As Ahmedabad grows denser, private open spaces occupy a significant share of the urban fabric, yet their environmental and social potential often remains unrealised. This study examines how GDCR regulations shape these spaces and how they function on the ground. Through regulatory analysis, plot-level observations and precinct mapping across nine areas of the city, we investigate the gap between the provision of open space and its actual performance.

The study extends to the city scale, examining changes in green cover, impermeable surfaces and land surface temperatures over time. NDVI-based green cover mapping helps reveal the reduction and changing distribution of vegetation, while thermal and impervious surface assessments highlight the relationship between declining green cover, increasing paved surfaces and urban heat. Together, these analyses reveal how spaces mandated as open areas frequently become paved surfaces, parking lots and residual margins, contributing to a more impermeable and hotter urban environment.

By connecting regulatory provisions with conditions on the ground and city-wide environmental changes, the study questions whether current regulations are achieving their intended purpose. It explores how private open spaces, rather than remaining residual or underutilised areas, could be reimagined as meaningful, connected and environmentally functional parts of Ahmedabad’s urban fabric.