WRI India 109d ago

India is at an urban inflection point — and the decisions made this decade will shape its cities for generations. In the twenty-fourth episode of The Urban Q, Madhav Pai (CEO, WRI India) sits with Jaya Dhindaw for a wide-ranging conversation on what it actually takes to get cities right. Drawing on 15 years of working at the intersection of research, policy and practice, he traces India's urban journey — from the foundational challenges of land, housing, and mobility, to the deeper questions of how knowledge reaches decision-makers, and what kinds of institutions can make urban transformation last. He also steps back from the systemic to the personal: what keeps this work meaningful, and what he'd tell a young urbanist just starting out. 🌐 Explore our podcast page: https://wri-india.org/perspectives/podcasts 00:00 The Urban Q 00:05 Introducing Madhav & 15 Years of WRI India 1:26 Pacing Urbanization for Growth 4:47 Knowledge to Right People & Places 6:40 Market Models, Data and GIS, Accelerators & Alliances 11:56 Are 2020s the Decade for Seeding Specialist Urban Institutions? 17:32 Embedding Adaptive Capacity in Development with Government & Business 21:38 Democratizing Mumbai Streets, Negotiating Trade-offs and Nuance in Public Spaces 24:20 Advice for Young Urbanists