Ecosystem - Question of Cities

Resistance, confrontation,
anti-extractivist struggles in the Global South

Rising heat waves, illegal mining, degradation of water bodies and depletion of trees are increasing across the world, especially in countries of the Global South where most of the world’s vulnerable population lives. Environmentalism in these countries, or among vulnerable…

Fighting erosion, climate change in the Sundarbans

The people of the Sundarbans show how they are the force of resilience, battling cyclones, and disrupted livelihoods. Adopting nature-based solutions, they use vetiver as a powerful natural tool to combat soil erosion and understand that protecting the streambanks from…

How urban plans can, and must, value trees

Urban development plans and master plans have traditionally seen trees as impediments to ‘development’, rarely acknowledging them as natural wealth of cities and hardly making provisions to protect and preserve them. This will no longer work in the time of…

When did we last hear what trees are telling us?

Trees are service providers to us, they perform necessary ecological functions, and they are among sturdy climate warriors there can be in a world dealing with climate change extremes. Adaptation is not something only human beings do in the climate…

A community of trees as a social network of greens

While a single tree, especially old and heritage ones like the khirni tree in Delhi or the Baobab in Mumbai’s Bandra, is priceless, a community of trees is what makes the urban green cover vibrant and self-sustaining. The roots of…

Dehradun model of development is unsustainable, ecologically hazardous

Once a quaint hill station nestled in the Himalayas, cradling many public institutions of learning and research, Dehradun has seen rapid growth and construction. Studies show that the town’s built-up area increased, almost doubled, in the past 20-odd years while…

How Punekars fought for their hill, Vetal Tekdi, to save its ecology

Pune’s citizens have been fighting to save Vetal Tekdi, the city’s lungs and a popular open space, from being destroyed for developmental projects. Realising the importance of nature in a rapidly expanding city, a coalition of citizens and groups have…

Linear parks: Adding value to urban landscape

Seamless stretches of green space and blue water courses, opening up possibilities and amenities for the public, are significant characteristics of a healthy and liveable city. The green stretches may well be linear parks threading various neighbourhoods, creating accessible and…

Mithi: Desperately seeking course correction, ecological restoration

It’s been 18 long years since the Mithi river was blamed for Mumbai’s worst flood. Ten committee reports and thousands of crores later, the authorities have scrambled to deepen and desilt the river besides construct retaining walls on both the…

A compendium on Odisha’s planned city and its transformation

The interesting story on how Odisha’s capital, Bhubaneswar, was planned and built has found its way into many research papers and reports. German architect Otto Koenigsberger’s master plan emphasised on organising the town “in such a manner that it forms…