BENGALURU: A five-element seminar on sustainable urban ecology - ‘Bengaluru 2050’ was conducted by Rotary International districts 3191 and 3192 in association with Sycom Global, a services marketplace and Indian Green Building Council, known for developing green buildings at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on Sunday.
During the discussion “The missing master plan,” experts highlighted urban planning and development challenges, citing the lack of a comprehensive master plan, fragmented decision-making, and unsustainable growth as factors contributing to Bengaluru’s transformation from a garden city to a concrete jungle.
Naresh Narasimhan, architect and urbanist, said that Bengaluru’s urban planning process has been ineffective in addressing the city’s water scarcity and the planning laws are outdated and inadequate for its rapidly growing population. “Not a master plan, but a service plan is required to solve environment concerns in the city’s metropolitan region,” he said.
The plan should emphasize expanding urban development into neighbouring areas like Hoskote, Ramanagara, Kanakapura, Nelamangala, and Anekal to expand the city’s area. Instead of adopting a strictly western-centric Central Business District (CBD) model, where a certain part is surrounded by high-rise buildings followed by suburban areas, alternative approaches should be explored, Naresh explained.
Naresh mentioned that the issue arises from lack of alignment between authorities such as BBMP, BDA, and BWSSB, each pursuing their own agendas without cohesive city-wide planning. This fragmentation results in disparate projects that fail to contribute to a unified vision for the city’s future.
Stressing the triple planetary crisis - climate change, biodiversity collapse, and air pollution, Dr Harini Nagendra, Director of the Research Centre at Azim Premji University highlighted the interconnectedness of ecological security, climate change, and air pollution which further impacts food security. Dr Harini, who also leads the university’s centre for climate change and sustainability, emphasized the importance of considering the needs of marginalized communities in urban ecology.
Highlighting air pollution, Dr Harini emphasized the importance of planting more trees in urban areas to improve resilience to climate change.