The Current Scenario of Sustainable Planning and Development of the Indian Built Environment

Introduction

Built Environment is a term which is used for parts of human surroundings which are built by people, and is clearly different from the natural environment. Buildings are not the only thing which it comprises, but also the infrastructure which aids the activities of people like utility networks, transport networks, telecommunications, and flood defences, etc., in addition to the manmade spaces between buildings such as parks. According to the CIC or Construction Industry Council, built environment includes civil engineering infrastructure, all kinds of buildings like schools, commercial, hospitals, industrial, housing, etc., as well as not only these structures above the surface but also underground, in addition to managed landscapes which are present around and between buildings. Similarly, the Centre for Digital Built Britain also defined Built Environment in a similar manner. Unlike Built Environment, other terms like civil engineering, buildings, construction, etc. are unable to capture the full extent of the manmade environment and divides the subject into its constituent disciplines fragments whereas built environment makes it as a complete enterprise. Nevertheless the term is not much used and often taken the wrong way. Due to the increase in the population, the demand and pressure for sustainable development is increasing more and more, which is also increasing the demand for more requirements from the built environment in comparison to the past. At present more than half of the world’s population resides in the cities, and it is expected that by the 2^nd half of the 21^st century the world’s population residing in the cities will reach over seventy percent. Additionally the population of the people all over the world will increase by 2 Billion within the same span of time. The general agreement is that the urban areas which are densely populated must be highly sustainable in comparison to the concentrated rural settlements, but the reality is completely different, as the current world’s population residing in the cities is slightly above 50%, still they consume more than three quarters of non-renewable resources as well as contribute nearly the same towards worldwide pollution. The reason behind it is because of the lack of clarity of the one responsible for the built environment. In fact, built environment is an interdisciplinary field which involves engineers, landscape designers, form architects, central as well as local policy makers, town planners, urban designers, etc. However, the lack of leadership and the presence of separate departments creates this problem. According to the former Secretary General of the UN, in the Global report on Human Settlements 2009, Planning Sustainable Cities, he stated that the in the current century, a number of cities are expanding in terms of population at a rapid rate whereas others are deteriorating, how cities are mitigating or causing climate change, along with the growth of the informal sector, are major challenges and hurdles which the modern urban planners were unable to solve or clear them. According to NB Digital Twin Toolkit, Developing the business case for your digital twin, which was published in the 1^st quarter of 2021 by cdbb, built environment is made of all social infrastructure, the interface between natural environment and itself, all economic infrastructure as well as commercial, residential in addition to industrial buildings.