Proper urban green space placing could save lives

Five cities from India were part of a recent study—Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai.

- Meena Janardhan

Part of a group called the C40 cities, these were among 96 C40 cities, spread across 48 countries and six continents, and home to 291 million residents, as highlighted by Mongabay India (MI) in an analysis.

The MI analysis reports that in July 2021, mayors of 31 cities belonging to the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group committed to increasing green (e.g., parks and trees) and blue (e.g., rivers and lakes) spaces to tackle the climate crisis. Signatories of the C40 Urban Nature Accelerator committed to two crucial goals for 2030 - quality total cover, specifically for the green or permeable spaces to occupy 30-40% of the total built-up city area, and equitable spatial distribution which includes blue or green space access for 70% of the population.

Four years since the declaration, at about the halfway mark to the 2030 deadline, the MI analysis says a research paper published in the Lancet Planet Health journal has assessed the health impacts of the progress towards the Urban Nature Accelerator targets in C40 cities.