Indian Institute of Human Settlements

The Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) is a national education institution committed to the equitable, sustainable and efficient transformation of Indian settlements.

By 2050, half of all Indians will live in urban areas as the country undergoes a dramatic urban transition with deep economic, political, social, cultural and ecological impacts. Our future hinges on this urban transition being handled with wisdom and alacrity. Yet the fundamental constraint in the equitable and orderly growth and transformation of urban India is neither capital nor technology. The chief impediment is the availability of sufficient numbers of well educated professionals committed to the common good who can play the role of urban change-makers.

IIHS aims to establish an independently funded and managed National University for Research and Innovation focused on the challenges and opportunities of India’s  urban transition. The proposed IIHS University will host an integrated programme of quality campus-based education and research, training and lifelong learning for working professionals, distance and blended learning, as well as a whole array of practice and advisory services. The university will have a strong interdisciplinary orientation bringing together theory and praxis that is grounded in the South Asian context and also engages with and draws from knowledge across the globe.

IIHS is a proposed networked institution across India.   Its 55-acre mother campus in Bengaluru will consist of academic, research and social infrastructure including student and faculty housing and will be complemented by the IIHS City Campus, located in North Bengaluru.

IIHS has also been designated a National Resource Centre (NRC) by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

Content

assar logo - climate adaptation.

ASSAR

This 5-year research project seeks to better understand barriers and enablers to widespread transformative adaptation to advance adaptive livelihoods for vulnerable groups

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Members

plants grow using drip irrigation in India

Interrogating ‘Effectiveness’ in Climate Change Adaptation: 11 Guiding Principles for Adaptation Research and Practice

What does adaptation look like and how can it be enabled? Learn more in this review which distills its findings into eleven guiding principles of effective adaptation. 

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Fishing settlement affected by the 2004 Tsunami and Cyclone Gaja in Akkaraipattai, Nagapattinam (Photo credits: Chandni Singh)

Recovery with Dignity

The Recovery with Dignity project aims to understand the experiences of recovery in post-disaster situations across three states in India – Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. 

 

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Life histories

Understanding vulnerabilities through life histories

This article demonstrates how life histories can provide a dynamic and robust methodology to understanding household responses to risks and livelihood vulnerabilities in semi-arid India.

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resilience

Urban resilience and everyday risk

African cities face unique challenges and climate change threats. This paper analyzes how resiliency can be made applicable to urban African contexts.

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Image of IIHS group

Writeshopping your way to writing together

Chandni Singh, from the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, looks at the complications people face when writing collaborative papers and at potential solutions.

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farmer with watercan

The utility of weather and climate information for adaptation decision-making

This paper outlines currently available climate information and presents examples from Africa and India to highlight successes and barriers to the use and uptake of information in decision making.

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