New Delhi, Oct. 27 -- India's cities are no longer just experiencing heat; they are also actively generating it. Concrete replaces wetlands, glass towers rise where trees once stood and water-bodies are paved over. Air conditioners cool houses while warming the street outside. Heat is no longer an occasional weather event. It is becoming a defining condition of everyday urban life.

Every year, as temperatures rise across India, cities become increasingly responsive. They issue advisories, create installations for water kiosks and shut schools early. These are necessary, life-saving interventions, but increasingly, they are feeling like treating symptoms of a disease while ignoring the root cause.

There is the reality of the urban heat i...