{"id":68750,"date":"2025-12-19T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idronline.org\/?post_type=article&#038;p=68750"},"modified":"2026-02-23T12:10:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T06:40:29","slug":"poromboke-reimagining-our-urban-commons","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/idronline.org\/kn-in\/article\/urban\/poromboke-reimagining-our-urban-commons\/","title":{"rendered":"Poromboke: Reimagining our urban commons"},"content":{"rendered":"<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&lsquo;Poromboke&nbsp;Unnaku&nbsp;Illa,&nbsp;Poromboke&nbsp;Ennaku&nbsp;Illa.&nbsp;Poromboke&nbsp;Ooruku,&nbsp;Poromboke&nbsp;Boomiku<\/em>&nbsp;<br><em>Poromboke&nbsp;Un&nbsp;Porupu,&nbsp;Poromboke&nbsp;En&nbsp;Porupu,&nbsp;Poromboke&nbsp;Oor&nbsp;Porupu,&nbsp;Iyarkaiki&nbsp;Boomiku.&rsquo;&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[Poromboke&nbsp;is not for you, nor for me.&nbsp;It is for the&nbsp;community,&nbsp;it is&nbsp;for the earth.&nbsp;Poromboke&nbsp;is in your care, it is in mine. It is our common responsibility towards nature, towards the earth.]<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Poromboke-compressed.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These&nbsp;words&nbsp;come&nbsp;from&nbsp;&lsquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=82jFyeV5AHM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Chennai Poromboke Paadal<\/em><\/a>&rsquo;, a song written by singer-songwriter Kaber Vasuki and featuring Carnatic vocalist T M Krishna. The song was part of a campaign to reclaim the word and restore its worth.<\/p><div id=\"idron-527572771\" class=\"idron-article-in-content idron-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Advertisements\"><a href=\"https:\/\/idranswers.idronline.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"What is IDR Answers Page Banner\"><img src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1.png\" alt=\"What is IDR Answers Page Banner\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1.png 1250w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-300x60.png 300w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-1024x205.png 1024w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-150x30.png 150w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-768x154.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\" width=\"1250\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Poromboke<\/em>&nbsp;is an old Tamil word for shared community resources&nbsp;such as&nbsp;water bodies and grazing lands that&nbsp;benefit&nbsp;the community and&nbsp;remain outside private ownership.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/cornell-scholarship-online\/book\/38306\/chapter-abstract\/333277533?redirectedFrom=fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">colonial times<\/a>,&nbsp;<em>poromboke<\/em>&nbsp;referred to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thewire.in\/culture\/t-m-krishna-ennore-creek-permual\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">land exempt from assessment<\/a>,&nbsp;either because it was set aside for communal purposes or&nbsp;because it was&nbsp;considered uncultivable. Over time, as this land did not fit neatly into frameworks of privatised property, the word itself evolved into an insult&mdash;used to imply that a place or person&nbsp;holds no value.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This shift mirrors how common lands are often&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/article\/climate-emergency\/greening-wastelands-is-not-a-sustainable-climate-change-solution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dismissed<\/a>&nbsp;as wastelands, leaving them vulnerable to encroachment. This disregard&nbsp;extends to other commons&nbsp;such as&nbsp;wetlands, water bodies, and forests, which face increasing diversion for private, economically profitable uses.&nbsp;Such changes&nbsp;push&nbsp;them out of public imagination and weaken&nbsp;our understanding of how deeply they&nbsp;are&nbsp;woven&nbsp;into daily life.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In rapidly urbanising Indian cities, this fractured relationship is even more visible, especially between communities and the water bodies that once sustained them.&nbsp;Much of this stems from an approach to water that focuses only on controlling and pushing it away, rather than understanding how it naturally moves through a city.&nbsp;Urban water management has long&nbsp;prioritised&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/savi\/faq\/what-is-grey-infrastructure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">grey infrastructure<\/a>&nbsp;designed to keep water out of sight.&nbsp;Wetlands, tanks, and canals have been encroached upon or built over,&nbsp;in part because water is treated as a liability&mdash;something to&nbsp;drain, exclude, or seal&nbsp;off.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, the consequences are catching up. Cities&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wri.org\/insights\/how-does-flood-prone-city-run-out-water-inside-chennais-day-zero-crisis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">swing between<\/a>&nbsp;extreme flooding and severe water shortages.&nbsp;As these patterns repeat across&nbsp;urban India, a few questions become impossible to ignore: What would it mean to see water not as a threat, but as the foundation of urban life? What might our cities look like if water was made visible, accessible, and ecologically&nbsp;integrated? And what&nbsp;possibilities&nbsp;emerge&nbsp;when we&nbsp;treat urban water bodies as commons once again?<\/p><div id=\"idron-3912557130\" class=\"idron-content idron-entity-placement\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Advertisements\"><a href=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/donate\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"donate banner\"><img src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1.jpg\" alt=\"donate banner\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1.jpg 1250w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-300x60.jpg 300w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-1024x205.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-150x30.jpg 150w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-768x154.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\" width=\"1250\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These questions&nbsp;gain&nbsp;sharper focus in Chennai, a city shaped, sustained, and repeatedly tested by water.&nbsp;<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-chennai-s-nbsp-waterscape\">Chennai&rsquo;s&nbsp;waterscape<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Chennai, water&nbsp;acts as&nbsp;both&nbsp;memory and force, continually reclaiming its space. The city&rsquo;s traditional <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiawaterportal.org\/drinking-water\/ancient-engineering-marvels-tamil-nadu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">eris&nbsp;system<\/a>&nbsp;was used for water management. It was a vast&nbsp;network of interconnected tanks and ponds used&nbsp;that captured rainwater, recharged groundwater, reduced soil erosion, and buffered the city against floods.&nbsp;These tanks expanded during the monsoon and contracted in&nbsp;dry months, adapting naturally to the rhythms of a rain-fed landscape.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/indiawaterportal\/10426011496\/in\/album-72157636840200414\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 1366px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-1-1-768x510.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 1540px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-1-1.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 2000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-1-1.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-1-1.webp\" alt=\"a man on a boat fishing in a lake, with a temple and some hills in the background--\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man fishing in the Ambattur Eri, Chennai.&nbsp;| Picture courtesy: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/indiawaterportal\/10426011496\/in\/album-72157636840200414\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">India Water Portal<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CC BY<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over time, however, Chennai&rsquo;s seasonal water rhythm&nbsp;suffered&nbsp;disruption. Colonial planners insisted that rivers must always flow, canals&nbsp;remain&nbsp;navigable, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/india-seminar.com\/2021\/744\/744_bhavani_raman.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tanks stay full<\/a>, regardless of droughts, floods, or tidal shifts&mdash;an expectation at odds with the ebb and flow of the monsoon cycle.&nbsp;This approach,&nbsp;which clashed&nbsp;with the region&rsquo;s climate, led to the gradual erasure of spaces designed to temporarily hold water.&nbsp;Since&nbsp;tanks&nbsp;appeared&nbsp;as unused land when dry, they were slowly filled and built over.&nbsp;Today, with no place for rain to collect, even moderate showers spill onto streets.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/lakesofindia.com\/2022\/02\/27\/the-mere-memory-of-the-long-tank-of-mylapore\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Long Tank<\/a>&nbsp;for instance. Once a 70-acre lake west of Mount Road, connected to the Nungambakkam Lake Area in Chennai, it was filled with concrete and built over by the 1970s, dismissed as unused whenever it ran dry.&nbsp;Once filled,&nbsp;the newly created land was seen as more profitable&nbsp;and, in this case,&nbsp;it was&nbsp;handed over for a new college campus. Today, only the Mambalam Canal survives as a small remnant. The canal and nearby areas now flood quickly because the lake that once held excess rainwater no longer exists. This&nbsp;forms&nbsp;part of a larger pattern in Chennai, where many seasonal lakes have been continually filled with concrete, worsening the city&rsquo;s flooding problems.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lesson here is clear:&nbsp;When we&nbsp;keep&nbsp;water at bay, we detach ourselves from its presence until it overwhelms us. But when accepted as an essential system shaping urban life, water&nbsp;opens up&nbsp;new possibilities for design. The shift from controlling water to directing and celebrating it can generate frameworks that embed water in the urban realm and make it visible again.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Madras_City_1909.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 1366px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-2-1-768x510.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 1540px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-2-1.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 2000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-2-1.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-2-1.webp\" alt=\"an old map of chennai alongside a present-day satellite image of the city--\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Long Tank in Chennai | Picture courtesy: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Madras_City_1909.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wikimedia Commons<\/a> and Google Earth&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-re-commoning-nbsp-water-nbsp-spaces-nbsp-nbsp\">Re-commoning&nbsp;water&nbsp;spaces&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One way to&nbsp;achieve&nbsp;this is by enabling communities to regain their access to these spaces.&nbsp;&nbsp;When a lake, canal, or wetland&nbsp;serves&nbsp;as a&nbsp;shared commons, neighbours contribute local knowledge,&nbsp;monitor&nbsp;and maintain the place continuously, and enforce norms that discourage dumping and encroachment.&nbsp;As&nbsp;communities build stewardship over canals, tanks, and wetlands, these spaces can once again perform their ecological role in absorbing and holding monsoon waters.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Chennai, where intense rains often coincide with blocked drains and encroached waterways,&nbsp;reclaiming these spaces as shared civic infrastructure can make neglected water systems function as public commons once more. This can take many forms:&nbsp;<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wetlands&nbsp;that double as parks&nbsp;to provide recreational space while naturally slowing&nbsp;and filtering stormwater during intense rains.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Restored temple tanks&nbsp;with stepped layout that hold monsoon run-off and&nbsp;recharge groundwater, while also&nbsp;connecting communities to traditional water spaces.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shaded canal promenades&nbsp;that improve access, reduce heat, and allow water to spread and slow down to avoid overwhelming drains.<\/li>\n<\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 1366px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-3-1-768x510.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 1540px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-3-1.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 2000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-3-1.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-3-1.webp\" alt='a collage of images of folk dances, community gatherings, children playing in a flooded street, rescue efforts after a flood, etc. The phrases \"caused by abundance\" and \"quest for water\" appear on the top left corner of the image--' width=\"1024\" height=\"680\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reading climatic, cultural, and social events together | Picture courtesy: Nupur Khanter<\/figcaption><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This&nbsp;Living with Water&nbsp;approach,&nbsp;exemplified in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wbae.com\/projects\/greater-new-orleans-urban-water-plan-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan<\/a>,&nbsp;illustrates how&nbsp;water can&nbsp;integrate into&nbsp;everyday urban life, transforming it&nbsp;from threat to an asset. Through water plazas, green streets, and restored canals, the plan&nbsp;demonstrates&nbsp;how common urban spaces can double as flood buffers.&nbsp;This also offers us a way to return water bodies to public imagination as commons rooted in care, culture, and community.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Chennai, where the idea of&nbsp;<em>poromboke<\/em>&nbsp;already reminds us of shared, communal relationships with land and water, this shift becomes especially relevant.&nbsp;Building on this, I&nbsp;propose&nbsp;the idea of&nbsp;&lsquo;<em>poromboke<\/em>&nbsp;urbanism&rsquo;&nbsp;as part of my&nbsp;research,&nbsp;which focuses on&nbsp;treating&nbsp;water bodies as urban commons&mdash;cultural, ecological, and educational assets&mdash;and designing&nbsp;with the rhythm of water instead of against it. Using a speculative urban design&nbsp;approach, I reimagine the&nbsp;lost Long Tank in Chennai&nbsp;to&nbsp;showcase&nbsp;how&nbsp;reconnecting communities to water through design can create resilient, place-based responses to flooding and the decline of urban public space.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These relationships with water&mdash;how people move through it, learn from it, and&nbsp;celebrate&nbsp;it&mdash;became the basis of the design explorations:<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 1366px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-4-1-768x510.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 1540px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-4-1.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 2000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-4-1.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-4-1.webp\" alt=\"a figure depicting three different kinds of relationship with water--\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Three relationships with water | Picture courtesy: Nupur Khanter<\/figcaption><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading secondlevel\" id=\"h-1-connect-water-as-public-infrastructure-and-movement\">1. Connect: Water as public infrastructure and movement<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first relationship is to reconnect people with water by making it visible, accessible, and integral to public life. In Chennai, the&nbsp;Mambalam&nbsp;Canal stretches for&nbsp;approximately&nbsp;5.7 kilometres, running from the neighbourhood of West&nbsp;Mambalam&nbsp;and draining portions of several localities before meeting the Adyar River. Surrounded by dense development, commercial hubs, and a mix of multi-storey and low-income housing, the canal today faces severe pollution and encroachment. Waste is regularly dumped into it,&nbsp;its&nbsp;carrying capacity has been reduced, and&nbsp;its&nbsp;flow&nbsp;is&nbsp;disrupted.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 1366px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-5-1-768x510.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 1540px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-5-1.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 2000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-5-1.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Image-5-1.webp\" alt=\"Mambalam Canal with garbage and polluted water and a yellow building to its left--\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mambalam Canal: Present condition | Picture courtesy: Nupur Khanter<\/figcaption><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Periodic desilting and restoration by city authorities have done little to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dtnext.in\/news\/chennai\/90-of-pre-monsoon-works-over-in-mambalam-canal-says-gcc-residents-sceptical-842148\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shift public perception<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, with no walkway, no public amenities, and no continuous path along its length, the canal remains isolated from the city&rsquo;s public realm. Cut off from everyday life, it evokes no sense of ownership among surrounding communities and&nbsp;remains&nbsp;invisible to the rest of Chennai.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To reconnect&nbsp;the canal to its people,&nbsp;the idea is to make it accessible and safe&nbsp;at the same time, by creating public pathways that let&nbsp;people walk along and over the water, while also protecting nearby neighbourhoods from flooding.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This approach draws inspiration from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hiddenhydrology.org\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hidden Hydrology<\/a>, which explores lost rivers and disappeared streams through art, landscape architecture, and urban ecology.&nbsp;Similar principles&nbsp;have&nbsp;guided the transformation of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Antonio River Walk<\/a>, which turned a flood-prone river into an adaptive, thriving public space.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following&nbsp;this approach, the first&nbsp;step&nbsp;is to design a water strategy that accepts seasonal flooding,&nbsp;while protecting adjacent neighbourhoods, instead of trying to&nbsp;prevent it.&nbsp;The goal is to guide floodwater safely while making it useful for the city and its people.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The process shown in&nbsp;the graphic below&nbsp;explains how&nbsp;holding&nbsp;water in&nbsp;lower&nbsp;landscaped areas allows it to be absorbed into the ground&nbsp;while storing&nbsp;the excess&nbsp;water&nbsp;underground.&nbsp;Bridges and raised pathways follow the natural flow of the canal, reconnecting people safely to the water. Widening the floodplain gives water&nbsp;the&nbsp;space to spread, slowing it down, reducing run-off, and protecting nearby neighbourhoods. Raised pedestrian routes, bridges, and landscaped edges&nbsp;can further&nbsp;guide water into retention zones.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These elements reconnect the urban fabric to the canal, transforming a cut-off water body into a traversable and visible public&nbsp;space.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 1366px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-1-768x576.gif\"><source media=\"(max-width: 1540px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-1.gif\"><source media=\"(max-width: 2000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-1.gif\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-1.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Adapted water process&mdash;hold&mdash;absorb&mdash;store&mdash;connect | Picture courtesy: Nupur Khanter<\/figcaption><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading secondlevel\" id=\"h-2-learn-water-as-nbsp-living-nbsp-curriculum-nbsp\">2. Learn: Water as&nbsp;living&nbsp;curriculum&nbsp;<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second relationship focuses on learning about the hydrological landscape. A precedent for this approach can be seen in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wplp.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">West Philadelphia Landscape Project<\/a>, which developed a curriculum organised around the Mill Creek Watershed, where the entire neighbourhood became the classroom and the school its&nbsp;centre. Through this place-based&nbsp;method, students&nbsp;learned&nbsp;how to&nbsp;read their&nbsp;landscape, trace their past, understand their present, and imagine their future. Such engagement fosters long-term stewardship, where learning from and around water translates into caring for it.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Within this vision of&nbsp;<em>poromboke<\/em>&nbsp;urbanism, schools built on the land of the Long Tank&nbsp;can be&nbsp;re-envisioned&nbsp;as&nbsp;living classrooms for hydrology. The design integrates water management with learning:&nbsp;Playgrounds can be shaped to create sunken spaces so that rainwater naturally collects and seeps into the ground, reducing the chances of flooding. Extra water can then be stored underground and reused during dry months. The schools are also&nbsp;opened up&nbsp;to create a new kind of public space&nbsp;(shown in yellow in&nbsp;the&nbsp;graphic below).&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By making hydrological knowledge visible and civic, these sites transform&nbsp;<em>poromboke<\/em>&nbsp;from &lsquo;waste&rsquo; into an&nbsp;active commons&nbsp;of&nbsp;expertise&nbsp;and stewardship.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 1366px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-768x576.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 1540px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-1024x768.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 2000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image.webp\" alt=\"an illustration depicting how hydrological knowledge can be made more visible--urban commons\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1536\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Public sections through the adapted school and festival grounds | Picture courtesy: Nupur Khanter<\/figcaption><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading secondlevel\" id=\"h-3-celebrate-water-and-nbsp-culture-in-nbsp-public-nbsp-life-nbsp\">3. Celebrate: Water and&nbsp;culture in&nbsp;public&nbsp;life&nbsp;<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The third relationship centres on celebration. In Chennai, water has long held a sacred connotation through temple tanks and rituals that mark its arrival. If the coming of the&nbsp;rains&nbsp;were planned for and celebrated, it could transform the city&rsquo;s relationship with its harsh monsoon&mdash;from a season of crisis to one of renewal. A parallel can be seen in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/1018055\/la-quebradora-water-park-taller-capital\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">La Quebradora Water Park<\/a>&nbsp;in Mexico by&nbsp;Taller Capital, where platforms, plazas, and walkways transform urban flood infrastructure into a public and recreational space for the community. Constructed from local volcanic stone and rooted vegetation, these spaces both mitigate flooding&nbsp;as well as&nbsp;generate community life.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 1366px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-8-768x849.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 1540px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-8-927x1024.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 2000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-8.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-8.webp\" alt=\"illustrations imagining porombokke urbanism in Chennai--urban commons\" width=\"1853\" height=\"2048\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Imaginations of poromboke urbanism | Picture courtesy: Nupur Khanter<\/figcaption><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the design language of La Quebradora is rooted in its own geography, in Chennai, similar principles can take form through locally grounded expressions by building on existing practices and rituals. The Margazhi season (mid-December to mid-January), for instance, offers such a rhythm. It is a citywide festival of music and dance that coincides with seasonal rainfall patterns. Poromboke urbanism reimagines an open festival ground tied to this calendar, where performances, canteens, and public rituals occur in sync with the city&rsquo;s water cycles. This builds on the city&rsquo;s traditions, where temple tanks and rain-summoning songs sustain a poetic, sensory relationship to water that continues through art, music, and collective memory. Embedding water care in collective life, each Margazhi becomes a public milestone for a more water-sensitive city.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 1366px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-9-768x420.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 1540px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-9-1024x560.webp\"><source media=\"(max-width: 2000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-9.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-9.webp\" alt=\"an imagination of what porombokke urbanism could look like--urban commons\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1119\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Imaginations of poromboke urbanism | Picture courtesy: Nupur Khanter<\/figcaption><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Poromboke urbanism reframes infrastructure as socio-ecological and culturally legible. While this is a speculative design reimagining, it is crucial that this vision is not confined to the academic realm but is actively integrated into the urban fabric of Chennai. For these ideas to take root, fragmented water governance must bring together multiple agencies, citizens, and institutions. In doing so, a poromboke way of thinking about water can begin to take shape&mdash;one that works at the scale of the watershed while nurturing neighbourhood-level stewardship through local water champions.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&mdash;<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-know-more-nbsp\">Know more&nbsp;<\/h3><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/article\/environment\/a-step-by-step-guide-to-wetland-restoration-in-urban-india\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Learn<\/a>&nbsp;how&nbsp;scientific interventions and community&nbsp;particpation&nbsp;help in the&nbsp;resotration&nbsp;of&nbsp;Polachery&nbsp;Lake, Chennai.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/citizenmatters.in\/mambalam-canal-restoration-chennai-stormwater-drains-floods-gcc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Read<\/a>&nbsp;why residents around&nbsp;Malabam&nbsp;Lake are demanding greater transparency around its&nbsp;resotration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Read&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/questionofcities.org\/why-cities-must-reconnect-with-their-rivers-renew-river-people-relationship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this article<\/a>&nbsp;on why cities must reconnect with their rivers.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"idron-4059203514\" class=\"idron-troublemakers-placement idron-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 20px;\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Advertisements\"><a href=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/donate\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"donate banner\"><img src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1.jpg\" alt=\"donate banner\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1.jpg 1250w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-300x60.jpg 300w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-1024x205.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-150x30.jpg 150w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-768x154.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\" width=\"1250\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":68739,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[8,582,32],"tags":[3726,3727,3732],"series":[3192],"meta-filter":[],"schema-filter":[743],"no-display":[],"class_list":["post-68750","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-instagram","category-urban","tag-urban-development","tag-urban-planning","tag-water-management","contributor-nupur-khanter","series-common-ground","states-tamil-nadu","schema-filter-article"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.8 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Poromboke: Reimagining our urban commons | IDR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What would our cities look like if water was visible, accessible, and woven into everyday life? 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