There is a particular kind of neighbourhood that older Indian cities have almost by accident and that newer ones spend enormous amounts of effort and money trying to recreate. The kind where the vegetable vendor knows which family buys which greens on which day. Where the tailor three lanes down has been fixing the same family's clothes for twenty years. Where the chemist stocks something specific because a diabetic patient who lives two buildings away needs it regularly. These neighbourhoods were not designed. They grew around the logic of proximity and they work because everything needed for daily life is within a short walk rather than a long drive. Urban planners in Europe are currently spending serious money trying to build this from scratch and calling it the 15-minute city. The idea is not new or complicated. People should be able to reach work, food, healthcare, services and recreation within fifteen minutes from home without getting into a vehicle. When a city grows in the...