Category: Interviews
A new voice in urban politics
Interview with Dr. Ashwin Mahesh in India: the Urban Transition – a Case Study of Development Urbanism, 2014.
Henrik Valeur, 2014.
Ashwin Mahesh is a scientist who turned environmental activist, development worker and technology entrepreneur before becoming a leading candidate for a newly formed national political party, the Lok Satta, contesting from the city of Bangalore. In this interview, he discusses problems of urban management in India today and proposes public participation and community building as means to solve the problems.[1]
In Conversation with Architect and Urbanist Henrik Valeur
Interview by Niveditha Ravikumar in Zingy Homes, Tete-A-Tete with Experts
Henrik Valeur, the Nykredit Encouragement Prize winning Danish architect-urbanist is better known in India for his book – India: the Urban Transition A Case Study of Development Urbanism, where he discusses and proposes solutions to some of the basic concerns of human existence – air, water, food, housing and mobility in urban Indian cities. Henrik is the founder and creative director of UiD – a networking urban consultancy and has the distinction of being the curator of the Danish pavilion at the Architecture Biennale in Venice in 2006, where the project, CO-EVOLUTION: Danish/Chinese Collaboration on Sustainable Urban Development in China, which he conceptualised and coordinated, was awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Pavilion.
Henrik has been actively involved for half a decade now, with prestigious architectural schools in India, and has been closely working with Government bodies, bureaucrats, developers, entrepreneurs and activists.
Development Urbanism, Issues and possibilities: In Conversation with Henrik Valeur
Interview by Prof. Richa Sharma, Pillai College of Architecture, in Tekton Vol. 2, Issue 1, March 2015.
Henrik Valeur’s career straddles three distinct cultures and this has shaped his worldview about how cities function. He sees a great potential in urbanisation leading to change, particularly in the developing world. Valeur advocates a theory of urbanisation as a means to address poverty while safeguarding the environment, this theory he describes as ‘Development Urbanisation’.
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