Why does Delhi need urban ecology? How to implement the same?

With an ever increasing population and a layout that fosters various ways of embracing urbanisation, metropolitan cities must indicate a paradigm shift towards participation in the conservation efforts of nature and wildlife. An urban ecosystem involves the convolution of intense human population offering economies of scale and novel types of interactions between the components of nature

What is Urbanisation?

With over 95% of urbanised population, Delhi stands out as the embodiment of the urban age in the Indian subcontinent. Urbanised Delhi has grown into the central focus of economic development and has been known to tackle the challenges of the dynamic social, technological and economical structures quite well. But what forms the crux of urbanisation? What parameters go into gauging the scope and the implication of urbanisation?

Economic and technological progresses alone do not contribute in establishing urbanisation. Urbanisation must take into account a complex set of cultural, conservational and environmental processes that together nurture the effective sustenance, growth and development of the metropolitan city.

Why does Delhi need an urban ecology?

As much are the benefits of taking the urbanised route, it has also caused some irreversible damages. Hugely populated metropolitans such as Delhi become the point source of pollution, depletion of nature and the place of production for several toxic substances. Ecologists thus far have been unable to derive the essential ecological inputs from these cities and have eschewed metropolitan cities as insufficient contributors for solving current environmental issues and preventing potential trouble of the future. 

An urban ecosystem that encompasses all facets of holistic growth is a strong need to sustain and develop the socioeconomic setup of the city. Ecologists working with these urban ecosystems must engage in deeper understanding of the social and economic requirements and relate them to the ecological footprint of the city.

A strongly established urban ecology is the need of the modern era and it is only by means of an optimized urban ecosystem that we can differentiate a well-functioning city from a dysfunctional urban centre.

Measures to adopt an urban ecosystem in Delhi

The first approach to establishing an urban ecosystem is to understand the various perspectives of human participation and to integrate these patterns into establishing long term conservational programs. In other words, the social perspectives of the residents must be matched with the environmental perspectives through deeper collaboration. 

In order to successfully establish an urban ecosystem for the long term, interdisciplinary discussions between ecologists, scientists, urban engineers, eco-political researchers and economists must be facilitated. The participants must have a clear understanding of the long term goals of the programs and the versatility of the solutions must be highlighted through proper implementation.

Nature Unbound

The requisition of nature within the walls of wildlife sanctuaries and nature reserves and through restrictive laws may be good reminders of what we choose to conserve against human intervention but however they will not serve as the only means of the preservation of natural resources in the long run.