A project initiated during the 19th Pune Design Festival 2025 around the theme

“Mind the World” – Sarg team decided to use the platform of Pune Design Festival to kick-start a project on shifting the attention towards our public infrastructure in Pune City. Responsibilities are often blurred amidst the rush of daily life. Who is truly accountable? A question for designers- how do you interpret these images? What are your views? Can you identify solutions? Can you recognize complex issues? And moreover, can we take the initiative to create a liveable, enjoyable, equitable, and resilient city together?

This initiative stems from an idea originally proposed by Sarg Design Studio to establish a Design Studio for PMPML, the bus transport system serving Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.
The goal of setting up a design studio is to build capacity within the government and the transport authority, enabling them to implement solutions that make bus services more passenger-friendly.
In many government sectors, design is often viewed narrowly, primarily as a way to add aesthetic value to objects, spaces, or infrastructure. However, when we consider a city as a blend of both infrastructure and services, design holds the potential to address much more. It can enhance processes and strategies, driving significant improvements and delivering greater impact. The PMPML Design Studio was part of this vision—using design not just for aesthetics but to improve processes and set strategic directions that would make the bus system more user-centric and efficient.

The Association of Designers of India (ADI) served as a knowledge partner in curating a panel on "Public Policy and Design: Convergence." Sarg Design Studio, as a member of the Design Entrepreneurs network at ADI and an active participant in the Pune Chapter, contributed to the Pune Public Policy Festival by helping curate the panel discussion on design.
In addition to the talks and discussions, we gathered feedback from festival attendees on the topic, "What if Municipal Administrations had a Design Team?" The conference attracted 700 delegates with diverse backgrounds in economics, law, political science, social sciences, administration, government, NGOs, think tanks, and social impact organizations.
The responses we received were overwhelmingly positive, with more than 70% of attendees agreeing that design could add significant value to municipal administration. Key areas where design can make an impact include community spaces, transport, waste management, and mobility.

Progressing the activity ahead, Sarg Design Studio has chosen the Pune Design Festival as a platform to engage with fellow designers. We have curated a collection of images that depict common scenes from Pune city, though similar situations can be found in many other cities as well.
As designers, it’s time for us to reflect on the issues presented in these images. Do they evoke feelings of frustration, helplessness, or even spark a chain of thoughts? If the problems seem manageable and solvable, why haven’t they been addressed yet? Who is responsible for these issues, and why haven’t those in charge taken action? These images offer glimpses of moments that encourage us to imagine the stories behind them and consider what solutions might be possible.
Due to time constraints, we couldn't conduct an extensive survey or cover every issue comprehensively. Instead, we’ve selected images that are simply part of the everyday cityscape. This initiative aims to spark a conversation and draw attention to overlooked situations, objects, and elements in the city that need attention. Our interventions could extend beyond aesthetics to include designing processes, strategies, and systems for implementation and long-term maintenance of these elements.
Each image comes with a prompt, allowing you to share your thoughts based on your observations and analysis. It’s easy to criticize or remain indifferent, but these are the elements that shape our cities. It's time we stop ignoring them. Let’s take action and work towards creating change.
We don’t intend to claim that these issues are the most critical or the most complex problems to solve. There are certainly bigger challenges at hand. However, we believe these issues are solvable, and it's time we start addressing them.

Images of cards dispensed at the festival.

If you have attended the Pune Design Festival and have a card with an image. You can share your views by clicking the link below.

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