Kathmandu’s streets turned into a sea of placards and smartphones last week. Gen Z protesters, in their early 20s, gathered outside Singha Durbar, Nepal’s seat of power. Chants echoed off the valley walls, livestreams flooded social media, and within days, the pressure forced the government to resign.
This was not an isolated episode. In August 2024, Dhaka was paralysed as students and young workers staged weeks of demonstrations. Factory workers poured out of garment districts, while students clashed with riot police on Dhaka University Road, their slogans painted hastily on hostel walls. The movement grew so intense that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country, her long rule collapsing in the face of youth-led protests. Two years earlier, Colombo’s Galle Face Green was transformed into a buzzing protest camp. There, students and young professionals set up tents, painted murals of defiance, and demanded the fall of a corrupt political dynasty. Their determination eventually toppled the Rajapaksa regime.
Beyond immediate triggers
Most commentary on these recent South Asian upheavals has centred on immediate causes—corruption, inflation, governance failures—and their geostrategic implications. While these issues are important, for a fuller understanding, it is necessary to factor in the deeper structural drivers: a huge youth population, limited employment opportunities, and the pressures of rapid urbanisation.
According to UN-Habitat’s State of Urban Youth report, disaffected youth without economic opportunities are more vulnerable than older adults and more likely to turn to violent activities. The report also warns that by 2030, over 60% of the global urban population will be under the age of 18. A lack of employment opportunities for the youth population is not just a social problem—it is among the greatest security threats facing the world today.
South Asia’s numbers underline this point starkly. In Nepal, 21% of the population is between 15 and 24 years old; in Sri Lanka, the figure is 19%; and in Bangladesh, an astonishing 40%. Crucially, these young people are overwhelmingly concentrated in the preeminent urban nodes of their countries: Kathmandu Valley houses 41% of Nepal’s urban population, Dhaka 34% of Bangladesh’s, and Colombo 55% of Sri Lanka’s. These are no ordinary cities. They dominate the urban landscapes of their nations and exercise disproportionate political influence—when they erupt, the entire nation feels the tremors.
The urban crucible of dissent
The degree of dominance of these capital cities gives their protests national resonance, but the urban condition itself magnifies unrest. Kathmandu’s congestion, inadequate housing, and spiralling inflation feed disillusionment daily. Dhaka’s garment workers and students endure unsafe workplaces and overcrowded hostels even as luxury apartments and shopping malls rise around them. Colombo’s youth saw middle-class dreams collapse amid crippling shortages of food, fuel, and medicine.
Cities make discontent visible. A march through Kathmandu or Dhaka paralyses traffic and commerce. Cafés, campuses, and WhatsApp groups provide spaces for solidarity, while iconic landmarks—Singha Durbar, Shahbagh Square, or Galle Face Green—lend movements symbolic power. Urban geography turns youthful frustration into movements that governments cannot ignore.
The message is clear: without addressing the youth question, cities—meant to be engines of growth—can become powder kegs. Kathmandu, Dhaka, and Colombo are not anomalies. They are symptoms of a regional and global pattern: a generation confronting unfulfilled promises of modernisation, better jobs, and inclusive governance and choosing to claim visibility in the streets. South Asia is home to one of the world’s youngest populations, but without pathways to dignity and opportunity, this demographic dividend risks turning into a demographic disaster.
Lessons for India
India, with the world’s largest youth population, cannot afford complacency. Its size, diversity, federal structure, and deeper democratic traditions provide important safety valves against the kind of regime-toppling witnessed in some of its smaller neighbours. Even so, India is not insulated from the pressures that come with a rapidly changing urban society.
According to UN estimates, India’s urban population is set to increase by 328 million between 2022 and 2047—larger than the entire population of the United States. Cities will be central to driving growth, but this demographic transformation also poses risks. Unless the aspirations of young people are adequately recognised and addressed, urban centres could become sites of mounting frustration rather than inclusive prosperity.
Recent events offer a glimpse of these pressures. The candlelight vigils in Kolkata after the rape and murder of a young doctor in August 2024 showed how quickly outrage can draw youth into collective action. In Bengaluru, everyday struggles with traffic gridlock and inadequate infrastructure are voiced incessantly on social media. While these episodes do not destabilise governments, they are reminders of the deeper currents of discontent that can accumulate if governance fails to keep pace with urban change.
The road ahead
South Asia’s recent upheavals point to two urgent priorities.
The first is youth-focused urban policy. Expanding opportunities beyond precarious and informal work is critical. Young people in cities need real pathways into green industries, digital economies, and creative sectors that match their aspirations. This requires more than token schemes—it calls for targeted entrepreneurship support, vocational training, and skill-development programmes embedded in urban planning and development strategies. Unless city governments actively address the frustrations of their youngest residents, discontent will continue to mount.
The second is political inclusion. Governments must open channels for youth participation in the political process—not only as voters but as active citizens shaping public debates and decisions – especially at the local levels. This can be done by encouraging meaningful involvement in Ward Committees and Area Sabhas, where young voices can influence everyday governance and bring governments closer to people.
South Asia’s restless cities are sending a message the world cannot ignore; disaffected youth are not a peripheral concern but a central security challenge of our time. Unless governments respond with seriousness and vision, the very engines of economic growth risk becoming furnaces of urban unrest.
Tathagata Chatterji is Professor (Urban Management and Governance) at the School of Human Settlements, XIM University, Bhubaneswar. Views expressed here are the author’s own.