Literature Study
Urban nature could be analysed as utilising concept or merely an ornamentation object. The productive as well as non- materialistic outcomes are satisfied from the provisions of green infrastructure if the use and ownership of such spaces are well defined (Urban Nature as an Ideal, Provider of Services and Conceptual Urban Design Approach, 2022). Defining spaces aid in preventing the exploitation of such natural infrastructures. An eminent factor of green infrastructure is that it can be used for multiple purposes. Various green covers such as urban parks, agricultural areas, and suburb greens need ardent managing of spaces; however, they contribute tremendously towards the ecological services in the urban as well as rural domain. Not only do they conserve the diversity but also provide for various recreational and intangible services in latent form (Nakamura, 2022).For utilisation of ecosystem services, mapping of ecological networks becomes pertinent and this could be achieved through various criteria’s of which the first is the offerings of natural ecosystems to mankind and the second criteria is to design the existing green infrastructure and to establish connectivity for various ecological networks (CaminoLiquete, 2015). Furthermore, merely the existence of green infrastructure and ecosystem services is not the only way to its effective utilisation but also there must be just collaborations with urban planners and practitioners for preparation of apt regional and micro level plans for the city (MinaDi Marino, 2019). This helps in proposing better spatial plans for future prospects considering the provisional ecosystem services. The study delves into understanding the availability as well as accessibility to green infrastructure provisions at a micro level from an urban planner’s perspective in the city of Bhopal. The contribution of green infrastructure not only remains constricted to outdoor ecosystem provisions but also to indoor environment. Various factors that influence are weather, usage of energy, the sonic environment as well as the outlook of nature. Amongst various parameters identified, the major ones are the typology of vegetation, the type of built structure which includes the built form and orientation and the spatial location. Not just the spatial existence but also the quality and quantity of green ecosystem define the overall ecosystem services ability (Yafei Wang, 2014). Thus, the assessment of the green cover change becomes eminent along with its utility and external impacts.
Myriad efforts have been made for increasing the ecosystem provisions provided by green infrastructure as in case of Munich, which assists with varying choices for the development of urban green infrastructure as well as merging the grey and green infrastructure which is labelled as “More green for Munich (Ralf-Uwe Syrbe, 2018). The urban periphery should also be considered while combining Ecosystem services and green infrastructure planning at a micro scale (CorinaBasnou, 2020). The eminent need is to look into spaces where there is deficiency of Ecosystem services provisions while plan of green infrastructure are prepared. Hence, the green and blue infrastructure should be preserved which would assist in enhancing the overall efficiency of Urban Green Infrastructure and its utility (B. Fernándezde Manuel, 2021).
Introduction To The Study Area
Bhopal is located at 23°16'N and 77°36'E with a maximum elevation of 625 meters above Mean Sea Level (Bhopal Municipal Corporation, 2014) spreading over seven hills. The city experiences hot summer and an even distribution of rainfall during monsoons. The winter season starts from the month of November and goes up to February. Hot summer hits the city from March to June with temperatures going up to 44 degrees Celsius. The driest season throughout the year is summer. The humidity, on the other hand, ranges between 26% and 88%. The average annual rainfall in the Bhopal district is 1126.7 mm and the annual normal rainfall is 1260.2mm. The maximum rainfall received during the month of July is 39% whereas 92% of the rainfall occurs during the monsoon season
Within nearby proximity, Sehore is 38 km in the west, Hoshangabad is 78 km in the south, Berasia is 42 km in the north and Vidisha is 56 km in the northeastern side and is well connected by SH 18, NH 69, SH 23 and SH 18 respectively. Mandideep is an important industrial town located at 23 km and is connected through NH 69. The city is embedded with undulating topography and hilly terrain that maintains the drainage system of the city. The city is surrounded by Sehore, Raisen, and Vidisha districts with a population of 2.3 million and an area of 2772 sq. km which was formed in 1972, detaching from the district of Sehore.
Bhopal city comes under the Huzur tehsil and is an administrative hub for Bhopal district (Census Handbook, 2011). It has an urbanization rate of 80.85% and is the nineteenth most urban district in the nation. It is one of the 14 municipalities of the state and its urban concentration makes it compelling to plan for its sustainable growth.
The city is well connected through National and State Highways to major towns of the state including Indore, Jabalpur, and Gwalior with 193 km, 330 km, and 415 km respectively. Bhopal Junction is the major railway junction of the city region and seven other railway stations serve for better connectivity. Railways connect the city to all the major as well as small towns of the state. Raja Bhoj International Airport located on the northern side serves air connectivity to different parts of India including Mumbai, Delhi, and Indore.
City Land Cover
As of 2022, the area of Bhopal city is 812.05. The land occupied for agriculture is 395.51 sq Km, built-up is 151.33 Sq Km, the Current fallow is 32.05 Sq Km, Forest is 26.75 Sq Km, Another green is 140.45 Sq Km, Wasteland is 19.73 SqKm and water body is 46.23 sqm. Agriculture acquires 49% of the land, followed by 19% of built-up, 17% of other greens, 6% of water bodies, 4% current fallow, 3% forests, and 2% wasteland.
Six major lakes in the city are Upper lake (3100 ha), Kerwa reservoir (524 ha), Lower lake (129 ha), Kaliasote reservoir (126 ha), Hataikheda reservoir (113 ha), and Shahpura lake (96 ha). In 2014, National Green Tribunal (NGT) set the buffers for Upper Lake as 300m and 200m for Kaliasote reservoir. At present, the buffers have been lowered down to 50m for Upper Lake and 33m for other water bodies. Despite many initiatives by the NGT, the State has not been able to implement and monitor the set benchmark. Encroachment has increased beyond the specified buffers for the lakes, increasing the siltation of the water bodies and hampering the natural existence of the lakes. As of 2022, encroached built-up within the buffer area for the upper lake is 4,91,026 followed by 41,379 for Hataikheda reservoir, 23,173 sq. m for Shahpura lake, 13,779 sq. m for the lower lake, 2,152 sq. m for Kerwa reservoir and 1,065 sq m for Kaliasote reservoir. Highly encroached water bodies are Upper lake and Hathaikheda reservoir, followed by Lower Lake. Kaliasote reservoir is the least encroached.
Green Cover Assessment
The city encompasses reserved forests, protected forests, and a National park with lush green located towards the center of the city in the vicinity of Upper Lake. Land cover map of 2022 reveals the Southern located evergreen forests and forests towards Western and Southern Bhopal. The outskirts of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation boundary is lined with Agriculture and appears to be emerging radially. The Northern, Eastern, and Southern zones are dotted with miniscule wastelands and the Southwestern zone of the city contains Current fallow land. Bhopal, being one of the cities under AMRUT (Atal mission for rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) and has been awarded as India's second cleanest city according to Swachh survekshan report, Govt of India (MOUD, 2017). As per a ZeeNews report of Sep 28, 2016, 14:50 PM IST, the city is included in the top ten greenest cities in India. At present,
The green cover forms an eminent part of the landscape of a city to maintain a stable ecological cycle on earth. The Indian State Forest Policy report classifies forests as per the tree canopy radius. As per the 2011 report, 48% of forests are of Open category, 26% of forests are moderately dense, and 26% are scrub. The study area has 2 reserved forests and 4 protected forests. Thus, majorly the forest cover has a canopy of 40–10%, the other canopies are of 70% cover. Bhopal is rapidly losing its green cover. The green space in the city has reduced from 68 percent to 20 percent in 2022 and is projected to reduce to 3.8 percent in 2030. The observations of green cover of 2022 reveals a major agriculture cover of 42% in the total study area followed by built-up that is 19%, and other greens 17%. 10% forest cover, 6% water cover. Current fallow and wasteland are observed in the study area. 4% is current fallow land and 2% is a wasteland. As per WHO Norms, Per capita, green space required is 9 sq M and as per URDPFI guidelines, it is 12–14 sq M. In Bhopal, 2022 the per capita green space is 15.24 sq M. Though the city meets the National and International guidelines, the green spaces remain inaccessible to the residents.
Parks
Bhopal is dotted with small hills in and around the study area. Parks and open spaces form an integral core of the city’s topography. Bhopal Municipal Corporation is maintaining 116 parks, out of which Capital Administrative Project (CPA) is looking after 7 parks such as Priyadarshini Park, Mayur Park, Chinar Park, Guru Gobind Singh Park, Prakash Taran Pushkar Udyan and Bhagwan Rishabh Dev Udyan. URDPFI provides guidelines related to the size of parks along with the population it should cater to. However, few parks can be seen towards the periphery. More parks are proposed towards the South East of the city as the city is observed to be expanding towards South East. More parks are in the zones near the city center and parks are proposed in the zones with fewer parks.
Map 2 shows the decadal green cover of the city. It is observed that the cover has been gradually decreasing with 44.67% in 1990, 34.73% in 2000, 29.51% in 2010 and 21.03% in 2021. The wards within the corporation limits have a moderate green cover. However, the major forests lie in the periphery of the corporation area and the planning zone of the city.
Green Ecosystem Services
In terms of ecological benefits, vegetation lowers the wall surface temperature by 17 deg C. Thus, reducing air conditioner use by an average of 50%. However, there are economic benefits as well with the green cover, every 1 km near to forest area; there is an average 5.9% reduction in a residence market value. Neighbourhood parks could lift the price of dwellings by 16.88%. (Prashanti Rao, 2014)
Bhopal Smart city Development Corporation has classified the ecosystem provisions, as cultural, habitat, and regulating which includes the urban public garden, urban greenery in public, semi-public facilities, and greenery in sports facilities. Regulating and habitat services include greenery in rail side and railways, urban greenery in residential and commercial areas, green areas in industrial units, and airport greenery. The provisioning services include cropland, pastures, and fallow land. The habitat and regulating services include urban forests, uncultivated parks, ruderal vegetation, stream bank, and lakeshore vegetation.
Various green ecosystem services, in 2022 observed in the city are provisioning which includes the major agricultural area. These areas are the land abutting the core corporation boundary of the city. The cultural, habitat, and regulating services include urban green and institutional areas which include schools, universities, government office buildings, art galleries, and museums. The habitat and regulating services include roads, industrial areas Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) form the eminent core, airport, and the built-up area in the city region. However, these services are more prominent at the macro level and it becomes less pronounced at the micro level.
Readers Park: an initiative towards utilising the ecosystem provisions of the existing green
Bhopal has a total of 86 parks, maintained by the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC). 11 parks are proposed by Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and 30 more parks are proposed by BMC. The parks are dominantly towards the city centre and Bagbaan, a Readers park was an initiative by "Bhopal runners", a group run by the people of the housing society. The initiative aimed towards encouraging reading habits among the children and youth of the city. Elements of the park include sitting provisions and a cupboard for storing books brought by readers. It is located at GTB Complex and Shivaji nagar in Bhopal. Readers Park promotes open-air reading facilities and focuses on providing better-reading facilities to students. The elements of Readers Park comprises of a Library, a Coffee shop operated by differently-abled people, and a stage for exhibiting myriad performances. The first proposed reader's park is located at Link road no.2. Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) has allocated a fund of Rs 20 lakh for the park to cater to 5000 students thus, utilizing the cultural and habitat provisions of the ecosystem.
An amount of Rs 8,279.05 has been allotted by AMRUT as per the State Annual Action Plan of Madhya Pradesh report, 2017. Of which Rs 2,911.63, 35.17% of the fund has been allotted to the water supply sector, followed by Rs 4,628.27, 55.90% of the fund to sewerage and management, Rs 180.01, 2.17% to storm water drainage, Rs 351.50, 4.25% to urban transport and mobility. For green spaces an amount of Rs 207.64 has been allotted which is only 2.5% of the total fund. Investing more in green infrastructure along with regular operation and management of the resources would contribute towards retaining the existing green cover and utilizing the provisions offered by such spaces.
Primary Survey Analysis
The primary household survey was conducted along with the School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal studio for 300 samples in the urban areas of the city region to assess the concerns regarding the perception of parks in the residential precincts. The analysis is based on the answers registered by the people. Out of 300 samples collected, 118 households preferred jogging or walking in the parks. Households with children preferred parks more than households with the age group above 25. The issues regarding the recreational areas were mostly related to infrastructure in the ambit of the park. 56% of residential areas have access to parks. Thus, 44% of residential areas need parks for a balanced area of green and open spaces.
Housing area park (HAP) which is of an area less than 5,000 sq. m occupy an area of 198691 with 13.7% providing for cultural and regulating services, Neighborhood park (NP) with an area ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 sq. m, 32.7% provide for the recreation ecosystem provisions, Community park (CP) with an area ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 sq. m, 14.4% area is usable space. District park (DP) with an area ranging from 50,000 to 2,50,000 sq. m has 16.4% area as accessible green habitat provision and Sub-city park (SCP) with an area equal to or greater than 2,50,000 sq. m provides 22.8% of area for regulating micro climate services. There are 69 Housing parks, 32 neighborhood parks, 12 community parks, 2 district parks and only 1 sub city park. A total of 116 parks and the area occupied is 1446824 Sq M. A primary survey was conducted to analyze the frequency of usage of such parks.
In terms of frequency of usage of parks, 42% of the people do not use the park, 24% use it on a weekly basis, 23% on daily basis, 10% on monthly basis, and 1% yearly. With respect to the condition of parks, 40% of parks were in good condition, 30% of parks were in moderate condition, 17% of parks were in excellent condition and 13% of parks were in poor condition. Issues faced by the citizens according to the primary survey include lack of proper footpaths leading towards the parks or in the outskirts of parks, debris inside the parks due to overflowing of the dustbins, overflow of drains, inadequate seating such as benches for the elderly, lack of open gym installations and unavailability of public toilets in the park precinct. Though these issues seem common, they serve as the prime reason for the parks to remain underutilized and bereft the residents from utilizing the natural provision of such spaces.
Table i: Category of green spaces in the city-region, URDPFI Guidelines
|
Sl.no
|
Category
|
No. of parks
|
Area (Sq. m)
|
cultural and regulating services (% area parks/open spaces)
|
|
1
|
Housing area park (HAP): < 5,000 sq. m
|
69
|
198691
|
13.7
|
|
2
|
Neighborhood park (NP): 5,000 to 10,000 sq. m
|
32
|
473077
|
32.7
|
|
3
|
Community park (CP): 10,000 to 50,000 sq. m
|
12
|
207896
|
14.4
|
|
4
|
District park (DP): 50,000 to 2,50,000 sq. m
|
2
|
236843
|
16.4
|
|
5
|
Sub-city park (SCP): =>2,50,000 sq. m
|
1
|
330317
|
22.8
|
| |
Total
|
116
|
1446824
|
100
|
Data Source: URDPFI Guidelines 2014, Bhopal Municipal Corporation, primary analysis by the author