Sustainability and the City - Center for Urban Green Spaces

Vol. 1 | No. 2 July 2013Editor-in-ChiefManoj DabasEditorial Advisory CommitteeDr. S NateshDr. Barin GanguliDr. Shashi KantMr. Vinay LuthraDr. Deep PandeyDr. Ms. Noor Azlin YahyaDr. Wang ChengDr. Fook Yee WongEditorial TeamShubhra DabasAsha AntilUtkantha SrivastavaPre-production / DTPPramod JhaRahul NautiyalOpinionsOpinions expressed in urbanaturedo not necessarily reflect the opinionof CUGS or other organizationsassociated with publication ofurbaNature.Comments & SuggestionsPlease send your suggestions and feedbackto urbanature@cugs.inProduced and Circulated byAFE Consultants Private LimitedAravali House431/D-22, Chhatarpur HillsNew Delhi-110074, IndiaPublished and Printed byAbhinav Chaudhary on behalf ofCenter for Urban Green Spaces fromAravali House431/D-22, Chhatarpur HillsNew Delhi-110074Printed atMontoo PressNarayana Indsutrial AreaNew DelhiFrom the Editor’s DeskWhether it is geology, climate, hydrologyor diversity of life, cities are an integralpart of the natural environment, no matterwhich part of the planet they come up toexist on. The health of the intermeshedand surrounding ecosystems and thebiological diversity that these ecosystemsbehold are critical for resilience of cities asfunctioning entities. As urban expansionbecomes the norm, are we caring enough for the natural environmentand diversity of life within our cities seriously? Perhaps the answer isnot as encouraging as one would have liked it to be! Urban Biodiversityand resilience of our cities go hand in hand as Neeraj Khera explainsin our cover story.Many cities in South Asia have gone about pursuing urban greeninginitiatives in a mission mode trying to rope all sections of the society inas many stakeholder groups. Kuala lumpur in Malaysia stands out in thiscontext. Noor Azlin Yahya describes what political foresight, executiveresolve and citizen awareness can do when it comes to developing a citywhere nature seamlessly blends with the built environment.As cities expand in the Indian sub-continent developing urbaninfrastructure has emerged as a prime concern and, more often that not,a bottleneck. While investments in utilities and connectivity are wellunderstood, Ian Mell highlights the importance of Green Infrastructure(GI) at various scales, from city scale to street scale that make a cityfunction more efficiently and cohesively. Going down the same trail,Deep Pandey and his colleagues review the role that greenery can playin ameliorating built environments using the building of RajasthanPollution Control Board as a case study.When it comes to pursuing urban greening, few cities match the gustothat Delhi brings to the table. We spoke to G N Sinha, the head ofDelhi’s Forest and Wildlife Department, on what needs to be done tokeep Delhi at its current ranking amongst green cities of the world.And finally, Chhaya Dabas takes a look at origin and evolution of TheMaidan, the vast green space that defines Kolkata, a city that traces itsorigins to the onset of the British presence in the Indian subcontinent.Maidans are one of the prominent reasons that make Kolkatas ofthe world worth fighting for. Isn’t it? Please do write back with yourcomments and suggestions.MANOJ DABASJuly 20133