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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to outline the socio‐economic and environmental implications of the informal sector engaged in waste recycling in the city of Kanpur, with special emphasis on the lives of lowest group of people, i.e. waste‐pickers, and to discuss various possible scenarios to integrate them with the formal sector.Design/methodology/approachThe study involved field survey of secondary material markets, followed by the administration of questionnaires to 40 respondents belonging to various segments of the informal sector. The questionnaires were designed to elicit information on the socio‐economic characteristics of the respondents. The study was conducted in 2004.FindingsThe study has attempted to delve into the socio‐economic conditions of the waste and dump‐pickers, the lowest segment of the informal recycling sector. The study of the status of existing alliances of formal‐informal sector and the community shows that there is a lot of scope for improvement in the management of solid waste and the condition of the informal waste‐recycling sector. Stronger alliances have the potential to improve the services as well as the socio‐economic condition of the informal waste‐recycling sector.Research limitations/implicationsA very small sample size was selected for this study in the absence of any prior database pertaining to the size, socio‐economic conditions of the informal waste‐recycling sector.Originality/valueThe paper attempts to understand the important role played by the informal sector engaged in waste recycling. This work is original, as no such analysis has been carried out in the study area. This study could be further extended.

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PurposeThe purpose of this research is to assess the existing state of MSW in Kanpur city with the aim of identifying the main obstacles to its efficiency and the prospects for improvisation of the solid waste management system in the city.Design/methodology/approachThe research has been conducted in three stages. The first stage involved collection of background information through various reports, publications of various organizations to understand the state of MSWM in the city, followed by interviews with various heads of the Municipal Corporation involved in SWM, municipal workers and residents of the city. Field studies were conducted in few wards of the city and official dump sites. The third stage involved conducting interviews with planning experts and representatives from NGOs to derive information on various SWM related problems and prospects for improvising the system.FindingsThe existing solid waste management system in the city appears to be highly inefficient. Only primary and secondary collection, transportation and open dumping are practiced, that too in a non‐technical manner.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a need to establish a detailed database regarding the quantity and quality of the waste generated by various generators category wise. There is a need to find the exact size of the informal waste recycling sector and the economics of waste recycling in the city to integrate it with the formal sector.Originality/valueThis paper systematically assesses the obstacles in the existing solid waste management system in Kanpur city and tries to assess the potentials for its improvisation.

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Cities are the engines of economic growth. The concentration of population in urban settlements is a result of the centralization of resources and triggers in-migration. Sprawl, congestion, increasing densities, and social exclusion are the major urban challenges faced by the cities of the developing world. At this juncture, it is important for planners to address these issues to make the cities liveable. The compact city concept is one of the concepts to address similar problems faced by the developing world. Implementation of the compact city concept is limited to an increase in density, redistribution of density, implement transit-oriented development schemes, and mixed uses of the land resource in existing practices. The compact city concept is widely discussed and debated due to its benefits and costs with respect to sustainable urban development. This paper aims to conduct an in-depth study on the sustainable compact city concept by taking into account the literature available from various contexts around the world. The paper investigates the existing methodologies and proposes the optimal methodology for sustainable compact city planning.