Sustaining Our Community Parks: Can the State Do it alone?
By Vidya Ekambaram
It is common knowledge that parks are an essential part of human well being and a lack of these can have an effect on both physical and mental health of citizens. Some of the issues with rapid technological innovation has been loneliness, with apps and social media providing the false comfort of meeting friends and socializing. South Korea has had one of the most rapid economic developments in just a few decades and also faces a loneliness crisis (https://www.npr.org/2024/02/11/1229437757/social-isolation-south-korea). Although technology cannot be blamed for this entirely as it has been both helpful and, ‘not so’ helpful in getting people together; the latter more so because of being able to get things done with lesser social interaction. I would like to point this out only to stress the need for improved community engagement and a case for building more community parks in a country like India, where there is a lack of it.
Green spaces have been dwindling the world over with a 20% reduction in green cover since 2000. According to an IISC study in Bengaluru, (https://theprint.in/science/iisc-study-finds-93-of-bengaluru-lost-lake-forest-cover-since-1970s-how-city-can-change-its-course/2006826/) 93 % of the city has lost its lake and forest cover to concrete and construction. There has been a 79 % loss in water cover and 88 percent loss in forest cover while constructions have increased by over 1,000 %. While for anyone living in Bengaluru for 15+ years, it is not new news considering how much our surroundings have changed in the last several years and we see this unfold right in front of our eyes. Urban development is certainly an important player in the overall economic development of our country, but sensitizing the public of the need for green cover for improved health should be the top agenda of local corporations.
Who is responsible for the maintenance of public parks? From a purely economics definition, it is not a public good as its both rivalrous (one citizen using the park does not deny another citizen from using it)and excludable (parks can be charged a fee). Then, who should maintain it? There is a need for collective ownership for the benefit of society. Bengaluru with its rising middle class and upper middle class population have taken efforts to bring to fore the issues with local community parks and also have been able to mobilize local businesses and philanthropists to maintain parks.
In a country like India, where the Indian constitution comes hard coded with social revolution at its heart, it has in its own way disincentivized people to take ownership of problems and believe in their responsibility to be part of change. This has led to a case of ‘tragedy of commons’ when it comes to public spaces.
India has a problem of state capacity, and this is one of the reasons it is unable to deliver on basic public goods and services and to expect ONLY the State to focus on these issues, is also not the solution. So, how should the State intervene? I think the solution lies in the convergence of civil society and the State coming together to do what they are both good at doing. The State is not the best when it comes to bringing communities together, building trust and higher social capital while non governmental organizations and local community philanthropists are, while keeping equity also at the front and centre.
So,here are some solutions that can be implemented in the Indian context. Many of the solutions here keep in mind the low capacity of the Indian State and focussing only on doing only what they are best at doing!
Developing ‘charter’ parks: This is a concept that is widely accepted in education in some developed countries. The idea behind these is the governments engage with high quality non profit organizations to operate community parks. This has been one of the solutions offered for our public education system (‘Accelerating India’s development by Karthik Muralidharan) , and I think there is a case for doing this for our community parks as well. Drawing up a charter for the park’s mission (providing for unstructured spaces to ensure equitable access, bringing communities together for events, offering cool spaces in the neighbourhood,etc.) the bargain here is accountability to the State for freedom to operate based on the mission identified. This also helps to look at offerings of public spaces based on the community needs. It is possible that a certain ward has a lot of gated communities and the need is not for jogging tracks, and children play areas because these are available in the communities itself but for bringing people together for art exhibitions, plays, promoting art etc. Similarly, in a ward where the majority of the communities are from a weaker economic section, it can provide for free spaces like playgrounds, children play areas, etc.
Citizen led ‘inspection’ committees: The State must have community park inspectors, along with citizen led community inspectors, who can sign up on a voluntary basis. This ensures a collective sense of responsibility within the community and also can keep a check on the heavy handedness of the State, as a regulator.
Enabling technology: As a regulator, the State can identify key elements that are important for the running of parks and ensure accountability and transparency from the NGO’s running it. The State can advance surveillance systems to ensure safety and security, use sensors to detect broken equipment, areas that need to be cleaned etc. It can also provide for apps that can be built for citizens to report failures in maintenance, inappropriate usage etc.
In a country like India, where freedom movements initially emerged as social movements that mobilized people for reform, discussions on maintaining community parks and public spaces are central to civil society’s role in addressing this issue, presenting a significant opportunity for action.
The author is a participant of the 40th cohort of the Graduate Certificate in Public Policy programme at the Takshashila Institution.
Cover Image credits: Trip Advisor