A Nature-Based Development Model for Regenerative Cities- A Case of Bengaluru 2030

Initiated by Architect Neelam Manjunath and the Center for Green Building Materials and Technology (CGBMT)

Endorsed by the World Bamboo Organization

The WBO is excited to participate in the newly launched project entitled ‘The Bamboo City’, which will be a plug-in to the city of Bengaluru’s (India, Karnakata state) main Climate Action Plan. This plan is a roadmap for lowering GHG emissions and building community climate resilience to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, and regenerative status thereafter. Using bamboo for sustainable development for the city will not only cut greenhouse gas emissions but also provide income opportunities ensuring the triple bottom line of environmental, economic, and social growth fulfilling the SDGs.

The Bamboo City’s climate change mitigation objections include urban greening (growing bamboo in the city helps in reforestation, and in the process, providing soil remediation, shade, and temperature moderation), rejuvenation of water bodies (reducing erosion and phytoremediation), carbon sequestration (as bamboo is a highly renewable resource that grows quickly, plantations in the city can mitigate the greenhouse effect by absorbing CO2), lower the carbon footprint (mainstreaming bamboo into the construction sector significantly reduces carbon footprint), control air pollution (plantations in the city also can control air pollution and create Oxygen Parks and Oxygen Corridors), and energy generation (waste from the sector can be used as bio-fuel). Other benefits include job creation, local economic opportunities for small-to-medium enterprises, and improved landscape aesthetics.

This ambitious project is do-able and timely and hopes to become a model for other cities to incorporate bamboo into their Climate Action Plans. The project was launched on 3 December during COP28 in Dubai, led by Architect Neelam Manjunath and attended by an extensive audience, as well as the members of the project’s Advisory Action Committee.

 Grand kudos go to World Bamboo Ambassador, Architect Neelam Manjunath, for her vision and commitment, and to the whole team at the Center for Green Building Materials and Technology, headquartered in Bangalore, India. WBO’s Executive Director, Susanne Lucas, is serving on the Advisory Action Committee for The Bamboo City Project.

For more information, contact Ms. Manjunath at cgbmtblr@gmail.com and see the website,https://www.cgbmt.org/about-bamboo-city-project