ADB.org_Southern Meghalaya in far northeastern India is one of the wettest places on Earth, crisscrossed by fast-flowing rivers and mountain streams. Here bridges aren’t built – they’re grown, ensuring connectivity in a remote area.

Local tribes identified a species of Indian rubber tree with an incredibly strong root system that flourishes in this region. The roots of the ficus elastic grow on huge boulders along the riverbanks, or even in the middle of the rivers.

To make the roots grow in the right direction, local tribes use different techniques from simply pulling the roots to tying or twisting them, until over time the roots formed the desired architectural structure.

Root bridges, also used in Indonesia, are a great example of how green infrastructure can provide alternative solutions to deliver sustainable connectivity. The normal course in Meghalaya would have been a bridge, but that would have been difficult and expensive in such areas.

  Green infrastructure not yet core part of urban infrastructure planning

Unfortunately, this approach is the exception rather than the rule. Green infrastructure today falls short of being a part of urban infrastructure core planning and asset inventory. It lacks provisions for long-term maintenance and management, as is done for other essential services.

When I studied architecture and urban planning in Chandigarh, an Indian city designed in 1966 by the famous Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, I realized that cities are like people. They have interlinked systems with dependencies on nature – land, air, and water. Tiếp tục đọc “The architecture of resilience” →