Nature in the City

Description

In a rapidly urbanizing India, what is the future of nature conservation? How does the march of development impact the conflict between nature and people in India’s cities? Exploring these questions, Nature in the City examines the past, present, and future of nature in Bengaluru, one of India’s largest and fastest growing cities.

Once known as the Garden City of India, Bengaluru’s tree-lined avenues, historic parks, and expansive water bodies have witnessed immense degradation and destruction in recent years, but have also shown remarkable tenacity for survival. This book charts Bengaluru’s journey from the early settlements in the 6th century CE to the 21st century city, and demonstrates how nature has looked and behaved, and has been perceived in Bengaluru’s home gardens, slums, streets, parks, sacred spaces, and lakes.

A fascinating narrative of the changing role and state of nature in the midst of urban sprawl, and integrating research with stories of people and places, this book presents an accessible and informative story of a city where nature thrives and strives.

About the Author

Harini Nagendra, a Bengaluru native, is Professor of Sustainability at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. She teaches, conducts research, and writes on issues of sustainability in India’s forests and cities. After a PhD at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, she conducted postdoctoral research at Indiana University, Bloomington, was a Society in Science Fellow at ETH Zurich, and a Hubert H. Humphrey Distinguished Visiting Professor at Macalester College, Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is a recipient of the Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (with Elinor Ostrom), and an Elinor Ostrom Senior Scholar Award. She participates in diverse international initiatives on global environmental research, including as a Scientific Steering Committee member of the Programme for Ecosystem Change and Society, the Global Land Project, and Diversitas. Her many publications include Reforesting Landscapes: Linking Pattern and Process (co-edited, 2010).

Table of contents

List of Tables and Figures x

List of Abbreviations xiii

Acknowledgements xv

1 Bengaluru: City of Nature 1

2 From Village to City: An Ecological History of Bengaluru 17

3 Resilient City: From Colonial to Independent Bengaluru 38

4 Nature in Personal Spaces: Home Gardens in Bengaluru 61

5 Nature and Poverty: Vegetation in Slums 79

6 Nature on the Road: Street Trees in Bengaluru 98

7 Parks: Nature in Public Spaces 121

8 Sacred Nature: Places of Worship 144

9 Blue Nature: City of Lakes 163

10 Envisioning an Inclusive Future for Urban Nature in Bengaluru 186

References 196

Index 215

About the Author 225