Gautam Bhan: Why Indian Cities Are Building a New Urban Logic

The Century of Cities welcomes Gautam Bhan, Senior Consultant at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements. Gautam traces India's urban journey from what he calls a "lost decade" to a moment of emergence, while refusing to look away from the deep structural inequalities that persist. He reframes urbanization not as a race for economic growth, but as a shared responsibility to build dignified, equitable futures, rooted in circular economies, local materials, and social fabrics that resist Western templates. Gautam calls for a new kind of leadership, grounded in humility, local wisdom, and the lived experience of cities, and offers a compelling vision of Southern cities looking to each other, not upward, to shape what comes next.