Diminishing Public Spaces_Bangalore,India

HEALTH AND WELL BEING OF CITIES

Declining Public Spaces

-Gaargi Kulkarni

The Podcast briefly discusses some of the important aspects of how poorly designed cities with diminishing public/green spaces impact the mental and physical well-being of the people residing in them. As humans we are all fundamentally animals in this world, that have evolved from being an ape to sophisticated humans: this however does not discount us from the fact that we still crave nature as a fundamental concept. We have might have moved to urban areas surrounded by concrete jungles but at the end of the day, we crave nature in some form or the other. Whether it is about creating water features like ponds, fountains, or artificial lakes in our cities or by growing plants and green infrastructure around our living spaces.

The city chosen for my study is Bangalore in India. It has been one of the fastest-growing cities in India with the IT sector being one of the leading factors for the sudden population growth in the last decade. This podcast hopes to elucidate some of the negative effects of urbanization that have contributed to the haphazard growth of the city. This wave of change in a short amount of time has its effects on the mental well-being of the younger generation, women, and the other already vulnerable sections of the society. The podcast aims at drawing parallels between diminishing public spaces and their effects on the mental well-being of the people residing in it.

Bangalore is the IT capital of India and with a growing population, the city grew by engulfing the smaller villages around the city over the past decade. 

This has not only created chaos with respect to demands of resources, it has also managed to acquire and privatize the existing lung spaces or the open spaces around the city.

A study conducted by Nimhans in Bangalore says that there is a direct correlation between open spaces and green infrastructure and the well-being of cities. Trying to elaborate on a study with people who already have pre-existing chronic mental health conditions and the association of free available public spaces they examined a group of 1208 people. The study clearly showed a rise in depression in these adults based on multiple criteria. The study shows that the mortality rate was generally lower in cities that had better access to public spaces or infrastructure.

The planning field in India needs to take a hard look at how things have changed and continue to affect people’s health and well-being at large by giving importance to public spaces and green infrastructure. These spaces are crucial in understanding how the city will perform not just in the present world but will shape the new tomorrow. An equitable city that envisions protecting its natural systems will potentially see a drop in crime rates, physical and mental health-related issues and restore social harmony.  

References-

(1)-https://www.thehindu.com/society/how-urban-design-impacts-mental-health/article31693107.ece

(2)https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/drug-abuse-by-teenagers-a-growing-cause-for-concern/articleshow/61718330.cms

(3)https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/drug-abuse-by-teenagers-a-growing-cause-for-concern/articleshow/61718330.cms

(4)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5601029/

(5)https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/bengaluru-no-longer-garden-city-only-3-city-s-area-covered-parks-says-survey-72560

Sources-(non-website/journal)

1.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5663018/

2.https://www.jstor.org/stable/26522866?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

3.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275121002213

4.https://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/janaagraha-survey-on-bengaluru-open-spaces-shows-poor-maintenance-low-availability-low-access-22402