Asarwa: A Stalled Industrial Suburb's Journey
Author Akhil Vardhan Borra
Industry's Influence on Ahmedabad's Core: The Case of Asarwa, Ahmedabad.
Akhil Vardhan Borra (Unit 5, PUT21079) Writing the City, Monsoon Semester 2021 CEPT University, Ahmedabad
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Asarwa: A Stalled Industrial Suburb's Journey
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CONTENTS Executive Summary ...................................................................................................8 Asarwa: A Multitude of Settings Along The Industrial Corridor...........................8 A Deliberate Attempt of Urbanization: From 2000 Till Now ................................8 Street Networks in Terms of Connectivity and Accessibility. ...............................9 Introduction ..............................................................................................................11 1. Historic Evolution of Asarwa ............................................................................13 1.1 Historical Evolution of Asarwa: As an Industrial Hub of Ahmedabad ..........13 2. Street Network of Asarwa .................................................................................19 2.1 The Hierarchy of Streets in Asarwa: As an Industrial Hub of Ahmedabad ...19 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................27 Bibliography.............................................................................................................29
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List of Figures Figure 1 Time-Line of Asarwa................................................................................14 Figure 2 The Walled City........................................................................................15 Figure 3 Transformation of Asarwa ........................................................................16 Figure 4 The Road Network of Ahmedabad city ....................................................20 Figure 5 Asarwa’s Arterial Road Network .............................................................21 Figure 6 Character of Arterial .................................................................................22 Figure 7 Character of Collector Road .....................................................................23 Figure 8 Character of Local Streets ........................................................................24 Figure 9 Street Density at Asarwa ..........................................................................25 Figure 10 Street Edge ..............................................................................................26
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Executive Summary Asarwa: A Multitude of Settings Along The Industrial Corridor It is observed that, after industrialization in 1965 migrant workers were a part of activities in the walled city. Cotton mills grew up all throughout the city as a result of these events. As the crowds inside the walled city grew, people began to migrate beyond the walled city, eventually congregating around the mills in Asarwa. Mill workers used to reside in the walled city of Ahmedabad in the late 1960s, but once the cotton mills collapsed and demolitions began, the working-class people moved outside the city and began relocating to adjacent villages, one such is Asarwa.
A Deliberate Attempt of Urbanization: From 2000 Till Now Through this report, a clear understanding will be made about Asarwa and will try to understand the evolution of it and cover the determinants that influenced built and unbuilt over a period (20002021).
Asarwa is a low-lying region that serves as a catchment area for the surrounding neighborhoods. Since it is close to the bottom area, all of the rainwater that falls around collects in the Asarwa Lake. Due to a change of administration in 2000, this plan of lake redevelopment was adopted. Even though the project was conceived in 2000, it was launched in 2010 and completed in 2012. Hand-in-hand, the significant road transformation occurred after 2010. To meet the growing need for transportation, the government built the Chamunda Flyover in 2012, which divides the area into two halves. There are industries on the south end and residential units on the north end, which are now effectively connected through this. In terms of cotton commerce, it contributed to Asarwa's economic prosperity.
In 2015, a functional BRTS corridor was established in Asarwa's southern section. It helped in improving connectivity with nearby marketplaces. Since Asarwa is built on industries and wholesale marketplaces, there is a considerable amount of day-to-day trading. As a result, people from all around Ahmedabad come here to purchase, especially for Gujarati spices. Most of them prefer BRTS over any other service. 8
Asarwa: A Stalled Industrial Suburb's Journey
Along with BRTS development, public housing was also launched in Asarwa's core district under the "Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission" (JNNURM) scheme, which included new public housing and a BRTS Corridor (kalupur).
Street Networks in Terms of Connectivity and Accessibility. Asarwa, the one square kilometer study area for this report, consists of ring radial structure, however the internal roadways were congested and convoluted. This report includes a thorough analysis of the Asarwa's road network.
The area is cut in two by Hanumansingh Road, which connects to the Asarwa Lake on the east and Chamunda Road on the west. Asarwa has a dense population, with most residents confined to the local and collector streets. Asarwa has an organic road network, with internal local streets laid out in a "Fused Grid" pattern that resembles a math puzzle. However, the overall road connectivity experience is well-established.
The key arterial roads, such as Hanuman Singh Road, Hospital Road, and Asarwa Road, experienced significant development across the entire region. They served as major connectors between the industrial and residential districts. This is what attracts the enormous crowds in the second half of the day. The Collector Road accounts for 41.6 percent of the total number of roads in the precinct, with ROWs ranging from 8 to 5 meters. Local Streets account for 51.1 percent of the total number of roadways in the area, with ROWs ranging from 4 to 2 meters.
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Asarwa: A Stalled Industrial Suburb's Journey
Introduction The city of Ahmedabad established itself as the home of cotton textile mills in the later part of the 19th century. By the early 20th century, Ahmedabad was known as the Manchester of India. After 1965, due to the act of industrialization in Ahmedabad, brought Asarwa into limelight. After that, basic infrastructure such as roads, drainage, electricity, water supply, streetlights and ready-tooccupy factory sheds.
In the city of Ahmedabad, it consists of diversified areas from west to the east. The study area is selected in the eastern fringes of Ahmedabad. Asarwa is one of the neighborhoods which is selected for the study area. It is an Industrial area, which has developed over the past 75 years, which is known for its cotton mills for this report one square km is selected as a study area.
There are two chapters in the report, as well as an executive summary and a conclusion. The first chapter has discussed Asarwa's history and development from 2000 to the present through the preliminary observations through specific areas. Evolution and history were reported through research from articles and personal interviews also with the help of a physical survey and by reading satellite imagery of the area. The results of an upgraded road network that led to Asarwa's urban regeneration then are examined in the second chapter.
Asarwa's built forms are the area's key characteristic, echoing the character of the old city. All of the residential units were packed together in nature, and the region was largely filled with industrial employees who worked in surrounding industrial areas. Asarwa was created by private landowners, consequently there's very little government involvement in its progress, although it has one of the best road networks, which aids in greater connectivity.
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Asarwa: A Stalled Industrial Suburb's Journey
1. Historic Evolution of Asarwa 1.1 Historical Evolution of Asarwa: As an Industrial Hub of Ahmedabad Ahmedabad has historically been a rich city, based on which the modern industrial economy has been built. The city established itself as the home of cotton textile mills in the later part of the 19th century. By the early 20th century, Ahmedabad was known as the Manchester of India. After 1965, due to the act of industrialization in Ahmedabad, brought Asarwa into limelight. After that, basic infrastructure got started such as roads, drainage, electricity, water supply, streetlights and readyto-occupy factory sheds. Through this report, a clear understanding will be made about Asarwa, one of the major industrial hubs located on the eastern periphery of Ahmedabad and try to understand the evolution of Asarwa and cover the determinants that influenced built and unbuilt over a period of time (in Specific two decades). But significant changes happened from 1900 as well. In the beginning of 20th century Asarwa came into municipal limits of Ahmedabad. There was a huge demand for cotton industries and mills at that time, so people around India came to these industrial areas for their livelihood. After so many years of industrialization, the Act of Liberalization came into force, which helped the working class to have a better life. In 1985, processes of liberalization and globalization started and reshaped Ahmedabad’s economy and labour markets. which has impacted the city’s economy as well as urban development paradigm, housing for the urban poor and extent of inequalities. So, after liberalization, the economy started shifting to the tertiary sector. During the late 1990s the composite textile mills collapsed. Also, the development of petrochemical industries, whose waste was converted to synthetic yarn, synthetic cloth. Which started to replace cotton cloth in the day-to-day wear of the lower classes. However, the city tried its level best to fight back and get its glory back. As a result, the Head Count Ratio (HCR), that is the proportion of the population below the official poverty line, declined by 10 % from 20.1 %, that is 10.1 % during the seven-year period of 2004-12.
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Figure 1 Time-Line of Asarwa
Note. The graphic shows Ahmedabad's land use map of Industries by locating Asarwa in it. Adapted from “Understanding the City,” (Unpublished portfolio for Master of Planning by B. Akhil Vardhan, 2021, CEPT University. Copyright 2021 by B. Akhil Vardhan.
Few major constructions which happened at Asarwa changed the land rates and the values of it in 2000’s. Along with this, during 2009- BRTS (Bus rapid transit system) corridor was introduced near to Chamunda flyover, which is a major junction to industries. Along this BRTS corridor, there are so many new commercial buildings such as hospitals, railway manager offices, etc. The Asarwa lake development (2012) which is one of the most predominant water bodies in and across the region. It is one of the major resources in terms of revenue generation.
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Asarwa: A Stalled Industrial Suburb's Journey
Figure 2 The Walled City
Note. The graphic shows the Walled City of Ahmedabad(1900’s). This shows the location where Asarwa is. As it is just adjacent to an industrial walled city, crowd pulling has been quite heavy over the years. Which helped the precinct to develop in terms of built and unbuilt. From “Understanding the City,” (Unpublished portfolio for Master of Planning by B. Akhil Vardhan, 2021, CEPT University. Copyright 2021 by B. Akhil Vardhan.
It is observed that, after industrialization in 1965 a lot of migrant workers were the party of major activities in the walled city. They contributed to the development of cotton mills around the city. Once the crowd was accumulating inside the walled city, gradually people started migrating outside the walled city, later around the mills, in Asarwa. During 1970, the mill workers used to live in the walled city of Ahmedabad, but after the collapse of cotton mills and demolitions started happening, the working-class people came outside the city and started migrating to nearby villages. One such Village is Asarwa. It is known for its informal residential settlements, known as Chawls. After the 1980’s there was no such predominant change in the urban sprawl of Asarwa till 2000. It was a very backward place with less infrastructure. People never showed up for any such investment into Asarwa. But still because of its geographical and historic advantages, it managed to show its potential over years (post 1999).
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Figure 3 Transformation of Asarwa
Note. Through this image it is predominantly visible how Asarwa’s hardscape and landscape has changed over two decades. Even though changes were not that predominantly visible, they do affect the growth of Asarwa. The urban Fabric was similar from 2004 to 2012, just the green spaces shifted from one place to another and demolition of industries. From “Understanding the City,” (Unpublished portfolio for Master of Planning by B. Akhil Vardhan, 2021, CEPT University. Copyright 2021 by B. Akhil Vardhan.
Since, 1900’s Asarwa has been an industrial area. Even through the satellite aerial images we can see those larger footprints (Buildings) were constant over years. The change happened around those buildings only. Changes in green built from one place to another, to maintain the ecological changes over years.
Lots of demolitions of industries, especially the cotton mills which were around the Arvind mills, happened after 2000, because of the central government scheme, which is “Industrial DemolitionsRajiv Awaz Yojana – Demolition for new constructions”. After demolishing those buildings, those plots were vacant for a few years and then AMC allocated those top commercial, institutional buildings and residential.
Geographically, Asarwa is a low-lying area which is used as a catchment area for the nearby regions. It being a low-lying area all the rainwater around Asarwa, gets accumulated in the Asarwa lake. From the area imagery we see, there has been a lake in the area for years, however it was not properly maintained until 2000. Due to the governance change in 2000, bought this idea of lake redevelopment. Although it was an initiative in 2000, the project was started in 2010 and done by 2012. Hand-in-Hand, the major transformation of roads happened after 2010 itself. To cater 16
Asarwa: A Stalled Industrial Suburb's Journey
the need to increase traffic demand, the government introduced chamunda flyover in 2012, which bisects the whole land into two halves. On the south end there are industries and on the north end it has residential units which are now well connected through this. It helped in increasing the economic growth of Asarwa, in terms of cotton trading.
In 2015 proper BRTS corridor was introduced in the southern portion of the Asarwa. It helped in having better connectivity with adjacent markets. As Asarwa is based on industries and wholesale markets, a lot of trading is done in terms of day-to-day business. So, people around Ahmedabad come here for their shopping, especially for some Gujarati spices. Most of them prefer using BRTS over any other service.
Along with BRTS development, even public housing got started in the central portion of asarwa, under the scheme of “Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission” (JNNURM) in which new public housing and BRTS Corridor (kalupur) were added.
So Over 20 years the urban fabric of Asarwa, was well developed and self-sustained for itself. It shows how capable this place can be, if it goes into the right hands. Still the potential development is seen in this region, even people who reside there, corporate for its betterment and work along with the government policies.
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Asarwa: A Stalled Industrial Suburb's Journey
2. Street Network of Asarwa 2.1 The Hierarchy of Streets in Asarwa: As an Industrial Hub of Ahmedabad Ahmedabad has grown in the form of circular rings around the walled city area, which is a traditional central business district. The street network evolved historically as a ring-radial form, which means it is always confusing and difficult for a person to travel on such roads, it feels like a mathematical puzzle, which i person will be solving again and again but couldn’t get the answer. It is the same case with Asarwa roads. Ahmedabad consists of 5 rings and 19 well defined radials: 11 in the west and 8 in the east. Even Asarwa, the one square kilometer study area for this report, consists of ring radial structure, but the internal roads were quite congested and complex. A detailed study of the Asarwa’s road network is carried out in this report. The first part is the network connectivity to Asarwa from the city center. Then after, observe the level of hierarchy of streets by categorizing them in four levels as arterial, sub-arterial, collector and local. The third part analyses the performance of these streets in terms of connectivity by breaking down each network into nodes and links. The last part showcasing the street edges and their hygiene.
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Figure 4 The Road Network of Ahmedabad city
Note. The map depicts the ring radial road network pattern of Ahmedabad city, highlighting the Asarwa in orange color. This map shows us the Street Network of Ahmedabad - AUDA. Adapted from Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority. Copyright by Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority.
The accessibility of road networks at Asarwa can be understood by classifying them based on hierarchy. The three types of hierarchy that are commonly used in road/street network are arterial, collector and local roads. Arterial roads are which carry the heavy load traffic of the city directly on the roads. A collector road is which collects the traffic from the arterial streets and gives direct access to the nearby areas. The local roads are the roads used by people within their settings for walking, parking, driving, and other activities. The ROW (Right of way) is the total width of the road from building edge to edge on either side. In Figure-1, Asarwa is situated in eastern fringes of Ahmedabad. Hanumansingh road is passing through the precinct and is connected to the Asarwa lake on the east side and Chamunda Road on the west side. Asarwa consists of a dense population and most of them live in the local and collector streets only.
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Asarwa: A Stalled Industrial Suburb's Journey
Figure 5 Asarwa’s Arterial Road Network
Note. The map depicts the arterial road network pattern of Asarwa. Highlighting them in dark black. From “Understanding the City,” (Unpublished portfolio for Master of Planning) by B. Akhil Vardhan, 2021, CEPT University. Copyright 2021 by B. Akhil Vardhan.
One major reason for constructing chamanpura road and other main roads in early 2000’s is, they all are the part of AUDA (Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority) Development plan. The major commercial activities of the region happen along this road. All the Arterial roads have an average of 24m wide ROW (Right of way) which is shown in figure 3. Which has a dedicated space for footpath and carriageway, a part of it is encroached by parking and cattle grazing and other loading/unloading activities in front of shops. The overall experience of road connectivity is well established. The major development of the whole precinct happened along the main
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Arterial Roads only such as Hanuman Singh Road, Hospital Road, Asarwa Road. They were the major junctions which connect the industrial and residential communities together. Figure 6 Character of Arterial
Note. The graphic shows the typical main roads of Asarwa. From “Understanding the City,” (Unpublished portfolio for Master of Planning) by B. Akhil Vardhan, 2021, CEPT University. Copyright 2021 by B. Akhil Vardhan.
Street dogs occupying pedestrians and cycle and bikes being parked on the 2m wide footpath leads to conjunction on footpath. As the yellow color represents residential and blue for noncommercial, this shows us how different building typology was existing on the arterial roads. The collector roads connect the arterial roads and local streets to their neighborhood. From the pictures it is evident that the collector roads are wide enough, acts as a major transport route. These are the most active streets in the region, with shopfronts and vending activities happening along the street edge. As the right of way is only 6 m, and a lot of on street activities happening makes it difficult for pedestrians to walk along the narrow street.
The Collector Road consists of 41.6 % of the total number of roads within the precinct. They are the second highest number in count. All these collector roads were planned in such a way that they all get connected to Chamunda Flyover, which connects the BRTS station.
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Figure 7 Character of Collector Road
Note. The graphic shows the typology and character of collector roads. From “Understanding the City,” (Unpublished portfolio for Master of Planning) by B. Akhil Vardhan, 2021, CEPT University. Copyright 2021 by B. Akhil Vardhan.
Light posts and cattle grazing were observed on the footpath acting as an obstruction in collector streets. Even though they are facilitated with footpaths, they changed to a dump yard/cattle yard and the same things were observed on the local streets too. The Local Streets consist of 51.1 % of the total number of roads within the precinct with a Right of Weight (ROW) ranging from 4 to 2m. They are the major connectivity to all the residential blocks and Used for Inter-neighborhood movement. Although the roads connect residents to their homes, there are no further connections between the streets. The dead ends make these streets inefficient to access.
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Figure 8 Character of Local Streets
Note. The graphic shows the behavior of the Local Streets. From “Understanding the City,” (Unpublished portfolio for Master of Planning) by B. Akhil Vardhan, 2021, CEPT University. Copyright 2021 by B. Akhil Vardhan.
The behavior of Local Streets is quite versatile and very narrow with the presence of public gathering. A lot of women were actively seen in such gatherings, because of this crowded local road there is no scope for allowing any four-wheeler into the neighborhood. Public interactive spaces can generate good harmony in the surroundings.
The street networks in Asarwa region have started from the post Industrialization. Although the network at city level is well placed and has easy access, the networks within the region are not so. It is clearly seen that the arterial roads were planned for development and is experiencing a lot of congestion as it is situated close to the Industrial Estates. The local roads don't see any such planned network, which has also led to poor connectivity. Though the access to residential houses is good, there is no connectivity further. Walkability in the entire region is poor, because of bigger plot sizes. Which leads to higher walkability, which is a difficulty for pedestrians. That means, because there is a bigger block perimeter, pedestrians need more time to travel from one point to the other in Asarwa.
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Asarwa: A Stalled Industrial Suburb's Journey
Figure 9 Street Density at Asarwa
Note. The figure shows network accessibility and block perimeter which shows us how big the individual block sizes are. That means the bigger plots need more time to travel around it, which leads to discomfort to the pedestrian or passenger. From “Understanding the City,” (Unpublished portfolio for Master of Planning) by B. Akhil Vardhan, 2021, CEPT University. Copyright 2021 by B. Akhil Vardhan.
The contrast in the block sizes (plot size) can be seen within the opposite sides of North and South. Where north side the presence of informal settlements with highest population of more than 90 thousand, creates a dense road network whereas the large portion of south comprises industrial built. The density of the number of nodes and the blocks tells that the area is well connected by the collector, local roads and encourage inter neighborhood movement. The presence of Industries and public buildings are more, and the number of streets is less. Where a person needs to travel the whole boundary of that plot to reach the other end. Which should be improved, and bring the time traveled from 20 minutes to 5 minutes. So, the existing street network around the industrial areas weakened the connectivity inside the precinct. From this analysis from the diagram and arguments we have done, we can conclude by saying that walkability on the northern side is better than the southern side because of the difference in block sizes
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Figure 10 Street Edge
Note. Conditions of street edge at Asarwa. From “Understanding the City,” (Unpublished portfolio for Master of Planning) by B. Akhil Vardhan, 2021, CEPT University. Copyright 2021 by B. Akhil Vardhan.
Edge of the street is the Interface between building frontage and the street. The way a building, space or wall meets the street affects the character of the street. Through these pictures it depicts the character of the asarwa’s street and building interface. It is clear that the food paths/roads adjacent to a blank wall change into a dump yard or a cattle yard. Asarwa has grown along the arterial roads, and they act as the backbone for its growth. Presence of the retail outlets on the main roads attracts more crowds, which leads to a good public gathering, even though the roads are not capable of such crowds. There is good connectivity amongst the collector and local streets, there are no such active activities observed along the streets. As there is a lot of demand for public interactiveness in Asarwa, but all the age groups don't have any such space to sit and talk. With proper planning of public spaces inside the local and collector streets, they will have a good potential for public gathering. But as per the land availability, Asarwa is quite incapable of any future development 26
Asarwa: A Stalled Industrial Suburb's Journey
Conclusion Over the course of 20 years, Asarwa's urban fabric had grown and became self-sufficient. It has grown along the arterial routes, which act as the backbone for its expansion, demonstrating how competent this area may be. The presence of retail stores on major thoroughfares attracts more people, resulting in a good public gathering, despite the fact that the roads are not equipped to accommodate such crowds. Even so, potential development is evident in this location, with residents, businesses, and government regulations all working together for the betterment of the region. There are no such active spaces noticed along the collector and local streets. They will have a good potential for public gathering with adequate planning of public spaces within the local and collector streets. However, due to a lack of land, Asarwa would not be able to advance a little farther.
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Bibliography Borra Akhil Vardhan (2021). Understanding the City. Unpublished portfolio for Master of Planning. CEPT University. AUDA Development plan. (2021). Urban Development and Urban Housing Department. https://www.auda.org.in/uploads/Assets/rdp/Basemap-36X36.jpg Rully Damayanti (2011). Rully Damayanti (2011). The case study of Ahmedabad: Industrialization and Informal Sector in shaping the city. DIMENSI (Journal of Architecture and Built Environment), pp.10-22. http://repository.petra.ac.id/18644/ Darshini Mahadevia(2014), Renu Desai(2014), Suchita Vyas(2014). Ahmedabad: City Profile. https://cept.ac.in
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