected. Constantly expanding cities have pushed the limits of facilities and infrastructure to a point where many are literally bursting at the seams.
By contrast, better developed cities in countries such as Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore are planned, comfortable, and safe spaces to inhabit. A 2018 UN report projected that 68 per cent of the world’s population will be living in cities by 2050. It says that urbanisation — “the gradual shift in residence of the human population from rural to urban areas” — combined with the overall growth of the world’s population will result in 2.5 billion people being added to urban areas by 2050. About 90 per cent of this increase is likely to be in Asia and Africa.
According to the UN’s World Urbanization Prospects 2025, Jakarta is the world’s largest city, with 41.9 million inhabitants. It is followed by Dhaka, with 36.6 million; Tokyo, with 33.4 million; New Delhi, with 30.2 million; and Shanghai, with 29.6 million.
Delhi’s population is projected to continue growing, reaching 33.9 million by 2050—a steep rise from just 18 million in 2000.
The world had 33 megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants in 2025, up from eight in 1975, and this number is projected to rise to 37 by 2050. The fastest-growing cities are those with fewer than 1 million dwellers, and many of these are located in our country. Cities like Nagpur, Coimbatore, Jaipur, and Surat are growing rapidly.
Per an Asian Development Bank report, cities will provide 70 per cent of all new jobs in India by 2030. Citing a McKinsey report, it adds that Delhi’s economy will be bigger than Malaysia’s by that time.
But this comes with severe infrastructure strains.
Rapidly declining facilities
Many of my friends and neighbours in South Delhi have faced acute water crises these past few years. Reports of contaminated water, mixing of sewage lines, and dirty water have plagued the area for over three decades.
Most houses in my lane have been ‘redeveloped’. Where a single family inhabited a quiet, leafy, tree-lined neighbourhood, multi-storey buildings with 3-4 ‘high-end’ apartments have sprung up, with multiple families occupying the same space. Even in this so-called ‘tony’ neighbourhood, the buildings are literally cheek by jowl due to bad designs. In other parts of the city, buildings are piled up one on top of the other. I am sure there is construction beyond what is permitted, and that access to sunlight, especially on lower floors, is highly restricted.
Naturally, sewer lines that were laid out decades ago to meet the needs of the massive influx of refugees from West Punjab and other areas now in Pakistan can hardly be expected to cope with the needs of one of the world’s largest cities.
Clean air is anyway a problem for many months of the year in this landlocked city with an overloaded population. There was no internet when Delhi was developed, and today, Lutyens’ city has become an eyesore, with hanging wires of multiple internet service providers marring the facades of buildings to meet the needs of a rapidly digitising economy.
This is not just typical of Delhi. The sad thing is that chaotic traffic, frightened pedestrians, air pollution, and a lack of parks and green spaces have become the signature of fast-growing cities, most of which have high population density.
And therein lies the need for redevelopment.
Why redevelopment matters
As discussed, there is a growing mismatch between the demands of contemporary urban life and the capacity of existing urban spaces to meet those ever-growing demands. Redevelopment is now a necessity, as it provides an opportunity to reimagine cities as engines of economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. Redevelopment enables the modernisation of ageing infrastructure, congested roads, inadequate drainage systems, deteriorating public buildings, and informal settlements, which have placed enormous pressure on urban administrations and reduced the quality of life.
Further, the effects of climate change are felt rather acutely in Indian cities, as they are vulnerable to extreme heat and flooding. Redevelopment offers an opportunity to integrate climate resilience, sustainable construction practices, green spaces, and transit-oriented development into the urban fabric.
A case in point is the redevelopment of the Central Vista, which was vociferously opposed by the urban elite of Delhi. The old eyesore structures dating back to the colonial era have been replaced by “green building systems” with deep verandahs and chajjas inspired by traditional Indian architecture and best suited to the scorching heat and winter cold unique to Delhi. Extensive water recycling and solar integration alongside the tree-lined Kartavya Path show that the architects aimed for a net-zero “operational footprint” in the new government buildings.
The triangular Parliament building optimally used geometry and mathematical formulas to mitigate solar heat gain during the summer. Lattices keep out the harsh sunlight. I remember the brouhaha against the new Parliament building, which is a marvel of modern architecture and is also designed to house the expanding Houses when the much-delayed delimitation actually occurs. These new redeveloped administrative blocks also employ on-site Sewage Treatment Plants, percolation wells, and rainwater harvesting systems that will recycle water for flushing and for the HVAC cooling plants shared by multiple buildings.
The same negative chatter is now happening around the re-acquisition of the elitist Delhi Gymkhana Club, where a few “intellectuals” have privileged access to 27.3 acres of subsidised land that actually belongs to the government.
As I drive through the tree-lined avenues of Lutyens’ Delhi, there are beautiful colonial-era bungalows and embassies, as well as museums dedicated to former PMs. Access to these urban spaces is restricted to an elite few. In contrast, the wide tree-lined roads of Kartavya Path, formerly known as Rajpath, now made pedestrian-friendly and vehicle-free, are thronged by Delhi’s hoi polloi enjoying picnics on the greens with their families, eating ice cream from carts, or simply taking selfies against the setting sun with the grandeur of the majestic Army memorial in the background.
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What other Asian cities are doing
Across Asia, governments are reimagining cities as cleaner, greener, and more liveable spaces in response to rapid urbanisation.
China has invested heavily in the development of sponge cities that use green infrastructure, permeable surfaces, urban wetlands, and rainwater harvesting to reduce flooding and improve water management. Japan has compact, transit-oriented urban development. South Korea’s Cheonggyecheon restoration project has integrated citizen wellbeing through ecological restoration.
Countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia are promoting sustainable mobility in urban areas through investments in mass transit systems, pedestrian-friendly streets, cycling infrastructure, and green public spaces. Collectively, these initiatives illustrate a broader Asian trend towards creating cities that balance economic growth with environmental sustainability, public health, and improved quality of life for residents.
It is imperative to view redevelopment as a people-centric process rather than engaging in discourse that only a few have access to. Successful redevelopment preserves cultural heritage, strengthens community ties, and ensures that existing residents benefit from improvements, irrespective of the social strata that they come from, rather than displacing them.
Urban experts call this “Redevelopment 2.0” — “integrated planning with a long-term vision, keeping people, neighbourhood, and sustainability as the core elements.”
At a recent IIT event, I observed the brightest young minds present a sensor-based waterlogging warning system. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we not only set up imported smart meters for electricity or water consumption, but also have better waste management systems that could be integrated into the basic infrastructure of the cities we live in? Such improvements for the benefit of citizens, which balance economic dynamism with social equity and environmental responsibility, will result from the conscious redevelopment of Indian cities.
If there are any lessons to be learnt from the Middle East crisis, it is to build net-zero, off-the-grid buildings that are built for at least 100 years or more. They cannot be built using the L-1 formulation. The codes have to change, and construction planning to execution has to improve. The Humayun’s Tomb redevelopment has created an ecologically happy space not just for Nizamuddin Basti, but for the entire city of Delhi.
Meenakshi Lekhi is a BJP leader, lawyer and social activist. Her X handle is @M_Lekhi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)