Yamuna River Project: New Delhi Urban Ecology

by Iñaki Alday & Pankaj Vir Gupta (Actar Publishers)

The Yamuna runs from the Yamunotri Glacier in the Himalayas to Allahabad, snaking through major cities including New Delhi. Despite its sacred status in Hinduism and its historical significance as the waterway of many settlements preceding New Delhi, it is heavily polluted and has long lost its connection with the city’s population as a commons in both the economic and cultural sense.

This publication presents the results of a multi-year interdisciplinary exploration of these issues, undertaken by the University of Virginia School of Architecture and the Delhi Jal Board. The academic approach is evident throughout: the book follows its introductory essay with an extended explication of New Delhi’s history, then a discussion of its tangible and intangible urban layers, before exploring the city’s water bodies and finally laying out the vision that is the fruit of the research project. Replete with essays from a variety of scholars and many illustrative diagrams and photographs, the book is an in-depth and fascinating case study of a city, a sobering reminder and perhaps a way forward for other urban environments.