Kumbh's transient city raises lessons in urban planning and resilience

As the temporary metropolis comes to life, it raises profound questions about adaptability, sustainability, and what the cities of tomorrow can learn from one that refuses to stay

The city of Kumbh, on the banks of Sangam, is likened to a divine mirage. A vast city envisioned to function with full complexity is conjectured from the dust and dissolves into nothingness in a few weeks. This is what some would call transient urbanism.  Here we have a sprawling metropolis that pulses and governs itself like any permanent city and yet exists only for a fleeting moment in time. In Prayagraj, over 400 million pilgrims are expected to converge, roads have unfurled overnight, pontoon bridges span sacred waters, and a massive digital infrastructure has been erected to watch