The development of the ashwath katte as a sustainable urban space: the role of social capital in minimising deterritorialisation

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This research will look at the practice of tree worship which continues to be a part of the everyday life of the people in the city of Bangalore. Specifically, it will look at how the Peepul tree (Ficus Religiosa) shrine and the raised platform around it, locally called the ashwath katte has developed into a sustainable urban space. The study will look at 20 ashwath kattes in the city of Bangalore. It will try to understand the conditions under which social capital increases in the neighbourhood through the ashwath katte.

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Time frame:

Nov 2018 - Oct 2019

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This project has been awarded an APU Research Grant for 2018-19. We have two full-time Research Associates working on it. If you would like to be a Volunteer & put in a min. 6-8 hrs/week, do write to us. 

The logic of design: its role in understanding the antecedents of urban informality

August 2018   Journal of Urban design

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The everyday life of a city can generate informality in urban space, particularly in emerging economies. Using the Grounded theory approach, this paper looks at how urban space in a market precinct is negotiated through tactics of street vendors and strategies of the government. It suggests a theoretical framework to understand the relation between the logic, decision and action of stakeholders, to resolve the conflict between urban planning criteria and ground reality. See Publication

The Practice of Tree worship and the Territorial Production of Urban space in an Indian neighbourhood

February 2017  Journal of Urban design

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In urban India, there are religious practices intersecting with the process of urbanisation at various levels. This paper looks at the practice of tree worship which continues to be a part of the everyday lives of the people. Specifically, it looks at how the Peepul tree shrine contributes to the territorial production of urban space in the city of Bangalore. See Publication

Territoriality in Urban space: The case of a Periodic marketplace in Bangalore, India

January 2015  Co-authored with Suresh Bhagavatula. In Informal Urban Street Markets: International Perspectives Eds. Clifton Evers & Kirsten Seale, Routledge ‘Studies in Development and Society’ Series

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The objective of this chapter is to probe the intersection of the informal economy and urban space. The context is an annual peanut fair in Bangalore, India. The chapter specifically addresses the question: How do street vendors mark and defend their territory as they appropriate urban space? See Publication

Sustainable Island Strategies

April 2012 . Architecture+Design, Media Transasia Pvt.Ltd, Delhi

The Contribution of Building Centres to Low-cost Housing in India

1997  Building Research and Information – Vol. 25, Number 1, Taylor & Francis, UK