Smart Cities, Silent Lungs: Reevaluating Environmental Justice In Guwahati’s Urban Dreamscape From A Legal Lens

Abstract

This study explores the complex relationship between Guwahati’s Smart City initiatives and the escalating challenge of air pollution, framed within the discourse of environmental justice and human rights. While India’s constitutional and statutory provisions recognize the right to a clean environment, enforcement in rapidly urbanizing cities remains inconsistent. Guwahati, despite being a flagship Smart City, illustrates how infrastructural development and technological innovation often overshadow ecological safeguards and citizen well‑being. Drawing on public perceptions, the research highlights widespread concerns about deteriorating air quality, health impacts, and the neglect of fundamental rights in urban planning. Comparative insights from global models, such as Copenhagen’s integration of sustainable transport, green spaces, and participatory governance, underscore the potential pathways for reform. Jurisprudential perspectives - including Natural Law, Legal Positivism, and Environmental Justice Theory - further reveal the tension between codified law and lived realities. The study concludes that Smart City policies must transcend cosmetic modernization to embrace rights‑based, participatory, and ecologically conscious frameworks, ensuring that urban progress does not come at the cost of human dignity or environmental sustainability.