Urban Park-scapes 2026

In the context of rapidly growing cities, parks and open spaces are critical nodes that link social well-being with ecological resilience. In Ahmedabad, vegetation cover has declined by nearly 78% over the last two decades, creating an urgent need—and a powerful opportunity—to reimagine parks as social anchors, ecological lungs, and productive urban infrastructure.

This Level 3 Urban Design Studio invites students to engage with park design as an integrated system rather than a standalone landscape. Grounded in urban theory and landscape studies, the studio explores how parks mediate between natural processes and the built environment. Students will study vegetation patterns, landform, and the movement of water and soil alongside roads, edges, utilities, and adjacent buildings. These layered readings will inform design interventions, allowing students to reconfigure urban elements as productive and regenerative infrastructure.

Building on this foundation, students will develop design strategies for proposed sites as multifunctional and adaptive landscapes, integrating habitat restoration, stormwater management, microclimatic improvement, and inclusive social spaces. Emphasizing systemic thinking and experimentation, the studio positions parks as active agents within urban ecologies—catalysts for more resilient, inclusive, and vibrant cities.