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RESILIENT CITY
Elke Mertens
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

BIRKHÄUSER BASEL
RESIL
IENT
CITY
Elke Mertens
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

5
Foreword 7
RESILIENCE A
S A FACTOR OF URBAN
DEVELOPMENT
9
T
ORONTO
17
V
ANCOUVER
37
NEW
YORK CITY
57
DETR
OIT
83
HOUS
TON
95
BOGO
TÁ
115
MEDELLÍN 135
RIO
DE JANEIRO
161
MANA
US
181
BRA
SÍLIA
199
MONTEVIDE
O
221
L
ANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND
THE RESILIENCE OF CITIES IN TIMES
OF CLIMATE CHANGE
235
R
eferences/Sources
244
Inde
x
251
Illus
tration Credits
254
About the A
uthor
255
Thank y
ou!
255
Imprint 255
T
able of Contents
RESILIENT CITY
PROJECTS,
INS
TITUTIONS,
INITIATIVES
Amazonia
.............................................186
Bo
tanical Gardens, Manaus
..............191
Buff
alo Bayou Park, Houston
...........100
C
ALP—Collaborative for Advanced
Landscape Planning, Vancouver
........51
Campus M
artius Plaza, Detroit
..........92
La Ciclo
vía, Bogotá
............................130
Citiz
en’s Coolkit
...................................53
Civic Cen
ter of the Department of
Antioquia, Medellín
............................153
Clima
te Museum, New York City
.......68
Comple
te Streets and Green Streets,
Toronto
...................................................20
Corr
edor Verde Recreio,
Rio de Janeiro
......................................176
Domino Park, New York City...............69
E
covila Aldeia do Altiplano,
Brasília
..................................................211
EPM Building,
Medellín
.....................156
E
vergreen Brick Works, Toronto
........24
F
uture Delta 2.0
....................................52
Go
vernors Island Park,
New York City
........................................63
Gr
eenest City, Vancouver
...................42
H
umedal Santa Barbara, Bogotá
.....124
H
unter’s Point South Park,
New York City
........................................73
INP
A and the ATTO Research Project,
Manaus
................................................195
Ins
titute of Design, University
of Uruguay, Montevideo
....................232
K
eep Growing Detroit
..........................89
L
evy Park, Houston
............................107
Mauá Square with New Museums,
Rio de Janeiro.....................................169
Midt
own Park, Houston
.......................111
Millennium
Water Olympic Village,
False Creek, Vancouver
.......................44
M
oravia, Medellín
...............................150
N
ational Resettlement Plan,
Montevideo
.........................................231
P
ark Libraries, Medellín
....................144
P
arque 93 and the
DEMOS P 93 Master Plan,
Bogotá
..................................................120
P
arque del Río, Medellín
...................142
P
arque de la Imaginación,
Medellín
...............................................146
P
arque de los Deseos, Medellín
.......147
Parque de los Pies Descalzos,
Medellín...............................................148
PICS—P
acific Institute for Climate
Solutions, Vancouver
...........................56
P
orto Maravilha, Rio de Janeiro
.......166
R
uta N, Medellín
..................................157
Side
walk Labs and the Quayside
Project, Toronto
....................................32
U
niversity of Brasília
..........................214
T
ominé Regional Park, Bogotá
..........131
Wy
chwood Barns, Toronto
..................27

7

1
Karen Firehock (2010): A Short History
of the Term Green Infrastructure and
Selected Literature, January 2010,
www.gicinc.org/PDFs/GI%20History.pdf
Colonial histories record that it was in 1855 that the Scottish explorer David
Living
stone “discovered” that massive wonder of nature which he named Victoria
Falls. Today, from our somewhat more enlightened perspective, we ask ourselves how it could be that the local native population had for centuries
completely
failed to notice this spectacle and that they required a foreign explorer to point it out to them!
Such colonial hubris comes to mind when one reflects on the recent rise to
prominence of green infrastructure as a potential new savior of our cities and
landscapes in the face of today’s combined climate and biodiversity crises.
The first use of the term “green infrastructure” can be traced back to a 1994
report on land conservation to the governor of Florida,
1
yet what is now being
referred to as urban green infrastructure is surely nothing more than the very
parks and squares that William Pitt “the Elder,” British prime minister during the
middle of the 18th century, was already referring to as “the lungs of London.”
The fact that the life-enhancing qualities of urban green spaces have long been
understood is further reinforced by examples such as the work of the prolific
writer on gardens and horticulturalist, John Claudius Loudon, who was instru-
mental in proposing urban green space planning concepts for London with his
Hints for Breathing Places for the Metropolis, published in 1829. Understanding
parks and green spaces as “lungs” and “breathing spaces” viewed them very
much from the perspective of green infrastructure, as did the call for “green rings
around cities” in a German publication in 1874 by Adelheid Ponińska, Countess
of Dohna-Schlodien, or the promotion of “sanitary greenspace for
cities” in the
1915 dissertation of the Berlin city planner, Martin Wagner.
So if green infrastructure, like the Victoria Falls, is not such a new phenomenon
after all, but perhaps just a new way of looking at something we have known
about all along, then perhaps it is not “foreign” explorers that we need to bring it
to our attention, but rather the “local knowledge” of those “natives” who knew it
was there all along. As this excellent book wastes no time in reminding us, those
“natives” are in fact landscape architects, for whom the planning and design
of urban greenspace has long been a major concern. Resilient City invites us to
view the urban environment from a fresh perspective, drawing attention to the
critical relationship between three factors: climate change, green infrastruc-
ture, and resilience.
FOREWORD
Richard Stiles

8
FOREWORD
With the help of eleven city portraits of metropolises located across a wide spec-
trum of climate zones in the Americas, from Vancouver in Canada to Montevideo
in Uruguay, it illustrates the ways in which landscape architecture is seeking to
use different forms of green infrastructure to promote resilience to the impacts
of climate change. In each case, a general introduction to the conditions in the
city together with the challenges posed by the changing urban climate are fol-
lowed by in-depth examples of landscape policies, plans, and projects which
are being developed to strengthen the future resilience of the cities concerned.
What these examples also highlight is the fact that, while the amelioration of cli-
mate change impacts is a vital function of urban green infrastructure, it is not
its only function. As a rule, green infrastructure does not exist independently
of traditional parks and urban greenspaces, and thus its role in promoting
resilience has to happen alongside their many other time-honored functions,
from being urban lungs and breathing spaces, to attractive places for recreation
and relaxation, refuges for flora and fauna, as well as being important carriers of
meanings and values for the people of the city.
As Resilient City convincingly demonstrates, navigating this, at first sight
unfamiliar territory of urban green infrastructure does not, after all, call for a new
breed of colonial explorer; instead we can put our faith in the tried and tested
knowledge and skills of our reliable “native” guides to this terrain, landscape
architects.

9

URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
Today, more than half the world’s population live, work, and spend their time in
cities. To lead productive and fulfilling lives, they need healthy environments
that allow them to flourish and realize their potential. In this context, green
areas and public spaces where people can spend free time, play, exercise, and
relax are of vital importance for cities. As experts for the design, construction,
and
maintenance of outdoor spaces, landscape architects play an important
role, and in times of climate change, it is their competence that is especially needed to address the increasingly challenging and important planning and design tasks facing cities.
Green open spaces such as parks and gardens not only provide recreational
opportunities for city dwellers but also serve other functions, such as eco
logical
compensation ar
eas for sealed surfaces, fresh air corridors for ventilating the
city, and retention, infiltration, and evaporation surfaces for maintaining the water balance. In addition, they are needed as buffers for increasingly recurrent extreme weather events, during either heavy rainfall and storm surges or heat and extended dry periods. These functions, which are vital in all cities, are often referred to as green infrastructure, or, where bodies of water are also involved, as green-blue infrastructure. Like gray infrastructure—the technical facilities and utilities for supply and disposal, and social infrastructure, such as schools, care facilities, hospitals, sports grounds, and cultural facilities—green spaces are equally a form of infrastructure that serves important needs. They are generally accessible to the public as places to meet and are usually provided and looked after by the public sector, even if the land does not always belong to the city.
Any form of infrastructure only functions effectively if well maintained and kept
in optimal condition on an ongoing basis. Green infrastructure, when properly
managed, even becomes more valuable over time as vegetation grows, because
the effect it brings improves as plants mature compared with when they were
just planted. A further important quality of infrastructure is flexibility—especially
in the context of climate change. Many gray infrastructure assets, such as road
and rail structures or canals, flood protection walls or dams, as well as larger
buildings, are static and can adapt only slightly to changing conditions.
Green infrastructure, on the other hand, has a high degree of spatial and
temporal
flexibility, and its functions can adapt more quickly to new environmental condi-
tions, such as climate change. In addition, green infrastructure serves multiple
RESILIENCE AS A FACTOR OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT

10
RESILIENCE AS A FACTOR OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT
functions: alongside being spaces for urban recreation, they help keep cities cool,
retain groundwater, and bind and convert CO2. Unlike gray or social infrastruc-
ture, green-blue infrastructure has no standard solutions, and must respond
to the specific conditions of each place and be regularly reviewed, adjusted,
and re
developed, especially with regard to climate resilience. Adapting green
infrastructure to changing climatic conditions is therefore an iterative process of ongoing development and management. While landscape architecture has increasingly embraced the wider remit of green infrastructure, in practice it still often fails to fully utilize the spectrum of available sustainable opportunities, such as rainwater harvesting, green roofs and facades, natural shading using tree canopies, and urban gardening.
This book looks at eleven cities in North and South America and examples of
some of their outstanding projects by landscape architects to show how cities
are preparing for climate change and using landscape architecture to mitigate its
effects. Each of the cities was visited in 2018 and 2019 as were many remarkable
landscape architecture projects and other relevant climate initiatives, and the
author met and talked to numerous landscape architects, city administrators,
and research institutions. Finally, the projects and lessons learned were evalu-
ated and presented in this book. The approaches and plans described can serve
as models for other cities, and the projects likewise as pioneering examples of
new landscape architecture that can make a significant contribution to
climate
adaptation. Together they illustrate the factors that need to be considered in the design and development of climate-resilient open spaces. Of particular importance is collaboration with other disciplines and it is here that landscape
architects can play a leading role.
CITIES IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
While cities have been identified as major contributors to pollution and the emis- sion of greenhouse gases in the discourse on climate change, city dwellers are also among those most directly affected by its impacts. Cities, therefore, have a particular responsibility to effectively reduce the causes of climate change and, at the same time, must also ensure that their citizens and urban infrastructure are not harmed by its effects. Many cities are already experiencing the urban heat island effect and accompanying heat stress for its citizens. Clearly, people are less able to adapt to higher temperatures, and young children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat. Climate change is therefore already affecting urban climates and its impacts are likely to be more pronounced in future. Even though the scale of the challenge varies, every city in the world is faced with the task of limiting such impacts and must adopt effective measures based on its size, geographic location, climatic conditions, and social and eco- nomic situation, to mitigate the impacts of climate change on economic and political equality, environmental justice, food security, public health, and bio- diversity. In particular, the creation of networks between cities can help share knowledge and experience, and contribute to developing concerted action towards more rapid climate resilience, which ultimately benefits urban popula- tions around the world.

11
CITIES IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Of central importance for research on the causes and consequences of climate
change around the world is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC). Founded in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), it is based in Geneva and
serves as a source of information on climate change for policymakers, industry,
and the general public. All 193 United Nations Member States can participate in
the IPCC. It is divided into three Working Groups: the first works on the
scientific
basis of climate change, the second on the impacts and options for adaptation and vulnerability due to climate change, and the third on mitigating climate change by reducing emissions. The IPCC compiles findings from global research and regularly publishes assessment reports, which undergo a thorough scien- tific peer review process and are thus highly reputable. Additionally, the IPCC provides a knowledge base for decision-makers and is an important advisor to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The upcoming Sixth Assess- ment Report will be published in 2021/22. Among the IPCC Special Reports are those on Global Warming of 1.5 °C and on Climate Change and Land, published in 2018 and 2019, respectively. A working group report on the Mitigation of Climate Change was prepared as part of the Fifth Assessment Report in 2014.
The IPCC Reports attribute climate change to the emission of greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere from anthropogenic sources. Of these, the most harmful
gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O ), and man-
made fluorinated (F) gases (HFCs, PFCs, and SF6 ), with CO2 accounting for the
largest share. The major source of CO2 is the combustion of fossil fuels in the
power conversion systems of electric power plants, aircraft and vehicle engines,
cooking, space heating, and industrial manufacturing processes. While these
emissions account for the largest share of greenhouse gases, a further third of
emissions result from agriculture (mainly CH4 and N2O ), deforestation (mainly
CO2), fossil fuel production (mainly CH4), industrial processes (mainly CO2, N2O,
and F-gases), as well as municipal waste and wastewater (mainly CH4).
Among the most common impacts of climate change are increasing tem-
peratures and heat stress, rising sea levels with more frequent storm surges
and heavy rain events, and flooding. Climate change affects all major climate
parameters—
temperature, precipitation, wind speed and direction—and the
exact impacts of these changes are still unclear. Similarly, it is hard to make accurate predictions about the ramifications that will affect a city, when, or to what extent. What is clear, however, is that if cities evolve sustainably to address climate change, this will benefit climate adaptation around the world.
Although societies and cities are changing greatly as part of the global mega-
trend of urbanization, it was not until its Fifth Assessment Report in 2014 that
the IPCC included a chapter on “Human Settlements, Infrastructure, and Spatial
Planning” as part of the Working Group Report on Mitigation of Climate Change.
By 2050, the urban population is expected to grow by 2.5 to 3 billion and will
account for 64 to 69 percent of the world’s population. There will also be cor-
respondingly more urban spaces and infrastructure than at present. How cities
and urban areas develop in the coming decades will be crucial for global energy
consumption and CO2 emissions.

12
Already in 2014, cities were estimated to account for between 67 and 76 percent
of global energy consumption, and 71 to 76 percent of global energy-related CO2
emissions. In the context of the urban realm, the factors that contribute most to
greenhouse gas emissions include density of development, land use mix, and
transportation and accessibility, which strongly determine traffic flows and vol-
umes. Since these aspects interact with each other, they should therefore be
considered not as isolated but rather as interdependent factors.
While cities are responsible for a high proportion of global CO2 emissions, they
occupy only 2 to 3 percent of the Earth’s land area. Although the growth of con-
urbations will increase this to 4 to 5 percent by 2050, the ratio will still be dispro-
portionate. Considering that cities are think tanks with the economic, scientific,
and political potential to steer climate-sensitive development, and at the same
time are major contributors to global warming, they have both the opportunity
and a special obligation to positively influence climate change. Their focus must
be twofold: on reducing, and ideally avoiding the production of greenhouse
gas emissions (mitigation), and on reducing the impact of the changes that are
occurring (adaptation).
Since cities are dependent on their hinterland for food production, for parts of
their infrastructure, and for recreation, it is also important to establish a climate-

respecting connection between the city and its surroundings. As cities grow,
they expand into areas formerly used for agriculture and forestry, resulting in land use conflicts. Agricultural land, which currently accounts for 37 percent of the world’s land area, has increased over the last three decades, especially in the tropics. To feed the growing world population, even greater areas of agri- cultural land will be needed. Much of it is converted into large-scale farming of meat and of soybeans, the latter being mostly used as animal feed, and for the extraction of palm oil. This in turn results in a tragic loss of biodiversity and ecosystem capacity, including the sequestering of CO2. In contrast to the growing consumption of land by cities and for agriculture, forests are dwin- dling. Currently, forests account for about 29 percent of the world’s land area, of which about two-thirds is forested, and only 36 percent is primary forest. Despite large-scale afforestation in various regions around the world, forests are being razed at an alarming rate, contributing to a loss of biodiversity and ecosystem capacity, as well as higher land erosion due to the removal of land cover and lower soil fertility.
The 2019 IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land points out in its
“Summary for Policymakers” that land use actions that help adapt to climate
change and mitigate negative impacts also counter desertification and land
degradation, and improve food security. It explicitly mentions the mitigation
potential of better cropland and livestock management, of agroforestry and sys-
temic improvements to the entire food system from production to consumption,
including food loss and waste.
The IPCC proposes Climate-Resilient Development Pathways (CRDPs) that
can be used to shape a society-wide desirable future that is both socially equi

table and low in carbon dioxide emissions. These correlate to the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the statements of the Paris Climate
Agreement, in which the implementation of rapid greenhouse gas reductions
RESILIENCE AS A FACTOR OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT

13
must be
based on equity and take place in the context of sustainable develop-
ment and efforts to eradicate poverty. The CRDPs combine the near-term imple-
mentation of the Sustainable Development Goals with a long-term sustainable
strategy for development and reducing emissions to net zero by the middle of
the century. To achieve this, urban habitats must become more resili
ent and able
to adapt flexibly. Aside from that, networks are needed to enable and promote exchange when elaborating CRDPs, but each city will still need to develop its own CRDPs.
The 2018 IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5° C stresses the impor -
tance of not exceeding the 1.5° C global warming goal agreed at the 2015 Paris
Climate Summit, because any effort required to adapt to temperatures beyond
that is much greater. It also underlines that adaptation measures must go fur-
ther than merely responding to specific impacts of climate change, for example
building a seawall as a barrier against tidal surges, and instead require profound,
systemic change, such as new strategies for responding to storm surges and
runoff from rainfall events. This kind of transformative adaptation also involves
reshaping social and ecological systems. In this respect, the IPCC’s goals to
meet the 1.5° C limit overlap to a large extent with the United Nations SDGs,
which were also adopted in 2015.
The 17 SDGs are part of the 2030 Agenda, the UN’s global plan to promote sus-
tainable peace and prosperity and to protect the planet. To this end, national
development plans should address the problems of poverty and social inequal-
ity, paying particular attention to the most vulnerable populations so that no
one is left out in the effort to achieve the Agenda’s goals by 2030. Overall, the
SDGs aim to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; to secure health, educa-
tion, peace, clean water, and clean energy for all; to promote inclusiveness and
sustainability in consumption, cities, infrastructure, and economic growth; to
reduce inequalities such as those between genders; to combat climate change;
and to protect the oceans and terrestrial ecosystems. Goal 13: Climate Action
explicitly identifies climate change, its negative impacts on economies and the
lives of people, especially the poorest and most vulnerable. Other goals closely
linked to climate change include Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being, Goal 7:
Affordable and Clean Energy, and Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.
Goal 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goals stresses the need to build networks
and many cities have already established very good global connections, for
example through the C40 cities and 100 Resilient Cities Network.
At present, C40 brings together 97 of the world’s largest cities taking climate
action to achieve a healthier and more sustainable future. The mayors of these
cities, which together are home to more than 700 million citizens and account
for a quarter of the global economy, have pledged to steer development in their
cities to meet the climate goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, and also to sub-
stantially improve their city’s air quality by combating pollution. Among the
cities featured in this book, Toronto, Vancouver, New York City, Houston, Bogotá,
Medellín, and Rio de Janeiro belong to the C40.
The 100 Resilient Cities Network (100RC) was established in 2013 by the U.S.
Rockefeller Foundation to help cities build resilience to the challenges of the
21st century. Of the more than 1,000 cities that applied, 100 were selected. These
CITIES IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE

14
received project-based financial support over six years, as well as funding for a
resilience manager to steer the city’s efforts to become more sustainable and
resilient and to assist in developing a resilience strategy. In addition, member-
ship also involved participating in intensive knowledge sharing and collabora-
tion among the cities. The 100 Resilient Cities represent one-fifth of the world’s
urban population and more than 50 resilience strategies with over 1,800 provi-
sions and initiatives have been written to date. Ultimately the network has led to
over 150 collaborations between cities. Although the initiative came to a close
on July 31, 2019, the Rockefeller Foundation continues to support the resilience
managers to ensure the valuable work done to date can continue. Of the cities
described in this book, Toronto, Vancouver, New York City, Houston (as the 101st
member, supported by Shell), Medellín, Rio de Janeiro, and Montevideo are all
members.
THE RESILIENCE OF CITIES
Climate change is without doubt a significant challenge for cities actively
working towards more sustainable development. Therefore, any strategy must
ensure that no group of residents is disadvantaged, that public services are safe-
guarded, and that at least a certain level of prosperity is distributed as evenly as
possible. Public green and open spaces are usually sizeable areas in cities that
are accessible to all residents as well as visitors. Due to their vegetation, they
have a better microclimate than the more built-up neighborhoods around them,
but parks and green spaces are often unequally distributed throughout a city.
While private green spaces likewise have a positive climatic impact, they are in
most cases not accessible to the general public and are often found on the out-
skirts of cities. Where neighborhoods have comparatively few green spaces but
a large number of inhabitants, the pressure on public spaces is correspondingly
high. Such spaces must be designed to a particularly high standard and regu-
larly maintained to ensure they retain their character and continue to serve the
needs of their neighborhood.
The consequences of climate change, such as extreme weather events, have
drawn attention to the fact that open spaces can serve an important buffer
function to protect surrounding built-up areas against flooding and landslides.
Hence, open spaces in flood risk areas should be designed as water reten-
tion areas to limit the extent of flooding, and at the same time also be able to
withstand extreme weather events without excessive damage or destruction.
Similarly, residential areas built on sloping sites prone to erosion during heavy
rain events can be protected from damage by the creation of stabilizing open
spaces. In extreme cases where safe housing cannot be ensured in the long
term, residents of areas with particularly unstable ground may need to relocate
to other, safer urban locations. The impacts and threat of climate change have
increasingly refocused attention on the interests of urban communities, such
as the development of green-blue infrastructure or building measures aimed
at improving the city’s climate resilience. Because each city has its own struc-
ture, specific location, size, and pattern of development, it is important that it
becomes aware of how its climate is changing now and in the future, and of the
RESILIENCE AS A FACTOR OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT

15
parallel de
velopments that need to be reconciled with climate change. Needless
to say, citizens must be involved in climate change adaptation decisions.
In general, most cities already have plans in place to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, and this is true for nearly all of the cities in North and South Ameri

ca featured in this book. In addition, most cities have developed climate change
adaptation plans and, in some cases, also resilience strategies that identify expected impacts—based on data from climate monitoring, aerial or satellite imagery, model simulations, or more usually a combination of these—and elabo- rate proposals for mitigation action and adaptation strategies.
Only occasionally is green infrastructure explicitly outlined as a means of miti

gating climate change impacts and improving resilience. By contrast, invest-
ments in technical infrastructure are mentioned very frequently. Community
participation and involvement in adaptation is sometimes also mentioned as
an important factor. The fact that green infrastructure and landscape architec-
ture are rarely brought up is especially surprising given the widely
documented
climatic benefits of green spaces, and especially of trees and various other accompanying solutions for increasing urban resilience. In fact, green spaces, when robustly designed, can absorb large amounts of rainfall during severe precipitation events and pass it on in a controlled manner without incurring permanent damage. Plus, rain gardens are being integrated into the design of new parks and street spaces as temporary water reservoirs during heavy rains, and at the same time help raise awareness of water cycles and climate change in the popu
lation, and especially among children. Improved tree planting is a
further area where landscape architecture can benefit cities: it significantly increases the lifespan of urban trees and their ecosystem capacity, and it is well known that plants, and especially trees, act as carbon sinks as they store CO2 and through photosynthesis release oxygen into the air. In addition, ade- quate planting can lower the ambient temperature through moisture evap- oration and by providing shade, so that urban environments heat up less dramatically. In essence, the more vegetation there is, the more effective its ability to sequester carbon and the better its cooling effect through shading and evaporation for the local microclimate. It is, of course, essential that plants have an adequate supply of water and any necessary nutrients so that they can grow appropriately, live to a mature age, and contribute effectively to mitigat- ing climate change. As such, the IPCC’s goal to limit global warming to no more than 1.5° C, as well as other sustainability aspects such as food security, healthy ecosystems and, to some extent, reducing poverty, must be seen in direct rela- tion to green infrastructure.
Cities in general are considered particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate
change due to their high population density, important economic relevance, and
predominance of gray infrastructure. While extreme weather events themselves
do not automatically pose a risk, their consequences, such as heat stress or
flooding, do when they endanger people’s lives or health, or cause damage to
the fabric of the city. The risk therefore depends on the kind of weather events
that may be expected and the degree of vulnerability where they occur. It is,
therefore, particularly important to conduct a risk assessment of the damage
that may arise as a consequence of climate change, as a basis for identifying
appropriate measures to take, especially in the most vulnerable parts of a city.
THE RESILIENCE OF CITIES

16
RESILIENCE AS A FACTOR OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Making cities more resilient means equipping them so that extreme climatic and
weather events do not have a lasting impact on the inhabitants and infrastruc-
ture of a city, but that urban functions can be resumed or at least rapidly restored
without permanent impairment. Ideally, solutions should act at
multiple levels
and combine various measures, leading to a broader transformation of cities. Landscape architects are absolutely imperative for this process, yet it is also increasingly clear that in order to improve the resilience of cities to climate change, landscape architecture must in this context reexamine its priorities. Site-specific adaptations to climate change must be a central consideration of designs for open spaces; collaborations with planners and professionals from other disciplines must be strengthened; and landscape architects should
ideally
lead planning pr
ocesses to coordinate the climate resilience of the various
design aspects.

17
TOR
ONTO

TORONTO 18
TORONTO
“Diversity Our Strength” is the motto of the city of Toronto, Canada’s largest
metropolis with almost 3 million inhabitants. Together with the Greater Toronto
Area, the population figure doubles to 6.2 million. Situated on Lake Ontario, it is
part of the so-called Golden Horseshoe, a densely populated, economically
prosperous region that encircles the western end of the lake. The region has
experienced significant growth in recent decades, and indeed nearly a quarter
of Canada’s population live there. Both socially and architecturally progressive,
Toronto boasts modern buildings in the downtown and more recent waterfront
areas, as well as extensive districts of terraces and houses, a multicultural com-
munity, and vibrant neighborhoods. The city’s residents come from many differ-
ent ethnic backgrounds and nearly half were born abroad. After Miami, Toronto
has the second-highest proportion of foreign-born residents in North America—
but unlike Miami, Toronto’s immigrant population is not dominated by just a few
ethnic groups; instead, it comprises a broad range of diverse minorities seen in
few other cities of the world. The city’s diversity motto therefore attests to its
social and cultural self-image.
Toronto owes its byname City of Ravines to a distinct topographical feature that
formed after the last ice age: the ravines and rivers flowing through the city area
towards Lake Ontario. These densely forested areas, which make up 20 percent
of the urban territory, serve several vital ecological functions, the most import-
ant of which is to collect water from the adjacent urban areas during rainfall and
drain it into Lake Ontario. To this day, all urban planning considerations and ini-
tiatives are subject to the ravines’ crucial role in channeling the flow of water in
the city.
2
Design for the mouth of the Don River
into Lake Ontario. New retention areas
at the mouth of the river help regulate
the flow rate of swelling waters after
heavy rainfall. The new hydrological
and green infrastructure proposed as
part of this competition entry creates
new ecosystems, recreational spaces,
and a residential environment with
cultural offerings.
2
1 (previous page)

Downtown Toronto on Lake Ontario.

19
TORONTO
Toronto’s climate is cold and temperate. The mean annual temperature is
8.7 °C, with the lowest monthly average in February, -4.4 °C, and the highest
in July, at 21.9 °C. The highest daytime temperatures of the year are usually
measured in August, reaching around 25 °C. While the mean total precipitation
is 845 millimeters per year, monthly rainfall ranges from 50 to 85 millimeters
across the year.
Temperatures differ significantly between the seasons. In winter, they can dip
temporarily to -10 °C, and seem even colder due to the winds blowing in from the
lake. From November to April, precipitation falls mainly as snow; relative humid-
ity in winter is 80 percent, sunshine duration is two hours. In spring and summer,
the sun shines on average up to seven hours a day.
EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Toronto is among the “100 Resilient Cities” selected as part of the Rockefeller
Foundation’s competition in 2013. Within the framework of this program, the
city developed both a Resilience Strategy and a Climate Action Strategy, called
TransformTO. In 2015, these plans were further supplemented by a Climate
Change and Health Strategy.
The Resilience Strategy, a quite comprehensive document, outlines the specific
expected impacts of climate change on the city: Toronto expects to become
hotter, wetter, and stormier. This implies significant changes for the individual
climate parameters: from 1976 to 2005, an average of 12.2 hot days with tem-
peratures above 30 °C were recorded per year; from 2021 to 2050, 30.7 such days
are expected, and in the period from 2051 to 2080, this number is again expected
to rise, to 54.9 days. While the average mean precipitation between 1976 and
2005 was 786 millimeters, it is projected to increase to 817 millimeters by 2050
and 854 millimeters by 2080. Prior to 2005, heavy precipitation days—where
more than 20 millimeters of rain or snow fall in a single day—occurred on aver-
age 6.6 days per year; by 2050 this is expected to rise to 6.9 days, and by 2080 to
7.8 days annually.
In 2017, the City Council unanimously approved TransformTO, Toronto’s strategy
paper for tackling climate change. Setting out long-term goals for the transfor-
mation of the city, it includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting
public health, economic growth, as well as improving social equity. In this vein,
targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are a 30 percent reduction by
2020, 65 percent by 2030, and zero energy consumption by 2050 or sooner.
The paper also identifies buildings, transportation, and waste management as
the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Climate Change and Health Strategy provides an overview of the antici-
pated negative impacts on the health of the city’s population. These include an
increased incidence of heat-/cold-related illness and premature death, a rise in
direct and indirect injuries and disease resulting from severe weather (including
water-borne and vector-borne diseases), disruptions to food supply (including

TORONTO 20
food insecurity and food-borne illnesses), and degraded air quality, increasing
cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses.
Weather events that cause large-scale damage are typically strong motivators
for raising awareness of climate change among a city’s population. For Toronto,
Hurricane Hazel on October 15, 1954, was such a landmark event: 121.4 milli-
meters of precipitation fell during that hurricane, causing significant damage
that many older residents still recall today. Even though climate change is not
expected to cause stronger and more frequent storms for the Toronto region,
the example does show that such natural disasters remain anchored in the col-
lective memory of a population for a long time. Tapping into this memory can
help raise awareness of the frequency of other weather extremes that Toronto is
expected to experience.
COMPLETE STREETS AND GREEN STREETS
To prepare for the consequences of climate change, the City of Toronto has
developed two street renewal programs specifically designed to contribute
to environmental quality, as well as to the social and economic development of
streets. The two programs categorize streets into so-called Complete Streets
and Green Streets and aim to combine their positive aspects with a view to
improving Toronto’s streetscapes.
The Toronto metropolitan area encompasses some 5,600 kilometers of streets
and paved surfaces, typically contributing to climate change by heating up
in summer and discharging surface runoff directly into the sewer system.
Road surfaces account for about a quarter of the area of the city of Toronto.
Only in New York do streets comprise a larger share of the total urban area,
as comparisons with cities in Europe, North America, and Oceania have shown.
The Complete Streets program focuses on streets that are designed for all users:
people who walk, cycle, use public transportation, or drive, as well as people of
varying ages and degrees of ability. They also consider other uses like sidewalk
cafés, so-called street furniture (e.g., benches, kiosks, and planters), street
trees, utilities, and stormwater management. While Complete Streets aims
to create street spaces that can accommodate multiple functions and seeks to
improve their quality for all users, the Green Streets program, developed a few
years later, focuses more on the ecological effectiveness of streets through the
incorporation of green infrastructure. Accordingly, Green Streets are roads or
streets that feature natural and human-made elements such as trees, green
walls, and low-impact stormwater infrastructure providing ecological and
hydrological functions and processes. Unlike traditional streets where rainwater
is discharged directly into sewers and drains along with any pollution that col-
lects on sealed surfaces, “green” streets capture rainwater and make it available
to plants. In this context, the soil acts as a natural filter to clean the water before
it soaks into the ground or makes its way into local waterways. Urban vegetation
can therefore benefit from rainwater for longer, helping it grow better, and more
water is available for evapotranspiration, in turn reducing the heat island effect.

Complete Streets and Green Streets
21
Permeable in
filtration areas can help replenish groundwater levels by taking up
stormwater, especially after heavy rain events, while improving air quality and
increasing humidity levels. As examples of possible approaches, the program
cites the walkable green roof on Toronto City Hall, the greening of streets and
parking lots, and roadside greenery that can retain and cleanse water in its soil.
The Green Streets program compiles technical guidance for planners, project
developers, and local government to assist in planning sustainable stormwater
management solutions. In doing so, it details a selection of appropriate green
infrastructure measures that can be incorporated into street redesign or recon-
struction. Particular emphasis is placed on the design of systems for soils and
substrates that can absorb large amounts of precipitation to assist in meeting
runoff requirements. Not only must green streets be attractive and functional,
they must also fit in with their urban surroundings. By prioritizing Green Streets
over traditional, less multifunctional streets, the aim is for their diverse forms of
green infrastructure to promote effective stormwater management at the point
where it occurs.
3
Example of a “complete street”
at West Donlands, where the
Athletes’ Village was built for the
XVII Pan American Games in 2015.
3

TORONTO 22
STREET TREES
Planting, maintaining, and caring for trees along streets is already a particularly
important aspect in Toronto, as it is in most cities. Climate change has made it
even more challenging.
Of Toronto’s roughly 10.2 million trees, 60 percent are privately owned.
The remaining 4.1 million trees grow on public land. Six percent of all trees in
Toronto, or about 600,000, are street trees, and only 1.5 percent of all trees,
150,000 speci
mens in absolute numbers, have a trunk diameter over 30 centi-
meters, measured at chest height.
Trees, and especially street trees, play an important role in mitigating the nega-
tive effects of climate change in cities: evapotranspiration through the leaves of
trees helps cool urban areas where heat builds up through buildings and sealed
roadways. At the same time shade from the trees cools the ground, reducing
heat build-up from exposure to the sun. Trees counteract the warming of their
immediate surroundings and create a more pleasant microclimate for people
outdoors. In addition, they also sequester CO2 and bind pollutants.
But trees, and again especially those street trees in urban centers, are also par-
ticularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. They must adapt to the
higher temperatures in cities, cope with more irregular precipitation, withstand
more frequent storms at unusual times of the year, adjust to longer growing sea-
sons, and possibly resist new kinds of pests. Since not all trees adapt equally
well, reliable guidance on how these new challenges are best addressed at the
selection and planting stage is still lacking. Current research is wide-ranging
and covers topics such as the suitability of different tree species and varieties,
and of substrates and soils, or the water and maintenance requirements of spe-
cific trees, their watering frequencies and fertilizer duration. The results depend
heavily on where the data are recorded, and the findings must be adapted to the
existing species of trees in a city as well as the new tree species to be planted.
The goal is—and must be—to allow street trees to develop over a long period of
time in a manner appropriate to the species, as it can take decades for trees to
mature and develop their full potential. Therefore, not only the number of trees,
but also their size and health are of great importance for their climatic effective-
ness. Research into the life expectancy of street trees has been contradictory,
and the findings do not apply equally to every location anyway. In a study from
the end of the last century, for example, Gary Moll came to the startling conclu-
sion that a tree in the center of an American city survives on average for only
seven years.
Another study by Lara A. Roman et al. from 2001 compiled and compared sev-
eral existing American studies on the survival rate of street trees along with one
study from Belgium, England, and China respectively. In addition, the authors
undertook their own research on field maple (Acer campestre) trees in Philadel-
phia, PA, USA, planted over a ten-year period. They concluded that these studies
do not corroborate the very low life expectancy of street trees in Moll’s study.
In view of this, the annual survival rate was between 94.9 and 96.5 percent, i.e.,
only about 5 percent of newly planted trees die within the first year after planting.

Street trees
23
A
field maple’s estimated average life expectancy was found to be between
19 and 28 years. Since this refers to the period after planting—trees are planted
after 12 or more years’ growth in a tree nursery—their average life expectancy
is about 35 years. While significantly longer than Moll’s claim, it is still cause
for concern as most trees do not develop their specific form and full ecological
potential until they reach this age. Many trees never make it to this stage because
they do not grow healthi
ly or are removed. If half of the trees are indeed removed,
or ideally replaced, in such young “tree years,” they never reach their full eco- logical potential. The overall ecological effect actually sinks because older trees naturally reach the end of their lifetime and can only be replaced by young trees. A way out of this dilemma could be to plant significantly more trees in cities, and especially in the central districts—but there is often not enough space to plant sufficient trees and allow them to develop in a species-
appropriate way. In any
case, trees need intensive care and support to grow as much as possible—and the money is well spent, since planting new young trees at ever shorter intervals is certainly more expensive than the proper, regular care and upkeep of trees.
Overall, the general condition of existing street trees in large cities is moderate
and often poor, although these findings refer to trees planted in the past. Reg-
ulations on suitable substrates and maintenance patterns during their initial
growth and later maturing phases have not always existed. Many cities, includ-
ing Toronto, have since developed guidelines for planting and maintenance,
as well as for species and cultivar selections for street trees. The target is
typically a life expectancy of 40 years and a mature trunk diameter of 40 centi

meters at chest height.
In Toronto, trees were previously planted in 6 to 10 cubic meters of soil or sub- strate per tree at 6-meter spacings. Today, 20 to 30 cubic meters and 10-meter spacings are recommended. Planting fewer trees with wider spacing improves the chance that trees will grow to their full size. Since tree grates have so far been very small at 1.25 square meters, new guidelines specify at least 1.5 square meters or larger open planting areas with a greater capacity to absorb rainwater in the root zone. Also, tree grates should be covered with mulch and the root areas irrigated with collected rainwater. According to the current guidelines, 30 native and non-native tree species are being recommended for new tree planting. If, as predicted, climate change causes a general rise in temperatures and decrease in regular rainfall, the recommended tree species may need to be adjusted in future.
The following two projects are examples of the sustainable development of
former commercial sites in Toronto as described by Joe Lobko, partner in the
landscape architecture and urban design firm DTAH. In both projects, building
structures as well as outdoor areas were defined by their respective original use
and transformed as part of an intensive design process to serve their new pur-
poses. With sustainability as a core principle, they are now vibrant amenities for
their respective neighborhoods and for the city. Both projects were developed
by non-profit organizations with committed civic involvement from the local
communities in raising funding, determining the usage profile, and undertaking
administrative tasks.

TORONTO 24
EVERGREEN BRICK WORKS
The former brick works is situated in the Don Valley, one of Toronto’s typical
ravines, which is part of the Don River and Mud Creek floodplain. Founded in
1889, it remained in operation for nearly 100 years, producing bricks for the con-
struction of the many single-family homes so characteristic of Toronto. After the
natural resources were largely depleted and clay mining ceased in the 1980s, the
site was sold. It was initially offered to the local authorities, because its location
in an ecologically sensitive ravine implied a potential for development as part of
the river valley parkland. However, due to the economic recession in the early
1980s and the complex task of redeveloping a clay quarry and brick plant, the
city declined the offer. Instead, a private developer took on the property with the
intention of building an extensive residential project. After the site was partially
filled and building permission was granted, local residents became aware of the
project and opposition to the development in the sensitive, flood-prone river
valley grew. The protests eventually led to the city reclaiming and buying back
the 5-hectare site, which includes 16 historically listed buildings.
The Conservation Authority began converting the clay pit into a recreational
area called a “quarry garden.” Measures included daylighting Mud Creek, cre-
ating ponds and meadows, and planting native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers.
Before long the park had become a popular local amenity and is now consid-
ered a model example of the successful ecological development of a river valley.
It was only later that the non-profit organization Evergreen Canada embarked
on the development of the landmarked buildings on the site. In fact, its mission
is to bring nature back into the cities of Canada and to promote environmentally
sound, socially progressive urban development. Further areas of focus include
environmental education and schoolyard greening. The extensive planting work
in the lower Don River water catchment area caught the attention of the orga-
nization’s founding director, Geoff Cape. He immediately saw the potential of
developing the clay quarry and buildings as a community environmental center
that could house his own organization and others with a similar focus. His vision
is that of a hub for people to explore the relationship between nature, culture,
and society, and to plan a green future for Toronto and other cities. Since diver-
sity is a key aspect of Evergreen Canada’s philosophy, both in terms of healthy
ecosystems and an open, sustainable society, it likewise informed the organi-
zational, architectural and landscaping realization of the project. Working with
a variety of partners—three architecture offices, two landscape architecture
firms, plus engineers, ecologists, hydrologists, environmental educators, and
other professionals—Evergreen was able to consider and incorporate many dif-
ferent perspectives throughout the project planning process.
The most important elements of the development and design of this land-
scape were both its natural features and the anthropogenic alterations it had
experienced. The design encompasses waterways, slopes and edges, planting
schemes and wooded areas as well as bike lanes, a road, an expressway, two
railroad lines and a power line fed by a hydroelectric plant.

Evergreen Brick Works
4
Just how deep the pit was when
still in operation can be seen on a
photographic mural on the wall of one
of the old buildings in the brick works.5
Entire neighborhoods of Toronto
were built from bricks sourced from
this clay pit.
6
The site of the former clay pit was
partially filled in and turned into a
park with paths through the natural
vegetation.
7
The combination of natural vegetation
and water creates a special habitat
for animals and plants and a tranquil
amenity for local residents. 8
The height difference is considerable
despite partial filling of the terrain,
resulting in a variety of biotopes with
their own microclimate in the valley.
4
5
76 8

TORONTO 26
After completion of the park, Evergreen embarked on reuse concepts for
the existing buildings, recognizing that repurposing existing structures is the
“greenest” approach. At the heart of the brick works site is the Centre for Green
Cities, a new building with LEED Platinum certification grafted onto an existing
structure. Besides serving as a visitor center and presenting green technolo-
gies, it also houses exhibitions and conferences. Accessibility to the somewhat
outlying site has been improved, with cycle paths and pedestrian connections
to the city, as well as a car-sharing service and the provision of a shuttle bus
service to and from the nearest subway station.
Since its completion in 2010, Evergreen Brick Works has certainly lived up to the
hopes and expectations of the project and has become an ecological hub for the
entire city. This involves a weekly farmers’ market, a comprehensive program of
environmental activities for children, and a variety of events showcasing local
foods. In addition to these local activities, it also hosts conferences and work-
shops on topics ranging from the future of cities to the development of a green
economy.
9
10

27

WYCHWOOD BARNS
The Wychwood Barns streetcar depot and accompanying repair barn were
built between 1913 and 1921 on the west side of downtown to provide public
transportation for the growing population. The five barns, each 12 meters wide
and 60 meters long, were built directly next to each other, two as steel frame
structures, three with concrete frames. Up to 167 streetcars ran from here on
ten lines; however, as the city expanded at the end of the 20th century, the loca- tion of the depot proved increasingly inconvenient. Less and less used after 1980, operations ceased altogether in the mid-1990s. The site subsequently lay derelict. A plan proposed by the city to demolish the barns and redevelop the site for housing and businesses was opposed by local citizens who pointed to a lack of local parks and green space.
Eventually a heritage study concluded that the structures are of historical sig-
nificance, and soon after, in 2001, the non-profit urban development agency
Artscape was selected to initiate a public consultation process with the goal
of identifying possible future uses for the halls and the development of a new
park. Alongside civic organizations, architects and engineers were involved in
the project, and local residents were invited to voice their ideas and interests.
One suggestion came from The Stop Community Food Centre, an organization
that works to increase access to healthy food for disadvantaged segments of
the population. They proposed using an entire barn for the activities of a food
network that would benefit especially the residents of the surrounding neigh-
borhood. This implied using the building to produce food, to offer training on
nutrition, cooking classes, and community meals, and to host a farmers’ mar-
ket. Their proposal placed the emphasis on developing a diverse neighborhood
center with sustainability as the central unifying theme for further develop-
ment. After much discussion and rounds of participation, Artscape ultimately
proposed that four barns be retained in their entirety and that one be partially
retained as an element of the forthcoming park. Using these existing resilient
structures as the basis for the site’s future development was seen as a special
opportunity.
The final concept envisaged establishing artists’ studios and living accommo-
dation as well as a gallery in the first barn, which adjoined the street. The sec-
ond barn, by contrast, was to be open for various uses as a kind of “covered
street” that can be both a passageway and marketplace. While the third barn
was designated as an events space for the neighborhood, the fourth was the
“Green Hall” with a greenhouse for growing vegetables, a sheltered garden
area, and space for cooking, learning, and community meetings. Finally, the
fifth barn was to be used as a farmers’ market and as an extension of the park
that stretches to the west, south, and east of the barns.
10
Making learning about gardening
fun for children at one of the gardens
at the Evergreen Brick Works.9
The old brick works in the Don Valley,
now Evergreen Brick Works, with the
silhouette of the city center in the
distance.

TORONTO 28
11
Wychwood Barns, the former streetcar
depot, is now a neighborhood center
with a market, fruit and vegetable
greenhouse, as well as an arts space.12
Market day between the sheds
of the streetcar depots. 13
Various neighborhood groups
grow vegetables alongside the
market stalls. 14
Fully equipped greenhouses are
also available for growing produce.
14
1312
11

29
WYCHWOOD BARNS
The sustainable measures employed include energy conservation methods,
reduced water consumption, the appropriate use of existing building structures,
and comprehensive green planning. A geothermal system with 50 well points,
120 meters deep at 6-meter intervals, was installed in the park to meet a large
part of the heating and cooling needs. Rainwater collected on the roof’s roughly
0.4-hectare surface is recycled for flushing toilets and irrigating the park,
gardens, and greenhouse. In addition, the designers carefully considered where
it would be most sensible to insulate the building walls.
Since it opened in the fall of 2008, Wychwood Barns has become a vibrant com-
munity center whose impact extends far beyond the immediate neighborhood.
In particular, the weekly farmers’ market with homegrown food has met with
great interest in multicultural Toronto, stimulating conversations on the health,
wellness, and overall quality of life in Canada’s largest urban agglomeration.
Other uses have also emerged that could not have been foreseen during plan-
ning. Artscape writes in that regard that the project has given rise to animated
debate on the roles of an urban park and the potential for reusing existing struc-
tures. In 2010, the redevelopment site received the first LEED Gold certification
in Canada awarded to a heritage building.
URBAN AGRICULTURE
Our visit to the Wychwood Barns coincided with a presentation by Joe Nasr,
in which several urban agriculture projects were described and presented, some
by the respective local protagonists. Alongside the project at Wychwood Barns,
we learned about the garden of the Regent Park Community Food Centre and
Black Creek Community Farm in Toronto. Although Canada is a rich country,
access to good quality food is not guaranteed and affordable for everyone, and
these facilities are of great importance to many citizens. Joe Nasr, along with
June Komisar and Mark Gorgolewski, co-authored the acclaimed book Carrot
City, which was published in 2011 and has since also become well known outside
Canada. Conceived as a collection of ideas and projects on how to reintegrate
sustainable food production into cities, the book presents 40 groundbreaking
examples of how urban planning, landscaping, and architecture can enable and
promote ecological urban agriculture in visually and artistically interesting ways.
While a website accompanying the book maintained an open access database
of other projects around the world, the authors also produced a traveling exhibi-
tion that was shown in Europe and North Africa. The success of Carrot City was
so great that the database now only includes new projects in Toronto.

TORONTO 30
15
Joe Nasr, founder of the Carrot City
project, and Ashrafi Ahmed, urban
gardening representative for the
newly built Regent Park neighborhood,
describe their project. 16
Community gardens and Community
Food Centre, in Regent Park. 17
Raised beds for seniors at Black Creek
Community Farm.
18
Fall harvest ready to distribute to
people in the neighborhood.
19
Cultivating mushrooms. The farm
teaches people how to grow all kinds
of food.
18
19
17
15
16

Urban agriculture
31
The project sho
ws that urban agriculture not only helps improve the supply of
fruit, vegetables, and other healthy foods to the population—often in a spirit
of solidarity—but also makes an important contribution to counteracting the
negative effects of climate change: additional plants are cultivated (and also
watered, especially during drought periods), resulting in more evapotranspira-
tion, surfaces are unsealed or planting containers are placed on sealed surfaces
to trap water, while people, especially those directly involved, develop a better
understanding and awareness of plants and their needs.
20
Greenhouses at Black Creek
Community Farm.
20

TORONTO 32
SIDEWALK LABS AND THE QUAYSIDE PROJECT
To revitalize the long-neglected former industrial areas along the shores of Lake
Ontario, the City of Toronto established Waterfront Toronto as a development
agency in 2000. Its objective is to sustainably develop an 800-hectare aban-
doned site into a vibrant urban neighborhood with a mixed social structure,
a variety of different uses, and a high proportion of public spaces. In addition,
a new Quayside district will be built on a stretch of the waterfront.
The tender for the design of the new urban neighborhood was won in 2017 by
the startup Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet,
who proposed a “smart city” neighborhood. Though the project began promis-
ingly in 2017, it was abandoned in May 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic and the accompanying economic uncertainties. Sidewalk Labs had
however already begun addressing important current issues in urban design,
particularly housing affordability and sustainability, and the firm plans to con-
tinue its work on these despite the cancellation.
Plans for the 5-hectare area included new buildings with new mass timber
construction techniques, autonomous driving transportation, smart garbage
collection using a pneumatic system, air quality monitoring, heated streets lit
at ground level, and public Wi-Fi, as well as numerous cameras and sensors to
monitor traffic and public spaces. The latter, however, proved to be particularly
contentious, triggering data privacy concerns from citizens’ interest groups.
While intelligent systems leverage user data, how these data are used is not
always sufficiently transparent.
Sidewalk Labs’ work on novel solutions for affordable housing, improved mobil-
ity, and strategies for addressing the impacts of climate change are applicable
not just to the Quayside Project but also to much of Toronto as well as other cities
around the world. Based on its own research into sustainable city concepts
(currently at a relatively small scale), Sidewalk Labs organized an exhibition and
series of talks and events. The exhibition explains their research with the help
of display panels, visuals, and three-dimensional videos. In addition, Sidewalk
created a computer-aided visualization that shows the real world enhanced with
further virtual information (augmented reality) as an immersive demonstration
of the concept.
Of particular interest from a climate-protection perspective is their concept
for building with timber. The ability to use timber as a construction material
becomes particularly relevant when new techniques make it possible to build
multistory and high-rise buildings. Because conventional materials such as steel
and concrete are energy-intensive to manufacture, they have a significant neg-
ative impact on the climate. Solid wood, by contrast, acts as a pure carbon sink.
According to a study published in Nature in May 2018, the construction indus-
try could reduce its global carbon emissions by up to 31 percent if concrete and
steel were replaced with wood from sustainably managed forests.
Sidewalk Labs also developed a concept for more affordable housing using
a modular concept that can adapt to the changing needs of residents and society.
This approach should make construction faster and significantly cheaper than

Sidewalk Labs and the Quayside Project
33
21
Part of the Sidewalk Labs Toronto
exhibition showing possible future
urban development options. 22
Virtual Reality vision for a sidewalk
patio heater for being outdoors at
comfortable temperatures in winter.
21
22

TORONTO 34
23
Plan of the Quayside site by
Sidewalk Labs. 24
The Quayside site on the Toronto
waterfront overlooks Lake Ontario
and lies west of Downtown Toronto
near the mouth of the Don River.
24
23

Sidewalk Labs and the Quayside Project
35
26, 25
Visualizations of the center of the
Quayside area in summer and winter.27
Unusual visualization of the
development area on a rainy day.
The project has since been
abandoned.
25, 26
27

TORONTO 36
conventional construction, while still permitting architectural variation and cre-
ativity. Without any need for extensive preparation, the modules—prefabricated
sections—are assembled on site. The floor plan designs are also flexible:
by installing or removing walls, the modules can be used for various purposes—
such as in apartments, offices, or stores. Several smaller units can be combined
into one larger apartment allowing expanding families to continue living in the
same neighborhood. A local quarter can therefore develop and evolve naturally.
At the same time, it increases the likelihood that neighborhoods can remain
diverse, as factors such as different household incomes, size of housing, or types
of use can be accommodated within the same neighborhood. In addition, daily
amenities are also within walking distance. The overall goal of the urban design
project is to create an integrated urban community.
The streets in Sidewalk Labs’ concept are termed “people-first streets.” All users,
regardless of whether pedestrians or drivers, should feel safe on urban streets.
Among the technological innovations featured were camera-equipped traffic
lights that extend the green phase when a person is slow to cross the street,
or road surfaces that can be heated in winter to keep them free of snow and ice
for safe driving. For public transport, Sidewalk proposes autonomous vehicles
that either provide a shuttle service or are for shared use. Naturally, it is impera

tive to overcome the current challenges of autonomous driving, and to ensure
a high safety standard. By eliminating the need for parking private cars, the use of road space can essentially change. Parking lanes along streets can become sidewalk space, and be used for creating outdoor restaurant space, markets, and other public uses on current sidewalks.
Despite the cancellation of the Quayside project, Sidewalk Labs continues
to work on its plans for an innovative city that opens the doors to a new
future of urban mobility, community-based health care, and next-generation
infrastructure.
Up to now, Toronto has largely lived up to the expectations and hopes that many
associate with social diversity and the active promotion and implementation of
sustainability strategies. Canada’s largest city has already demonstrated many
interesting ways in which an open, multicultural, and democratic society can
address climate change with joy, creativity, verve, and mindfulness. Whether in
its strategic plans for adapting to and mitigating the negative impact of climate
change, or in its support for promoting public health and neighborhood initia-
tives for healthy food production, Toronto continues to demonstrate that it is not
afraid to tackle the challenges it faces. Now more than ever it is attaching great
importance to environmental and climate protection, as well as to a socially sus-
tainable, solidarity-based urban society.

37
VANC
OUVER

VANCOUVER 38
“By Sea, Land, and Air We Prosper” is the motto of Vancouver. Founded on April 6,
1886 on Canada’s west coast, this port city was named in honor of George Van-
couver, a British Royal Navy officer who explored and surveyed the east coast of
what is now the USA and Canada, in the late 18th century. The city lies in the very
southwest corner of the province of British Columbia, on the Strait of Georgia,
an inlet shielded from the Pacific Ocean by the offshore land mass of Vancouver
Island. The Rocky Mountains rise to the north and east of Vancouver, and to the
south the city extends up to the border between Canada and the United States.
Approximately 630,000 people live in the metropolitan area, while Greater
Vancouver, Canada’s third-largest metropolitan region, has a population of
2.65 million.
Waterways play a central role in Vancouver’s economy, and also contribute to
the health and well-being of its residents. Right through the center of the metro

politan area runs False Creek, a 2-kilometer-long inlet. Besides, Vancouver’s
numerous parks and gardens together total 1,300 hectares and account for about 11 percent of its urban area. The largest of these, Stanley Park, covers 404 hec

tares, making it one of the largest municipal parks in North America. That many
of these green spaces have been preserved as the city has expanded into a large metropolis can be attributed to its traditionally progressive political out- look. Civic initiatives and political movements campaign often on topics ranging from environmental protection and nature conservation to community-oriented urban planning, poverty reduction, and local democratic participation. It is prob- ably no coincidence that the now internationally active and world-renowned environmental organization Greenpeace was founded by peace and environ- mental activists in Vancouver in 1971.
The World Expo in 1986 marked the beginning of intensified construction activity
in the city that has continued almost without interruption to this day. The highly
successful, and also last North American World Expo to date, was sited on a for-
mer industrial wasteland on the north bank of False Creek. After the Expo, the
area around it became one of the largest urban development zones in North
America and later a popular and high-density residential area on the edge of
downtown. Furthermore, the Olympic Village for the 2010 Winter Games was
built on the south bank of False Creek.
Canada’s immigrant community is also a visible characteristic of Vancouver.
After immigrants from Europe and their descendants, people of Chinese origin
make up the second-largest ethnic group and represent nearly 30 percent of the
population. While the first Chinese immigrants arrived during the gold rush and
for the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the 19th century, a sec-
ond wave came in the 1980s and 1990s before the handover of Hong Kong to
China. Today, 20 percent of farmers in the Vancouver region are immigrants from
China and produce a wide range of typical Chinese foods. Other ethnic groups
in Vancouver also grow vegetables in their own gardens, and Chinese Cana
dians
some
times use their front gardens and even public verges along the sidewalk.
Then there are also other private front gardens that feature more unusual plants complementing and augmenting public urban green planting. Because pri- vate green spaces and those close to homes tend to be better maintained and watered, they are an important part of the green infrastructure.
1 (previous page)
The center of Vancouver
with waterfront marina.

39
VANCOUVER
2
3
5
4
2

Bean racks and beds extend the
front garden onto the sidewalk. 3
Vegetable beds on the sidewalk
in front of the dooryard.
4
Ornamental plants flanking the
sidewalk also provide shade and
a pleasant climate for passing
pedestrians.
5
The snowcapped mountains in
the hinterland provide a picturesque
backdrop for the city.

VANCOUVER 40
Alongside the city’s predominantly environmentally sensitive urban devel-
opment and its overall liberal citizenry, Vancouver’s geographic location and
climate make it one of the cities with the highest quality of life in the world.
Surrounded by imposing and unspoiled natural landscapes, the city boasts both
beaches and nearby mountains, and enjoys a year-round climate that is mild by Canadian standards. Unlike Canada’s other major cities with continental cli- mates—cold and snowy winters and hot summers—Vancouver’s maritime situ

ation results in comparatively balanced seasons. Due to its location in a humid
temperate zone, there are neither long dry periods nor pronounced periods of snow cover. Mean temperatures range from 6 to 8 °C in winter and from 21 to 23 °C in summer, with an annual average of about six hours of sunshine.
The annual average humidity is 80 percent. The mean water temperature of the sea is only 11.1 °C, and rarely rises to more than 18 °C.
Precipitation falls as rain throughout the year with an annual total of 1,580 milli

meters: from May to August, monthly precipitation is low at under 25 millimeters;
from October to February, it is over 75 millimeters. It rains on average 13.4 days
per month over the year, in winter rising to an average of 20 days, in summer 6 to
10—which amounts to almost three more rainy days than other cities in Canada.
In winter, precipitation falls as snow in the nearby mountains, allowing residents
to enjoy winter sports. Snowmelt in spring is rather slow and also provides Van-
couver with drinking water.
EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
In January 2019, Vancouver City Council adopted a motion acknowledging the
global climate crisis and the need for the city to do more in response to this
impending crisis. As a coastal city, rising sea levels and flooding are two of the
greatest challenges Vancouver faces through global warming. Changes in the
climate have been monitored and forecast for Vancouver and the surrounding
area for many years. The first Climate Change Adaptation Strategy was adopted
in 2012 and revised again in 2020. Practical information on the physical impacts
of climate variability and changes in the Pacific region of Canada is provided
primarily by the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC), a regional climate
data information center located at the University of Victoria. It collaborates with
climate researchers and regional stakeholders and uses its results to support
long-term planning.
The data published by the PCIC on its website (PCIC Climate Explorer) use
global, standardized climate simulations under broadly standardized conditions
(CMIP5). Climate scenarios calculated daily have a resolution of about 10 kilo-
meters for the period from 1950 to 2100 (BCCAQv2). In addition, indices of cli-
mate extremes are calculated based on annual or monthly statistics (CLIMDEX),
which can be visualized and downloaded as maps or graphs. Long-term climate
change assessments are based on a standard reference period from 1961 to 1990.
(Thirty-year periods are a common climatological benchmark. The above period
was usually used as a reference when climate change was not yet regarded as
being particularly relevant, and the following period from 1991 to 2020 has not

Effects of climate change
41
ye
t been fully evaluated.) Changes in temperature values, precipitation, and
other derived climate values are calculated relative to the
reference period
for specific time horizons, for example the 2050s as the midpoint of the next
30-year period from 2040 to 2069, and for the 2080s for the British Columbia
region. In this context, mean values are indicated along with upper and lower
variations. The Plan2Adapt website also uses the PCIC database but to gen-
erate maps, charts, and data that describe future regional climate conditions
in British Columbia. Using these data, climate change can be assessed on
the same basis and with the same criteria. Its simpler user interface is geared
towards the needs of those working in local and regional community planning.
Based on this climate change impact modeling, the 2012 Climate Change Adap-
tation Strategy found that in the Vancouver area changes will remain moderate
through the 2050s, but will increase to have a major impact around the 2080s.
By the 2050s, the projections foresee an increase in temperatures, a 15 percent
longer growing season, and a 72 percent decrease in the number of frost days.
Snowmelt is also forecast to begin earlier in the year, and average rainfall in
April is projected to be 20 percent higher. In line with this trend, maximum tem-
peratures will be higher in summer and heat waves will occur more frequently.
The number of days with temperatures above 25 °C will double, resulting in,
among other things, greater health risks for vulnerable individuals. Because
rainfall is also predicted to decrease by 20 percent during the summer period,
water use restrictions can be expected in the longer term. In the fall, heavy rain-
fall events are predicted to occur 35 percent more frequently, and an overall
21 percent increase in rainfall is anticipated. Ultimately, this would increase the
risk of flooding.
Winters are forecast to be warmer and there will be a 58 percent decrease in
snow cover in the region. As most of the region’s drinking water comes from
snowmelt from the surrounding mountains, a decrease in snow depth—and
faster melting due to higher temperatures—indicate a significant increase in
the risk of summer droughts. Minimum temperatures will rise by 4.8 °C, reduc-
ing the need for heating by 29 percent. Higher tides and storms will increase
the degree of coastal flooding. As the West Antarctic Ice Sheet melts by an
estimated thickness of 0.5 meters, sea levels are predicted to rise for Vancou-
ver, further heightening the risk of flooding. This will affect not only residential
areas but also the sensitive coastal habitats of certain birds and fish.
The Climate Change Adaptation Strategy of 2012 is an example of how political
decisions are effectively implemented in a democracy with functioning institu-
tions. Since 2012, more than 50 actions have been initiated, including coastal
flood risk assessments, plans and pilot projects for adapting drainage strat

egies, an urban forest action plan, and tree planting in those urban areas most
affected by heat build-up.
Revised and expanded in 2018, the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy now
includes new measures, many of which will require the expertise and input
of landscape architects. Key aspects involve creating more climate-resilient
frameworks, including stormwater management and green infrastructure.

VANCOUVER 42
In terms of green and natural spaces, this means a shift towards a more pro-
active and less reactive approach when it comes to managing urban forest
resources as well as soil and water preservation. Coastal protection is a further
important aspect.
Just two years later, in 2020, the strategy measures were updated once again to
include additional projects to improve resilience to climate events. One exam-
ple is street renewal using permeable surfacing materials, underground water
retention and special tree planting initiatives. Already, 150,000 trees have been
planted since 2011, and this will be expanded for green and natural spaces.
The measures also include the implementation of a biodiversity strategy, pre-
cautionary actions to prevent forest fires in Stanley Park, a strategy for planting
street trees, as well as for promoting natural forest development.
For the False Creek area, which is particularly at risk, a new so-called coastal
design challenge, called Sea2City, is being initiated. Starting in 2021, the city will
work with citizens to develop a vision for the future in 2050, as well as a pathway
to achieving the goals, culminating in the
False Creek Coastal Adaptation Plan.
The results will then be incorpor
ated into the broader Vancouver Plan for 2050.
VANCOUVER—THE GREENEST CITY
In 2009, Vancouver City Council announced the ambitious goal to become the greenest city in the world by 2020. Two years later, the
Greenest City Action
Plan was put into effect. As a good vehicle for achieving climate goals, the pro-
gram also supports climate change adaptation efforts. For example, the plan aims to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent below 1990 levels, despite the population growing by more than 27 percent and the number of jobs increasing by more than 18 percent in the last 30 years. In construction, CO2 emissions are to fall 20 percent below 2007 levels, and all buildings con- structed after 2020 must be carbon neutral in operation. Since the residents of Vancouver spend nearly 90 percent of their time indoors, heating is an import- ant consideration for reducing emissions. With regard to generating electricity,
6
6

Progress notice for the
Greenest City
Action Plan 2018 posted on a notice
board at City Hall.
7 (opposite page)
Urban gardening in front of Vancouver
City Hall. The beds are allotted but the
gardens are open to everyone to visit
and enjoy.

43
93 percent of energy in British Columbia already comes from renewable sources,
and this sector will be expanded further, creating new jobs. Transportation and
mobility are also to become more environmentally friendly. This can be achieved
by building denser neighborhoods and creating a mix of housing, workplaces,
retail, and recreational facilities. Rather than building new roads, infrastructure
for pedestrians and cyclists as well as mass transit will be prioritized. The plan
includes numerous other goals that address various aspects contributing to a
“Green City”: minimizing waste, access to nature, clean water, increasing locally
produced food by 50 percent compared to 2010, clean air, a “green” economy,
and reducing the ecological footprint by 33 percent compared to 2006.
While the aim of creating the “greenest city” is both an attractive slogan and
a bold goal, the inclusion of such a wide range of goals under the “green” heading
can lead to the overall objective becoming all too vague. A “Green City” usually
implies improving the green infrastructure and its interplay with gray infra-
structure, as well as creating public access to these natural and semi-
natural
areas. Other aspects include reducing the high consumption of resources for new buildings, the provision of climate-compensating green spaces, especially in densely built-up urban areas, and the creation of relevant infrastructure for bicycle use.
1
7

VANCOUVER 44
8
Plan of the Olympic Village.
8
MILLENNIUM WATER OLYMPIC VILLAGE, FALSE CREEK
Sustainability played a central role in the Vancouver Organizing Committee’s
decision to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Games were intended not just
to be of economic benefit to the city but also to be socially and environmen-
tally responsible. An example of this approach, which remains a model for urban
planners and landscape architects today, is the specifications for the Olympic
Village in False Creek, which was designed to become a residential area after
the Games. At the time the planners specified that no drinking water should be
used to irrigate plants in the outdoor areas, only collected rainwater. The result
is a rainwater retention system fed by the outdoor areas and the architecture.
This means that rainwater from all the residential rooftops as well as all paved
surfaces is stored in large cisterns located beneath the underground garages.
The rainwater is used to feed water features in the outdoor areas such as ponds,
fountains, etc., for watering the plants and green areas, and for flushing toilets in
the apartments. Some buildings were also equipped with an enlarged roof area
similar to an inverted umbrella to collect additional water.
Engineers and planners had to consider seasonal variations in rainfall, especially
since much more rain occurs in the winter months (October to March) than in the
summer months (March to October). The system regulates use of the collected
rainwater so that when precipitation is frequent in winter, the cistern contents
are used predominantly for flushing toilets in the apartments, there being lit-
tle need to irrigate the plants or operate water features in the outdoor areas.
In summer, by contrast, water from the cisterns is used to irrigate planting in
the green areas and for the water features, and here the system forms a loop,
with most of the water returning to the cisterns. Circulating the water from the
cisterns keeps it oxygenated and maintains its good quality. Collecting rain

water from roof surfaces and outdoor areas for toilet flushing during periods of

45
MILLENNIUM WATER OLYMPIC VILLAGE
9–12
9–12

Top left: Interplay of intensively and
extensively greened roof areas with
gardens and amenity areas on the
roofs, which are staggered at different
heights.

Middle left: Entrance to the
underground car park with water
basin and sculptural artwork
(in 2009 soon after completion).

Middle right: Wide roof canopies and
symbols of the Olympic disciplines
(in 2009 soon after completion).

Below: The Creekside
Community Centre.

VANCOUVER 46
13, 14
Illuminated water features at night.15
The water basin at night with
sculptural artwork above the entrance
to the underground car park.
14
13
15

47
MILLENNIUM WATER OLYMPIC VILLAGE
16
Outdoor lounge areas alongside
the water pool in the green inner
courtyard. 17
Green courtyard with axial water pool,
fountain, and waterfall circulating
water from the cisterns. Trees grow
on the balconies of the upper floors
(in 2012).
17
16

VANCOUVER 48
ample rainfall reduces the demand for drinking water in the urban neighborhood
by 40 percent. This effectively halves the water demand compared with con-
ventional toilet flushing. In addition, each apartment was equipped with its own
water meter to display water consumption and encourage residents to use water
carefully.
In modern housing, toilet flushing consumes a significant proportion of a house-
hold’s water demand but is rarely called into question. At Millennium Water
Olympic Village, the city provides drinking water credits for every cubic meter
of rainwater collected. When rainfall is scarce, these credits can then be used
to water the green spaces in summer. This system works because, in contrast to
traditional urban neighborhoods, no drinking water is used for flushing toilets in
seasons with greater rainfall.
The Olympic Village has many green spaces that rely on irrigation during peri-
ods of low rainfall. To minimize the amount of water needed, an automatic irriga-
tion system is used, coupled with a weather station and sensors in the ground.
While the system can be configured to meet the respective needs of plants and
their soil conditions, it can also detect that beds do not need watering if rain-
fall has already sufficiently soaked the soil. This intelligent technology reduces
water consumption by nearly 50 percent compared to one programmed to water
at regular intervals.
Although significant parts of the innovative rainwater management system
in the Olympic Village are invisible to the outside world, such as the cisterns
beneath the underground garages, the “green” roofs for storing rainwater are
a visible piece of sustainability. They show how valuable rainwater—and water
in general—is as a resource, and how important it is to plan its use carefully and
economically. The Millennium Water Olympic Village can therefore serve as a
model for cities elsewhere and inspire them to make similar facilities for sus-
tainably using rainwater and drinking water a fundamental requirement for new
construction projects.
Alongside the requirement to conserve water, the City of Vancouver also stipu

lated that 50 percent of the roof areas be greened. The planners were initially
concerned because a lo
t of roofs are visible from many residential units.
When planted roofs are not well maintained and/or dry out, they are not always
seen as beneficial, since they can look unsightly. Through a combination of
intensive and extensive green roofs, the required 50 percent was ultimately
achieved. Landscape architects Durante Kreuk, who designed the outdoor areas
throughout the Olympic Village, created a range of sustainable, attractive, and
diverse open spaces. On some of the roofs, they created motifs of the
Olympic
disciplines using a
variety of plants (sedum species) that can be seen from
above and from taller buildings. Likewise, vegetation mats with drought-
tolerant
vegetation covered these extensively landscaped roof areas. Open spaces on the roofs as well as terraces and balconies were equipped with larger plants, and what’s more, the residents enlisted in the continued maintenance of these intensive green roof areas.

49
MILLENNIUM WATER OLYMPIC VILLAGE
Urban open spaces in built-up areas are often conceived as decorative green
spaces to complement the buildings. In that regard, planters, green roofs, and
terrace plantings are typical. Spaces around the buildings in the Vancouver
Olympic Village were developed specifically to provide outdoor recreation and
to promote the social dimension of sustainability. Designed for social interac-
tion, neighbors can get to know each other and develop a sense of community.
Also, indoor spaces open directly onto communal outdoor areas, and public areas
are interconnected horizontally and vertically. In one example, a courtyard on an
upper floor is connected to a garden on the ground floor via a waterfall. Outdoor
areas adjoining individual units are designed to provide residents with private
space outside while also enabling as many communal uses as possible. Many
public spaces have playgrounds, and each courtyard is equipped with a water
feature fed by rainwater from the cisterns. Ultimately, these neighborhood-

enhancing outdoor places and facilities complement communal spaces inside
the buildings, such as a community kitchen or a games and gymnastics room.
As Peter Kreuk, one of Durante Kreuk’s two partners, explains, the combination
of green roofs and stormwater management has long been standard practice.
What is new in this project is the synchronization of the building infrastructure
and the green infrastructure of the outdoor spaces. The goal was to circulate
and use rainwater to irrigate the green spaces, for toilet flushing, and rain gar-
dens. Kreuk is convinced that it is possible to incorporate sustainable systems
into aesthetically pleasing designs that also meet the environmental and social
needs of residents. Clearly, the high quality of the open spaces at the Olympic
Village is primarily a product of the landscape architects’ careful and skilled
planning. Their design ensures, for example, that plants are watered and con-
tinue to thrive in drought conditions. To this end, native and adaptable plant spe-
cies were selected—a necessary condition for the buildings’ LEED certification.
Land has also been set aside for urban agriculture in the new Olympic Village
development, particularly for schools, neighborhood centers, and interested
groups of residents. The fact that roof gardens are also used for gardening
is further evidence of the positive impact of the 50 percent green roof require-
ment. With a soil cover of about 45 centimeters, the roof gardens are suitable
for growing vegetables and other crops. Producing food in urban areas for per-
sonal consumption has multiple benefits. Firstly, people generally become more
aware of the importance of producing healthy food, and secondly, working in
community gardens can promote integration and social solidarity, in addition to
the economic effects.

VANCOUVER 50
GREEN ROOFS IN WEST VANCOUVER
In the suburb of West Vancouver is another notable example of a green roof as
a climate-resilient addition to buildings for human occupation. The private resi
dence sits on a hillside above the Strait of Georgia, the waterway that borders
the northwest edge of the city. Staggered on a slope, it comprises three sec- tions, each with an extensively greened roof. The planting helps the house blend in with the landscape of its surroundings, and the roofs, which slope between 1 and 7 degrees, together provide 180 square meters of greened surfaces.
18
19
18

Extensive roof greening of a private
house with sedum. 19
Green roof for a private house with a
broad selection of sedum species.

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service, because they are paid by him. In some cases the purchaser
unites himself with the seller to deceive the interpreter, while in
others the interpreter agrees with the thief and pretended seller to
put the victim into the hands of the purchaser. What precautions,
what scrutiny can avail, when we reflect, that the profound secrecy
of the prisons is equalled only by the strict precautions in carrying
the person on board?”
The man-stealers were trained for the purpose. They marked out
their victims, watched for days, and often weeks, endeavoured to
associate themselves with them, and beguile them into some place
where they might be easily secured. Or they pounced on them in the
fields or woods. They roved about in gangs during the night, and in
solitary places. None dare cry for help, or they were stabbed
instantly, even though it were before the door of the purchaser.
What hope indeed could there be for anybody, when the authorities
were in this diabolical league? and this was the custom of legalizing
a kidnapping: “A person calling himself an interpreter, repairs, at the
desire of one who says that he has bought a slave, to the secretary’s
office, accompanied by any native who, provided with a note from
the purchaser, gives himself out as the seller. For three rupees, a
certificate of sale in the usual form is immediately made out; three
rupees are paid to the notary; two rupees are put into the hands of
the interpreter; the whole transaction is concluded, and the
purchaser has thus become the owner of a free-born man, who is
very often stolen without his (the purchaser’s) concurrence; but
about this he does not trouble himself, for the victim is already
concealed where nobody can find him; nor can the transaction
become public, because there never were found more faithful
receivers than the slave-traders. It is a maxim with them, in their
own phrase, “never to betray their prison.” Both purchaser and seller
are often fictitious—the public officers being in league with the
interpreters. By such means it is obvious a stolen man is as easily
procured as if he were already pinioned at the door of his purchaser.
You have only to give a rupee to any one to say that he is the seller,
and plenty are ready to do that. Numbers maintain themselves on

such profits, and slaves are thus often bribed against their own
possessors. The victims are never examined, nor do the Dutch
concern themselves about the matter, so that at any time any
number of orders for transport may, if necessary, be prepared
before-hand with the utmost security.
“Let us,” continues the report, “represent to ourselves this one town
of Makásar, filled with prisons, the one more dismal than the other,
which are stuffed with hundreds of wretches, the victims of avarice
and tyranny, who, chained in fetters, and taken away from their
wives, children, parents, friends, and comforts, look to their future
destiny with despair.”
On the other hand, wives missing their husbands, children their
parents, parents their children, with their hearts filled with rage and
revenge, were running through the streets, if possible, to discover
where their relatives were concealed. It was in vain. They were
sometimes stabbed, if too troublesome in their inquiries; or led on
by false hopes of ransom, till they were themselves thrown into
debt, and easily made a prey of too. Such was the terror universally
existing in these islands when the English conquered them, that the
inhabitants did not dare to walk the streets, work in the fields, or go
on a journey, except in companies of five or six together, and well
armed.
Such were some of the practices of the Protestant Dutch. But their
sordid villany in gaining possession of places was just as great as
that in getting hold of people. Desirous of becoming masters of
Malacca, they bribed the Portuguese governor to betray it into their
hands. The bargain was struck, and he introduced the enemy into
the city in 1641. They hastened to his house, and massacred him, to
save the bribe of 500,000 livres—21,875l. of English money! The
Dutch commander then tauntingly asked the commander of the
Portuguese garrison, as he marched out, when he would come back
again to the place. The Portuguese gravely replied—“When your
crimes are greater than ours!”

Desirous of seizing on Cochin on the coast of Malabar, they had no
sooner invested it than the news of peace between Holland and
Portugal arrived; but they kept this secret till the place was taken,
and when reproached by the Portuguese with their base conduct,
they coolly replied—“Who did the same on the coast of Brazil?”
Like all designing people, they were as suspicious of evil as they
knew themselves capable of it. On first touching at the isle of
Madura, the prince intimated his wish to pay his respects to the
commander on board his vessel. It was assented to; but when the
Dutch saw the number of boats coming off, they became alarmed,
fired their cannon on the unsuspicious crowd, and then fell upon the
confounded throng with such fury that they killed the prince, and the
greater part of his followers.
Their manner of first gaining a footing in Batavia is thus recorded by
the Javan historians. “In the first place they wished to ascertain the
strength of Jákatra (the native town on the ruins of which Batavia
was built). They therefore landed like máta-mátas (peons or
messengers); the captain of the ship disguising himself with a
turban, and accompanying several Khójas, (natives of the
Coromandel coast.) When he had made his observations, he entered
upon trade; offering however much better terms than were just, and
making more presents than were necessary. A friendship thus took
place between him and the prince: when this was established, the
captain said that his ship was in want of repairs, and the prince
allowed the vessel to come up the river. There the captain knocked
out the planks of the bottom, and sunk the vessel, to obtain a
pretence for further delay, and then requested a very small piece of
ground on which to build a shed for the protection of the sails and
other property during the repair of the vessel. This being granted,
the captain raised a wall of mud, so that nobody could know what
he was doing, and continued to court the favour of the prince. He
soon requested as much more land as could be covered by a
buffalo’s hide, on which to build a small póndok. This being complied
with, he cut the hide into strips, and claimed all the land he could
inclose with them. He went on with his buildings, engaging to pay all

the expenses of raising them. When the fort was finished, he threw
down his mud wall, planted his cannon, and refused to pay a doit!”
But the whole history of the Dutch in Java is too long for our
purpose. It may be found in Sir Stamford Raffles’s two great quartos,
and it is one of the most extraordinary relations of treachery, bribery,
massacre and meanness. The slaughter of the Chinese traders there
is a fearful transaction. On pretence of conveying those who yielded
out of the country, they took them to sea, and threw them
overboard. On one occasion, they demanded the body of Surapáti—
a brave man, who rose from the rank of a slave to that of a chief,
and a very troublesome one to them—from the very grave. They
placed it upright in a chair, the commandant approached it, made his
obeisance, treated it as a living person, with an expression of ironical
mockery, and the officers followed his example. They then burnt the
body, mixed it with gun-powder, and fired a salute with it in honour
of the victory.
Such was their treatment of the natives, that the population of one
province, Banyuawngi, which in 1750 amounted to upwards of
80,000 souls, in 1811 was reduced to 8,000. It is no less
remarkable, says Sir Stamford Raffles, that while in all the capitals of
British India the population has increased, wherever the Dutch
influence has prevailed the work of depopulation has followed. In
the Moluccas the oppressions and the consequent depopulation was
monstrous. Whenever the natives have had the opportunity they
have fled from the provinces under their power to the native tracts.
With the following extract from Sir Stamford Raffles we will conclude
this dismal notice of the deeds of a European people, claiming to be
Christian, and what is more, Protestant and Reformed.
“Great demands were at all times made on the peasantry of Java for
the Dutch army. Confined in unhealthy garrisons, exposed to
unnecessary hardships and privations, extraordinary casualties took
place amongst them, and frequent new levies became necessary,
while the anticipation of danger and suffering produced an aversion
to the service, which was only aggravated by the subsequent

measures of cruelty and oppression. The conscripts raised in the
provinces were usually sent to the metropolis by water; and though
the distance be short between any two points of the island, a
mortality similar to that of a slave-ship in the middle passage took
place on board these receptacles of reluctant recruits. They were
generally confined in the stocks till their arrival at Batavia.... Besides
the supply of the army, one half of the male population of the
country was constantly held in readiness for other public services,
and thus a great portion of the effective hands were taken from their
families, and detained at a distance from home in labours which
broke their spirit and exhausted their strength. During the
administration of Marshal Daendals, it has been calculated that the
construction of public roads alone destroyed the lives of at least ten
thousand workmen. The transport of government stores, and the
capricious requisitions of government agents of all classes,
perpetually harassed, and frequently carried off numbers of the
people. If to these drains we add the waste of life occasioned by
insurrections which tyranny and impolicy excited in Chéribon; the
blighting effects of the coffee monopoly, and forced services in the
Priáng’en Regencies, and the still more desolating operations of the
policy pursued, and the consequent anarchy produced, in Bantam,
we shall have some idea of the depopulating causes which existed
under the Dutch administration.”

CHAPTER XV.
THE ENGLISH IN INDIA.—SYSTEM OF TERRITORIAL ACQUISITION.
“And Ahab came into his house, heavy and displeased, because of the word which Naboth
the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my
fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no
bread. But Jezebel his wife came to him and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad that
thou eatest no bread? And he said unto her, Because I spoke unto Naboth the Jezreelite,
and said unto him, give me thy vineyard for money; or else if it please thee, I will give thee
another vineyard for it; and he answered I will not give thee my vineyard.
“And Jezebel, his wife, said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise,
and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the
Jezreelite.
* * * * * * *
“And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab
king of Israel, which is in Samaria; behold he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is
gone down to possess it. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast
thou killed, and also taken possession?” 1 Kings xxi. 4–19.
The appearance of the Europeans in India, if the inhabitants could
have had the Bible put into their hands, and been told that that was
the law which these strangers professed to follow, must have been a
curious spectacle. They who professed to believe the commands that
they should not steal, covet their neighbour’s goods, kill, or injure—
must have been seen with wonder to be the most covetous,
murderous, and tyrannical of men. But if the natives could have read
the declaration of Christ—“By this shall men know that ye are my
disciples, that ye love one another,”—the wonder must have been
tenfold; for never did men exhibit such an intensity of hatred,
jealousy, and vengeance towards each other. Portuguese, Dutch,

French, English, and Danes, coming together, or one after the other,
fell on each other’s forts, factories, and ships with the most
vindictive fury. They attacked each other at sea or at land; they
propagated the most infamous characters of each other wherever
they came, in order to supersede each other in the good graces of
the people who had valuable trading stations, or were in possession
of gold or pearls, nutmegs or cinnamon, coffee, or cotton cloth.
They loved one another to that degree that they were ready to join
the natives any where in the most murderous attempts to massacre
and drive away each other. What must have seemed most
extraordinary of all, was the English expelling with rigour those of
their own countrymen who ventured there without the sanction of
the particular trading company which claimed a monopoly of Indian
commerce. The rancour and pertinacity with which Englishmen
attacked and expelled Englishmen, was even more violent than that
which they shewed to foreigners. The history of European intriguers,
especially of the Dutch, Portuguese, English, and French, in the East,
in which every species of cruelty and bad faith have been exhibited,
is one of the most melancholy and humiliating nature. Those of the
English and French did not cease till the very last peace. At every
outbreak of war between these nations in Europe, the forts and
factories and islands which had been again and again seized upon,
and again and again restored by treaties of peace in India, became
immediately the scene of fresh aggressions, bickerings, and
enormities. The hate which burnt in Europe was felt hotly, even to
that distance; and men of another climate, who had no real interest
in the question, and to whom Europe was but the name of a distant
region which had for generations sent out swarms of powerful
oppressors, were called upon to spill their blood and waste their
resources in these strange deeds of their tyrants. It is to be hoped
that the bulk of this evil is now past. In the peninsula of India, to
which I am intending in the following chapters to confine my
attention, the French now retain only the factories of
Chandernagore, Caricall, Mahee, and Pondicherry; the Portuguese
Goa, Damaun, and Diu; the Dutch, Serampore and Tranquebar;
while the English power had triumphed over the bulk of the

continent—over the vast regions of Bengal, Madras, Bombay, the
Deccan and the Carnatic—over a surface of upwards of five hundred
thousand square miles, and a population of nearly a hundred
millions of people! These states are either directly and avowedly in
British possession, or are as entirely so under the name of allies. We
may well, therefore, leave the history of the squabbles and contests
of the European Christians with each other for this enormous power,
disgraceful as that history is to the name of Christianity—to inquire
how we, whose ascendency has so wonderfully prevailed there, have
gained this dominion and how we have used it.
When Europe sought your subject-realms to gain,
And stretched her giant sceptre o’er the main,
Taught her proud barks the winding way to shape,
And braved the stormy spirit of the Cape;
Children of Brama! then was Mercy nigh,
To wash the stain of blood’s eternal dye?
Did Peace descend to triumph and to save,
When free-born Britons crossed the Indian wave?
Ah no!—to more than Rome’s ambition true,
The muse of Freedom gave it not to you!
She the bold route of Europe’s guilt began,
And, in the march of nations, led the van!
Pleasures of Hope.
We are here to witness a new scene of conquest. The Indian natives
were too powerful and populous to permit the Europeans to march
at once into the heart of their territories, as they had done into
South America, to massacre the people, or to subject them to
instant slavery and death. The old inhabitants of the empire, the
Hindoos, were indeed, in general, a comparatively feeble and gentle
race, but there were numerous and striking exceptions; the
mountaineers were, as mountaineers in other countries, of a hardy,
active, and martial character. The Mahrattas, the Rohillas, the Seiks,
the Rajpoots, and others, were fierce and formidable tribes. But
besides this, the ruling princes of the country, whether Moguls or
Hindoos, had for centuries maintained their sway by the same power
by which they had gained it, that of arms. They could bring into the
field immense bodies of troops, which though found eventually

unable to compete with European power and discipline, were too
formidable to be rashly attacked, and have cost oceans of blood and
treasure finally to reduce them to subjection. Moreover, the odium
which the Spaniards and Portuguese had everywhere excited by
their unceremonious atrocities, may be supposed to have had their
effect on the English, who are a reflecting people; and it is to be
hoped also that the progress of sound policy and of Christian
knowledge, however slow, may be taken into the account in some
degree. They went out too under different circumstances—not as
mere adventurers, but as sober traders, aiming at establishing a
permanent and enriching commerce with these countries; and if
Christianity, if the laws of justice and of humanity were to be
violated, it must be under a guise of policy, and a form of law.
We shall not enter into a minute notice of the earliest proceedings of
the English in India, because for upwards of a century from the
formation of their first trading association, those proceedings are
comparatively insignificant. During that period Bombay had been
ceded as part of a marriage-portion by the Portuguese to Charles II.;
factories had been established at Surat, Madras, Masulipatam,
Visigapatam, Calcutta, and other places; but it was not till the
different chartered companies were consolidated into one grand
company in 1708, styled “The United Company of Merchants trading
to the East Indies,” that the English affairs in the east assumed an
imposing aspect. From that period the East India Company
commenced that career of steady grasping at dominion over the
Indian territories, which has never been relaxed for a moment, but,
while it has for ever worn the grave air of moderation, and has
assumed the language of right, has gone on adding field to field and
house to house—swallowing up state after state, and prince after
prince, till it has finally found itself the sovereign of this vast and
splendid empire, as it would fain persuade itself and the world, by
the clearest claims, and the most undoubted justice. By the laws and
principles of modern policy, it may be so; but by the eternal
principles of Christianity, there never was a more thorough repetition
of the hankering after Naboth’s vineyards, of the “slaying and taking

possession” exhibited to the world. It is true that, as the panegyrists
of our Indian policy contend, it may be the design of Providence that
the swarming millions of Indostan should be placed under our care,
that they may enjoy the blessings of English rule, and of English
knowledge: but Providence had no need that we should violate all
his most righteous injunctions to enable him to bring about his
designs. Providence, the Scriptures tell us, intended that Jacob
should supersede Esau in the heritage of Israel: but Providence had
no need of the deception which Rebecca and Jacob practised,—had
no need of the mess of pottage and the kid-skins, to enable Him to
effect his object. We are much too ready to run the wilful career of
our own lusts and passions, and lay the charge at the door of
Providence. It is true that English dominion is, or will become, far
better to the Hindoos than that of the cruel and exacting Moguls;
but who made us the judge and the ruler over these people? If the
real object of our policy and exertions in India has been the
achievement of wealth and power, as it undoubtedly has, it is pitiful
and hypocritical to endeavour to clothe it with the pretence of
working the will of Providence, and seeking the good of the natives.
We shall soon see which objects have been most zealously and
undeviatingly pursued, and by what means. If our desires have
been, not to enrich and aggrandize ourselves, but to benefit the
people and rescue them from the tyranny of bad rulers, heaven
knows what wide realms are yet open to our benevolent exertions;
what despots there are to pull down; what miserable millions to
relieve from their oppressions;—and when we behold Englishmen
levelling their vengeance against such tyrants, and visiting such
unhappy people with their protective power, where neither gold nor
precious merchandise are to be won at the same time, we may
safely give the amplest credence and the profoundest admiration to
their claims of disinterested philanthropy. If they present themselves
as the champions of freedom, and the apostles of social
amelioration, we shall soon have opportunities of asking how far
they have maintained these characters.

Mr. Auber, in his “History of the British Power in India,” has quoted
largely from letters of the Board of Directors of the Company,
passages to shew how sincerely the representatives of the East India
Company at home have desired to arrest encroachment on the rights
of the natives; to avoid oppressive exactions; to resist the spirit of
military and political aggression. They have from year to year
proclaimed their wishes for the comfort of the people; they have
disclaimed all lust of territorial acquisition; have declared that they
were a mercantile, rather than a political body; and have rebuked
the thirst of conquest in their agents, and endeavoured to restrain
the avidity of extortion in them. Seen in Mr. Auber’s pages, the
Directors present themselves as a body of grave and honorable
merchants, full of the most admirable spirit of moderation, integrity,
and benevolence; and we may give them the utmost credit for
sincerity in their professions and desires. But unfortunately, we all
know what human nature is. Unfortunately the power, the wealth,
and the patronage brought home to them by the very violation of
their own wishes and maxims were of such an overwhelming and
seducing nature, that it was in vain to resist them. Nay, in such
colours does the modern philosophy of conquest and diplomacy
disguise the worst transactions between one state and another, that
it is not for plain men very readily to penetrate to the naked
enormity beneath. When all the world was applauding the success of
Indian affairs,—the extension of territory, the ability of their
governors, the valour of their troops; and when they felt the
flattering growth of their greatness, it required qualities far higher
than mere mercantile probity and good intentions, to enable them to
strip away the false glitter of their official transactions, and sternly
assure themselves of the unholiness of their nature. We may
therefore concede to the Directors of the East India Company, and
to their governors and officers in general, the very best intentions,
knowing as we do, the force of influences such as we have already
alluded to, and the force also of modern diplomatic and military
education, by which a policy and practices of the most dismal
character become gradually to be regarded not merely
unexceptionable, but highly honorable. We may allow all this, and

yet pronounce the mode by which the East India Company has
possessed itself of Hindostan, as the most revolting and unchristian
that can possibly be conceived. The most masterly policy, regarded
independent of its morale, and a valour more than Roman have been
exhibited by our governors-generals and armies on the plains of
Hindostan: but if there ever was one system more Machiavelian—
more appropriative of the shew of justice where the basest injustice
was attempted—more cold, cruel, haughty and unrelenting than
another,—it is the system by which the government of the different
states of India has been wrested from the hands of their respective
princes and collected into the grasp of the British power. Incalculable
gainers as we have been by this system, it is impossible to review it
without feelings of the most poignant shame and the highest
indignation. Whenever we talk to other nations of British faith and
integrity, they may well point to India in derisive scorn. The system
which, for more than a century, was steadily at work to strip the
native princes of their dominions, and that too under the most
sacred pleas of right and expediency, is a system of torture more
exquisite than regal or spiritual tyranny ever before discovered; such
as the world has nothing similar to shew.
Spite of the repeated instructions sent out by the Court of Directors
to their servants in India, to avoid territorial acquisitions, and to
cultivate only honest and honorable commerce; there is evidence
that from the earliest period the desire of conquest was entertained,
and was, spite of better desires, always too welcome to be
abandoned. In the instructions forwarded in 1689, the Directors
expounded themselves in the following words: “The increase of our
revenue is the subject of our care, as much as our trade:—’tis that
must maintain our force when twenty accidents may interrupt our
trade;—’tis that must make us a nation in India. Without that, we
are but as a great number of interlopers, united by his Majesty’s
royal charter, fit only to trade where nobody of power thinks fit only
to prevent us; and upon this account it is that the wise Dutch, in all
their general advices which we have seen, write ten paragraphs
concerning their government, their civil and military policy, warfare,

and the increase of their revenue, for one paragraph they write
concerning trade.”
13
Spite of all pretences to the contrary—spite of all advices and
exhortations from the government at home of a more unambitious
character, this was the spirit that never ceased to actuate the
Company, and was so clearly felt to be it, that its highest servants, in
the face of more peaceful injunctions, and in the face of the Act of
Parliament strictly prohibiting territorial extension, went on
perpetually to add conquest to conquest, under the shew of
necessity or civil treaty; and they who offended most against the
letter of the law, gratified most entirely the spirit of the company
and the nation. Who have been looked upon as so eminently the
benefactors and honourers of the nation by Indian acquisition as
Lord Clive, Warren Hastings, and the Marquess Wellesley? It is for
the determined and successful opposition to the ostensible principles
and annually reiterated advices of the Company, that that very
Company has heaped wealth and distinctions upon these and other
persons, and for which it has just recently voted an additional
pension to the latter nobleman.
What then is this system of torture by which the possessions of the
Indian princes have been wrung from them? It is this—the skilful
application of the process by which cunning men create debtors, and
then force them at once to submit to their most exorbitant demands.
From the moment that the English felt that they had the power in
India to “divide and conquer,” they adopted the plan of doing it
rather by plausible manœuvres than by a bold avowal of their
designs, and a more honest plea of the right of conquest—the
ancient doctrine of the strong, which they began to perceive was not
quite so much in esteem as formerly. Had they said at once, these
Mahomedan princes are arbitrary, cruel, and perfidious—we will
depose them, and assume the government ourselves—we pretend to
no other authority for our act than our ability to do it, and no other
excuse for our conduct than our determination to redress the evils of
the people: that would have been a candid behaviour. It would have

been so far in accordance with the ancient doctrine of nations that
little would have been thought of it; and though as Christians we
could not have applauded the “doing evil that good might come of
it,” yet had the promised benefit to more than eighty millions of
people followed, that glorious penance would have gone far in the
most scrupulous mind to have justified the crime of usurpation. But
the mischief has been, that while the exactions and extortions on
the people have been continued, and in many cases exaggerated,
the means of usurpation have been those glozing and hypocritical
arts, which are more dangerous from their subtlety than naked
violence, and more detestable because wearing the face, and using
the language, of friendship and justice. A fatal friendship, indeed,
has that of the English been to all those princes that were allured by
it. It has pulled them every one from their thrones, or has left them
there the contemptible puppets of a power that works its arbitrary
will through them. But friendship or enmity, the result has been
eventually the same to them. If they resisted alliance with the
encroaching English, they were soon charged with evil intentions,
fallen upon, and conquered; if they acquiesced in the proffered
alliance, they soon became ensnared in those webs of diplomacy
from which they never escaped, without the loss of all honour and
hereditary dominion—of every thing, indeed, but the lot of prisoners
where they had been kings. The first step in the English friendship
with the native princes, has generally been to assist them against
their neighbours with troops, or to locate troops with them to
protect them from aggression. For these services such enormous
recompense was stipulated for, that the unwary princes, entrapped
by their fears of their native foes rather than of their pretended
friends, soon found that they were utterly unable to discharge them.
Dreadful exactions were made on their subjects, but in vain. Whole
provinces, or the revenues of them, were soon obliged to be made
over to their grasping friends; but they did not suffice for their
demands. In order to pay them their debts or their interest, the
princes were obliged to borrow large sums at an extravagant rate.
These sums were eagerly advanced by the English in their private
and individual capacities, and securities again taken on lands or

revenues. At every step the unhappy princes became more and
more embarrassed, and as the embarrassment increased, the claims
of the Company became proportionably pressing. In the technical
phraseology of money-lenders, “the screw was then turned,” till
there was no longer any enduring it. The unfortunate princes felt
themselves, instead of being relieved by their artful friends, actually
introduced by them into
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can never dwell; hope never comes
That comes to all; but torture without end
Still urges.
To escape it, there became no alternative but to throw themselves
entirely upon the mercy of their inexorable creditors, or to break out
into armed resistance. In the one case they found themselves
speedily stripped of every vestige of their power—their revenues and
management of their territories given over to these creditors, which
still never were enough to liquidate their monstrous and growing
demands; so that the next proposition was that they should entirely
cede their territories, and become pensioners on their usurpers. In
the other case, they were at once declared perfidious and swindling,
—no faith was to be kept with them,—they were assaulted by the
irresistible arms of their oppressors, and inevitably destroyed or
deposed.
If they sought aid from another state, that became a fortunate plea
to attack that state too; and the English were not contented to
chastise the state thus aiding its ancient neighbour, it was deemed
quite sufficient ground to seize and subjugate it also. There was no
province that was for a moment safe from this most convenient
system of policy, which feared public opinion sufficiently to seek
arguments to make a case before it, but resolved still to seize, by
hook or by crook, all that it coveted. It did not suffice that a province
merely refused an alliance, if the proper time was deemed to be
arrived for its seizure—some plea of danger or suspicion was set up
against it. It was called good policy not to wait for attack, but to
charge it with hostile designs, though not a hostile indication was

given—it was assailed with all the forces in the empire. Those
princes that were once subjected to the British power or the British
friendship, were set up or pulled down just as it suited their
pleasure. If necessary, the most odious stigmas were fixed on them
to get rid of them—they were declared weak, dissolute, or
illegitimate. If a prince or princess was suspected of having wealth,
some villainous scheme was hatched to plunder him or her of it. For
more than a century this shocking system was in operation, every
day growing more daring in its action, and more wide in its extent.
Power both gave security and augmented audacity—for every British
subject who was not belonging to the Company, and therefore
interested in its operations, was rigidly excluded from the country,
and none could therefore complain of the evil deeds that were there
done under the sun. It is almost incredible that so abominable an
influence could be for a century exercised over a great realm, by
British subjects, many of whom were in all other respects worthy
and most honourable men; and, what is more, that it could be
sanctioned by the British parliament, and admired by the British
nation. But we have yet the proofs to adduce, and unfortunately
they are only too abundant and conclusive. Let us see them.
We will for the present pass the operations of Clive in the Carnatic at
once to destroy the French influence there, and to set up Mahomet
Ali, a creature of the English. We shall anon see the result of that:
we will observe in the first place the manner of obtaining Bengal, as
it became the head of the English empire in India, and the centre of
all future transactions.
In 1756, Suraja Dowla, the Subahdar of Bengal, demanded an
officer belonging to him who, according to the custom amongst the
colonists there, had taken refuge at Calcutta. The English refused to
give him up. The Subahdar attacked and took the place. One
hundred and forty-six of the English fell into the conqueror’s hands,
and were shut up for the night in the celebrated Black-hole, whence
only twenty-three were taken out alive in the morning. It may be
said in vindication of the Subahdar, that the act of immuring these
unfortunate people in this horrible den was not his, but that of the

guards to whom they were entrusted for the night, and who put
them there as in a place of the greatest security; and it may be
added, not to the credit of the English, that this very black-hole was
the English prison, where they were in the habit of confining their
prisoners. As Mr. Mills very justly asks—“What had they to do with a
black-hole? Had no black-hole existed, as none ought to exist
anywhere, least of all in the sultry and unwholesome climate of
Bengal, those who perished in the black-hole of Calcutta would have
experienced a different fate.”
On the news of the capture of Calcutta arriving at Madras, a body of
troops was dispatched under Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive, for
its recovery; which was soon effected, and Hoogly, a considerable
city about twenty-three miles further up the river, was also attacked
and reduced. A treaty was now entered into with Suraja Dowla, the
Subahdar, which was not of long continuance; for, lest the Subahdar,
who was not at bottom friendly to the English, as he had in reality
no cause, should form an alliance with the French at Chandernagore,
they resolved to depose him! This bold and unwarrantable scheme
of deposing a prince in his own undoubted territories, and that by
mere strangers and traders on the coast, is the beginning of that
extraordinary and unexampled assumption which has always marked
the conduct of the English in India. Scarcely had they entered into
the treaty with this Subahdar than they resolved to depose him
because he would protect the French, who were also permitted to
hold a factory in his territory as well as they. This audacious scheme
was Clive’s. Admiral Watson, on the contrary, declared it an
extraordinary thing to depose a man they had so lately made a
solemn treaty with. But Clive, as he afterwards avowed, when
examined before the House of Commons, declared that “they must
now go further; they could not stop there. Having established
themselves by force and not by consent of the Nabob, he would
endeavour to drive them out again.” This is the robber’s doctrine;—
having committed one outrage, a second, or a series of outrages
must be committed, to prevent punishment, and secure the booty.
But having once entertained the idea of pulling the Subahdar from

his throne, they did not scruple to add treason and rebellion to the
crime of invading the rights of the sovereign. They began by
debauching his own officers. They found out one Meer Jaffier Khan,
a man of known traitorous mind, who had been paymaster-general
under the former Subahdar, and yet retained great power in the
army. This wretch, on condition of being placed on the throne,
agreed to betray his master, and seduce as many of the influential of
his officers as possible. The terms of this diabolical confederacy
between this base traitor and the baser Christian English, as they
stand in the first parliamentary report on Indian affairs, and as
related by Orme in his History of India (ii. 153), and by Mills (ii.
110), are very instructive.
The English had got an idea which wonderfully sharpened their
desire to depose Suraja Dowla, that he had an enormous treasure.
The committee (of the council of Calcutta) really believed, says Mr.
Orme, the wealth of Suraja Dowla much greater than it possibly
could be, even if the whole life of the late Nabob Aliverdi had not
been spent in defending his dominions against the invasions of
ruinous enemies; and even if Suraja Dowla had reigned many,
instead of one year. They resolved, accordingly, not to be sparing in
their commands; and the situation of Meer Jaffier, and the manners
and customs of the country, made him ready to promise whatever
they desired. In the name of compensation for losses by the capture
of Calcutta, 10,000,000 rupees were promised to the English
Company; 5,000,000 rupees to English inhabitants; 2,000,000 to the
Indians, and 700,000 to the Armenian merchants. These sums were
specified in the formal treaty. Besides this, the Committee resolved
to ask 2,500,000 rupees for the squadron, and the same amount for
the army. “When this was settled,” says Lord Clive, “Mr. Becher (a
member) suggested to the committee, that he thought that
committee, who managed the great machine of government, was
entitled to some consideration, as well as the army and navy.” Such
a proposition in such an assembly could not fail to appear eminently
reasonable. It met with a suitable approbation. Mr. Becher informs
us, that the sums received were 280,000 rupees by Mr. Drake the

governor; 280,000 by Col. Clive; and 240,000 each by himself, Mr.
Watts, and Major Kilpatrick, the inferior members of the committee.
The terms obtained by favour of the Company were, that all the
French factories and effects should be given up; that the French
should be for ever excluded from Bengal; that the territory
surrounding Calcutta to the distance of 600 yards beyond the
Mahratta ditch, and all the land lying south of Calcutta as far as
Culpee, should be granted them on Zemindary tenure, the Company
paying the rent in the same manner as the other Zemindars.
Thus did these Englishmen bargain with a traitor to betray his prince
and country,—the traitor, for the bribe of being himself made prince,
not merely sell his master, but give two millions three hundred and
ninety-eight thousand pounds sterling,
14
with valuable privileges and
property of the state,—while these dealers in treason and rebellion
pocketed each, from two hundred and forty to two hundred and
eighty thousand pounds sterling! A more infamous transaction is not
on record.
To carry this wicked conspiracy into effect, the English took the field
against their victim Suraja Dowla; and Meer Jaffier, the traitor, in the
midst of of the engagement moved off, and went over to the English
with his troops—thus determining the fate of a great kingdom, and
of thirty millions of people, with the loss of twenty Europeans killed
and wounded, of sixteen Sepoys killed, and only thirty-six wounded.
The unfortunate prince was soon afterwards seized and assassinated
by the son of this traitor Meer Jaffier. The vices and inefficiency of
this bad man soon compelled the English to pull him down from the
throne into which they had so criminally raised him. They then set
up in his stead his son-in-law, Meer Causim. This man for a time
served their purpose, by the activity with which he raised money to
pay their claims upon him. He resorted to every species of cruelty
and injustice to extort the necessary funds from his unfortunate
subjects. But about three years, nearly the same period as their
former puppet-nabob had reigned, sufficed to weary them of him.
He was rigorous enough to raise money to pay them, but he was not

tool enough, when that was done, to humour every scheme of
rapacity which they dictated to him. They complained of his not
allowing their goods to pass duty-free through his territories; he
therefore abolished all duties, and thus laid open the trade to
everybody. This enraged them, and they determined to depose him.
Meer Causim, however, was not so readily dismissed as Meer Jaffier
had been. He resisted vigorously; massacred such of their troops as
fell into his hands, and fleeing into Oude, brought them into war
with its nabob. What is most remarkable, they again set up old Meer
Jaffier, whom they had before deposed for his crimes and his
imbecility. But probably, from their experience of Meer Causim, they
now preferred an easy tool to one with more self-will. In their treaty
with him they made a claim upon him for ten lacs of rupees; which
demand speedily grew to twenty, thirty, forty, and finally to fifty-
three lacs of rupees. All delicacy was laid aside in soliciting the
payment, and one half of it was soon extorted from him. The
Subahdar, in fact, was now become the merest puppet in their
hands. They were the real lords of Bengal, and in direct receipt of
more than half the revenues. Within less than ten years from the
disgraceful bargain with the traitor Meer Jaffier, they had made
Bengal their own, though they still hesitated to avow themselves as
its sovereigns; they had got possession of Benares; they had
acquired that power over the Nabob of Oude, in consequence of the
successful war brought upon him by his alliance with the deposed
nabob Meer Causim, that would at any time make them entirely his
masters; the Mogul himself was ready and anxious to obtain their
friendship; they were, in short, become the far greatest power in
India.
Here then is an opening instance of the means by which we acquired
our territories in India; and the language of Lord Clive, when he
returned thither as governor of Bengal in 1765, may shew what
other scenes were likely to ensue. “We have at last arrived at that
critical period which I have long foreseen; I mean that period which
renders it necessary for us to determine whether we can or shall
take the whole to ourselves. Jaffier Ali Khan is dead. His natural son

is a minor; but I know not whether he is yet declared successor.
Sujah Dowla is beat from his dominions. We are in possession of it;
and it is scarcely hyperbole to say—to-morrow the whole Mogul
empire is in our power. The inhabitants of the country, we know by
long experience, have no attachment to any obligation. Their forces
are neither disciplined, commanded, nor paid like ours. Can it then
be doubtful that a large army of Europeans will effectually preserve
us sovereigns?”
The scene of aggression and aggrandizement here indicated, soon
grew so wide and busy, that it would far exceed the whole space of
this volume to trace even rapidly its great outlines. The Great Mogul,
the territories of Oude and Arcot, Mysore, Travancore, Benares,
Tanjore, the Mahrattas, the whole peninsula in fact, speedily felt the
effect of these views, in diplomatic or military subjection. We can
point out no fortunate exception, and must therefore content
ourselves with briefly touching upon some of the more prominent
cases.
The first thing that deserves attention, is the treatment of the Mogul
himself. This is the statement of it by the French historian: “The
Mogul having been driven out of Delhi by the Pattans, by whom his
son had been set up in his room, was wandering from one province
to another in search of a place of refuge in his own territories, and
requesting succour from his own vassals, but without success.
Abandoned by his subjects, betrayed by his allies, without support
and without an army, he was allured by the power of the English,
and implored their protection. They promised to conduct him to
Delhi, and re-establish him on his throne; but they insisted that he
should previously cede to them the absolute sovereignty over
Bengal. This cession was made by an authentic act, attended by all
the formalities usually practised throughout the Mogul empire. The
English, possessed of this title, which was to give a kind of
legitimacy to their usurpation, at least in the eyes of the vulgar, soon
forgot the promises they had made. They gave the Mogul to
understand, that particular circumstances would not suffer them to
be concerned in such an enterprise; but some better opportunity

was to be hoped for; and to make up for his losses, they assigned
him a pension of six millions of rupees, (262,500l.), with the revenue
of Allahabad, and Sha Ichanabad, or Delhi, upon which that
unfortunate prince was reduced to subsist himself, in one of the
principal towns of Benares, where he had taken up his residence.”—
Raynal.
Hastings, in fact, made it a reason for depriving him again even of
this pension, that he had sought the aid of the Mahrattas, to do that
which he had vainly hoped from the English—to restore him to his
throne. This is Mills’s relation of this fact, founded on the fifth
Parliamentary Report.—“Upon receiving from him the grant of the
duannee, or the receipt and management of the revenues of Bengal,
Bahar, and Orissa, it was agreed that, as the royal share of these
revenues, twenty-six lacs of rupees should be annually paid to him
by the Company. His having accepted of the assistance of the
Mahrattas to place him on the throne of his ancestors, was now
made use of as a reason for telling him, that the tribute of these
provinces should be paid to him no more. Of the honour, or the
discredit, however, of this transaction, the principal share belongs
not to the governor, but to the Directors themselves; who, in their
letter to Bengal, of the 11th of November 1768, had said, ‘If the
emperor flings himself into the hands of the Mahrattas, or any other
power, we are disengaged from him, and it may open a fair
opportunity of withholding the twenty-six lacs we now pay him.’”
Upon the whole, indeed, of the measure dealt out to this unhappy
sovereign,—depriving him of the territories of Corah and Allahabad;
depriving him of the tribute which was due to him from these
provinces of his which they possessed—the Directors bestowed
unqualified approbation; and though they condemned the use which
had been made of their troops in subduing the country of the
Rohillas, they frankly declare, “We, upon the maturest deliberation,
confirm the treaty of Benares.” “Thus,” adds Mills, “they had
plundered the unhappy emperor of twenty-six lacs per annum, and
the two provinces of Corah and Allahabad, which they had sold to
the Vizir for fifty lacs of rupees, on the plea that he had forfeited

them by his alliance with the Mahrattas;” though he was not free, if
one party would not assist him to regain his rights, to seek that
assistance from another.
Passing over the crooked policy of the English, in seizing upon the
isles of Salsette and Bassein, near Bombay, and treating for them
afterwards, and all the perfidies of the war for the restoration of
Ragabah, the Peshwa of the Mahrattas, the fate of the Nabob of
Arcot, one of their earliest allies, is deserving of particular notice, as
strikingly exemplifying their policy. They began by obtaining a grant
of land in 1750, surrounding Madras. They then were only too happy
to assist the Nabob against the French. For these military aids, in
which Clive distinguished himself, the English took good care to
stipulate for their usually monstrous payments. Mahomed Ali, the
nabob, soon found that he was unable to satisfy the demands of his
allies. They urged upon him the maintenance of large bodies of
troops for the defence of his territories against these French and
other enemies. This threw him still more inextricably into debt, and
therefore more inextricably into their power. He became an
unresisting tool in their hands. In his name the most savage
exactions were practised on his subjects. The whole revenues of his
kingdom, however, proved totally inadequate to the perpetually
accumulating demands upon them. He borrowed money where he
could, and at whatever interest, of the English themselves. When
this interest could not be paid, he made over to them, under the
name of tuncaus, the revenues of some portion of his domains.
These assignments directly decreasing his resources, only raised the
demands of his other creditors more violently, and the fleecing of his
subjects became more and more dreadful. In this situation, he
began to cast his eyes on the neighbouring states, and to incite his
allies, by the assertion of various claims upon them, to join him in
falling upon them, and thus to give him an opportunity of paying
them. This exactly suited their views. It gave them a prospect of
money, and of conquest too, under the plausible colour of assisting
their ally in urging his just claims. They first joined him in falling on
the Rajah of Tanjore, whom the Nabob claimed as a tributary, and

indebted to him in a large amount of revenue. The Rajah was soon
reduced to submission, and agreed to pay thirty lacs and fifty
thousand rupees, and to aid the Nabob in all his wars. Scarcely,
however, was this treaty signed, than they repented of it; thought
they had not got enough; hoped the Rajah would not be exact to a
day in his payment, in which case they would fall on him again for
breach of treaty. It so happened;—they rushed out of their camp,
seized on part of Vellum, and the districts of Coiladdy and Elangad,
to the retention of which the poor Rajah was obliged to submit.
This affair being so fortunately adjusted, the Nabob called on his
willing allies to attack the Marawars. They too, he said, owed him
money; and money was what the English were always in want of.
They readily assented, though they declared that they believed the
Nabob to have no real claim on the Marawars whatever. But then,
they said, the Nabob has made them his enemies, and it is
necessary for his security that they should be reduced. They did not
pretend it was just—but then, it was politic. The particulars of this
war are barbarous and disgraceful to the English. The Nabob thirsted
for the destruction of these states: he and his Christian-allies soon
reduced Ramnadaporam, the capital of the great Marawar, seized the
Polygar, a minor of twelve years old, his mother, and the Duan; they
came suddenly upon the Polygar of the lesser Marawar while he was
trusting to a treaty just made, and killed him; and pursued the
inhabitants of the country with severities that can only be
represented by the language of one of the English officers addressed
to the Council. Speaking of the animosity of the people against
them, and their attacking the baggage, he says, “I can only
determine it by reprisals, which will oblige me to plunder and burn
the villages; kill every man in them; and take prisoners the women
and children. These are actions which the nature of this war will
require.”
15
Such were the unholy deeds into which the Nabob and the great
scheme of acquisition of territory had led our countrymen in 1773;
but this was only the beginning of these affairs. This bloody

campaign ended, and large sums of money levied, the Nabob
proposed another war on the Rajah of Tanjore! There was not the
remotest plea of injury from the Rajah, or breach of treaty. He had
paid the enormous sum demanded of him before, by active levies on
his subjects, and by mortgaging lands and jewels; but the Nabob
had now made him a very dangerous enemy—he might ally himself
with Hyder Ali, or the French, or some power or other—therefore it
was better that he should be utterly destroyed, and his country put
into the power of the Nabob! “Never,” exclaims Mr. Mills, “I suppose,
was the resolution taken to make war upon a lawful sovereign, with
the view of reducing him entirely, that is, stripping him of his
dominions, and either putting him and his family to death, or making
them prisoners for life, upon a more accommodating reason! We
have done the Rajah great injury—we have no intention of doing
him right—this is a sufficient reason for going on to his destruction.”
But it was not only thought, but done; and this was the bargain: The
Nabob was to advance money and all due necessaries for the war,
and to pay 10,000 instead of 7,000 sepoys. The unhappy Rajah was
speedily defeated, and taken prisoner with his family; and his
country put into the hands of his mortal enemy. There were men of
honour and virtue enough amongst the Directors at home, however,
to feel a proper disgust, or at least, regard for public opinion, at
these unprincipled proceedings, and the Rajah, through the means
of Lord Paget was restored, not however without having a certain
quantity of troops quartered upon him; a yearly payment of four lacs
of pagodas imposed; and being bound not to make any treaty or
assist any power without the consent of the English. He was, in fact,
put into the first stage of that process of subjection which would, in
due time, remove from him even the shadow of independence.
Such were the measures by which the Nabob of Arcot endeavoured
to relieve himself from his embarrassments with the English; but
they would not all avail. Their demands grew faster than he could
find means to satisfy them. Their system of action was too well
devised to fail them; their victims rarely escaped from their toils: he
might help them to ruin his neighbours, but he could not escape

them himself. During his life he was surrounded by a host of
cormorant creditors; his country, harassed by perpetual exactions,
rapidly declined; and the death of his son and successor, Omdut ul
Omrah, in 1801, produced one of the strangest scenes in this
strange history. The Marquis Wellesley was then Governor-general,
and, pursuing that sweeping course which stripped away the
hypocritical mask from British power in India, threw down so many
puppet princes, and displayed the English dominion in Indostan in its
gigantic nakedness. The revenues of the Carnatic had been before
taken in the hands of the English, but Lord Wellesley resolved to
depose the prince; and the manner in which this deposition was
effected, was singularly despotic and unfeeling. They had come to
the resolution to depose the Nabob, and only looked about for some
plausible pretence. This they professed to have found in a
correspondence which, by the death of Tippoo Saib, had fallen into
their hands—a correspondence between Tippoo and some officers of
the Nabob. They alleged, that this correspondence contained
injurious and even treasonable language towards the English. When,
therefore, the Nabob lay on his death-bed they surrounded his
house with troops, and immediately that the breath had departed
from him they demanded to see his will. This rude and unfeeling
behaviour, so repugnant to the ideas of every people, however
savage and brutal, at a moment so solemn and sacred to domestic
sorrow, was respectfully protested against—but in vain. The will they
insisted upon seeing, and it accordingly was put into their hands by
the son of the Nabob, now about to mount the throne himself.
Finding that the son was nominated as his heir and successor by the
Nabob, the Commissioners immediately announced to him the
charge of treason against his father, and that the throne was thereby
forfeited by the family. This charge, of course, was a matter of
surprise to the family; especially when the papers said to contain the
treason were produced, and they could find in them nothing but
terms of fidelity and respect towards the English government. But
the English had resolved that the charge should be a sufficient
charge, and the young prince manfully resisting it, they then
declared him to be of illegitimate birth,—a very favourite and

convenient plea with them. On this they set him aside, and made a
treaty with another prince, in which for a certain provision the
Carnatic was made over to them for ever. The young nabob, Ali
Hussein, did not long survive this scene of indignity and arbitrary
deposition—his death occurring in the spring of the following year.
Such was the English treatment of their friend the Nabob of Arcot;—
the Nabob of Arcot, whose name was for years continually heard in
England as the powerful ally of the British, as their coadjutor against
the French, against the ambitious Hyder Ali, as their zealous and
accommodating friend on all occasions. It was in vain that either the
old Nabob, or the young one, whom they so summarily deposed,
pleaded the faith of treaties, their own hereditary right, or ancient
friendship. Arcot had served its turn; it had been the stalking-horse
to all the aggressions on other states that they needed from it,—
they had exacted all that could be exacted in the name of the Nabob
from his subjects—they had squeezed the sponge dry; and moreover
the time was now come that they could with impunity throw off the
stealthy crouching attitude of the tiger, the smiling meek mask of
alliance, and boldly seize upon undisguised sovereign powers in
India. Arcot was but one state amongst many that were now to be
so treated. Benares, Oude, Tanjore, Surat, and others found
themselves in the like case.
Benares had been a tributary of Oude; but in 1764, when the
English commenced war against the Nabob of Oude, the Rajah of
Benares joined the English, and rendered them the most essential
services. For these he was taken under the English protection. At
first with so much delicacy and consideration was he treated, that a
resident was not allowed, as in the case of other tributaries, to
reside in his capital, lest in the words of the minute of the Governor-
general in command in 1775: “such resident might acquire an
improper influence over the Rajah and his country, which would in
effect render him master of both; lest it should end,” as they knew
that such things as a matter of course did end, “in reducing him to
the mean and depraved state of a mere Zemindar.” The council
expressed its anxiety that the Rajah’s independence should be in no

way compromised than by the mere fact of the payment of his
tribute, which, says Mills, continued to be paid with an exactness
rarely exemplified in the history of the tributary princes of
Hindustan. But unfortunately, the Rajah gave some offence to the
powerful Warren Hastings, and there was speedily a requisition
made upon him for the maintenance of three battalions of Sepoys,
estimated at five lacs of rupees. The Rajah pleaded inability to pay it
forthwith; but five days only were given him. This was followed by a
third and fourth requisition of the same sort. Seeing how the tide
was running against him, the unhappy Rajah sent a private gift of
two lacs of rupees to Mr. Hastings,—the pretty sum of 20,000l., in
the hope of regaining his favour, and stopping this ruinous course of
exaction. That unprincipled man took the money, but exacted the
payment of the public demand with unabated rigour, and even fined
him 10,000l. for delay in payment, and ordered troops, as he had
done before, to march into his country to enforce the iniquitous
exaction!
The work of diplomatic robbery on the Rajah now went on rapidly.
“The screw was now turned” with vigour,—to use a homely but
expressive phrase, the nose was held desperately to the grind-stone.
No bounds were set to the pitiless fury of spoliation, for the
Governor’s revenge had none; and besides, there was a dreadful
want of money to defray the expenses of the wars with Hyder into
which the government had plunged. “I was resolved,” says Hastings,
“to draw from his guilt” (his having offended Mr. Hastings—the guilt
was all on the other side) “the means of relief to the Company’s
distresses. In a word, I had determined to make him pay largely for
his pardon, or to exact a severe vengeance for his past
delinquency.”
16
What this delinquency could possibly be, unless it
were not having sent Mr. Hastings a second present of two lacs, is
not to be discovered; but the success of the first placebo was not
such as to elicit a second. The Rajah, therefore, tried what effect he
could produce upon the council at large; he sent an offer of twentó
lacs for the public service. It was scornfully rejected, and a demand
of fáftó lacs was made! The impossibility of compliance with such

extravagant demands was what was anticipated; the Governor
hastened to Benares, arrested the Rajah in his own capital; set at
defiance the indignation of the people at this insult. The astounded
Rajah made his escape, but only to find himself at war with his
insatiable despoilers. In vain did he propose every means of
accommodation. Nothing would now serve but his destruction. He
was attacked, and compelled to fly. Bidgegur, where, says Hastings
himself, “he had left his wife, a woman of amiable character, his
mother, all the other women of his family, and the survivors of the
family of his father, Bulwant Sing,” was obliged to capitulate; and
Hastings, in his fell and inextinguishable vengeance, even, says Mills,
“in his letters to the commanding officer, employed expressions
which implied that the plunder of these women was the due reward
of the soldiers; and which suggested one of the most dreadful
outrages to which, in the conception of the country, a human being
could be exposed.”
The fort was surrendered oh express stipulation for the safety, and
freedom from search, of the females; but, adds Mills, “the idea
suggested by Mr. Hastings diffused itself but too perfectly amongst
the soldiery; and when the princesses, with their relatives and
attendants, to the number of three hundred women, besides
children, withdrew from the castle, the capitulation was shamefully
violated; they were plundered of their effects, and their persons
otherwise rudely and disgracefully treated by the licentious people,
and followers of the camp.” He adds, “one is delighted for the
honour of distinguished gallantry, that in no part of the opprobrious
business the commanding officer had any share. He leaned to
generosity and the protection of the princesses from the beginning.
His utmost endeavours were exerted to restrain the outrages of the
camp; and he represented them with feeling to Mr. Hastings, who
expressed his concurrence, etc.”
The only other consolation in this detestable affair is, that the
soldiers, in spite of Hastings, got the plunder of the Rajah, and that
the Court of Directors at home censured his conduct. But these are
miserable drops of satisfaction in this huge and overflowing cup of

bitterness,—of misery to trusting, friendly, and innocent people; and
of consequent infamy on the British name.
We must, out of the multitudes of such cases, confine ourselves to
one more. The atrocities just recited had put Benares into the entire
power of the English, but it had only tended to increase the
pecuniary difficulties. The soldiery had got the plunder—the
expenses of the war were added to the expenses of other wars;—
some other kingdom must be plundered, for booty must be had: so
Mr. Hastings continued his journey, and paid a visit to the Nabob of
Oude. It is not necessary to trace the complete progress of this
Nabob’s friendship with the English. It was exactly like that of the
other princes just spoken of. A treaty was made with him; and then,
from time to time, the usual exactions of money and the
maintenance of troops for his own subjection were heaped upon
him. As with the Nabob of Arcot, so with him, they were ready to
sanction and assist him in his most criminal views on his neighbours,
to which his need of money drove him. He proposed to Mr. Hastings,
in 1773, to assist him in exterminating the Rohillas, a people
bordering on his kingdom; “a people,” says Mills, “whose territory
was, by far, the best governed part of India: the people protected,
their industry encouraged, and the country flourishing beyond all
parallel.” It was by a careful neutrality, and by these acts, that the
Rohillas sought to maintain their independence; and it was of such a
people that Hastings, sitting at table with his tool, the Nabob of
Oude, coolly heard him offer him a bribe of forty lacs of rupees
(400,000l.) and the payment of the troops furnished, to assist him to
destroy them utterly! There does not seem to have existed in the
mind of Hastings one human feeling: a proposition which would
have covered almost any other man with unspeakable horror, was
received by him as a matter of ordinary business. “Let us see,” said
Hastings, “we have a heavy bonded debt, at one time 125 lacs of
rupees. By this a saving of near one third of our military expenses
would be effected during the period of such service; the forty lacs
would be an ample supply to our treasury; and the Vizir (the Nabob
of Oude) would be freed from a troublesome neighbour.” These are

the monster’s own words; the bargain was struck, but it was agreed
to be kept secret from the council and court of Directors. In one of
Hastings’ letters still extant, he tells the Nabob, “should the Rohillas
be guilty of a breach of their agreement (a demand of forty lacs
suddenly made upon them—for in this vile affair everything had a
ruffian character—they first demanded their money, and then
murdered them), we will thoroughly exterminate them, and settle
your excellency in the country.”
17
The extermination was conducted
to the letter, as agreed, as far as was in their power. The Rohillas
defended themselves most gallantly; but were overpowered,—and
their chief, and upwards of a hundred thousand people fled to the
mountains. The whole country lay at the mercy of the allies, and the
British officers themselves declared that perhaps never were the
rights of conquest more savagely abused. Colonel Champion, one of
them, says in a letter of June 1774, published in the Report alluded
to below, “the inhumanity and dishonour with which the late
proprietors of this country and their families have been used, is
known all over these parts. A relation of them would swell this letter
to an enormous size. I could not help compassionating such
unparalleled misery, and my requests to the Vizir to shew lenity were
frequent, but as fruitless as even those advices which I almost
hourly gave him regarding the destruction of the villages; with
respect to which he always promised fair, but did not observe one of
his promises, nor cease to overspread the country with flames, till
three days after the fate of Hafez Rhamet was decided.” The Nabob
had frankly and repeatedly assured Hastings that his intention was
to exterminate the Rohillas, and every one who bore the name of
Rohilla was either butchered, or found his safety in flight and in
exile. Such were the diabolical deeds into which our government
drove the native princes by their enormous exactions, or encouraged
them in, only in the end to enslave them the more.
Before the connexion between the English and Oude, its revenue
had exceeded three millions sterling, and was levied without being
accused of deteriorating the country. In the year 1779, it did not
exceed one half of that sum, and in the subsequent years it fell far

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