1Asst. Professor, Padmashree Dr. D Y Patil College Of Architecture, Akurdi, Pune, India, Email: jafri.shoeb@gmail.com
2Asst. Professor, MIT School of Architecture, MIT-ADT University, Pune, India, mohdrajaullah@gmail.com
As urbanization leads to rapid decline in open spaces across our cities, a rethink for the sustainability of urban biodiversity and maintenance of essential ecosystem services is a must. The rate at which urbanization is taking place is exponential resulting in urban sprawls eating away much of open spaces. Environmental degradation continues to be a major problem in many cities as the open spaces available per capita are decreasing. By 2030 more than 57% of the world's population is expected to live in urban areas with the figure expected to touch 70% by 2050 (United Nations, 2013). Consequently urban sustainability will be a critical challenge, particularly for developing nations like India. This paper evaluates the importance of these spaces and tries to propose urban design solutions for sustainability of these recreational open spaces.
Recreational Spaces, Sustainability, Urban design
