Dr SS Bhatti
MAN and FORESTS: Saving the Planet through Van-Urbanisation is a 'Green Document' in the nature of a Testament embodying an active concern for the rapid depletion of natural resources and the soul-gnawing anxiety about Climate Change. It goes beyond idle worrying to an action plan that has a holistic approach to Urbanisation with Van [Forests] as an indispensable accompaniment. It looks upon tradition, not as something abominable but rather as a segment of all-important time which provides a running distance for present-day runners to take a quantum leap into the future to achieve their fond goals.There is a clear-cut agendum for Spatial Planning which shows a novel way to the making of future cities without the unmaking of humanity and the ruination of Earth. The author brings to his unprecedented postulates the throbbing vitality of his amazing creative versatility spread over 55 disciplines. He injects into his concepts the palpable knowledge gained firsthand from a lifelong study of four major fields of human endeavour: the Humanities, Art, Science, and Technology by applying Theory, Practice, Research, and Pedagogy as time-tested tools to invent a holistic future for the entire Humankind.In his Foreword, Dr AS Ahluwalia, a celebrated botanist, writes, 'I am looking forward to the dissemination of such hugely important information contained in this Green Document that has direct link with our environment. It would ensure future urban growth and survival, besides sensitising everyone as players in Man-Nature holistic creativity in the pursuit of a higher order of civilisation, to use the author’s words. I must compliment the great writer-scientist in Dr Bhatti for this erudite effort in showing how creativity could be made a collective holistic adventure to the ultimate advantage of all humankind.'This publication should be given pride of place in personal and public libraries as reference book of far-reaching consequence. It is must-read for politicians, bureaucrats, architects, planners, and all those who have anything to do with the conceptualising and working out of strategies for Spatial Planning for what the author calls FUTUROPOLISES-Cities of the Future anywhere on the globe.
