Such fast-paced growth, especially in developing countries, also stretches the capacity of local and regional governments to provide sufficient infrastructure and services to the residents.

Speaking to The Secretariat, S B Dangayach, founder-trustee of Innovative Thought Forum, pointed out, “Commons lands are out of reach of the common man. People in power have been exploiting what should be available to the people, because it is the 'commons'. This has led to damage and loss of biophilic spaces. With every citywide model like Smart Cities and AMRUT, we look at things as standalone pieces, and lack an integrative approach. We need clean air, clean water and clean land, and everything needs to be looked at in totality.”

This is visible in cities across the nation. A 2021 report by Observer Research Foundation, which analysed existing plans and projects in India around using nature-driven solutions, noted that Bengaluru has seen a 925-per cent increase in built-up area between 1973 and 2013. Green features decreased from 68 per cent to 14 per cent, and blue features (water bodies) from 3 per cent to less than 1 per cent. 

Similarly, from 1977 to 2017, Mumbai witnessed a 60 per cent loss in vegetation and 65 per cent decrease in water bodies. A technical land-use land cover assessment of Greater Mumbai released in 2020 indicates up to a 2.5 per cent loss in vegetation and a 1.4 per cent loss in water bodies over the 1999-2019 period.

Ahmedabad is projected to see a 50 per cent loss in vegetation between 2010 and 2030. The Climate Resilient City Action Plan (CRCAP) has, as one of its eight thematic goals across various sectors in focus, urban greening and biodiversity, the goal “to enhance its blue-green infrastructure to improve climate resilience, addressing extreme heat stress, and ensuring that its local biodiversity and associated ecosystem services are safeguarded in the face of climatic changes”.

As per the CRCAP, the city has 48.98 sq km tree cover, which is 10 per cent of total city area; 6.8 sq m per person against the WHO standard of 9 sq m. Other initiatives include increase in impervious areas due to increase in built-up area and limited provision for green cover during planning and designing town planning schemes to strategically site parks and gardens to reduce urban heat island (UHI) impacts and urban flooding.

“There is no land footprinting done in the city. When you are to plan a city or an area or town or any place, you need to know what exactly is the land footprinting of that activity. That is completely missing,” rued Dangayach, adding only 50,000 hectares were required to build 2 crore remaining households from the available 4,440 urban spaces. “Land requirement assessment hasn’t been done. We are made to believe that land is in short supply and will remain so.”

A 2022 spatio-temporal assessment of Ahmedabad by IIT, Roorkee and Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar noted that in the past 30 years, Ahmedabad’s total built-up area grew extensively both in extent and density.

From 181.45 sq km in 2000 to 276.46 sq km in 2010 and 305.24 sq km in 2019, the mushrooming has mostly been at the cost of open areas, uncultivated agricultural land and landfills, which have decreased at an average of 17 per cent over the decades.

Vegetation grew by 40.8 per cent from 161.03 sq km in 1990 to 226.60 sq km in 2019. With the highest growth rate of 15.3 per cent between 1990 and 2000, this class continues to grow at a decadal growth rate of 12 per cent, due to afforestation programs run by the local government and municipal corporation.

The final land use class, i.e. water bodies comprising rivers, lakes, canals and wetlands, cover just ~1 per cent of the city’s area. While it is forecast the city’s green cover may grow from 227 sq km in 2019 to 234 sq km in 2030, there is no appreciable change expected for the water bodies.

With more farmland and green areas being urbanised, the surface area required for water percolation is reduced. As a result, all the runoff flows, without being absorbed, increasing the occurrence of floods. 

Freshwater bodies are often victim to changes in land use in their catchments leading to reduction in in-flow and deteriorating quality of the runoff. Instead, many of them end up as ‘sinks’ for untreated effluents from urban centres and industries.

Encroachment of reservoir areas for development and excessive diversion of water for agriculture is another major problem. The only way out is to look at the balance between different components of cities, which are the same elements that make a jungle, requiring each bit to survive as a whole.

What's Blue-Green Infrastructure?

Blue-green infrastructure can be defined as an umbrella of nature-based solutions that have a direct impact on climate change, urban resilience, and health and wellness (see graphic).

Speaking to The Secretariat, Ahmedabad-based urban climate change expert Shashwat Bandhopadhyaya noted, “Blue green infrastructure is basically a natural defence, in terms of grasslands, open area, canal networks that existed before cities started occupying natural systems.

This natural infrastructure has a lot of ability to cope with climactic changes. In the context of the increasing UHI effect and rapid changes in rainfall, we have to look towards how these natural systems can be brought back to health in our cities.”

The European Commission defines green infrastructure as “strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services such as water purification, air quality, space for recreation and climate mitigation and adaptation. This network of green (land) and blue (water) spaces can improve environmental conditions and therefore citizens’ health and quality of life”.

Existing urban infrastructure will need to be reinforced and made resilient for anticipated population growth and withstand future shocks and calamities expected as outcomes of climate change. Sustainable water management through blue interventions and investment in green infrastructure can help build climate resilience.

“One way is to look at the green field city, where a new city is being built, the very basic thing is to respect the topography, the water flows, natural landscape, trees and biodiversity. What we do today is that we first destroy the natural landscape and then plant artificial and ornamental plantations by the real estate sector.

Another is to deal with the brown field, which is the area that is already built, there we need to do a lot of retrofitting, bringing in planning and regulation to make the old built-up areas more green and livable,” Bandhopadhyay added.

The latter is the most immediate solution Ahmedabad needs to take into consideration.

A study conducted by scholars from Central University and ISRO in 2019, pointed out, “Uncontrollable intensive urban sprawl and haphazard expansion of cities are a serious threat for sustainable development of urban areas. Inappropriate policy and improper implementation can fuel the urban sprawl in cities."

“Ahmedabad’s area for urban development is increasing. All land footprinting for each of the activities, be it housing, industrial, commercial, etc., should be minutely calculated and be on paper.

The government should carry out a study on public sector undertakings other than Defence and Railways surplus land or waste land. Around 4 lakh hectares of land is lying with the government, which is not going to be used for another 50 years. The shortage of land is clearly a myth,” said Dangayach.

“The first step is to know the requirements. We don’t have to go for ownership options. We can manage it through other ways like leasing, rental, hostel, etc. That is how we can have a city where we can have holistic development.

The biggest reason behind imbalanced blue-green spaces major problem is due to mismanagement of land that has led to. People treat land as a bank where people are putting their surplus wealth as if it is a product that will continue to appreciate,” he added.

The CRCAP should consider this seriously and deploy blue-green nature-based solutions for Ahmedabad's infrastructure development.