´Smart cities´ is the new term used for urbanisation in India. How do you view the success of this government-promoted initiative?

Indian cities are growing rapidly in terms of population and size. One of the unique characteristics of India's urbanisation is that we have latecomer's advantage. Most countries in the world urbanised much earlier. We have the opportunity to learn from their experience and put the latest technology to use to support our urbanisation. The various government initiatives such as Smart Cities, AMRUT and HRIDAY will surely support the urbanisation mission of India. But at the same time, I believe the private sector also plays an equally important role.

What are the key factors that make a city liveable? Which cities would you point to as liveable in India?

Liveability of a city depends on the expectations of its people. And people´s expectations also change as their incomes and circumstances change. For example, for the migrant family who has moved from an impoverished rural area to a big city, the city offers much greater liveability and support whereas the same city may not live up to the expectations of the upwardly mobile aspiring upper middle class. Personally, I think there are many liveable cities in India. Ahmedabad is affordable to many, has an excellent transport network and provides a wide range of amenities to people of all classes. Pune has built on its cosmopolitan character and has invested in improving sanitation. Mumbai has long been the centre for many immigrants. When cities urbanise, they go through a stage when, initially, things fall apart. This leads to public awareness and focus on important issues like air quality, sanitation, transportation, affordability, etc. This, in turn, leads to better support for progressive planning and policies to improve liveability. In India, many large cities are going through this stage where things seem to be falling apart. Delhi´s air quality or Chennai´s inundation are recent examples of this. But this is only the first step on the ladder of urbanisation. All world cities have gone through this stage at some point during their lifecycle.

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What does CEPT do to promote architecture, urban planning and urban design in the curriculum?

Since the very beginning, we have believed that the job of educating future architects and planners needs to be shared equally by both academics and professionals. This brings a high degree of realism to the studio and classroom learning. We also lay high emphasis on learning by doing. Our workshops and labs promote a culture of making, which seems to be waning in many other places. We have a thriving exchange programme with a number of globally leading universities where students have an opportunity to spend a semester or a year in another country, learning in a different context. One innovative idea we adopted very early was to have a ´choice-based curriculum´ where a student has the freedom to earn up to 25 per cent of the total credits for their programme from anywhere in the university. This has since been promoted by UGC as well.

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