Ecological Town Planner of India
Followed MK Gandhi’s thought: India lives in her villages. In agriculture and animal husbandry after sensing urbanization in India.
Met Vivekananda in 1900, in contact with his Irish disciple Margaret Noble (Sister Nivedita) who suggested the IISc, TISS model through Jamshed Tata.
Educated and worked in London, Mexico, Scotland, Edinburgh and Dundee as a Zoologist, Botanist and Economist.
His concepts on Politography and Politogenics —forgotten
Metropolis, Megalopolis and Conurbation remembered.
Energy utility through Paletechnic, Neotechnic and Techno culture.
Coined Carboniferous Capitalism (1915): Dominance of man by machine, finance and military.
1915 to 1924 – Went around 20 Indian cities to make an urban plan. Worked in winter and spring but moved to Europe and Scotland for the summer.
Town planning: Respect for Nature, Tradition and Democracy.
Ecological concerns:
Water – Rivers are sacred
Spaces – for tress, gardens and parks
Resources – Conservation tanks and wells
Recycle – Night soil as manure.
TO POSTPONE IS TO CONSERVE…
Small cities are better:
- Easy reach of nature
- Family and neighborhood life richer
- Administrators are less impersonal
- Deep sense of local patriotism
- Bio-centric than mechano-centric
- Safe, pleasant and secure housing for different classes
- Transport to work place
- Water and energy for commons
- Environmental sustainability
- Aesthetics.
Source: Guha, Ramachandra., (2024), Speaking with Nature: The Origins of Indian Environmentalism, Fourth Estate, New Delhi, p 111 -142.