A Park for All

During our conversations with platform-based gig workers to understand their perspective on parks, Raja, who also thought that places with shade were of the utmost importance, stated that the BBMP “limits”— by which he meant neighbourhoods within the BBMP’s jurisdiction — have turned into “concrete jungles” with no places providing shade. He asserted that the city’s public infrastructure does not focus on providing shade from trees. He shed light on Bengaluru’s changing climate and explained how difficult it was for him to find places with sufficient shade. He believed the current state of affairs in the city was due to a lack of maintenance. He mentioned a well-maintained place in Banashankari but said that the same standards are not applied everywhere in the city.

Introduction

Cities across the world are hurtling towards unprecedented urbanisation. The world’s population living in urban areas is estimated to increase to approximately 68% by the year 2050. According to India’s latest census data, 53 cities in the country housed a population of over one million people in the year 2011. This number is bound to have increased significantly, considering the rapid urbanisation that India has witnessed in the last decade. This rapid urbanisation not only imposes a tremendous strain on urban infrastructure, but also leads to adverse effects such as climate change due to loss of green cover, water shortages, significant deterioration in air quality and the creation of urban heat islands. This raises a critical question: How can our cities sustain this unprecedented growth while mitigating its adverse effects on the environment and quality of life? The answer lies, in part, in the recognition of urban parks as vital lifelines in the urban landscape. As concrete jungles expand, the need for green havens within our cities becomes more urgent than ever.

Public parks have long been spaces of recreation, relaxation and rest in urban settings. They have played a pivotal part in providing precious green spaces within cities. From an environmental standpoint, urban green spaces such as public parks are part of ‘urban commons’ which provide access to nature for a city’s dwellers. Therefore, the construction, accessibility and continued maintenance of public parks assumes even greater importance in determining the quality of life of India’s urban dwellers.

This report therefore examines three pivotal aspects concerning public parks, with a special focus on Karnataka:

1. the current legislative landscape governing public parks in India and Karnataka;
2. the scope for alternative models of parks governance; and
3. the question of how accessible public parks are to the three vulnerable groups in cities- persons with disabilities, waste pickers and platform-based gig workers.

Key Findings and Recommendations

While the report provides detailed information on various aspects of public parks, such as the national policy framework, judicial interpretations and jurisprudence, the most crucial part of the report is the analysis of the legal and planning framework in Karnataka that governs public parks. This legal framework works in conjunction with municipal government laws in Karnataka, and the report makes the following observations:

1. Planning authorities entrusted with urban development and planning responsibilities, such as the Bangalore Development Authority (with many others for specific cities), have failed to implement Master Plans. Many targets set through Revised Master Plans have been unmet, and in some cases, RMPs have been withdrawn, leading to a lack of a backbone document to aid urban development. The report also examines the issue of Development Authorities diverting land earmarked for parks under development schemes for other purposes, as well as the litigation surrounding such cases.
2. Municipal governance legislations such as the KMC Act, 1976, the BBMP Act, 2020 and the GBG Act, 2024 entrust ward committees with the responsibility of maintaining parks, yet issues such as ward committees not being constituted for years and being dysfunctional persist.
3. Karnataka relies on two specific legislations for park governance. The Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act, 1975 (KGP Act, 1975), which applies to government parks and horticulture gardens such as Cubbon Park and Lalbagh; and the Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces (Preservation and Regulation) Act, 1985 (KPPO Act, 1985), which applies to neighbourhood parks under the control of local authorities or in private layouts.
   1. On the KGP Act, 1975, the report finds that, although it was intended to prevent the alienation of parkland, successive amendments have allowed exceptions. For example, parts of Lalbagh were diverted for the Namma Metro Project in 2010; parts of Cubbon Park were used for High Court vehicular parking in 2011; and, most recently, two acres at Nandi Hills were alienated for a ropeway project in 2024. This reflects a pattern of repurposing parks for developmental or commercial uses, which is contrary to the spirit of preservation.
   2. On the KPPO Act, 1985, the report finds that, despite Section 6 of the Act prohibiting the diversion of parks for non-park use, encroachments are widespread. As was observed in the 2015 CAG report, most Urban Local Bodies did not possess records of parks under threat of encroachment and failed to act on illegal usage.
      1. The KPPO Act requires authorities to publish lists of parks, but there is no legal mandate to update these lists periodically. This creates information asymmetry, preventing citizens from holding the state accountable for misrepresentation, encroachment, and a lack of maintenance.
      2. The report also finds that, despite the clear prohibition of the use of earmarked park land for any other purpose, this practice has continued, resulting in many court cases.
      3. The report also finds that the legislation, in its current form, is inadequate to address the day-to-day challenges of maintaining critical urban infrastructure, such as parks. For example, while Section 7 of the KPPO Act states that all local authorities must maintain parks in a clear and proper condition, the law does not set out any standards on its execution on the ground. The rules under the legislation also remain silent on the same, creating a lacuna.
   3. The KGP Act and the KPPO Act are the two primary legislations responsible for park governance in Karnataka, but they have not been studied rigorously to understand how well they meet today’s needs. The report primarily relies on evidence (both qualitative and quantitative) from Karnataka’s capital and its biggest city, Bengaluru, to make a case for an overhaul of these two legislations. The lessons, however, apply to all cities in Karnataka and India at large.
4. There is a need to experiment with different management models for parks, by engaging ward committees more effectively and building formalised partnerships with CSR groups, as well as RWAs.
5. The issue of access for the most marginalised groups in a city can be broken down into three types: social, spatial and physical. Based on qualitative interviews with gig workers, waste pickers and persons with disabilities, our report finds that issues such as a lack of restrooms, a lack of seating facilities, restricted park timings and the failure to apply universal design principles act as barriers to the meaningful participation of these groups in a city’s social space such as a park.

Our recommendations are divided into legal reforms (as amendments) to improve the KPPO Act, 1985, the KGP Act, 1975 and planning legislations such as the KTCP Act, 1961 and the BDA Act, 1976. We also provide recommendations for institutional/administrative reform and finally, specific recommendations targeted at disability inclusion.

About the Authors

Sneha Yanappa (Senior Resident Fellow and Team Lead, Vidhi Karnataka)

Sneha is a Senior Resident Fellow and Team Lead at Vidhi, Karnataka working on urban development and municipal governance. She is interested in constitutional law, international law, local governance. She holds an undergraduate degree in law from Symbiosis Law School, Pune and obtained the BCL from the University of Oxford.

Varini G (Research Fellow)

Varini G is a BA LLB (Batch of 2023) graduate from the School of Law, Christ University, Bengaluru. She currently works as a Research Fellow with the Karnataka team assisting various departments and local governments in Karnataka. Her primary interests are local governance, devolution of power, urbanism and socio-economic rights through critical and feminist approaches to the law, policy and governance. She believes in participatory approaches, radical decentralisation and equitable access to cities. Her nonacademic interests are reading speculative fiction and exploring different music cultures. She enjoys a history of everything, the outdoors, nature and spicy food.

Akhileshwari Reddy (Senior Resident Fellow)

Akhileshwari Reddy is a Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi, Karnataka. Her work focuses on the protection of human rights and environment. At Vidhi she has worked on various projects including those on solid waste management, waste picker welfare, urban ground water management and human-wildlife conflict in India. She graduated with a B.A., L.LB (Hons.) degree from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS, Kolkata) in 2016. In 2017, she completed her Masters in Human Rights Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on the Marchant Foundation Scholarship and the LSE Master’s Award. Her articles on human rights issues in India have been published by various Journals. She also regularly contributes to the Deccan Herald, The Wire and Down to Earth. She is an avid reader and especially enjoys reading fantasy fiction.

Dolashree k Mysoor ()

Manmayi Sharma (Senior Resident Fellow)

Manmayi is a Senior Resident Fellow working with Disability (Inclusion & Access). Manmayi is a graduate of the National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi (2016). Prior to joining Vidhi, Manmayi worked at the law firm of Dhir & Dhir Associates, where she litigated and provided advisory services to various clients in matters pertaining to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. She has also previously worked with the Centre for Law and Policy Research, where she litigated in the areas of public health, women's rights and rights of disabled.

Aarushi Malik (Research Fellow, Disability (Inclusion & Access))

Aarushi was a Research Fellow in the Disability (Inclusion and Access) Team at Vidhi, New Delhi. Prior to joining Vidhi, Aarushi practiced with a Delhi-based law firm and was subsequently engaged as a Law Clerk at the High Court of Delhi. Aarushi graduated from Delhi University with degrees in Management Studies and Law. She obtained her LLM degree in access to justice from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai in 2023 where she was awarded the institute gold medal. Her research interests and professional experience inter alia center around gender and sexuality law, encompassing investigations into issues such as transnational marital desertion of women and challenges faced by rural women in Maharashtra.