Balancing Urban Resilience with Economic Development

Surat was a commercial and economic centre since the establishment of the port and now is one of the largest urban areas of western India. Our plan for the development of the Surat urban area in the next 20 years aims at balancing the green open spaces whilst facilitating the economic growth through industrial and commercial development of the region. The Development Plan proposal attempts to address both factors by creating Surat as a ‘Sponge city’. This is mainly done through several iterations by increasing the per capita green space through planning, management, and building-level interventions. The concept was taken as an attempt to increase the per capita green space, and also as an intervention for addressing climate change.