Cities are no longer closed loop systems, they are now linear and open ended. Since they are constantly expanding, if no full circles are achieved, it means the waste produced in the end would accumulate – and there are several ends.We need to start focusing on systems thinking; we need cities to start performing like ecosystems. we should try to create urban rainforest in our cities to sustain these ecosystems.Urban Wetlands must be preserved as they are in danger of being engulfed in ever growing cities.
Urban wetlands are places within city limits where water and soils mingle. They range from remnants of water bodies that once existed on sites where buildings now stand, to drainage ditches resulting from inadequate development.
To preserve urban biodiversity is also called for as it is very important to sustain our cities as ecosystems. cities are fast becoming our natural habitat.
In India we need green Infrastructure as we are lagging behind in this sphere.In fact, we destroyed our green infrastructure.
Our cities are not rigid, but flexible and liquid. India is in its second decade as a post-modern culture, yet we are planning and building as if we are living in the modern age; believing that if a particular style works for Western countries, it will work for us too. Postmodern design appreciates the value of diversity. A building in Mumbai is constructed like a building in Gurgaon, is constructed like a building in Kolkata, although the climate and the needs are different. Modernist architecture looks at the building as an installation, but postmodernist cultures are less inclined to agree that there is a single correct way of planning, and open to different styles and ideas. Though it was not always like this, the houses in earlier times were made according to local climate and local conditions.
When we raise children, we nudge them towards good values. Similarly, when we set the stones to build a city, we need to provide directions for them to grow towards and into. Rather than waiting for cities to expand, and then thinking about how to handle them, we need to have sustainable, flexible systems in place so they do not become uncontrollable. And since a majority of cities have become spoiled over time, the question to ponder deeply is not how to design new, sustainable cities, but rather, how do we make them sustainable, now that we have erected them.
From daily The Independent in Britain today:
