The Human City

About the Episode: Pakistan: 60 years, ZERO recessions. India vs Pakistan growth rates? Identical. Economist Matthew McCartney reveals data that challenges everything you think you know about South Asian development. WHAT WE COVER:- Pakistan's hidden economic stability- China's infrastructure strategy (CPEC impact)- Why Special Economic Zones succeed in China, fail in Africa- Industrial po...

About the Episode: Cities across India, Africa, and South Asia are exploding with people but not creating jobs. Politicians profit while infrastructure crumbles. Economist Matthew McCartney spent 25 years on the ground uncovering who really benefits from broken urban systems. This is Part 1 of a 2-part conversation. In this episode, we explore:- Why cities are growing without jobs—the urbanization...

About the Episode: Do Indian cities actually work for the people who live in them? Urban economist Kyle Farrell reveals why our cities feel broken and what we can do about it. WHAT WE DISCUSS: Why zoning laws are killing Indian cities The case for mixed-use development (live, work, play in one place) Why GDP doesn't measure what actually matters to people How cities are planned WITHOUT public...

About the Episode: Cities were never designed for everyday life. They were designed for commuters, cars, and convenience — not for care, safety, or how people actually live. In this episode of the HumanCity Podcast, urban planning pioneer Eva Kail — the woman who changed how Vienna designs its streets, housing, and public spaces breaks down how gender-responsive planning reshaped an entire city. F...

About the Episode: What if safety isn’t about protection at all but about freedom? In this episode of The Human City, urban sociologist Kalpana Viswanath, co-founder of Safetipin, challenges how cities across India and the world define women’s safety. From CCTV cameras and panic buttons to lighting and surveillance, we’ve built cities that prioritise control — not belonging. Kalpana argues that wh...

About the Episode: Cities are not shaped only by plans, projects, or infrastructure. They are shaped much earlier by conversations, assumptions, and what we collectively accept as “normal.” In this episode of The Human City Podcast, Ruchita Bansal speaks with Reena Mahajan, architect, urban planner, and founder of Studio Divercity and StreetSmart, about how the way we talk about cities quietly det...

About the Episode: In this episode of The Human City Podcast, we explore a radical but deeply practical idea: children as co-designers of cities. My guest, Ruchi Varma, is the founder of @humanqind, a social innovation initiative that has worked with children to redesign school streets and public spaces across Delhi. From the “250 Metres of Happiness” project to city-wide collaborations with gover...

About the Episode: Indian cities are building metros, announcing clean air targets, and celebrating infrastructure milestones. Yet for most people, everyday mobility is getting worse — unsafe streets, overcrowded buses, polluted air, and long exhausting commutes. In this episode of The HumanCity Podcast, host Ruchita Bansal is joined by Anumita Roychowdhury (CSE) and Amit Bhatt (ICCT India) to dis...

About the Episode: India’s cities are growing fast — and breaking even faster. Why are we still copying Western planning models that don’t work for our climate, culture, economy — or chaos? In this episode of The Human City Podcast, IAS officer Anshul Mishra (Former Member Secretary, CMDA Chennai & Addl. Director, AIIMS Delhi) breaks down the uncomfortable truth:🚫 Metro everywhere? Not always...

About the Episode: Delhi’s air pollution crisis has been misunderstood for years. In this episode of The Human City Podcast, I speak with air pollution scientist Sarath Guttikunda, who has spent over two decades modelling emissions across Indian cities — and his data reveals a truth that flips the entire narrative:👉 80–85% of Delhi’s pollution comes from inside the city👉 Farm fires affect only 2...

About the Episode: World-renowned urbanist Alain Bertaud destroys the myth of the "perfect city" in this eye-opening conversation. Author of Order Without Design and veteran of urban projects from New York to Shanghai, Alain reveals why master plans are "completely useless," how regulations create the very sprawl they claim to prevent, and why the trendy 15-minute city concept...

Why are our cities still congested — even as we build more roads? In this episode of The Human City Podcast, host Ruchita Bansal sits down with Russel King, a transport strategist with over 20 years of experience in the UK and Australia, to unpack one of the biggest misconceptions in urban planning: that adding more road capacity will solve traffic. Together, they explore:• Why building more roads...

About the Episode: The real crisis in Indian cities isn’t the floods, traffic, or heat — it’s how we plan for them. In this episode of The HumanCity Podcast, host Ruchita Bansal sits down with Hitesh Vaidya, former Director of the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), to unpack why our urban planning system keeps breaking — and what it will take to fix it. Together, they explore how India’s...

About the Episode: Every winter, cities across India — Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur — disappear under a haze. Air pollution is no longer an environmental issue. It’s a health crisis, a rights violation, and a loss of tomorrow. In this episode of The Human City Podcast, host Ruchita Bansal speaks with Dr. María Neira, Former Director of Environment, Climate Change and Health at the World Health Organizat...

About the Episode: In this episode of Human City, host Ruchita Bansal sits down with Silvia Casorran, Sustianable Mobility specialist at Barcelona Metropolitan Area. From leading the Superblocks movement to protecting School Streets, Silvia has helped Barcelona become one of the most referenced cities in sustainable mobility worldwide. She shares how tactical, low-cost changes can spark permanent...

About the Episode: We talk about road accidents — but not the near misses that make people give up cycling. We talk about car bans — but not the data that shows where walking and cycling could actually thrive. In this episode of The Human City Podcast, I speak with Dr. Rachel Aldred, Professor of Transport at the University of Westminster, whose groundbreaking research is changing how cities think...

#UrbanPlanning #Urban Design #Citythroughstories #Melissabruntlett #TheHumanCity #ruchitabansal Who should be our next guest? Write to us at ruchitabansal.shecity@gmail.com -------------------------Disclaimer: The views shared in this conversation are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Human City Podcast or its host. This content is for informational and educational...

In this episode of The Human City Podcast, host Ruchita Bansal speaks with Mr. Sameer Unhale, Joint Commissioner, Department of Municipal Administration, Maharashtra — an administrator, author, and urban thinker who has spent nearly three decades inside India’s urban systems. Together, they explore what makes cities truly inclusive, why Indian planning frameworks need to evolve, and how citizen re...

About the Episode: Walking is the most democratic form of mobility — but in many Indian cities, it feels unsafe, undignified, and often impossible. Despite the fact that only 8% of Indian households own a car, our cities are still designed almost entirely for them. In this episode of The Human City Podcast, I speak with Bronwen Thornton, CEO of the Walk21 Foundation, who has spent over two decades...

What happens when a city decides to put people — not cars — at the heart of urban planning? In this powerful episode of The Human City Podcast , host Ruchita Bansal speaks with Anuela Ristani , former Deputy Mayor of Tirana, Albania, who led one of Europe’s most ambitious transformations in walkability, child-friendly spaces, and sustainability. From pedestrianizing Tirana’s central square and car...

Gurgaon — India’s so-called Millennium City. Luxury towers, Cyber Hub, gated condos. But step outside and you see the truth: floods, smog, traffic, and chaos. In this episode of The Human City Podcast, Ruchita Bansal uncovers the hidden failures of Gurgaon’s urban planning.- From 16-lane roads built only for cars to missing footpaths, from waterlogged underpasses to polluted winters — Gurgaon has...

Why do our cities still fail women? From safety on the streets to freedom after dark, urban life continues to overlook the needs of half the population. In this episode of The Human City Podcast — an initiative of SheCity India — host Ruchita Bansal speaks with Dr. Nourhan Bassam , feminist urbanist, architect, and founder of The Gendered City and FEM.DES. , the world’s largest feminist design net...

Cities don’t fail people by accident — they fail by design. In this introduction episode, host Ruchita Bansal (Urban Planner, SheCity India) shares why she started The Human City and what this podcast is all about: reimagining cities to be safe, inclusive, and truly human. From Ayodhya’s transformation to global lessons on public spaces, mobility, governance, and equity — this podcast brings hones...