UP 504 Urban History and Theory. Green Infrastructure: Landscape values in the city of Vadodara and Banyan Trees.

About the Podcast: -

This podcast is an academic podcast for UP 504: Urban History and Theory, at the University of Illinois, at Urbana Champaign, and it is about dialogues around green infrastructure, environmental activism, and the struggle for resilient cities. The podcast briefly includes narratives of the communities (specifically the indigenous community of Vadodara) which were highly impacted by these environmental issues.

It includes the story of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, who was a reformist and a progressive king of Vadodara, and how he gave Vadodara its name (which means ‘the belly of the banyan tree'). He was the reason behind several reforms like the abolition of untouchability, child marriage, legislation of divorce, the development of Sanskrit, and several other things. Moreover, a detailed narrative of thriving indigenous communities and their coexistence with the land flora and fauna. Along with beliefs and how they are deeply intricate and varied across regions, yet there are so many resonances between different tribal cities in Vadodara and their traditional roots.

The podcast inquisitively talks about Vadodara, and how this city was colonized in the 17th century, and how before that people "lived with nature rather than separate from nature", it also talks about their ideology (which was built or otherwise was to form a “give and take” relationship with mother earth), and how that kind of an aligned relationship between people and the planet allowed those communities to consciously be nourished by the environment without the destruction or exploitation that we now see so frequently. Vadodara and many cities like it saw a close connection between the genocide of tribal and indigenous people. As a reference, the podcast mentions the traditions of the indigenous communities of Vadodara who used Banyan Trees for so many purposes, (they used these trees to mark the entrances of the villages, they used the shade of the tree for public gatherings and to conduct outdoor schools, moreover they often also used it to mark major institutions). And conclusively what led to stripping these indigenous communities off of their livelihoods.

This podcast includes two clippings first one is by Sir. Norman Foster from his lecture at Harvard on Green Buildings and Cities talks about the importance of integrated green infrastructure. And the second one is by Matt Grubisich from his TED talk on “Case for Nurturing a City's Other Green Infrastructure – Trees”.

Citation and References: -

Foster Norman, (Nov 20, 2015). Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities Inaugural Lecture: Norman Foster [Video], Uploaded by Harvard CGBC, YouTube, https://youtu.be/a1DOQSKmlnw

Grubisich Matt,(Apr 18, 2018). The Case for Nurturing a City's Other Green Infrastructure – Trees [Video], Uploaded by TEDxTalks (Plano), YouTube, https://youtu.be/n-14nVI7WaU

Kodiveri Arpitha, (June 5, 2021). Intersectionality and Understanding Climate Justice In India [Video], Uploaded by Fridays for Future India, YouTube, https://youtu.be/thxDdT_wGd4

Kanetkar Rati, (2021), Landscape Values of the Banyan Tree in The City of Vadodara [Thesis], Vadodara: Navrachana University, School of Environmental Design and Architecture.