Increasingly fewer people live in the villages and the countryside. Towns and cities are the new communities.

The size of our cities is increasing. Our cities are increasingly crowded, polluted and inhabitable. Rapid expansion and unplanned construction activity has decreased the green cover in our cities. People from rural communities migrate to cities in search of better opportunities. 30% of our population now lives in urban areas and this will grow to around 50% in the next 10-20 years (McKinsey, April 2010). Huge quantities of waste are generated due to city lifestyle and this is dumped in huge landfills in the outskirts of cities. Water supply to most cities is increasingly stressed. More than a third of the people live in slums. Infrastructure has a hard time catching up with the growth.

Schools:

How do we manage some of these problems? What kinds of solutions can help de-stress cities?

Colleges:

Are cities the only future of community existence? What drives the city ecosystem? How do we create self-sustainable community environments in a globalised world? If bigger cities/towns are the answers, what kinds of homes, transportation and associated infrastructure, like markets and institutions (education, hospitals) are required?