Palava: A Blueprint for Sustainable and Resilient Urban Living

By Lodha

Palava City – a flagship development by Lodha represents the future of urban living in India. Over a decade ago, Palava was envisioned as a solution to the urban chaos and liveability challenges prevalent in many cities.

Let’s explore the facets that make Palava a blueprint for sustainable urban living and how it is built to also tackle the urgent climate challenges we face today.

Introduction to Palava City’s Vision

Palava City spans 4,500 acres and today is home to 200,000 residents, projected to exceed over one million residents at the ultimate build-out. The city is built around the vision of becoming one of the top 50 liveable cities in the world. The focus is on delivering economically feasible, high-quality, and sustainable urbanisation.

The city is designed with an ambitious but achievable plan to balance growth with environmental responsibility. The goal was to create a city where people could live, work, and thrive, with minimal impact on the environment.

The 5-10-15 Walkability Principle

One of the cornerstones of Palava City is the '5-10-15 Walkability Principle.' This means that every resident is no more than 5 minutes away from essential services like retail, 10 minutes from schools, parks and recreational spaces, and 15 minutes from commercial hubs.

This principle ensures that you don’t need to rely on cars for daily errands or activities, which helps reduce traffic, emissions, and creates a more vibrant, community-focused environment. The streets and spaces have been designed to encourage walking, not just driving. Additionally, the residents can opt for shared mobility features like the TILT cycles and buses to move within the city and to nearby locations respectively. Palava is also equipped with EV charging infrastructure, encouraging residents to make a sustainable choice.

Sustainable Architecture and Urban Planning

The East-West orientation of most of the buildings has been done purposefully to minimise heat gains, maximise natural light and ventilation, reducing the need for artificial cooling. In a tropical climate like ours, this orientation helps reduce energy consumption, making each building more energy-efficient.

We’ve also integrated shading through passive architectural elements like overhangs and jaalis. The courtyard layout of the residential clusters ensures that the streets and the RG spaces stay cooler and more comfortable even in peak heat. The extensive green cover coupled with water bodies helps regulate the temperature and results in a microclimate that improves comfort for residents. Palava’s AQI falls under the good category (0-50 AQI) for approximately 50% of the time in a year, as compared to Mumbai (reading recorded in Worli) which is 25% of the time.

This means the residents can spend more time outdoors in the natural environment, positively enhancing their overall well-being. Additionally, we have the Palava Sports Complex equipped with state-of-the-art sports infrastructure, including an Olympic-sized swimming pool, enabling residents to pursue an active lifestyle.

Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort

Palava City has been designed to keep household energy consumption as low as possible. Cross-ventilation windows and performance glass in select buildings help keep interiors cool, reducing the need for air conditioning. Palava also has the highest penetration of 5-star rated ACs in India.

Another significant step that ensures energy efficiency is the implementation of solar panels that provide clean, renewable energy. Solar panels above all the multi-level car parks and clubhouses generate power for common areas, while the solar panels on rooftops and solar water heaters in each building reduce dependency on fossil-fuel-based grid energy. The aim is for all buildings in Palava to have sufficient solar panels to cover 100% of common area energy needs, with plans to develop community solar farms bringing renewable energy to the residents.

Water Management and Sustainability

Water—one of the most precious resources we have. Palava has implemented a comprehensive water management system that focuses on retention, recharge, and conservation. The water treatment plants use advanced technology to recycle 100% of the wastewater, which is then reused for irrigation and other non-potable purposes.

Additionally, rainwater harvesting systems are deployed across developments and play a crucial role in improving ground hydrology by collecting and storing rainwater, which is then utilised during non-monsoon months. This not only helps conserve water but also contributes positively to the overall ecosystem by replenishing groundwater levels.

Waste Management and Recycling

Waste management is another area where Palava is leading the way. The waste management system is designed to process up to 60 tonnes of residential waste every day. The facility includes a Biogas Plant (converting waste to energy), a Bio-pellet plant (converting green waste to fuel), a Coconut processing plant (100% use of coconut waste), a Biogas sludge plant, a Greenhouse and Polyhouse Education centre.

Green Spaces

Palava places a strong emphasis on green spaces. One of the key features of the city is its abundance of parks, open spaces, and recreational areas that are easily accessible to all residents. The urban blocks are optimally sized for porosity and wider street networks, ensuring that greenery is evenly distributed across the city. This promotes biodiversity and provides residents with places to unwind, exercise, and connect with nature.

Besides, the trees and grass cover at Palava provide natural cooling and better AQI as we saw before. Green spaces reduce heat and create a refreshing atmosphere, compared to regions dominated by asphalt. We have ~31k trees, which is almost two trees per family at Palava. The indigenous trees which are crucial to maintaining the natural ecosystem of flora and fauna, have been sourced from Lodha Nursery situated close by. Spread across 23 acres it has around 120 tree species, 150 species of shrubs, ground covers and creepers, 13 species of palms and 6 species of bamboos.

Community Engagement and Social Infrastructure

The community-focused approach at Palava ensures that residents of all ages can enjoy a high quality of life. We’ve planned spaces for culture, education, and sports. Palava already has 5 schools in operation and plans for a university and college ecosystem. Most importantly, Palava prioritises the safety and well-being of all its residents, especially women and children, through effective city governance and public services.

The Future of Palava and Sustainable Urbanisation

Whether it’s through innovative energy solutions, cutting-edge water management, or thoughtful urban planning, Palava is leading the way toward a sustainable future. As a matter of pride, Palava serves as a living laboratory for Lodha’s Net Zero Urban Accelerator, testing pioneering solutions in sustainable urbanisation at the city scale.

The Accelerator, a partnership between Lodha Foundation and RMI India, leverages Palava's scale and data to pioneer solutions in climate resilience, low-carbon materials, energy efficiency, and energy transition.

The efforts of Palava’s ‘living lab’ will be expanded by creating specialised products, solutions and strategies charting the course of sustainable development.