Ulsoor Lake: Impact of Strategic Urban Water Bodies on Informal Livelihoods and Climate Resilience

This study investigates the socio-spatial impacts of “Smart City” interventions on informal livelihoods and climate resilience at Ulsoor Lake, Bengaluru (The Times of India, 2022). Despite being a vital socio-ecological commons, the lake’s recent modernization has prioritized aesthetic “beautification” over the survival of the informal workforce (Roy, 2009). Using a mixed-methods approach—comprising twenty vendor ethnographies, regulatory analysis, and environmental monitoring—the research identifies a profound “Planning Mismatch” in how urban planning and informal livelihoods interact in India (Idiculla, 2022). Findings demonstrate that vendors function as “Thermal Strategists,” relying on the lake’s 2 degree C cooling gradient and 71% canopy shade for economic viability (Tan et al., 2018). However, they face “Double Jeopardy”: physical exclusion via high-security fencing and health risks from untreated sewage (The Hindu, 2023). The study proposes a “Bio-Remediation Vending Plaza” to integrate livelihoods into ecological restoration through a polycentric governance model (Ostrom, 2010).