ABSTRACT
The City Improvement Board (CIB) was set up in 1912 by HEH Nawab Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan (1911–1948), the ruler of Hyderabad, the largest princely State in India, with the purpose of developing the city in a holistic manner.
Structured housing schemes, adaptation and re-use of old buildings as well as heritage and water conservation were central to the schemes of the CIB. Specially designated commercial districts were designed; playgrounds and parks were created to bridge economically poorer areas of Hyderabad with newer ones.
The CIB was abolished in 1957, and in the forty-five years of its existence, it changed, along with the skyline of the city, the lives of thousands of its citizens. The positive impact of the work done by the Board is still visible today.
The paper will elucidate some of the key projects of the CIB and also highlight its impact on Hyderabad even today.
