Bengaluru East’s wealth fails to translate into green spaces

Bengaluru East, the city’s richest civic zone, covers 23.5% of Bengaluru but has only 35 parks—just 2.5% of the total—reflecting poor planning and IT-led sprawl

Bengaluru East City Corporation, home to the city’s bustling IT corridor, stands out as the richest and largest of the five civic corporations. Yet, despite its economic strength and expansive area, it faces a glaring deficit in public parks. The corporation has only 35 parks, a stark contrast to the average of more than 300 parks in other zones. While it covers nearly a quarter of the city’s civic area, it accounts for just 2.5% of Bengaluru’s parks.

This imbalance reflects decades of unplanned and unregulated development in the south-eastern outskirts since the late 1990s, driven by the IT boom and housing demand. Unlike the core city areas, where layouts developed by government agencies and private builders were mandated to allocate 15% of land for parks and playgrounds, the IT corridor’s growth has been dominated by apartments and gated communities with little provision for public open spaces.

Earlier proposals to create large lung spaces in the outer zones, similar to Cubbon Park and Lalbagh, never materialized. Instead, government-owned lands in the region have been encroached upon and converted for other uses, eroding opportunities to build new parks. Environmental advocates argue that forest patches and plantation lands within the corporation could be transformed into tree parks, fenced and managed to prevent dumping, thereby offering much-needed breathing spaces for residents.

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Currently, the civic body has no plans to establish new parks, focusing instead on redeveloping the few existing ones. Officials highlight that while the corporation lags in green cover, it is endowed with 46 lakes, including Bellandur and Varthur—the city’s largest water bodies. Efforts are underway to rejuvenate these lakes, positioning them as multifunctional public spaces that can serve both ecological and recreational needs.

The situation underscores a broader challenge: balancing rapid urban expansion with sustainable planning. Without a clear vision and political will to reclaim and protect open spaces, Bengaluru East risks deepening its park deficit, leaving residents in one of the city’s wealthiest zones with fewer avenues for recreation and respite.

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