2026: What Kochi wants to sustain from the past year

From municipality improvement to taste dynamism, and gathering an empathetic community, Kochi has made advancement successful 2025. MetroPlus speaks to societal entrepreneurs connected what they would similar to spot continued successful 2026.

A metropolis that backs its children

Over the past year, I person seen a meaningful displacement successful however the metropolis shows up for its children, and I person experienced it intimately done the Little Big Festival and our child-led initiatives, wherever children and teenagers assistance plan, create, and instrumentality existent work for what they build. When we started (the Little Big Festival), determination was nary warrant that a large-scale festival centred wholly astir children would work, oregon that parents would spot an attack that gave kids truthful overmuch agency. I similar to judge the archetypal variation helped alteration that. Parents of toddlers, six-year-olds, and adjacent sixteen-year-olds didn’t conscionable amusement up — they backed the idea, encouraged independence, and helped these experiences travel alive. Between our archetypal and 2nd editions, it has been heartening to spot much radical crossed the metropolis statesman curating thoughtful, children-first and kids-only experiences. A twelvemonth ago, this benignant of absorption was rare. As we determination into 2026, what I anticipation continues is this trust, from parents, institutions, and the metropolis itself, due to the fact that erstwhile a metropolis genuinely backs its children, the effect isn’t conscionable palmy events, but a stronger, much thoughtful community.

Sanaa Abdussamad

Curator of Little Big Festival 

A cleanable and harmless Marine Drive

2025 saw the effect of a run that started successful 2018 for the upkeep of Marine Drive. I filed a nationalist involvement litigation successful 2019 regarding the mediocre attraction of the walkway. It was being utilized arsenic a garbage dump and it was a centre of antisocial activities. I person been walking connected Marine Drive for 27 years and person been witnesser to its decline. After a prolonged ineligible battle, successful 2025, the High Court ordered the mounting up of a imperishable monitoring committee involving the GCDA, police, PCB and Corporation with the RDO arsenic the nodal officer. This has brought a definite accountability and this is what I anticipation continues into 2026. Marine Drive is simply a nervus centre of Kochi – a tourer attraction and it is of premier value to support it cleanable and safe. I volition proceed my efforts and guarantee that the Marine Drive remains so. However, arsenic a city, we request to commencement making usage of nationalist transport, make greenish zones and decentralise discarded absorption astatine the ward level successful bid for the metropolis to genuinely evolve. 

Ranjit Thampy

Social Activist

Public transport, indicator of a processing Kochi

The Kochi Metro is continuously expanding, signifier wise, connecting each parts of the metropolis and the Kochi Metro paper enables entree to each these services. As a idiosyncratic who prefers nationalist transport for commuting, I emotion the phenomenal maturation of Kochi Metro. The instauration of electrical feeder buses providing the past mile connectivity with Metro stations is simply a large development. More feeder buses volition promote radical to spell disconnected cars and bikes and trim c emissions successful the city. Public transport is the champion indicator of a city’s development. Countries specified arsenic Japan person the world’s champion nationalist transport systems enabling casual commuting astatine tenable costs. Kochi is catching up! This is what we privation to spot successful the coming years arsenic well. In presumption of discarded management, Kudumbasree with CREDAI is doing yeoman work by collecting segregated waste. But determination is simply a request to present caller technologies for recycling. A sheet of section experts with capable vulnerability to higher levels of technologies and proven way records should beryllium having a say. In 2026, Kochi volition request to absorption much connected discarded absorption and recycling. Godspeed to a increasing Kochi.

Deepa Ganesh

Green gathering and sustainability consultant

GTCS, Kochi

Space for modern art

The Kochi Muziris Biennale has decidedly made Kochi an planetary destination for art. A fig of parallel creation movements and collectives person besides been active, contributing to the mode the metropolis perceives art. Art consciousness has accrued and the mode superior creation is pursued is commendable. 2025 saw a fig of creation fairs, camps and workshops; exhibitions arsenic well. The archetypal variation of Kaladhara (an unfastened creation just organised by Prussian Blue Art Hub) successful 2025 was a immense occurrence successful presumption of people’s response. Without the enactment of the community, specified events would not work. We anticipation to spot the aforesaid enthusiasm successful the 2nd variation of Kaladhara to beryllium held successful January 2026.

Suresh TR

Artist, Founder of Prussian Blue Art Hub

A twelvemonth for creation

2025 was a twelvemonth that brought overmuch happiness to me. It was a twelvemonth erstwhile galore bully things happened to maine including being capable to big the Movement Festival of Kerala, a festival of modern dance. When it comes to change, it has been an ongoing process, particularly for the past 5 years due to the fact that of the proliferation of societal media. Folks tin entree the changes that are happening via socials and support abreast of trends. A civilization of dance, of modern, modern dance, has developed successful the metropolis which I anticipation to spot sustained. There are much creation studios now, the facet of fittingness has travel into dance. This past twelvemonth was affirmative for the show arts, and, I feel, going guardant the imaginable of dance, with the wellness facet included, the performances, and the programmes volition get better. Traditional creation forms besides person country a change, determination is simply a instrumentality of galore which could person been lost. I americium optimistic this question volition continue, my anticipation for the caller twelvemonth is that it does. The caller show and store spaces volition besides spot a batch much “movement”, I americium definite we volition spot much creation productions — nationalist and planetary — workshops, performances and much because, now, determination is virtually abstraction for it successful the city. 2026 volition beryllium a amended year!  

Sreejith P

Dance choreographer/artistic manager

(with inputs from Shilpa Nair Anand)