Cities

Systems change initiatives to achieve the SDGs, with a focus on connecting talent to social impact.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Non-partisan citizen action to improve governance and civic participation in Bengaluru.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka

Bridging capability gaps in government, civil society, and the private sector through human-centred design.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Capacity building and knowledge sharing for vulnerable rural communities.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh

Open atlas for viewing, filtering, downloading and contributing Indian geospatial layers, from boundaries and wards to rivers and roads

Data source LandCities India

ISRO's geoportal — satellite imagery, thematic map layers and administrative boundaries for India

Data source LandCities India

Ecological architecture, rainwater harvesting, and responsible land use.

Organisation WaterEnvironment India, Karnataka

Advisory, research, and capacity building for philanthropies, NGOs, and social sector systems change.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Independent public policy think tank conducting empirical research on urbanisation, climate governance, state capacity, and federalism

Organisation GovernanceClimate India

Conserving India's wildlife through research and community engagement, with flagship coexistence programmes.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan

Non-profit research and advocacy group in Tamil Nadu working on consumer rights, electricity governance, road safety, and urban mobility

Organisation GovernanceEnergy Tamil Nadu, India

Municipal finance portal for 4,000+ Indian cities with city-level fiscal, revenue and performance data for benchmarking and comparison

Publication CitiesPublic finance India

Civic-tech platform enabling citizens to participate in public consultations and lawmaking.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Climate resilience alliance connecting vulnerable communities with adaptation knowledge, finance, and action.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Nurturing the leadership potential of young people through ecosystem-building and experiential journeys.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Open-source citizen participation platform for citizen proposals, participatory budgeting, public debates, and collaborative legislation

Tool GovernanceTransparency Global, India

Community-based digital public infrastructure for natural-resource planning, resilience, and landscape stewardship.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan

Live and historical air quality readings from India's continuous monitoring stations, with the National Air Quality Index

Dashboard EnvironmentHealth India

Bridging the gap between science, technology, and policy through modelling, tools, and digital platforms.

Organisation HousingCities India, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Assam

India's open data community — mailing list, city chapters, and the maintainers behind several widely used boundary datasets

Community TechnologyGovernance India

Sustainability, climate, and systems-change partnerships spanning business, philanthropy, and public problem-solving.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Research group publishing SHRUG, an open geographic platform linking Indian census, economic and night-lights data

Data source EconomyDemography India

Open-source digital infrastructure for governments to build interoperable public services, registries and administrative workflows

Tool GovernanceTechnology India, Global

District-level building volume and monthly nighttime lights for tracking physical capital and economic activity across India

Data source EconomyCities India

Grant-making to support grassroots NGOs with funding, capacity building, and sector collaboration.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Support services for disadvantaged youth and rural entrepreneurs.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh

Education-focused organisation in Pune working on environmental awareness.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Maharashtra

Strengthening design education around architecture and sustainability.

Organisation HousingCities India, Maharashtra

Training local communities for productive, change-oriented development in Assam.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Assam

Tools and simulations to understand complexity in policy landscapes.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka

Supporting social entrepreneurs to develop and scale businesses.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh

Accelerating the shift towards a just and regenerative future through systems change.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Promotion and development of MSMEs through clusters.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Browser-based OpenStreetMap tool for inspecting, styling, compositing, and exporting multi-layer GeoJSON vectors as PNGs

Tool TechnologyCities Global

Free, private-by-design GIS for visualising, editing, and analysing geospatial data across browsers, desktops, mobile, and Jupyter

Tool TechnologyLand Global

Maps built-up areas, settlement types, and population density over four decades — essential for studying how cities expand through time

Data source CitiesHousing Global, India

Spatial planning for Panchayati Raj — maps existing infrastructure, plans new facilities, and links to eGramSwaraj financial data at the Gram Panchayat level

Dashboard GovernanceCities India

Participatory media and voice-tech platforms for communities excluded from mainstream information systems.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Research on urban green spaces and human-wildlife interactions, plus affordable housing.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Odisha

Social organisation integrating informal waste pickers into municipal solid waste systems, circular economy, and social security in Karnataka

Organisation LabourCities Karnataka, India

Non-profit organisation monitoring forced evictions, homelessness, and advancing the human right to adequate housing and land tenure across India

Organisation HousingCities India

Community-led science-based solutions for climate resilience and ecological stewardship in Kerala.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Kerala

Indian Institute of Human Settlements — interdisciplinary urban research, teaching, and practice.

Organisation HousingCities India, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra

Catalyst for mass health programmes of national priority.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Climate philanthropy collaborative unlocking capital, priorities, and connective infrastructure for climate action.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Knowledge platform publishing actionable ideas and lessons for India's social impact sector.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

District-level nighttime lights panel for India (641 districts, 2012–2024) from VIIRS satellite data, with annual radiance statistics and an automated pipeline

Data source EconomyCities India

Practical proposals for environmentally sound development.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Delhi

Non-profit advancing complete streets, bus rapid transit, cycle networks, and sustainable public transit across Indian municipal corporations

Organisation TransportCities India

Fixing spatial dimensions of Indian cities via policy, planning, and design.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan

City-systems reform organisation focused on municipal finance, civic participation, and urban governance — transforming India's cities for nearly 25 years

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka, Odisha, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Assam

Powerful open-source geospatial visualisation tool — drag-and-drop millions of points and create beautiful interactive maps in the browser, no code required

Tool CitiesTechnology Global, India

Socio-ecological resilience for indigenous and local communities in the Nilgiri Biosphere.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka

Knowledge and networking resources for social change.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Delhi

Food-systems storytelling, local producer networks, and community-led action for regional food cultures.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Canonical government codes and mappings for states, districts, villages, panchayats, urban bodies, wards and constituencies

Data source GovernanceCities India

Science-driven research for sustainable rural development.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra

Animal welfare and environmental awareness.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Uttar Pradesh

Plant conservation, rainforest regeneration, and nature education.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka

Climate storytelling and narrative-change hub connecting communicators, creators, funders, and civil society.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

India's official housing price index — quarterly residential price movements for 50 cities, tracking price, completion, and unsold inventory since 2010

Data source HousingEconomy India

Odissi dance preservation and Food Forest support near Bengaluru.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka

Open platform for live, hyperlocal PM2.5 and PM10 readings from government, research and community monitors across India

Data source EnvironmentHealth India

Crowd-sourced directory of public community spaces across India — libraries, makerspaces, museums, science centres and galleries

Directory Culture & heritageEducation India

Connecting people with civic information for better cities through media, data, and learning.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka

Aggregated ground-level air quality from 150+ countries — harmonised, API-accessible, and far easier to work with than individual government portals

Data source EnvironmentHealth Global, India

Urban data for Indian cities — budgets, mobility, ward boundaries and public records, from official sources and community contributions

Data source CitiesPublic finance India, Karnataka

A map of the world built and owned by its contributors, and the base layer under a large share of civic mapping work

Data source CitiesTransport Global

Open-source multimodal transit routing engine combining OpenStreetMap road networks and GTFS transit schedules for journey planning and transit analysis

Tool TransportCities Global, India

Empowering rural communities towards self-sufficiency through organic farming and farmer-consumer networks.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka

Web-based query tool for OpenStreetMap — run spatial queries like 'all hospitals in Bangalore' or 'all water bodies in this district' and export as GeoJSON

Tool CitiesTechnology Global, India

Connecting donors and impoverished groups, focusing on education and community welfare.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Tamil Nadu

Systems entrepreneurship in environmental governance.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Telangana

Systemic digital and organisational infrastructure for commoning and social change.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

PMAY housing scheme progress — houses sanctioned, grounded, and completed across urban and rural verticals, with beneficiary details and state-wise data

Dashboard HousingWelfare India

Women-led livelihoods, producer collectives, and rural development systems change.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Bihar

Data-driven urban governance research, report cards, and citizen accountability tools.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Maharashtra, Delhi

Alternative perspectives on education, environment, and democracy.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka

The standard open-source desktop GIS — full-featured spatial analysis, map-making, and geodata processing, free and cross-platform, with a vast plugin ecosystem

Tool LandCities Global, India

Peer-to-peer lending platform for unbanked communities.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam, Meghalaya

RBI report on municipal revenue, expenditures, debt and cash flow pressures for urban finance monitoring

Publication Public financeGovernance India

Young citizens solving civic and environmental problems through hyper-local action.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu

Waste management based on circular economy principles.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra

Empowering marginalised communities in thriving cities.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra

Tree plantations, forest creation, and water rejuvenation across Indian cities.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka

Clean energy and climate transitions that are affordable, inclusive, and scalable.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Arts education and socio-emotional learning for children from underserved communities.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar, Karnataka

Independent climate and environment journalism.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Thousands of datasets contributed by participating Indian cities covering urban infrastructure, services, mobility, environment, and governance

Data source CitiesGovernance India

Non-profit organisation working to improve maternal, child, and adolescent health and reduce gender-based violence in urban informal settlements

Organisation HealthNutrition Maharashtra, India

Collective wisdom through participatory methods, dialogue, and community process design.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh

Benchmark sustainable development models across 14 states.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh

Climate strategy, energy transition, and public-interest systems change for a just future.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Sanitation progress across urban and rural India — toilet construction, ODF status, solid waste management, and swachhata rankings at city and district level

Dashboard HealthCities India

Sustainable waste management for public health.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka

Conservation impact through appropriate technology.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Quarterly and annual statistics on telecom subscribers, broadband, teledensity, usage, revenue and service quality

Publication TechnologyEconomy India

Experiential learning and environmental education for children and communities.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Entrepreneurial mindset in young learners through large-scale school and nano-entrepreneurship programmes.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh

Create custom interactive maps with OpenStreetMap layers in minutes — no coding, just drop data, style, and embed anywhere

Tool CitiesTechnology Global, India

The UN's official population estimates and projections for every country — age structures, fertility, mortality, migration, and urbanisation through 2100

Data source DemographyCities Global, India

UNISDR/UNDRR flagship assessment of global disaster risk patterns, prevention progress and resilience outcomes

Publication DisastersClimate Global, Asia, India

Ecological restoration and wildlife corridors in South Bengal and the eastern Himalayas.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya

Vehicle registrations by class, fuel, maker, model, state and registering office across India's VAHAN system

Dashboard TransportCities India

River ecosystems, freshwater resources, and biodiversity documentation through walking expeditions.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

Waste management in the Indian Himalayan Region.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Goa

Interdisciplinary knowledge and applied research for water, environment, and social systems.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana

Conservation and management of wetlands in South Asia.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India

High-resolution gridded population maps at 100 m — where people live, updated yearly, essential for accessibility, health, and infrastructure research

Data source DemographyHealth Global, India

Urban planning, climate resilience, nature-based solutions, and urban water.

Organisation CitiesGovernance India