Dear readers,

When luxury hotels are planned near Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, a UNESCO world heritage site, or a twin tunnel directly beneath Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park, it shows a complete disregard for nature, for the interdependent web of ecology, and its vast and complex ecosystems. As India develops and redevelops cities, at the cost of their natural wealth that remains unmapped, the urgent need is to reflect on the relationship between the built environment and ecology. Planners and governments either ignore it or feign concern. Only a few follow the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous words  “I follow in building the principles which nature has used in its domain”. 

In this second edition of the series exploring the built environment, drawn from the impressive submissions received in response to the Call for Papers by  Question of Cities, there are observations, reflections, discussions, suggestions, and reportage on the theme. Read on.

The lead essay, by researcher and professor Arvind Lakshmisha and well-known ecologist, author, and professor Dr Harini Nagendra, unveils the three loops of learning framework of how cities can, and must, integrate climate concerns into urban growth through reimagination and decisions. What are the three loops? They explain these through three case studies of Bengaluru, Chennai, and Delhi with reference to flooding after extreme rainfall and heat waves, urging that governments must go beyond improving immediate responses to build institutional adaptive capacities, learn from local knowledge, and invite community participation. Read it here.

A question steadily crowded out is what happens to the ecological systems when urban land is treated primarily as a surface for construction, asks independent researcher Dr Sanchi Singh. Urban tree canopies, water bodies and wetlands, are not even acknowledged, let alone counted, in project feasibility reports and hardly appear as line items in a Smart City budget. Building with nature calls for mandatory ecological baseline assessments, documenting biodiversity and hydrology of sites before projects are undertaken, biodiversity-sensitive design standards, ecosystem services valuation in project appraisals, and community involvement, but the most important is political will, she writes. Read it here.

Multispecies justice recognises that humans are deeply interconnected with a host of other species but this is hardly represented in urban planning, argues MSc student Satakshi Gupta. Shillong, as part of the Smart Cities Mission, saw built-up areas expand as scattered, unregulated development interspersed with undeveloped land, upsetting the old collective Dorbar Shnong (village council) system. In the Meghalaya highlands – its 79 sacred groves with documented 514 species – land is held collectively and governed by the Dorbar Shnong, preserving the relational web between land, water, air and all beings, an indigenous Multispecies Justice approach. Urban planning here must listen to the language of nature and all species. Read it here.

Multimedia journalist Ankita Dhar Karmakar explores what it might mean to ‘build’ a forest as the plans for the Central Ridge in Delhi get off the ground with the first of the 70 lakh plantations done this month. The Ridge, an extension of the ancient Aravalli hill range, is also slated to have art-themed ‘forests’ with 70 ponds and other built elements. As JCBs roll in to take out the invasive species, and native species will be planted, experts tell her that ecologically-sound restoration would mean the revival of a functioning ecosystem, not just planting a set of trees, an ecosystem that brings out the complex relationship between species. Read it here.

The Kalladi landslide in Kerala earlier this month showed that, like fear after the Choolarmala landslides two years ago, key questions of development too do not fade. Just how much cutting, tunnelling and construction can these mountains absorb, how much engineering intrusion is too much? KA Shaji, south India-based journalist, writes that the landslide is unlikely to bring the Rs 2,134-crore twin tunnel project to a close but it should focus on the “cumulative ecological stress” of projects on the sustainability of the fragile mountain landscape at a time of rapid climatic change. It’s not roads versus ecology but that infrastructure must account for the mountain landscapes as living ecosystems. Read it here.

In our regular section, News Digest, read about the devastating floods in Assam and Jammu; age and gender decides how heat stress impacts people, finds a report; Even camels can’t cope with Africa’s rising temperatures; Deadly wildfire, severe heat singe France, Spain.

If you find our work important and engaging, give us a shout on X, Instagram, and LinkedIn. If you have something to say to us, write to [email protected]. If you haven’t yet subscribed to Question of Cities, India’s only journal on cities-nature-people, do so here.

Thank you,
Smruti
July 24, 2026