Contribution of planed urban green spaces for promoting human health. Case of Chandigarh, India

Abstract

Goal 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals has the seventh target of its Sustainable Cities and Communities focused on providing access to safe and inclusive green and public spaces. Principles of sustainable development necessitate that a balance is struck between environment and development to ensure healthy urban living. It has long been established that the presence of natural areas and planned open green spaces in and around urban settlements contributes to a quality of life by providing important ecological, social and psychological benefits to humans. In India, rapid urbanisation is resulting in significant land being used for developmental activities resulting in decline in open spaces across cities. It needs to be noted, the case in Chandigarh, India is different from rest of the country, where open spaces are considered as inviolable land use. Being a rare exception amongst the cities established immediately after India’s Independence, urban greens were visualized and planned as an integral component in the city’s Master Plan. Le Corbusier conceived the master plan of Chandigarh as analogous to human body, where green spaces symbolized the lungs. The greens in Chandigarh were created as functional, organized and natural spaces for integration and convergence of mind and body, that is the city as well as of its population. The research delves into the aspect of inclusivity of its various green spaces based on the social survey of the city’s residents. The intent is to determine the usability and accessibility of the greens by the residents for various recreational, cultural and ecosystem services. The measures of inclusivity of the green spaces are defined to address the key question being researched upon, that is if green spaces have contributed to Chandigarh being a healthy city. Built upon the social survey tools, the authors discern the typologies of green spaces as the measure for building a healthy city contextualized for Chandigarh.