Dear readers,

Several cities in India have sounded heatwave alerts, once again bringing home the effects of climate change. As summers get hotter and water scarce, the need to restore and conserve natural areas was never greater. Trees and urban forests, hills and hillocks, open green spaces and maidans, sea fronts and creeks, rivers, lakes, ponds and other water bodies are the climate warriors we need as climate impacts intensify and become more frequent. You have heard this before but, in this edition of Question of Cities, plumb the depths of why we need more nature in our cities and how people are doing this.

In the QoC Editorial, we outline reasons to welcome the recent judgment of the Supreme Court of India which brought climate impacts into sharp focus. The case was about the Great Indian Bustard but the apex court articulated a powerful idea in the judgment – that Indians have a right against the adverse effects of climate change. This is significant because it expands the scope of Article 21 and Article 14, includes climate impact in the ambit of human rights, and clearly places responsibility on governments, we argue. The implications are far-reaching as climate impact intensifies leaving millions defenceless. Read it here.

In its concrete midst, Mumbai has at least 18 urban forests together spanning across nearly 1,400 hectares from Sion and Trombay to Powai and Goregaon, found environmentalist Stalin D, director of Vanashakti, and his team. Documenting these almost forgotten and invisible forests is the first step in recognising the ecology in the city and protecting it, if Mumbai has to have a chance against climate change. Read his extensive report with area-centric details on the ecology and biodiversity in these urban forests. Read it here.

In Pune, citizens have been fighting to save Vetal Tekdi, the city’s lungs and a popular open space, from being destroyed for developmental projects like a link road. QoC journalist Shobha Surin writes about their movement, how they mounted action and kept it going, strategies they adopted in fighting for the hill (tekdi is Marathi for hill). Under the aegis of Vetal Tekdi Bachav Kruti Samiti, they used the Right to Information, organised nature trails, posters and street plays to halt the proposed Balbharti-Paud Phata Link Road. Pune’s municipal corporation seems hell-bent on this project while the activists cite its own reports against the road, firmly standing by the hill, she writes. Read it here.

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 walkable spaces for interaction and leisure, and softening the hard edges of constructed spaces in cities. They are also climate warriors against urban heat islands and air pollution. Team QoC put together this compendium on how cities around the world have transformed spaces, sometimes unused ones, into valuable green zones. Read it here.

In keeping with the theme of this edition, in our Books section, we recommend two books, one on water and the other on trees in our cities. Shades of Blue: Connecting the Drops in India’s Cities and Cities and Canopies: Trees in Indian Cities are both well-researched, lively but not light, and intensely thought-provoking books that should be read and re-read by everyone who cares about cities. Authored by ecologists and professors Harini Nagendra and Seema Mundoli, they draw attention to the importance of the ecological heritage in cities, and are worth revisiting.

Our News Digest section has interesting and must-read stories about cities and the environment.

Hope you find the essays engaging and worthwhile. Have you subscribed to Question of Cities? It’s free. Sign up and have your friends subscribe too. If you have something to say, write to us at [email protected]. 

Thank you,
Smruti
April 19, 2024