About us

The foundation for this work on ‘Shade in the City’ is an on-going project on tree shrine spaces that we started in 2015. The focus was on how ashwath kattes (peepul tree shrines) in the city of Bangalore work as neighbourhood community spaces. We looked at how they work as religious spaces that have ecological meaning. The peepul tree (Ficus Religiosa) is considered one of the key stone species by ecologists. In India, this tree is worshipped even today and the platform (katte) that the local residents build around the tree makes it an anchor for social interaction as well. 

In our SHADE project, we began with exploring how the peepul tree as well as the other trees often planted alongside provide shade through their canopy cover. It made us realise that in a tropical region, ‘shade’ could impact the micro-climate and it might be useful to make it a part of the design vocabulary for those involved in planning the city. The study was expanded to include how trees of different species provide shade on our streets, enabling the everyday activities of people. On this portal, we share the outcomes from our research in a manner that we hope some will find useful as they work towards integrating nature into the city. 

The team that has worked on this project includes volunteers: Mariam Fatima (Delhi), Bhavana Kadlapalli (Hyderabad), Kajol Kumari (Kolkata) and Parnavee Pathak (Mumbai) and research associates: Arundhati Hakhu (Delhi) and Ritha Krishnamurthy (Bangalore).

If you have an interest in ‘shade’ or interests related to making cities people-centric, we would be happy to hear from you. You can reach us at: kiranmkeswani@gmail.com 

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Kiran Keswani

Co-founder, Everyday City Lab