Biodiversity thrives by embracing difference, yet human settlements falter by resisting it. True sustainability lies not in buzzwords, but in systems where nothing is wasted, everything is shared, and community replaces accumulation.
Image credit : Siddhi More
From Forests to Foundations: Rethinking Sustainability as a Living System
How ecosystems teach us to evolve, adapt, and sustain—not through dominance, but through coexistence, flow, and reciprocity?
Environment, biodiversity, productivity, and sustenance have always been deeply interconnected. Simply put, an increase in biodiversity often leads to an increase in productivity. Consider a tree: each leaf maintains its own identity, yet allows others to overlap and coexist, forming a collective domain. This represents a simpler equation than we often realise—how plants, animals, and ecosystems continue to thrive despite growing populations and dwindling resources, while human settlements consistently face failure.
It is important here to understand how a “systems” function. A system is an arrangement of matter that forms a unified whole. It may be isolated, closed, open, or dependent—but what truly matters is how it exchanges matter and energy with its environment. The core principle is in how energy flows and cycles within the system. In natural ecosystems, what we might call “sinks” or “waste” are not discarded. Instead, they become resources or reservoirs for the next cycle. In plant communities, a variety of species coexist, each playing vital roles. What is waste for one becomes food for another.
For Humans alone, we do not consider us as a part of the food chain but entirely the system itself, often at all muilti-sociocultural levels, differences in religion, society, culture, ecology, demography, and economy are often viewed as conflicting rather than complementary or inclusive. We fancy words of high demeanour such as Sustainability, Green building, net-zero, yet when simply put – it is sustainable when, “Nothing goes unused, and nothing is left outside the system”.
In human systems, an entity functioning either as a sink or a resource is a mere accumulation. Wealth—whether material, social, or political—is hoarded inequitably. Constant internal conflict blocks the flow of these potential resources. In every component of human settlements, this habit of accumulation overrides all other processes. As a result, the next cycle begins already weakened.
This deficiency becomes especially concerning in the context of a growing population, which in natural systems would have instead contributed to greater biodiversity and productivity.
Even in natural systems, increasing productivity can eventually lead to a decline in biodiversity later in the cycle. However, this fluctuation follows a rhythmic and balanced pattern—like a wave function—that ultimately restores equilibrium through natural selection, evolution, and succession. Natural systems may have imperfections, but they are guided by principles that allow them to self-correct and evolve. In contrast, human systems are disrupted by the self-centered drive to accumulate, which prevents them from achieving systemic harmony.
Sustainable development in human settlements will remain a theoretical idea unless individuals begin to shift their mindset—from serving only themselves to serving the community. People must embrace diversity, respect different religions, cultures, and societies, and learn to accommodate rather than dominate—just like the leaves on a tree that grow side by side, sharing light and space.
With this inclusive attitude, forests thrive on the same piece of land with the same initial resources, eventually becoming ecosystems that support areas far beyond their own boundaries—without collapsing under their own density. The same potential exists for human settlements.
If this social and environmental philosophy is adopted across all aspects of life—including consumption habits and lifestyle choices—then sustainable settlements will no longer fear overpopulation or unchecked development. These communities will evolve, adapt, and sustain themselves naturally.
Broadly, Sustainability cannot be always measured in terms of building, or net-zero approaches, it is a huge canvass that encompasses procurement, production, distributions, consumptions,
Disposals, and everyone and everything that comes in between.
Planning Beyond Maps: How Human Settlements Are Living Organisms
Planning and Sustenance may seem to be two distinct modules, having no correlations with one another, but planning as a whole has a deep rooted impact on the outcomes such as physicality (Terrain/ Green to brown percentile/ Land-usage patterns/ Rain water discharge) , economic (small/ midcap industries/ production/ petroleum/ and industrial outputs), social (Lifestyle patterns/ Natural light – percentile/ individual residential unit designs/ multi-dwelling Residential units/ Urban sprawl/ Quality of life), cultural (change in ideologies/ Raise in local temperatures/ , political, environmental, ecological, demographic layers and so on.
Even though we usually believe the above have nothing to do with physical spaces and their responses, it is untrue that calibrating the settlement is not required in planning. Just as policies, politics and culture have impact on certain aspects of human settlements including the humans; the same also defines the spaces the same humans live in. It is a very basic fact that all these layers are mutually inclusive and interdependent which are constantly evolving the settlement into a new organism with every passing day, bit by bit. Hence, But the problem comes when components like culture can’t be quantified to be used in planning. Yet it is still unknown to many that the discipline of ekistics is capable of doing exactly the same
Understanding this issue starts with identifying the gaps in architecture and planning—particularly those that hinder the inclusion and quantification of intangible factors like culture, social dynamics, and human values. A usual approach in planning would be categorizing the hierarchy of plans including – national plans, regional plans, sub-regional plans, master plans, zonal development plans, sub-zonal plans, and so on. Yet would this be enough?
Conventional planning methods often fail to integrate the various dimensions of human settlements, leading to fragmented and inconsistent development. While planners justify creating plans at different scales to suit perception or achieve specific goals within a given context, this often results in a loss of coherence, where the purpose of previous plans is forgotten and new ones fail to incorporate all relevant layers—social, cultural, economic, and environmental. Often large scale plans/ Policies tend to turn rigid tools that dictate rather than respond to the evolving realities of settlements. This approach overlooks the fact that settlements are dynamic, living systems, not static diagrams. Moreover, traditional architectural notions of “form” as fixed shapes or masses are fundamentally flawed; form is actually a perception shaped by time, space, and viewpoint, and shifts as these variables change. This lack of adaptability in conventional planning reflects a broader human tendency to discard prior insights, focusing instead on short-term objectives. Unlike these static methods, ekistics offers a more holistic and multidimensional framework that considers the spatial, temporal, cultural, and functional complexities of human settlements, and thus presents a more responsive and sustainable alternative to conventional approaches.
Ekistics connects, beyond these architecture and planning and presents a methodology which is exclusive in settlement planning as a whole, including the intangible layers of cultures, economics, and ecology and so on. Under this genre it is important to undertake a synthesis of intangible forms of social, economic, environmental, ecological, spatial and demographic diagnosis.
* What all constitutes planning as a whole?
* What are the different types or layers of planning?
The Six Dimensions That Could Redefine City Planning
As cities worldwide grapple with swelling populations, shrinking resources, and increasing inequality, conventional urban planning methods are proving inadequate. A lesser-known but transformative discipline called Ekistics offers a bold, multidimensional alternative. Unlike traditional models focused primarily on physical infrastructure, Ekistics considers six interwoven dimensions—physical, temporal, human, functional, cultural, and political—that together provide a comprehensive framework for planning sustainable and inclusive human settlements. The physical dimension remains the most visible, encompassing buildings, roads, parks, and infrastructure. But unlike standard two-dimensional maps, Ekistics urges planners to incorporate height, depth, and the dynamic interactions of physical structures with terrain, environment, and behavior. Moving beyond the static, the temporal dimension acknowledges that no settlement is frozen in time. Cities evolve constantly through demographic shifts, economic changes, and environmental pressures. Planning, therefore, must be adaptable and future-ready. At the heart of Ekistics lies the human dimension, which places people at the center of urban development. Settlements are not abstract grids but lived experiences, shaped by diverse needs across age, ability, income, and identity. Understanding how people interact with space is essential for inclusive design. The functional dimension emphasizes the interdependence of urban systems. Housing, transportation, work, and recreation are not separate silos but interconnected processes. Traffic congestion, for example, reflects deeper patterns in residential location, job distribution, and public services. Then there is the often-overlooked cultural dimension, which highlights how values, traditions, and social norms influence spatial design and behavior. Whether it’s the preference for courtyards over balconies or communal over private spaces, culture is a silent architect that shapes cities. Finally, the political dimension recognizes the role of governance and policy in determining who gets access to land, infrastructure, and services. Urban inequality is often rooted in political decisions—what gets built, who benefits, and whose voices are heard or silenced. By incorporating these six dimensions, Ekistics moves beyond surface-level planning to address the full complexity of human settlements. As global cities edge closer to becoming sprawling “universal cities,” adopting such an integrative approach may be the only way to ensure development that is not just efficient and modern, but also just, resilient, and humane.\\
The factors being:
Physical Space – [Land data analysis, reading the DP plan/ UDCPR / Kumbha Planning]
Time – [Reading – Policies those have changed over 3 decades and further projectile]
Every choice we make as consumers—from buying discounted sneakers to ordering takeout—triggers a chain of environmental consequences. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) shows us what lies beneath the price tag.
Ultimately, every purchase decision we make—from buying discounted t-shirts to picking up a new pair of slippers—has an environmental cost. With each transaction, we indirectly perpetuate the demand that drives production and its associated ecological impacts. Recognizing this connection underscores the importance of mindful consumption and the role of tools like LCA in promoting sustainable living.
The Hidden Price Tag: What Your Shopping Habits Are Really Costing the Planet
We have probably asked ourself that question many times, manytimes without even knowing it. For example in the supermarket: “How does it matter how environmentally friendly were the products I just bought? “, “ I am tired of the retro look shoes I have, its time I upgrade mine in the next hot sale”, “Let me just swiggy!”
The This, in a nutshell, is the question that a Life Cycle Assessment tries to answer. An LCA measures the environmental impact of a product through every phase of its life – from production to waste (or cradle to grave). Every ‘how does it matter’ choice that we book has a direct effect over the main stream product availability and appreciation ratio. Sustainability today is no longer a peripheral consideration. For developers and institutional players alike, it is becoming central to how projects are envisioned, financed, and managed and runs a day to day runt. Everytime we run to the nearest store to excess shop we end up upscaling the product requirement, amping the demand and hence production that is escalated! Who bears the costs of these and are we just paying in cash?
Well no! we are paying much more than that the actual MRP of the product ! We pay for the every bit that goes into building that product for us, [Raw Material extraction, manufacturing, Processing, Transportation, Retail and finally Waste disposal]. The easiest way to track the true cost, we have to look int LCA.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a comprehensive method used to track and analyze the environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its entire lifespan. This spans all phases—from raw material extraction and processing, through manufacturing, usage, and finally disposal. LCA is a critical tool for identifying opportunities to optimize processes with sustainability in mind, offering organizations strategic insights to reduce their environmental footprint and make more responsible decisions in product development and planning.
One related metric often used is the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF), which focuses specifically on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with each stage of a product’s life cycle. Together, LCA and PCF serve as essential instruments in promoting environmentally conscious manufacturing and consumption patterns.
Typically, a product undergoes several phases before reaching the consumer: the sourcing of raw materials, their preprocessing, manufacturing (including associated industrial costs such as energy, labor, and equipment), maintenance of the manufacturing facility, distribution logistics, retail and wholesale processes, consumer use, and finally, disposal. Each of these steps consumes resources and contributes to environmental degradation.
Take concrete as an example. Its production and use significantly impact natural resource depletion and environmental health. Evaluating concrete’s sustainability through LCA can help the industry pinpoint the most damaging processes and refine them accordingly. A review of LCA studies on concrete highlights how variations in scope, data boundaries, and assessment methods can result in vastly different environmental outcomes. This makes it crucial to standardize indicators such as carbon footprint and embodied energy to draw meaningful conclusions.
The analysis also examines how different components of concrete contribute to overall environmental impact. To address gaps in data availability, a proposed methodology known as the ‘ab initio’ framework provides a starting point for conducting LCAs even when specific data is limited. This model is adaptable for evaluating other construction products like prefabricated elements, blocks, or recycled materials.
Cities on the Boil: Rethinking Urban India in the Age of Climate Crisis
Urban areas in India are heating up nearly twice as fast as their rural surroundings, exposing the cracks in current planning frameworks. As climate threats intensify, experts call for urgent integration of climate action into urban governance—linking policy, disaster preparedness, and sustainable development at every level.
Urban expansion in Indian cities is contributing to rapid localized warming, occurring at nearly twice the rate observed in nearby rural areas. This trend underscores the urgent need to rethink urban development through the integration of climate resilience and adaptive strategies. Effective collaboration between climate scientists and urban planners is essential to address these evolving challenges. Cities must also prioritize the development and execution of Climate Action Plans (CAPs) that mitigate the adverse impacts of urbanization on climate. Achieving this requires robust institutional frameworks, enhanced technical capacity, and strong communication channels that ensure coordination among stakeholders at all levels—local, regional, and national.
As a foundational step, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to gather insights and identify best practices. This was followed by an assessment of urban programs and initiatives at both national and sub-national levels related to climate change. A detailed institutional analysis was then carried out, covering structures at the national, state, and municipal levels, including eight State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCCs) and thirteen City Climate Action Plans (CCAPs). The findings highlighted critical issues, leading to a set of recommendations that were further refined through a broad stakeholder consultation conducted in hybrid format. An action plan was then developed, outlining a phased strategy—short-, medium-, and long-term—for implementing key measures.
Municipal governments are central to advancing climate action through experimentation and collaborative partnerships. The study emphasizes that such experimentation opens new avenues for climate governance, allowing cities to explore innovative solutions. The project aims to bridge existing knowledge and policy gaps that prevent urban areas from fully understanding their carbon contributions, climate risks, and potential for impactful mitigation actions. A key goal is to incorporate climate-related considerations into national urban planning frameworks. This involves identifying feasible city-level projects in areas such as energy-efficient buildings, stormwater management, urban green spaces, and construction and demolition waste—sectors directly affecting urban populations in the face of a changing climate.
Several national institutions are playing a pivotal role in this transition. NITI Aayog is overseeing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at both national and sub-national levels through the SDG India Index and Urban Index. Other key agencies include the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). As the apex disaster management body in India, NDMA—under the Prime Minister’s leadership—is responsible for crafting policies and response strategies. Working with the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), it builds urban capacity to handle climate-induced hazards like floods, heatwaves, and earthquakes.
The 2024 Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill proposes the establishment of an Urban Disaster Management Authority (UDMA) to manage disasters in state capitals and cities with municipal corporations. It also aims to enhance existing national and state disaster management structures. This marks an important step toward integrating climate change mitigation and disaster preparedness at the local level—two areas that are often treated separately despite their deep interconnection.
Complementing these efforts, the Lifestyle for Environment (LIFE) Mission—launched by the MoEFCC—promotes sustainable living and individual responsibility in environmental conservation. It supports India’s commitments under the Paris Agreement and the SDGs by encouraging behavioral changes that reduce ecological impact, such as efficient water use, waste minimization, and energy conservation.
The Green Credit Programme (GCP), introduced under the 2023 Green Credit Rules, further supports this vision. It incentivizes eco-friendly actions by awarding green credits to individuals, businesses, and institutions for activities like afforestation, pollution control, and ecosystem restoration. These credits are tradable, establishing a market-based mechanism to foster sustainability. Administered by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), the GCP also promotes private sector involvement in conservation through clear methodologies and a regulated trading platform.
In the urban context, GCP can significantly contribute to tackling environmental problems stemming from rapid growth—such as air pollution, water stress, and poor waste management. Cities can use the program to encourage green infrastructure, urban forestry, emission reductions, and improved energy performance in buildings. The alignment of GCP with sustainable urban planning helps cities transition toward climate-resilient and eco-conscious models, supporting both national and international climate goals.
Water Wars and Urban Growth: The Hidden Cost of the giant’s thirst along Western Ghats
As India’s megacities grow, their escalating demand for water is transforming fragile ecosystems and communities in the Western Ghats. Beneath the surface of urban development lie submerged farmlands, displaced indigenous populations, and contested rivers — revealing the true environmental and social toll of rapid urban expansion.
As the notion of ‘megacities’ sets it, the old-worn out fabric of ‘Western-Ghats’ along with historical constructs and the newfound agendas are to redraw imposed ecological and social water margins.
Marginality has been looked differently throughout time and societies. The reference or pivots of it have evolved right from the push-pull theories of the quaternary periods. This research shall aim at, dissecting the sharp turn observed in the history of settlements, as Mumbai Metropolitan region develops as a revenue-power seat, sustaining a population of approximately 21 million (as per 2021 surveys) while the basins and valleys of the Western Ghats are harbored extensively as catchment areas to quench its thirst. Not only this, but these basins also shoulder the responsibilities of accommodating industrializations of the eastward plains and the cash crops of the same.
Water bodies take various forms—seas, lakes, rivers, ponds, or mountains—and play a crucial role in regulating temperature and climate. Because water has a high latent heat of vaporization, it absorbs significant heat from the surrounding air during evaporation, which cools the air. This cooled air can then be used to ventilate buildings, making evaporative cooling especially effective in hot and dry climates. Additionally, water’s high specific heat capacity makes it an excellent medium for storing heat, which can be harnessed for warming purposes.
Large water bodies act as heat sinks, reducing the difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures. Consequently, locations near oceans or large lakes experience less temperature variation between day and night, as well as between summer and winter, compared to inland areas. Summer maximum temperatures tend to be lower near water than in interior regions. The presence of a large water body also influences wind patterns: because land heats up faster than water during the day, warm air rises over the land and is replaced by cooler air flowing from the water, creating a daytime breeze from water to land, which reverses at night.
Evaporative cooling has been successfully used in traditional architecture to maintain comfort in hot, dry climates. In urban environments, water bodies positively affect the microclimate by providing cooling through evaporation. This makes evaporative cooling an efficient passive cooling method for urban spaces and buildings.
The temperature difference between urban areas and their rural surroundings is known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Water bodies have been shown to reduce urban temperatures, with their temperature often 2 to 6 °C cooler than the surrounding built environment. However, this raises the question: is the extensive submerge of farmland for dam reservoirs is acceptable?
If we look into the history of Indian agricultural system, it was always extensively depended on freshwater streams and river basins to sustain productive farming. Irrigation, used since ancient times to increase agricultural output, has a rich history in India dating back to the Satavahana-Mauryan period. Traditional irrigation structures such as tanks, dams, and terraces were maintained locally by feudal lords or communities, often supported by royal grants. During colonial rule, especially under the British Raj, river basins were extensively developed for irrigation and hydroelectric power, though this was primarily driven by economic gain rather than supporting Indian farmers year-round.
Post-independence policies tended to favour already prosperous groups, neglecting less privileged communities and placing heavy burdens on natural resources. Large dams sanctioned by the state—like Upper Vaitarna, Lower Vaitarna, Pinjal, Gargai, Shai, and Kalu—threaten ecologically sensitive areas of the Western Ghats. These projects submerge vast tracts of land in talukas such as Murbad, Jawhar, Wada, Pen, Mokhada, Shahpur, and others, disrupting indigenous cultures and ecosystems. The expansion of catchment areas to supply Mumbai extends into forest hinterlands, leading to deforestation and harming small-scale farmers, tribal groups, indigenous communities, and rural artisans. While water flows freely in urban taps, locals in surrounding areas often have to walk up to 10 kilometers to fetch water nearby.
In developmental studies, marginality often refers to the dynamic between those who provide resources and those who bear the consequences. This concept is frequently framed through Western paternalistic perspectives. Revenue generation holds a dominant position in spatial, social, and economic hierarchies. Drawing from André Chappatte’s work Unpacking the Concept of Marginality, marginality involves power imbalances and challenges the power relations within which these inequalities emerge.
Yet again like we mentioned earlier the cascading effects of power and economic dominance that define water access and territorial control. It questions the cost of sustaining megacities at the expense of the environment. We have to actively look into the aspects of : (1) the role of the state as an authority and its contribution to megacity growth; (2) the impact of densely populated urban zones on surrounding areas and future trajectories over the next 50 years; and (3) the contested ownership of rivers—“Who does the river belong to?”—highlighting the shifting balance between grasslands, forests, agricultural lands, native ecologies, and state-driven land use changes.
Land-use patterns critically influence hydrological cycles and climate fluctuations by affecting groundwater recharge, catchments, river basins, and soil capacity, which in turn shape local and regional climates. Over the next 70 years, changes in land cover are expected to significantly impact global ecosystems, disrupt glacial and interglacial cycles, and cause major alterations to hydrological basins and human activities dependent on them. Among the most serious consequences from expanding catchment areas are ecological degradation—such as stress on the basaltic Deccan Trap geology from increased load, deforestation due to submerged lands, dam construction, and water quality deterioration—affecting both upstream and downstream regions, fuelling conflicts.
Furthermore, India has witnessed widespread displacement of indigenous communities due to development projects, categorized as ‘development-induced displacement.’ Growing water demands in both rural and urban sectors—for agriculture, domestic use, institutions, commerce, and industry—have intensified competition over scarce water resources, exacerbating water conflicts nationwide.
As Nashik’s skyline soars beyond 160 meters, rapid urbanization and increased floor space index (FSI) spark urgent questions about sustainability. The city faces mounting climate risks, including intensified heat waves and deteriorating microclimates, demanding a careful rethink of growth strategies beyond mere mimicry of global urban trends.
With the rapid and substantial growth in the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) across India, along with increasing awareness and the implementation of initiatives like SMARTER CITIES, SMARTER VILLAGES, and DIGITAL INDIA by the Government, disruptive and advanced technologies are gaining significant attention. Technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, the Internet of Things (IoT), and other emerging and connected technologies—including 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, cloud, fog, edge, and mist computing, geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), and telematics—are being increasingly adopted by various stakeholders. Sharing information about the latest technological advancements, potential applications, and integration with complementary technologies plays a crucial role in encouraging the use of these disruptive innovations. This fosters overall societal development in both urban and rural areas, effectively harnessing the potential of a connected world.
Smaller cities, led by Tier-II and Tier-III locations, are projected to witness 25 million square feet (msf) of new retail supply by 2029, according to a new investment reports.
The Sky rocketing ambitious skyline that Nashik – is expecting after the UDCPR has poised a vertical growth of buildings running as high as 160 Mtrs and beyond. What should grab our attentions is about a decade back the heights were as tall as 60 Mtrs 1.e upto 12 floors.
Apart from the service oriented concerns including that of availed fire ladders at the NMC’s fire department, what raises an alarm are a set of questions we have to address as a city!
The Basics of FSI ( Floor Space index)
FSI is a crucial parameter in urban planning and construction. It governs the maximum floor area constructed in a given plot. FSI is expressed as a ratio of the total floor area of a building to the total area of the plot. For instance, an FSI of 2.0 means that the total floor area can be twice the size of the plot area. Every state authority has its unique rules and regulations for FSI. The population density and urbanization of a particular area define its FSI, and can be divided into two categories namely High rise and Low rise.
Both had their unique limits and privileges. FSI helps in governing urban development. Sticking to the limits of FSI helps in commanding building density and infrastructure, and maintaining the overall plot area. Yet Higher seeking FSI modules are better used in the land areas of higher densities. In a TIER II, city such as Nashik, it is imperative to understand do we require such extensive highrises or are we just blatantly mimicking the ‘West’ as we have been known to do since the colonial times.
On the other hand when we tally the data from climate changing patterns identified in nashik, The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, intensified by rapid urbanization and frequent heat waves in tropical Indian cities, poses serious health risks and increases energy demand for cooling. This study analyzes a recent heat wave in Nashik using WRF-SLUCM simulations to assess how local climate conditions affect thermal comfort. Results show a strong inverse relationship between high temperatures (up to 40°C) and low humidity (below 10%), worsening discomfort. The study also highlights the role of urban wind flow in mitigating heat stress.
Now this may, not be the solemn factor that affects the wind current patters, increases the latent heat effect, causes the micro climate to vary in the region none the less, the extensive concretisation those have gripped the city has caused the climate severity to be marked as high risk globally, with a 1.1% worsening in the climate score compared to that of the last year suggesting deteriorating conditions, with increasing impacts on weather patterns and environmental conditions.
-Researched and written by Architect Dhanashree Nigudkar
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