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Urban Ecosystems Research in India: Advances and Opportunities

• Published: 21 January 2023
• Volume 8 , pages 34–48, ( 2023 )

Cite this article

• Mangalasseril Mohammad Anees   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2636-3531 1 ,
• Deepika Mann 2 &
• Susanta Mahato 3  

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Purpose of Review

This article provides an overview of major research themes that address urban issues from a landscape perspective in India in the last 5 years. Landscape ecology research on urban ecosystems in India is largely focused on four themes—(i) landscape characterization, (ii) urban dynamics, (iii) urban heat island, and (iv) urban green spaces.

Recent Findings

Urban ecosystem research in India is dominated by studies utilizing remote sensing and GIS tools. Moderate resolution satellite data is most preferred to analyze changes within the city and its surroundings. Most of the studies from India are concentrated on urban dynamics and its characterization. In terms of size, studies are skewed, and focus more on larger cities. Also, studies are focused on analyzing changes in one city as compared to multiple cities. Urban growth modelling holds the potential to steer future urban growth policies of governing bodies and develop sustainable cities in the future. However, this is not well explored in Indian context and is still in its nascent stage. Research on thermal environment is concentrated on the nonlinear spatial relationships between multiple factors, and less on their interactions. In terms of green spaces, landscape connectivity and multifunctionality are largely missing. Much of the research addresses the availability of green spaces while accessibility is poorly understood.

Urban ecosystems in India are still in early developmental stages and research on mending urban issues from landscape perspective is one of the most promising choices. Learnings from past developmental trends, patterns, and policies can have a large impact on how future policies are drawn. For this, it is important to steer research into most pressing urban issues and advance them with new methodologies and actionable inferences. Research on urban problems in India is diversifying over time but needs cautious redirecting to address the needs of fast-paced unplanned urbanization. Studies in the past 5 years show a general trend towards individual case studies which provide quantitative measures of various themes. However, these studies fall short of analyzing government policies and their impacts on urban development and their consequences. Studies should also explore the integration of landscape planning and findings from urban heat island (UHI)– and urban green space (UGS)–related research to improve the living conditions in urban ecosystems. This would also require research on coupling of natural and socio-economic factors. The full potential of landscape research can only be realized by combining different themes of research as urban ecosystem is highly interdependent.

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Deepika Mann

Special Centre for Disaster Research, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, 110066

Susanta Mahato

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Anees, M.M., Mann, D. & Mahato, S. Urban Ecosystems Research in India: Advances and Opportunities. Curr Landscape Ecol Rep 8 , 34–48 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40823-022-00083-6

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Accepted : 19 December 2022

Published : 21 January 2023

Issue Date : March 2023

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s40823-022-00083-6

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State governments, their municipalities and also citizens will have to take forward the provisions outlined in the budget.

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Published - July 25, 2024 12:08 am IST

‘The participation of citizens would remain the bedrock for the success of any city’s development strategy’ | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Cities are home to about 50 crore people, accounting for about 36% of India’s population. The urban population has been growing at a steady pace of 2% to 2.5% annually. The ever-growing pace of urbanisation in India calls for sustained investments, with a vision and determination. The maiden Budget of the new government has recognised cities as the growth hubs and offered many options and opportunities for the planned development and the growth of cities.

The issue of housing

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) has been under implementation since 2015 and has provided as many as 85 lakh housing units for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)-Middle Income Groups (MIG) categories of population, with an investment of about ₹8 lakh crore. Of this, a quarter has been provided by the central government and the remaining by the beneficiaries and State governments. The Budget has proposed to give a further push to the scheme by announcing support for the construction of another one crore such units in urban areas with an investment of ₹10 lakh crore, which will include central assistance of ₹2.2 lakh crore in the next five years, against which ₹30,171 crore has been provided in the Budget for the current year. A part of this allocation will be available to provide interest subsidy to facilitate loans at affordable rates.

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The migrant population working in industries has been surviving in general in slums and yearning for a roof over their heads and a functional housing unit close to their workplaces. The Budget has announced new rental housing with dormitory-type accommodation for industrial workers. This is envisaged to be developed in public-private partnership (PPP) mode with upfront financial support under the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme. This is to the extent of 20% from the central government, with the possibility of similar support from the State government.

The core infrastructure requirement for cities includes water supply, sanitation, roads and sewerage systems. Specific to the cities, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) provides ₹8,000 crore, which, by itself, may not appear to be very substantial. However, the Finance Minister has announced the availability of the VGF window, provided that the project is taken up as a commercial venture in PPP Mode. Most cities have, over the years, got exposed to the PPP model, and it should be possible to speed up the development of such core infrastructure, where it is unavailable and upgrade it where it exists but is inadequate.

The Budget Speech also mentions a huge investment of ₹11.11 lakh crore for capex in infrastructure. While this would include highways and many other sectors, cities can also make efforts to partake a share in it. Similarly, a provision of ₹1.50 lakh crore is made available to States as an interest-free loan for infrastructure development. States could use this window also, for cities.

The Smart Cities Mission, that was launched in 2015, was provided budgetary support of ₹8,000 crore in 2023-24, which has been scaled down to ₹2,400 crore in 2024-25, to take care of the remnant commitments. However, a new window, the National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM), has been opened in this Budget, with a provision of ₹1,150 crore, with a focus on the digitisation of property and tax records and their management, with GIS mapping. These will help urban local bodies in managing their finances better, and also help property owners.

On city planning

The Budget has declared the intention of focusing on the planned development of cities. Municipalities would get the normal ‘Finance Commission Grant’ of ₹25,653 crore. In addition, a provision of ₹500 crore has been made for the incubation of new cities. With the development of mass rapid transit systems, cities can embark on transit-oriented development, wherein transit hubs can be surrounded by denser development without creating a traffic overload on roads. Moreover, a well-designed mobility plan can conveniently connect cities with their peri-urban areas and ‘new cities’. Accordingly, the Budget has announced an enhanced focus on economic and transit planning, with the orderly development of peri-urban areas utilising town planning schemes. The Budget has also proposed encouraging electric bus systems for cities and has provided ₹1,300 crore for it. E-buses offer an economical and eco-friendly operating system, but the main challenge is their higher upfront cost. However, with this budgetary support, it should get going.

Solid waste management

Solid waste management (SWM) is perhaps the biggest challenge that most cities face today. The Budget has announced a special thrust to introduce bankable projects for SWM in collaboration with State government and financial institutions. States and municipalities can also make use of the VGF for this purpose. Cities such as Indore, Madhya Pradesh, have shown the way in making SWM a financially viable proposition.

The Street Vendors Act, 2014, was enacted by Parliament to regulate street vendors in public areas and protect their rights. It also envisaged the preparation of street-vending plans and the creation of street-vending zones, with a view to make street-vending a healthy and safe option for consumers and vendors. The Budget has proposed to develop 100 weekly ‘haats’ or street food hubs in select cities. Perhaps States need not feel constrained with the number and can facilitate all cities in preparing street-vending plans and developing street vending ‘haats’ in various parts of the city, according to felt needs.

While the Budget has made a slew of provisions, financial as well as procedural, to push for planned urbanisation, cities, represented by the municipalities, and guided by the respective State governments, will have to show the vision and the determination to incorporate all the resources coming not only from the Union Budget but also augmented by their own resources.

Above all, the participation of citizens would remain the bedrock for the success of any city’s development strategy.

Sudhir Krishna is former Secretary, Urban Development, Government of India. The views expressed are personal

Related Topics

Union Budget / urban planning / housing and urban planning / population / India / migration / labour / industrial production / water supply / construction and property / taxes and duties / local authority / transport / waste management / government

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Mongabay Series: Hewing The Regulatory Tree

Rethinking master plans for India’s growing cities

• India’s share of the urban population has more than doubled over six decades, with some estimates highlighting that India’s urban population is more than 50% of its total population.
• India’s urban areas are facing the brunt of the outdated system of master plans inherited from colonial times which fail to address modern issues such as climate change and rapid urbanisation.
• Delayed or absent master plans exacerbate urban issues such as infrastructure strain, pollution, and socioeconomic disparities, highlighting the urgent need for adaptive, inclusive planning approaches across Indian cities.

Delhi has been facing severe consequences due to the lack of a comprehensive urban plan. Until June this year, the capital endured scorching heat that led to the deaths of hundreds . The anticipated rains in July brought flooding instead of relief in many areas. This dire situation highlights the Supreme Court’s October 2023 statement that Delhi is in an “utter mess”, a frustration fuelled by the prolonged delay in notifying the Master Plan for Delhi (MPD) 2041, a vital blueprint for the city’s future.

A master plan is a statutory document that determines the city’s land use, reserves land for public purposes, and sets regulations for land use and buildings.

The MPD-2041 draft , released in 2021, focuses on environmental sustainability. It promotes green built environments and enhances natural assets under the vision of “Fostering a sustainable, liveable, and vibrant Delhi.” The MPD-2041 outlines key focus areas essential for a sustainable life, including environmental protection, water management, waste recycling, a shift to renewable energy, and mobility issues. It has received appreciation for its inclusive approach to plan preparation.

Talking to Mongabay India, Mathew Idiculla, a legal and policy consultant working on urban issues, and a visiting faculty at Bengaluru-based National Law School of India University, says, “The exercise of the planning process was slightly more inclusive. At least in the process of making the plan, there has been more discussion and input from citizens, citizen groups, and various coalitions.”

However, the delay in notifying the plan has raised several concerns . The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) released the MPD-2041 draft to the public in June 2021. In August 2022, the court directed the centre and the DDA to specify the timeline for completing the MPD-2041. The government responded in September of that year, stating that the final approval of the MPD was expected before the end of January 2023. In response, the court gave the centre a deadline to finalise the Master Plan for Delhi (MPD)-2041 by April 30, 2023, including a three-month grace period. The DDA approved the draft MPD-2041 in February 2023, and it was sent to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). Since then, the draft plan has been with the centre.

The government, formed earlier this year, has said it would approve MPD-2041 within 100 days of the ministry formation (in the NDA-3), which is a much-needed step, says Ramesh Menon, a principal lead at Delhi Consortiums, a think tank working on Delhi development. He highlights that several provisions of Master Plan 2021 that were notified in 2007 were not implemented. “Many important developmental agenda under land pooling and such important chapters were not operationalised owing to objections, suggestion, and other procedural delays,” he says. This means Delhi has been virtually governed without a proper plan for several years. He says that Delhi, being the capital of the nation, needs to be developed as a beacon or example for other cities. The immediate notification of MPD-2041 is a must to arrest the expansion of unauthorised colonies (neighbourhoods or localities) in Delhi.

Since 2007, the population of Delhi has almost doubled, from 19 million in 2007 to an estimated 33 million in 2024 but without a proper Master Plan. The same trend is visible in other parts of the country too.

Growth without plan

India’s urban population has grown rapidly. At independence, in 1947, 17% of the population lived in cities; by 2011 (the last Census), it was 31.8% . Several estimates suggest over 50% of the population now consists of urban dwellers. “It took nearly 40 years (between 1971 and 2008) for the urban population in India to rise by nearly 230 million. It will take only half that time to add the next 250 million,” says an Asian Development Bank report .

As a result, cities in India have experienced rapid but largely unplanned growth, as highlighted by a 2021 NITI Aayog report . It revealed that about half of statutory towns and two-thirds of census towns lack master plans to guide their spatial development. Of the 7,933 towns classified as urban, nearly half are still governed as rural entities.

No plan is one challenge, but delays in implementing plans are another. Similar to Delhi, Bengaluru also experienced a flood-like situation in June. Known as Silicon Valley of India, Bengaluru is governed by the Revised Master Plan, 2015, formulated in 2006-07 and intended to be effective until 2015. Although the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) initiated drafting a new master plan in 2017, the state government scrapped the Revised Master Plan 2031 in mid-2020. In December 2021, the BDA again issued tenders for the preparation of the Master Plan for 2041, but progress has since stalled.

An October 2023 survey  by Janaagraha, a Bengaluru-based non-profit, found that 39% of state capitals do not have active master plans.

Idiculla says he believes master plans are often seen as a major inconvenience, leading policymakers to create a parallel decision-making system. This lack of urgency results in delaying the plans. In the case of Delhi, the Supreme Court also made a similar statement : “The whole problem in the city is that public authorities are keeping everything in limbo to give themselves unreasonable powers.”

NITI Aayog underlined in its 2021 report that “the poor and the marginalised, the biodiversity and the economy” bear the brunt of unplanned growth. This leads to crises such as the lack of availability of serviced land, traffic congestion, pressure on basic infrastructure, extreme air pollution, urban flooding, water scarcity, and droughts.

However, Saswat Bandyopadhyay, a professor at the Faculty of Planning at Ahmedabad-based CEPT University, sees a change in attitude. He notes that in the past, slower growth allowed for a more casual approach to master planning. With current rapid growth, it is crucial to recognise that 65-70% of the economy is linked to urban areas. One dysfunctional day due to flooding or other disruptions can cause millions in losses. Many states now realise that without proper planning, the costs of congestion, disruption, and lost opportunities are significantly higher. “Achieving targets, such as becoming a $10 trillion economy, is impossible if cities do not function efficiently,” he adds.

The government of India launched the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) in 2015, which targets the formulation of master plans for 500 cities .

Call for reform

The legacy of city planning in India dates back to British rule . In 1896, Mumbai, then known as Bombay, witnessed a severe outbreak of plague, known as the Bombay Bubonic Plague, which claimed millions of lives in India. Following the outbreak, the first Improvement Trust was established in 1898 with three primary goals: improving sanitation, raising housing standards, and maintaining key urban development powers in the hands of appointed officials. This model was subsequently extended to other large cities across India.

Mumbai is the city that saw the first town planning legislation in India with the Bombay Town Planning Act of 1915. It gave the Bombay Municipal Corporation powers to prepare town planning and called for zoning, building regulations, acquisition of land for public purposes, and the collection of funds for local improvements. Other provinces followed the same path, like Uttar Pradesh in 1919 and Madras in 1920.

The Central Town and Country Planning Organisation (TCPO) drafted the Model Town and Regional Planning and Development Law in 1962, which formed the basis for various states to enact Town and Country Planning Acts with modifications to suit local conditions. However, most of the Acts focus on land use and zoning only, experts say. A NITI Aayog report also states that the definition of urban planning was limited to physical design, enforced through strict land use regulations due to colonial influence. The foundations of the state town and country planning departments were laid during British rule .

Bandyopadhyay says that the existing planning system, inherited from the colonial era, does not address modern-day challenges like climatic shocks and flooding. “The existing plans often fail to account for the necessary infrastructure to support designated land uses. For instance, zoning land for residential or commercial purposes doesn’t adequately consider the space needed for transportation and other civic amenities. This oversight at the planning stage neglects crucial aspects of urban development,” Bandyopadhyay adds, noting that Gujarat, to some extent, focuses on these issues.

New plans from Delhi, Mumbai, or the draft Master Plan of Bengaluru now include issues like the environment, climate change, public health, safety, and gender. However, there’s a caveat: the present legislative framework and laws regarding master planning remain unchanged. This means that under the law, the master plan is still largely restricted to land use regulation, zoning regulation, and development control. These are the only enforceable parts of the plans, Idiculla says.

Due to the limitations of the existing planning system, some people are calling for moving away from the master plan approach. However, Bandyopadhyay disagrees and says the current model is the sole statutory framework governing land management, overseeing public and private properties. It urgently requires modernisation to address contemporary challenges such as climate change and heatwaves, which the outdated system is ill-equipped to handle.

Idiculla says that the existing planning system is overly prescriptive and restrictive, detailing what can and cannot be done to the point where people find it challenging to abide by, leading to frequent violations. The present system is not aligned with ground reality. Cities need a guiding master plan complemented by various sectoral plans for the environment, climate change, housing, public health, and more, all under an overall planning framework. This approach should be adaptive to present needs, allowing certain changes and involving people in the process, he adds.

Banner image: A main market in Paharganj, Central Delhi. Since 2007, the population of Delhi has almost doubled, from 19 million in 2007 to an estimated 33 million in 2024 but without a master plan. Image by Vyacheslav Argenberg via Wikimedia Commons ( CC-BY-4.0 ).

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Comparison of urban climate change adaptation plans in selected european cities from a legal and spatial perspective.

1. Introduction

• compare solutions between more vulnerable countries and less vulnerable ones [ 16 ];
• contrast approaches in Western European and Central and Eastern European countries [ 17 ].
• Does the content of municipal climate change adaptation plans align with the diagnosis of climate challenges at a broader geographical level and with the scientific discourse?
• How can/do legal and institutional conditions determine the effectiveness of implementing these plans?
• How do provisions within these plans translate into urban spatial planning?

2. Literature Review

• The critical links between urban planning and climate challenges;
• The way city authorities should respond to such challenges institutionally;
• What is the relevance of urban climate change adaptation plans against this background?
• Protecting green open spaces [ 19 , 20 , 21 ];
• Shaping green infrastructure [ 22 , 23 ];
• Expanding environmental protection [ 24 , 25 ];
• Protection against weather hazards [ 26 , 27 , 28 ];
• Water management [ 29 , 30 , 31 ].
• Identify the challenges and aims for climate change adaptation in cities;
• Ensure a holistic view of these goals and challenges, especially from a cross-sectoral policy perspective;
• Provide an opportunity for flexible action, based on in-depth expert analyses.
• Sanchez-Plaza et al. [ 51 ] emphasize the importance of thoroughly evaluating the findings of climate change adaptation plans. Jung et al. [ 52 ] explicitly point out the need for spot-checking the assumptions made in such plans [ 53 ].
• On the other hand, Lee et al. [ 54 ] stress the need for climate change adaptation plans to be based on in-depth, interdisciplinary studies. According to these authors, such studies will facilitate the evaluation of a plan’s provisions.
• spatial plans also include development parameters (building height, building intensity, etc.). Moreover, these parameters can block or enable certain developments [ 74 , 75 ]. In addition, there is a need to include less frequently used parameters in the plans, e.g., forcing the planting of trees or the use of green roofs.
• Facilitate investments in renewable energy sources [ 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 ];
• Prepare areas for the implementation of green infrastructure and in various other ways extend the range of green areas in cities (parks, green roofs, etc.), enabling the widest possible protection of nature in cities [ 80 , 81 , 82 ];
• Set aside space for climate shelters or emergency areas (in the context of sudden weather changes).

3. Materials and Methods

• They are states located in different parts of the same continent. This gives a certain coherence to their legal, political, and social features (manifested, among other things, by the fact that all of them are members of the European Union).
• Despite this consistency, there are also significant differences between them. Spain is a Western European country, Poland is a Central Eastern European country, and Greece is a Southern European country. The differences lie both in the levels of climate challenges and with the approaches to public policies [ 18 ]. Undoubtedly, it is interesting and necessary to compare public policy responses in these countries, especially when studying urban climate change adaptation plans. The countries studied also have varying gross domestic product, with Spain having the highest and Greece the lowest [ 83 ].
• The climate challenges for Athens are extreme heat, urban heat island, energy consumption in municipal buildings and facilities, transportation, densely packed neighborhoods, and pollution—traffic congestion [ 57 ];
• The climate challenges for Barcelona are the need for a reduction in traffic and its emissions, the loss of thermal comfort (especially in summer), the increase in heavy rains, and the increase in the intensity of droughts and problems with urban water supply [ 84 , 85 ];
• The climate challenges for Warsaw include sudden weather changes and the progressive development of the urban heat island effect [ 26 , 86 ];
• It provides insight into how adaptation plans operate in countries with diverse climates and social attitudes towards climate challenges. It also allows for an examination of whether the level of climate risks and societal attitudes impact the use of such plans.
• Additionally, it offers the opportunity to investigate how adaptation plans work in different parts of Europe, considering their varying institutional characteristics.
• In the first step, the team created a questionnaire with common questions about climate challenges and municipal climate change plans (the question sheet can be found at the end of the article). It was based on insights gained from the literature and the previous studies conducted by the authors. The questions were directed to the co-authors—national experts in the field of urban planning and climate challenges in the countries studied (questionnaires were not directed to other people who were not co-authors of the article). The questions from the questionnaire were adapted to the research questions in the article.
• In a second step, representatives of each surveyed country or city answered all questions. It is important to note here that the authors specialize in the national climatic and spatial conditions of these countries.
• In the third step, the team compared responses from each country’s representatives and organized them into a table. The answers were carefully reviewed by all authors. This step was essential to ensure that the diverse land use planning legislation, policies, and administrative structures across the three countries did not hinder the comparability of results. It also made the subsequent analysis clearer and more straightforward.
• In the final and fourth step, the results were aggregated in tabular form (see Table 1 , Table 2 , Table 3 and Table 4 ). The development of these tables was crucial for organizing the information collected in the questionnaire, and it became the basis for preparing the results and writing the Discussion and Conclusions sections.

4.1. Climate Challenges from the Perspective of the Central Documents of the Studied Countries

4.2. legal conditions for the adoption and content of municipal climate change adaptation plans in the countries studied.

4.3. Linking Climate Change Adaptation Plans with Spatial Planning

• They refer to particularly important areas (irrespective of administrative boundaries), which require special regulations;
• Their regulations are implemented swiftly;
• Previously adopted Local Urban Plans need to be adapted to their content.

4.4. Effectiveness of Municipal Climate Change Adaptation Plans

5. discussion, 5.1. key topics addressed in the article.

• Considering supra-local guidelines, particularly those outlined in national strategic documents;
• The legal features of climate change adaptation plans;
• The way and extent to which climate change adaptation plans relate to spatial planning;
• Verifying the potential and actual implementation of climate change adaptation plan provisions, as well as evaluating the implementation process.

5.2. Linking the Content of Surveyed Climate Change Adaptation Plans to Climate Challenges and a Characterization of the Legal Considerations for the Plans

• The details of provisions: Plans cannot be too general and fragmented, like in Warsaw (see Table 2 ). On the one hand, they should set general objectives (linked to the national level); however, these objectives must be translated into detailed, specific guidelines (something done well in Athens). It is also worth highlighting the example of Barcelona, where the guideline plan is formulated to lend itself to rapid evaluation.
• The mechanisms for evaluating provisions: Here, defining them as an obligation for public authorities (public participation included) provides an opportunity for more effective implementation. The literature underscores the importance of ongoing evaluation when implementing climate change adaptation plans. The examples of Barcelona and Athens (see Table 2 ) validate the relevance of this requirement in certain planning contexts. Conversely, the limited evaluation processes in Warsaw highlight that overlooking this aspect can lead to substantial difficulties in implementing climate change adaptation strategies in cities.
• The link between climate change adaptation plans and spatial planning: A major prerequisite for successfully implementing climate change adaptation plans is aligning spatial planning instruments with them. This issue is associated with the third research question, which examines how climate change adaptation objectives intersect with urban spatial policies. This analysis is detailed in Table 3 and Table 4 , which relate climate objectives to urban spatial policies. Countries like Greece and Spain offer two possible approaches: integrating climate guidelines into existing statutory instruments or developing dedicated ‘climate-spatial’ instruments for quicker and more adaptable responses. Adaptation plans should also incorporate specific directives for spatial planning, with the Barcelona plan serving as a notable illustration of this integration.

5.3. Links between Climate Change Adaptation Plans and Spatial Planning Instruments

5.4. limitations of the study.

• Verifying features of climate change adaptation plans in other countries. This comparison seems justified, and the article highlights critical criteria in this respect;
• Considering the possibility of compiling and comparing other acts concerning climate in individual countries. This comparison should also include the regional perspective;
• Identifying “climate-spatial” demands (the example of Barcelona seems most inspiring in this respect) and developing a comprehensive European catalog.

6. Conclusions

• Climate change adaptation plans in Athens and Barcelona are prepared more ambitiously and in a more systemically thought-out manner than the plan for Warsaw. However, in Poland, the government is currently considering changing the regulations on climate change adaptation plans (and taking into account solutions from other countries);
• When translating the content of adaptation plans into the spatial sphere, the solutions are more in-depth in the Spanish and Greek systems (which, of course, does not exclude the possibility of further partial revisions).

Author Contributions

Institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

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Share and Cite

Nowak, M.J.; Bera, M.; Lazoglou, M.; Olcina-Cantos, J.; Vagiona, D.G.; Monteiro, R.; Mitrea, A. Comparison of Urban Climate Change Adaptation Plans in Selected European Cities from a Legal and Spatial Perspective. Sustainability 2024 , 16 , 6327. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156327

Nowak MJ, Bera M, Lazoglou M, Olcina-Cantos J, Vagiona DG, Monteiro R, Mitrea A. Comparison of Urban Climate Change Adaptation Plans in Selected European Cities from a Legal and Spatial Perspective. Sustainability . 2024; 16(15):6327. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156327

Nowak, Maciej J., Milena Bera, Miltiades Lazoglou, Jorge Olcina-Cantos, Dimitra G. Vagiona, Renato Monteiro, and Andrei Mitrea. 2024. "Comparison of Urban Climate Change Adaptation Plans in Selected European Cities from a Legal and Spatial Perspective" Sustainability 16, no. 15: 6327. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156327

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Chaos and Confusion: Tech Outage Causes Disruptions Worldwide

Airlines, hospitals and people’s computers were affected after CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company, sent out a flawed software update.

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By Adam Satariano Paul Mozur Kate Conger and Sheera Frenkel

• July 19, 2024

Airlines grounded flights. Operators of 911 lines could not respond to emergencies. Hospitals canceled surgeries. Retailers closed for the day. And the actions all traced back to a batch of bad computer code.

A flawed software update sent out by a little-known cybersecurity company caused chaos and disruption around the world on Friday. The company, CrowdStrike , based in Austin, Texas, makes software used by multinational corporations, government agencies and scores of other organizations to protect against hackers and online intruders.

But when CrowdStrike sent its update on Thursday to its customers that run Microsoft Windows software, computers began to crash.

The fallout, which was immediate and inescapable, highlighted the brittleness of global technology infrastructure. The world has become reliant on Microsoft and a handful of cybersecurity firms like CrowdStrike. So when a single flawed piece of software is released over the internet, it can almost instantly damage countless companies and organizations that depend on the technology as part of everyday business.

“This is a very, very uncomfortable illustration of the fragility of the world’s core internet infrastructure,” said Ciaran Martin, the former chief executive of Britain’s National Cyber Security Center and a professor at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University.

A cyberattack did not cause the widespread outage, but the effects on Friday showed how devastating the damage can be when a main artery of the global technology system is disrupted. It raised broader questions about CrowdStrike’s testing processes and what repercussions such software firms should face when flaws in their code cause major disruptions.

How a Software Update Crashed Computers Around the World

Here’s a visual explanation for how a faulty software update crippled machines.

How the airline cancellations rippled around the world (and across time zones)

Share of canceled flights at 25 airports on Friday

50% of flights

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Dhaka Shahjalal

Minneapolis-Saint P aul

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1:20 a.m. ET

CrowdStrike’s stock price so far this year

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