Mehta, Kanika2025-09-092025-09-092025-08-102025-08-11http://hdl.handle.net/1993/39317Delhi, the capital of India, is becoming increasingly hot due to the rising urban temperatures. In recent years, summer temperatures have soared beyond 49°C, with the urban area’s average temperatures atleast 6°C higher than its rural surroundings. Rapid urbanization, deforestation, the loss of water bodies, and a rapid reduction in green spaces have all contributed to this unbearable heat. But this heat does not affect everyone equally. Low-income communities - often living in the densely packed, poorly ventilated neighborhoods with minimal tree cover—suffer disproportionately from these rising urban temperatures. Their limited access to natural cooling areas further compounds their vulnerability. This practicum investigates how landscape architecture can serve as a critical tool in mitigating Delhi’s rising urban heat. Through spatial analysis, climate data, and design exploration, the practicum addresses the intermingled layers of climate change, social inequity, and environmental degradation. By analyzing global precedents and conducting a GIS-based heat vulnerability mapping, the practicum identifies neighborhoods most at risk. From this foundation, the practicum develops a multi-scalar urban cooling strategy, deeply rooted in the principles of urban forestry. The design process further concludes in a detailed cooling framework for Bhajanpura, Shahadra, a site characterized by high population density and severe heat stress, where proposed landscape based interventions reintroduce shade, ecological cooling, and communal access these cooling public spaces. Finally, this practicum offers a scalable framework for designing equitable and heat resilient public spaces, in the face of rising temperatures. It presents a multi-scale approach, incorporating a variety of strategies for urban cooling that can be adapted to different contexts and scales of intervention.engEquityLandscape DesignHeat resilienceSustainable