Category: Writings
Ban cars in cities
Opinion piece
By Henrik Valeur, 2016
The problem
Do you know the feeling? You’re stuck in traffic and you can literally feel your blood pressure going up as you become increasingly frustrated with the time that is being lost because of all those morons who are blocking the way ahead. You may also begin to wonder what all those gasses and fine particles of soot, which are being emitted from all those idle engines in front, are doing to your health. And, if you’re less of a narcissist, you may begin to take pity on the poor cyclist who is being bullied by the big SUV or on the woman with her bags and children who is unable to cross the road.
India: the Urban Transition (book)
– A Case Study of Development Urbanism
Author: Henrik Valeur
Publisher: The Architectural Publisher B
Content: 344 pages
Publishing date: 1 July, 2014
Language: English
ISBN: 978-87-92700-09-4
Read more …
Running out of water – in India
Paper in India: the Urban Transition – a Case Study of Development Urbanism, 2014.
By Henrik Valeur, 2013
According to the “Performance Audit of Water Pollution in India” by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India:
“Water contamination weakens or destroys natural ecosystems that support human health, food production and biodiversity. Water-borne diseases kill millions people […]. Livelihoods such as agriculture, fishing and animal husbandry are affected by poor water quality”.[1]
Yet …
“Presently, only about 10 per cent of the waste water generated is treated; the rest is discharged as it is into our water bodies”.[1]
Alternatives to the Automobile in the Indian City
Commentary in Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. 48, Issue No. 47, 23 Nov, 2013.
By Henrik Valeur, 2013.
For the past century, the automobile has captured the imagination of people around the globe and for many, it still constitutes the ultimate symbol of having achieved middle-class status. According to a rapidly-growing number of academic studies, however, the automobile may have detrimental effects on human health and life quality, especially in cities, where the concentration of automobiles contributes significantly to pollution, environmental degradation, social isolation, stress and physical inactivity.[1]
Making India slum-free
Paper in India: the Urban Transition – a Case Study of Development Urbanism, 2014.
By Henrik Valeur, 2013
Compared to China, where rapid urbanization seems to have been instrumental in lifting several hundred million people out of extreme poverty during the past three decades, urbanization in India has been slow and, as a possible consequence, poverty alleviation has been almost stagnant.
The slum dweller
Short story in India: the Urban Transition – a Case Study of Development Urbanism, 2014.
By Henrik Valeur, 2013
Pawan is 26; he’s a good-looking guy, with a charming smile and eyes that inspire confidence. Furthermore, he holds a university degree in geography and is working for the High Court of Haryana and Punjab as a clerk. It’s only a temporary job but he is also taking classes in the evening to pass the examination to qualify for taking on a higher and steadier position with the government.
Car-free sector (in Chandigarh)
Published in The Global Urbanist
By Henrik Valeur, 2013
Chandigarh
In contrast to Bangalore, in the south of India, which has been influenced by both British colonization and contemporary processes of globalization, Chandigarh, in the north of India, is a unique modernist city. It was designed in the early 1950’s by a team of Indian and foreign architects headed by Le Corbusier, one of the “fathers” of the modernist movement.
