Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS)

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Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) IIHS is a prospective independent national institution of eminence and innovation university focused on its urbanisation.

The Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) is a national education, research, practice, and capacity development institution committed to the equitable, sustainable and efficient transformation of Indian cities, towns, and villages. The Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) is a national education institution and a prospective national university, committed to the equitable, sustainable and efficient transformation of urban Indian settlements. The Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) will create and nurture a unique, inclusive and innovative interdisciplinary knowledge-based university of global stature that is rooted in the plurality of Indian and other South Asian cultures, languages and scholarship and is open to all. It is focussed on the creation, dissemination and application of knowledge and practice in all matters connected with the establishment, operation and transformation of human settlements; more particularly human settlements located in India and South Asia. The team within the institution brings together a wide range of multi-sectoral perspectives, experiences and skills to address a range of challenges and opportunities that IIHS works with. This ranges from strategy, regulation, resource mobilisation, financial management, institutional and human resources development, campus planning and development to core functions of curriculum development, teaching and research, training and development, consulting and advisory service delivery.

IIHS invites you to join us for the fifth panel conversation in the Along the ARC series. ‘Contested Publics: Bureaucrac...
23/09/2026

IIHS invites you to join us for the fifth panel conversation in the Along the ARC series. ‘Contested Publics: Bureaucracy, Property and Urban Belonging’ asks how contemporary visions of urban improvement generate new forms of exclusion, inequality, and contestation.

The three papers being discussed examine these questions across different urban contexts: competing understandings of property as a right and an asset class in Banaras, and the role of law and parastatal institutions in shaping them; the politics of redeveloped public realms and the aesthetics of exclusion; and the role of a research lab as a site of learning and contestation in Mira-Bhayandar.

Carrying forward the spirit of IIHS’ annual research conference Urban ARC, this conversation brings questions of property, law, bureaucracy, public space, redevelopment, knowledge, exclusion, and belonging into dialogue across changing urban landscapes. The panel will be chaired by Neha Sami, Associate Dean – IIHS Research.

28 September 2026 | 5:30 PM IST | Online on Zoom

To register, visit the link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/2717895456923/WN_4xl6QiaCQAmXH-Ui8u2iGg

23/09/2026

What changes when you begin to look at a familiar city through a different lens?

For participants of the IIHS City Walk for Youth in Kochi, the walk opened up new ways of thinking about development, public space, water, culture and community.

One participant reflected on how the walk changed the way they saw the places they visited, prompting questions about cultural sensitivity, the significance of water bodies, and a larger one: who does development benefit, and who gets left behind?

Others noticed the contrasts in how Kochi’s waterways and public spaces are used across the mainland and Fort Kochi, and how rules and infrastructure can shape people’s ability to gather, participate and take ownership of public space.

The walk also brought together questions of heritage, art and craft with the challenges Kochi faces today, from waste management and sustainability to climate change. For one participant, this raised the possibility of using culture itself as a way to build environmental awareness and community action.

For another, working in health policy, observing how communities live with and negotiate water every day brought new urgency to questions around coastal flooding, sea-level rise and public health.

Different backgrounds. Different observations. A shared invitation to look at Kochi more closely, and to ask what kind of city its development is creating.

Our next stop: Hyderabad, 26 September 2026.
This time, we’ll read the city through two of its defining water bodies, Hussain Sagar and the Musi River.

Seats are limited. Registration closes soon: https://hdcrw.iihs.co.in/hyderabad/

Green mortgages, sustainability-linked loans, ESG-tagged bonds: the green finance market in India has grown substantiall...
22/09/2026

Green mortgages, sustainability-linked loans, ESG-tagged bonds: the green finance market in India has grown substantially in the last decade.

What has not kept pace is the distinction between products backed by verified building performance, and products backed by design commitments or certifications alone.

That gap matters for two reasons:

→ First, it exposes lenders and investors to greenwashing risk that only widens as portfolios scale.

→ Second, it holds back products that could genuinely differentiate performance: performance-linked mortgages, retrofit finance backed by measured outcomes, and portfolio-level bonds priced against verified operating data.

ASSURE’s new report, ‘Scaling High Performance Buildings in India: A Strategy for the Decade Ahead’, makes the case for verified building performance as a more meaningful category in credit assessment, product design and pricing—supported by common performance measures, standard reporting, and independent verification.

The opportunity now is to build financial products around what buildings actually deliver, not just what they promise.

Read the report: https://rebrand.ly/e9ka84p

—
If you are a lender, investor, or financial institution, join ASSURE in developing the pathways and products that can connect verified building performance with capital.

21/09/2026

Come walk with us in Hyderabad!

The IIHS ‘How Do Cities Really Work?’ City Walk for Youth is heading to Hyderabad! We’re tracing the city through its water, from Hussain Sagar and Tank Bund to the Musi River and the neighbourhoods around Charminar.

Join us as we learn to read Hyderabad through the lenses of hydrology, ecology, infrastructure, heritage, density, public space, governance, and climate stress, and ask what the city owes the water it was built around.

The walk falls in the week of Ganesh idol immersion, when devotion, public life, and ecological strain meet most visibly at Hussain Sagar’s edge.

There are limited spots available. Register now!

Link: https://hdcrw.iihs.co.in/hyderabad/

ASSURE is returning to Uttar Pradesh for the 15th edition of the immersive workshop, Designing HPBs for Net Zero.This th...
18/09/2026

ASSURE is returning to Uttar Pradesh for the 15th edition of the immersive workshop, Designing HPBs for Net Zero.

This three-day, in-person workshop will give you the skills you need to deliver high-performance outcomes in your projects, no matter where you work along the building value chain.

Mark your calendar:
🗓️ 24–26 September 2026
📍 Fortune Park BBD, Lucknow

Don’t wait to secure your spot—register via the link: https://rebrand.ly/u10hycn

18/09/2026

Across If Cities Could Speak’s twenty one research sites, two questions sit alongside the data collection and field histories: how do we tell these stories well? And how do we make sure they reach the people and institutions that need them?

Storylines builds archives of narrative — written, visual, audio — that make the research legible beyond academic audiences. Impact and Change develops the strategies to carry findings across scales: to communities, urban practitioners, health systems, and policymakers.

Both are embedded in the project from the beginning. Because the work of research doesn’t end at publication.

Read more: https://ifcitiescouldspeak.com/our-work/storylines/?utm_source=iihs&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=ifcitiescouldspeak&utm_content=14-storylines-&-impact-and-change

The Chikkaballapura City–Farmer Partnership for Solid Waste Management was recently featured on Doordarshan Chandana.Aro...
18/09/2026

The Chikkaballapura City–Farmer Partnership for Solid Waste Management was recently featured on Doordarshan Chandana.

Around 28 tonnes of waste are generated every day from approximately 15,000 households in the city. With residents segregating waste at source and municipal teams collecting different waste streams separately, around 8 tonnes of wet waste each day is supplied to interested farmers for conversion into compost.

The feature captures the people behind the system: residents, sanitation workers, municipal teams, community organisers, and farmers—all contributing to keeping waste in productive circulation.

The City–Farmer Partnership for Solid Waste Management is implemented by the respective City Municipal Councils in Chikkaballapur and Doddaballapura, anchored by IIHS Practice, and supported by Godrej Properties Limited.

A big thank you to everyone who joined us in Kochi for the IIHS City Walk for Youth. 53 participants from institutions a...
17/09/2026

A big thank you to everyone who joined us in Kochi for the IIHS City Walk for Youth. 53 participants from institutions across Kerala came together on 12 September 2026 to walk, observe, question and reflect with us.

We set out in Kochi with a simple question: How does Kochi really work, and for whom?

From Queen’s Walkway and Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary to the Kochi Water Metro, Mattancherry and Jew Town, Bazaar Road, Kalvathy Canal and Fort Kochi, participants explored the city through its interconnected layers of ecology, mobility, trade, migration, and governance.

The walk concluded at Fort Kochi Beach, where conversations around coastal improvements, traditional fishing practices, vendor economies, art, and everyday public life opened up questions about what an inclusive and climate-resilient waterfront might look like. A reflective workshop brought the day to a close, inviting participants to share what they were taking back from the experience.

Next stop: Hyderabad, 26 September 2026.
This time, we’ll read the city through two of its defining water bodies, Hussain Sagar and the Musi River.

Seats are limited to 50. Registrations are now live:
https://hdcrw.iihs.co.in/

Suzlon One Earth in Pune. Infosys Crescent in Bengaluru. Atal Akshaya Urja Bhavan in New Delhi. Some of India’s best-kno...
17/09/2026

Suzlon One Earth in Pune. Infosys Crescent in Bengaluru. Atal Akshaya Urja Bhavan in New Delhi. Some of India’s best-known buildings have made the case for high performance for years.

Different buildings, different climates, different uses—each running on far less energy than a conventional building of comparable size.

High performance is not new to India. The opportunity now is to make it repeatable—across new buildings, and retrofits.

ASSURE’s new report, ‘Scaling High Performance Buildings in India: A Strategy for the Decade Ahead’, looks at design capabilities, delivery models, and the wider ecosystem needed to make that shift.

Read: https://rebrand.ly/brj0cdh

16/09/2026

The latest special issue of Urbanisation on ‘Informality and Climate Change in Cities of the Global South’ brings together research examining the ways climate change is reshaping urban and peri-urban spaces, livelihoods, mobility, and inequality.

This article contributes to the empirical understanding of the intersection of excess heat, the urban built environment, gender and informal work in India. A look at the case of women artisan members of an Ahmedabad-based handicraft cooperative, Abodana, reveals how various aspects of the built environment, including homes and access to basic services, can intensify their varied vulnerabilities, as well as influence their ability to cope.

Read the article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/24557471261425770

To get free access to the special issue until 31 October 2026, visit: urbanisationjournal.com.

Address

No. 197/36, 2nd Main Road, 16th Cross Rd, Sadashiva Nagar, Armane Nagar
Bangalore
560080

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm

Telephone

+919606493803

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