Tour of a Progressive And Impactful Urban Renewal Initiative in India: Nizamuddin Urban Renewal

I had a chance to visit and tour Nizamudden #UrbanRenewal, by Aga Khan Development India, the renewal of an impoverished community in Delhi. Such a progressive approach used to help elevate this community out of #poverty from so many different angles and improve quality of life from improving sanitation, providing communal washrooms, improving buildings, providing access to healthcare, schools, park space for children, vocational training for youth and skills training for women in the community. Also new park spaces- a playground for the children and a greenspace for women to socialize were created out of a former garbage dump in the neighbourhood (see images below).

Nizamuddin Urban Renewal

I love how the children and community members were engaged to help clean up the areas, paint the buildings, and were asked about their vision of their future in this community and as you can see in the photo below, it was heartening to see their vision come to reality!! It was amazing work and I couldn't help but see that this approach could be relevant elsewhere where communities are deeply struggling.

I don't think I have ever seen such a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach to bringing a community out of deep poverty and the impact that it was having was incredible. So grateful for my professor from Queen's University Planning school Ajay Agarwal, and the Senior Project Lead Deepak Padhi for inviting me to experience this community, meet some of the members, and witness the incredible transformation that is underway there. If you are interested in learning more, Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative

So great to connect with and spend the day with @Ajayagarwal in India, a professor from my planning school at Queen's University (Queen's School of Urban and Regional Planning).