Figure 21 Octagonal shopping complex in 1918, 1930 and 2005

At the beginning of the 21st century, the market included a wide range of businesses and shops including numerous confectioneries, sweet shops, fast food restaurants and several meat shops operated in the market(King, 2007). The author reports that during the colonial era, the shopping centres were less important for the European population. However, currently, there are only two entrances to the court that are remaining in the central market as the rest have been destroyed by encroachment of numerous outlets by poultry and meat merchandisers (Hindustan Times, 2017). As a result, the conditions in the marketing complex have become highly unhygienic which has further reduced the region into a dumping yard (Manohar, 2018).

However, to restore the market, several adaptive reuse strategies were implemented. To begin with, some sections of the circular ensemble were demolished in the 1970s in a bid to widen the existing roads (King, 2007). Thereafter, the Connaught Place and Gole Market were refurbished by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) in its plans to revamp the entire neighbourhood (Manohar, 2018). At the completion of refurbishing the historic market, it is expected that a 3D museum will be developed which will be important in transforming New Delhi as a capital. Similarly, the nearby Shaheed Bhagat Singh market will be transformed into a night bazaar(Chitlangia, 2014)

The plans to refurbish the market are expected to be completed successfully due to the approval of proposals to appoint a project architect in 2014 by the local council(Chitlangia, 2014). The proposal is that, the markets will be turned into tourism and shopping hubs that will be open all night. Likewise, the council also previously approved a proposal to develop a museum in 2013, thereby, clearing plans to redevelop the dilapidated markets (Hindustan Times, 2017).Refer to figure 21 which displays the octagonal design of the shopping complex in 1918, 1930 and 2015 respectively.

Figure 21Octagonal shopping complex in 1918, 1930 and 2005(ArchitectureLive, 2020)