AUTHOR : Riya Kashyap

Green Infrastructure is a strategically planned network of natural and semi natural areas with other environmental features designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services such as water purification, air quality, space for recreation and climate mitigation and adaptation.

Nature provides important services for communities by protecting them against flooding or excessive heat, or helping to improve air, soil and water quality. When nature is harnessed by people and used as an infrastructural system, it is called green infrastructure. It occurs at all scales. Green infrastructure also serves to provide an ecological framework for social, economic and environmental health of the surroundings. It means planting trees and restoring wetlands, rather than building a costly new water treatment plant, choosing water efficiency instead of building a new water supply dam. This infrastructure incorporates both the natural and engineered systems to provide clean water, conserve ecosystem values and functions, and provide a wide array of benefits to people and wildlife.

In recent years, thinking on green infrastructure has moved from ecology to economics. Resources such as the countryside, coast, wetlands, urban parks, street trees and their ecosystems are seen as critical for sustainable economic growth and social goals, not just a way of supporting wildlife and ‘the environment’.

The Economic Benefits of Green Infrastructure-

• Businesses attract and retain more motivated staff in greener settings
• Views of natural landscapes can add up to 18% to property values
• Green spaces near workplaces reduce sickness absence, increasing productivity
• Reduces pollution
• Urban green spaces reduce pressure on drainage and flood defences
• Green infrastructure can counter soaring summer temperatures in cities

Green infrastructure is a key aspect of our towns and cities. It underpins our economy in areas such as health, liveability and industry. It protects and rejuvenates communities by providing essential services such as clean air and water and healthy ecosystems. It can also help reduce the impacts of climate events such as flooding and heat waves. Communities who successfully maintain these assets are more likely to be resilient and able to adapt more effectively to future shocks and changes.

It cannot be denied that infrastructure is what makes a city liveable. It makes life easy for citizens and organizations. As a result, as we discuss creation of smart cities on a national scale, it must be done in the context of infrastructure. Conversations surrounding infrastructure should go beyond roads, transport, traffic and the likes. They must take into consideration human and environmental health. After all, smart cities are not only those that use the right kind of technology, but also the ones that use resources judiciously.

Government, urban planners and other stakeholders must emphasize on construction of energy-efficient buildings, economical use of power and water and clean air. Urban development should happen in harmony with natural resources. Only then will infrastructure development costs be curtailed while at the same time, human and environmental health will be protected.

However, given the various urban development bodies and municipalities that function in Indian cities, attracting investments in green infrastructure can be a challenge. There have to be awareness programs explaining to all those involved the benefits of green infrastructure. Just like there are norms and conventions that govern traditional infrastructure investments, you need new ones that talk about green infrastructure. It’s only after building a strong case for green infrastructure can you convince people to invest in it.

It is not possible for only the public or the private sector to individually participate in smart city creation. Both the sectors have to come together to ensure that there is minimum red-tape and maximum investment.  A green smart city will not only improve the standard of living of citizens but will also do a great deal of good to the environment. It was pointed out by UN-Habitat in 2010 that environmental sustainability, equity and social inclusion, availability of infrastructure, productivity and quality of life are necessary for creating prosperity. Systemic distortions and inefficiencies are anathema to prosperity, as they breed inefficiency and accelerated higher levels of consumption of resources. While economies of scale are one of the chief drivers of the wealth of cities, these economies can easily become dis-economies and produce the accumulation of gaps and barriers that hamper sustainable development.

With the renewed focus and greater ambition being directed at the urban sector in India, there is a unique opportunity for articulating and adopting green growth strategies that can profoundly change the somewhat bleak prospects perceived by Indian cities and trigger new enthusiasm for sustainable trajectories for achieving prosperity. A Green Growth planning approach applied to Indian cities will allow them to refocus and reorient their current development pathways, based on a realistic assessment of opportunities and barriers. By developing a vision for green growth, cities can integrate social, economic, and environmental objectives in their plans and projects as well as prioritize investments that can enable the sustained achievement of outcomes.

The lack of reliable and complete data on the urban sector is a significant barrier to identifying green growth potentials and envisioning ‘green’ interventions. This is likely to be addressed through the creation of paperless processes for management of schemes and programmes and a big push to the E-governance of Indian cities. However, the definition of data needs is incomplete and needs constant attention. The potential for Green Growth in a city is a function of a target condition, based on the knowledge of future growth trends (the city’s Green Growth vision), a current condition (the city’s current state), the resulting gap, the ability to close this gap (leveraging existing or emerging options and opportunities), and the barriers that come in the way.

Investment needed for funding a similar plan is quite challenging as the government of India’s high-powered expert committee estimated urban infrastructure investment deficit of $827 billion at 2009–2010 prices for the period 2012–2031. Moreover, the government of India has estimated that around $450 million per year is required to finance India’s ambitious targets for renewable energy and urban sustainability over the next 10 years. Filling this urban infrastructure investment gap requires preparation of green action plans and clear finance strategies consisting of the right combination of spending decisions and taxes and financing instruments.

Given the times we live in, what is smart needs to be sustainable and vice-versa. So why not begin with implementing this idea in our cities and promise our future generations a smart, safe and healthy world.

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