Urban green spaces (UGSs) are integral structural elements of the city’s existence and are promoted to serve diverse functions such as recreation, ecological services, regulation of ambient air temperature and hydrological regime pollution abatement, social inclusion, enhancing amenity value, etc., in sum, they help minimize the adverse impacts of urbanization on the environment and improve citizens’ habitable experiences. However, due to competing economic interests and demand on land for various purposes such as residential, commercial, industrial and institutional, UGS in cities take a back seat and are seldom given desired attention, and Indian cities are no exception. The challenges faced by UGS are many and include Land availability, quantity, quality, distribution, accessibility, lack of intended purpose and stakeholder participation. Therefore, it is imperative to explore strategies for planning UGS to ensure their adequate provision and maintenance in cities. Unlike Western countries cities in India have diverse classification and hierarchy of green spaces, therefore, this text examines typology of green spaces, their provisions, associated benefits, emergent concerns in the Indian context through case studies and concludes with plausible strategies for inclusion in urban planning framework.

Green spaces play an important role in the well-being of society. Many research works have tried to establish green space's associations with air quality, reduced air pollution, controlled traffic noise, cooler temperature, and improved users' mental health. However, there are some contradictions in using the term 'Greenspace' and 'Green space' while formulating urban planning policies in India. The researchers have given an insight into these terminologies; still, there is some lacuna in applying these terminologies. This research work attempts to analyze the existing literature relating to this field and tries to figure out the interchangeability of these terms. For this objective, a literature review has been done. These terms have been observed to differ in meaning, attributes, characteristics, usability, and decision-making.

With the increasing rate of urbanization and decreasing percentage of overall greenspaces in the cities, the urban areas are becoming vulnerable to various hazards and climate change. The presence of adequate and well-maintained greenspaces plays a vital role in society’s well-being and the creation of a healthy environment. Despite being such an essential feature of urban areas, Indian legislative & regulatory documents still lack in terms of a standard working definition. Hence, this study aims to frame a standard working definition of “urban greenspace” in the Indian context. In order to achieve the goal of this work, a rigorous study of 237 research papers based on Indian scenarios was done. These papers were categorized based on the domain and the context of their study. From the literature review, the evolution of greenspace definition specific to the planning domain was traced and the criteria used to define urban greenspace in the various other domains were identified. The proposed definition of “urban greenspace” will incorporate the maximum criteria identified and shall best suit the heterogeneous nature of the Indian cities. This research is an initial attempt to trace the evolution of the definition of urban greenspace in the planning domain and to frame a standard working definition of urban greenspaces for the urban Indian context. The outcome of this work will help urban planners and policymakers to overcome the current issue of the dilemma about the standard definition of “greenspace”.