Land acquisition legislation in force today is a relic of the colonial era when the wishes of landowners could be ignored. Governments of independent India continued the practice

We present results of an empirical investigation and comparison of housing supply in three rapidly growing countries: Malaysia, Thailand, and Korea. These countries offer three contrasting examples of different approaches to development control. Korea has relatively strict control of housing supply. Thailand has little effective regulation of development. Malaysia offers an intermediate case, having adopted in the mid-1970s development control legislation patterned on the British Town and Country Planning Act.

While several cities across the world have revived their tramways, Kolkata naively ignored its tramways and witnesses the last days of this non-polluting and once-efficient mode of transport. Read this special report in Down To Earth.

Kolkata witnesses the last days of a non-polluting and once-efficient mode of transport, while trams make a comeback in cities around the world.