Landscape Transformation in Bangalore and its Impacts on Quality of Nature and Human Life

Abstract

Bangalore's landscape has witnessed several transformations in the past two centuries. A city that has founded about 5 centuries ago is undergoing urbanization at a pace that was not comprehended by planners Iwo decades ago. As a result substantial landscape changes are taking place without much heed to the overall impact on Bangalore's environment and most fundamentally without long term planning. Whilst ath impact of overall urbanization on the local environment has had telling effects in terms of high degrees of pollution, threatening the city's surface water and ground water aquifers, there is now the increasing probability that proposed expansion of the city is likely to destroy patches of forests left in the immediate vicinity of the city, that reflect endemic biodiversity of the region.

The pre-independence growth of Bangalore reflected a need for sanitary development •that did not compromise too much the quality of local habitats, both natural and human-formed, in the latter case particularly wetlands. However, the past three decades of planning has induced growth that directly threatens the sustenance of such habitats. This paper will broadly describes the nature of changes that have taken place in the landscape of Bangalore and surrounding areas, and consider the implications of such growth. The possibility of managing the city's growth keeping in view a symbiotic relationship with the natural environment, and the benefits that accrue from it, will be considered as a method for planned development.