Andreya Veintimilla Master of Architecture Thesis Project

On the Edge: Migrant Urbanism

Master of Architecture Thesis By: Andreya Veintimilla Spring 2015 University of Wisconsin Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning 2200 E Kenwood Blvd Milwaukee, WI 53211 www.uwm.edu/sarup

sketch by Manu P. Sobti

Committee: Chair: Manu P. Sobti Member: Antonio Furgiuele Member: Chris T. Cornelius

Chandigarh

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE ON THE EDGE?

It is both a physical condition and a metaphoric concept; it can live on the map and inside the mind; it is a barrier yet a catalyst of change. In the context of the city, the edge is never constant, but continually variable, requiring its ability to be adaptable as outside forces regularly redefine it. Badheri, an urban village embedded within the city of Chandigarh, India, provides a provocative landscape for the examination of rapid urban migration. On the Edge: Migrant Urbanism seeks to draw attention to the symbiotic relationship between the formal and informal in an effort to explore architecture’s ability to serve as an infrastructural node in the urban system.

History and Re-Emergence of Systems Thinking

1947

General Systems Theory Ludwig von Bertalanffy

1948

Big Data and Digital Interfaces

Cybernetics Norbert Wiener

Howard Odum

Game Theory John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern

1949

Information Theory Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver

Ecological Anxiety

Relative World Events

World War I

Great Depression

principles of modern computing World War II

World Wide Web Online instant messaging

ARPANET and SAGE pre-internet networks

World Trade Center attack Facebook

World urban population reaches 50% Apple iPhone

Modernism Architecture Urban Response

1902

Garden City Ebenezer Howard

1949

1917

Futurism Antonio Sant’Elia

City Beautiful Daniel Burnham

1932

1924 Ville Radiuse Le Corbusier

1959

Metabolism Arata Isozaki, Kisho Kurokawa, Archigram

CIAM Functionalism / Rationalism

1914 1893

Neo Futurism Buckminster Fuller

1928

Constructivism Iakov Chernikhov

Broadacre City Frank Lloyd Wright

1960

Chandigarh is completed Le Corbusier

1994

2009

Landscape Urbanism Peter Connolly

1993

Re-emergence of Green Movement USGBC

Ecological Urbanism Mohsen Mostafavi

Smart Cities

XL

Indian Migration

India Urban Migration

The urban edge manifests itself in countless ways. However, in the context of the city the edge is never constant, but continually variable requiring its ability to be adaptable as outside forces regularly redefine it. As a horizon of thought about one’s future, ambitions, and place within society it is a temporal space between reality and a dream. In investigations of the edge one cannot be indifferent, comfortable, or complacent.

Variation is critical in this impermanent space between where we are and where we want to go. When envisioning the edge in this manner it is the physical place of transition, like a membrane through which the here and there interact—flexible and always engaged.

Rural Migration

Chandigarh

Delhi

2001

The central underlying issue presented here is that of rapid urban migration, a condition affecting global cities around the world especially in developing nations. India presents an example of urbanism that is internationally relevant. With the second largest population in the world, India provides a context through which to study the relationship between landscapes of migration, urbanism, and architecture.

Ahmedabad

West Bengal

Surat

Mumbai

Hyderabad

Indian Migration Rural vs. Urban Urban

Size of Urban Population

Rural

in millions

Chennai

Urban

Urban

Bangalore

Rural

Rural

Rural

17 7 3

Urban Railway 2001

National Highway

Poverty Distribution

Population Concentration in Millions

2012

per 2011 census

10 +

Percentage Share of Urban Population per 2011 census

Chandigarh

Chandigarh

Major Net Internal Migration Flows 2001

Chandigarh

Chandigarh

25 + 10 +

100 +

40 +

25 +

100 + 40 +

Area with 30 - 40% of population in poverty

98,301,342 Total Migrants

Gender Distribution

623.7 million Males

India 2001

35% or more

Reasons for Male Migration

Marriage Education

586.5 million Females

Reasons for Female Migration

Education Work

Other

Other Total Population 1.21 Billion 2011

200,000 + moves

20% or less

Work

Work

Work

Family Family

32,896,986 Males

65,404,356 Females

Marriage

1,054,686 Total Population Chandigarh

% Population Growth 450% 1.4 mill.

400% 1.2 mill.

Men

Women 862,200 people

350% 1 mill.

To Amritsar Jalandhar 2011

%

300% 800,000

250% Population 600,000 200% 400,000 150% 200,000

50,000 people

Ludhina 3.4 million people

Actual Population Growth

100% 100,000

Ropar

50% 30,000

Murinda

22,000 people 40,000 people

Kharar

Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar

Sirhind

Chandigarh

1940-50 1950-60 1960-70 1970-80 1980-90 1990-2000 2000-2011 2021 31,000 people

1.1 million people

558,900 people

123,500 people

Year

Kalka

Panchkula

Regional Connectivity Highways Railroad

60,852 people

112,200 people

Rajpura

To Dehra Dun

406,785 people 303,151 people

Patiala 0 miles

12.5 miles

Ambala

25 miles 101,300 people

To Delhi

Yamuna Nagar

216,600 people

Jagadhri

L The edge condition represents the innovative systems developed by those who inhabit spaces of transition, and in this lays the opportunity to embrace that innovation in an attempt to investigate the past vs. the present vs. the future. Chandigarh is a city that embodies the realized dream of an egalitarian master plan. It is a materialization and exaggeration of the metaphoric edge. The juxtaposition between the artifact of the city and the urbanism that ows through and around it provides a provocative context for examination. An artifact is a treasured object kept safe in an eort to remember and preserve the past, to preserve a history, and to preserve an idea. Yet urbanism is like a living organism; it must change in order to remain alive. In this sense, living urbanism occurs at the edges of Chandigarh where the sites of change reside. This is not to suggest that one urban condition is better or to superimpose one on the other, but to envision the edge as a starting point where transformation can begin and extend outward.

There are two sites of particular interest to this investigation.

One is the village of Kansal, located just outside of the city, northeast of the capital complex and expanding into the agricultural hinterlands at the base of the Shivalick Hills. The other is the urban village of Badheri, embedded within the city and engulfed by urban expansion.

Chandigarh

1961

1966

1971

1976

1986

1996

The original site of Chandigarh encompassed mango groves and the houses and temples of 58 existing villages with a population of roughly 21,000 people. Badheri began as a farming village and slowly acquired urban characteristics as Chandigarh grew around it while maintaining its rural built fabric. The master plan of Chandigarh enforced a rigid separation between living and working, which prevents people from being able to engage in unorganized low-capitol, self-employment activities typical in India. The master plan also did not account for a growing lower income population. Badheri is a unique context within Chandigarh that allows for these unorganized economic activities to occur. Chandigarh has become a regional hub for the service, education, and medical industries with the best urban infrastructure of any city in the country. With rapid urban migration combined with the highest per capita registration of vehicles in the country, issues of accommodation are exacerbated. Car parking is outdoing the poor in unauthorized occupation of valuable urban land. These issues are made evident in the context of the village of Badheri.

Soft Infrastructure

Socioeconomic Landscape

Community Centers Elite: private homes

Cultural / Entertainment

Upper Middle Class: government Sarangpur

Governmental Services / Facilities

Middle Class: small private homes

Khuda Lahora / Jassu

Punjab

Police / Fire

Middle Class: institutional

Lower Middle Class: CHB ats

Dhanas

Kansal

Educational

Punjab

Healthcare

Urban villages Villages outside of Sectoral grid

Dadu Majra Maloya

Badheri Buterla Attawa

Kajheri Burail Mauli Jagran

Daria Raipur Kalan Hallo Majra

Haryana

Haryana

Makhan Majra Behlana

Raipur Khurd

Punjab

Punjab

N 0 miles

2 miles

4 miles

Walk Diagram

M Historical Land Patterns

Caste Migration

Vertical Activity

Road Use Intensity

Contact Points

Commercial Activity

Being surrounded by the regular grid of Chandigarh, Badheri grows informally within its given borders. As the farming lands that once surrounded the village were swallowed up by the city, residents of the village were left without their traditional agricultural means of income, but acquired other economic opportunities from the growing city. Rents in the village are lower than those in the sectors resulting in Badheri’s development into a transitional zone for newcomers. Dwelling units are divided or added onto to accommodate urban migrants resulting in the vertical expansion of residential uses and the transformation of ground level units into commercial spaces that generate income. Low prices of goods and services attract customers from the surrounding sectors further perpetuating the commercial growth accompanied by intense mixed traďŹƒc and a lack of adequate storage and parking. Badheri and Chandigarh exist separately but have developed a symbiotic relationship, giving and receiving from one another. In a sense Badheri is on the edge of transformation from what it currently is to what it can become.

Population Growth

Population Density Comparison (persons per acre)

11,000

One acre

10,000

9,000

Circulation Comparison Total Area of Badheri

653,045 SF 533,595 SF

Badheri

471 150 38

Total Built Aree

Sector 41 Chandigarh

8,000

119,450 SF Total Circulation Area

Population

7,000

6,000

5,000

Occupations

Sex Ratio

Age Distribution

4,000 41 +

3,000 Landlords

1991

2001

Census Year

2006

2011

2021

Chandigarh Laborers

Not in the Workforce

8.4 Females 10 Males

Under 21 31 - 40 21 - 30

People of Badheri

How did the village begin? Originally resided in sector 20 but was overtaken by the growth of Chandigarh. Badheri began as agricultural fields with one of the guduaras’s (sikh temple) being the only remaining original building.

Any owned vs. rented divisions within the village? Mixed. It’s up to the owners if they want to rent. Many migrants come from the surrounding villages and states. Chandigarh is their “first stop”. The left side of Badheri with the more organic organizational structure is the older part and the newer part is to the right and is slightly more organized. The tree where the priest sits is the oldest place of worship. The kindergarten school is about 12-14 years old. Things are available in Badheri that aren’t available in the sector housing. He is a well-to-do migrant that worked for a life insurance company. Moved from Haryana to Chandigarh with his wife but has knee trouble and couldn’t climb the stairs in his sector apartment, so he moved to Badheri because a friend suggested that the rents for a ground floor apartment are cheaper. The facilities within Badheri are similar to the city but much less expensive.

The land surrounding Badheri was once all agricultural land with cows grazing between Badheri and Buterla, the other village located in sector 41.

Does the government assist or help the village?

Yes, the government provided plumbing, drainage, electricity, and assisted after a big flood. There are two major Sikh temples in the village; one originally for the lower caste and the other for the higher caste that originally settled in the village.

He moved to the village in 1970 and was living in the surrounding are before that. Before 1970 most people lived in rental units. In 1996 a corporation formed in Badheri that began to look after village affairs. Between 1970 and 1996 the village was mostly an agricultural trading village selling milk and raising cows.

Then people started to rent out their properties for other more lucrative purposes.

PG’s, or paying guests, were a good way to make money. They were originally only short term paying guests that didn’t make many demands. Over time the guests would rent for longer periods of time until eventually people were holding yearlong leases. Taxes help pay for the streets in the village and other infrastructural work.

Badheri is a developed village, not yet a town or city. The village is relatively safe. There are some petty crimes but not much. Sector 25 which lays on the outskirts of Chandigarh has higher crime. Badheri and Buterla were always separate villages. He was originally from Punjab. His father used to work in the Secretariat and now he does as well. He was a kid growing up in Badheri in the 1970’s. Says he loved Badheri, he went to school in the old pond area. Says Baheri has really changed since then. In 1993 there was a big flood, drainage was there but was blocked by dirt and trash. This was the year he got married and moved into a house. His house was completely destroyed in the flood. His neighbors helped a lot but says the government did nothing and there was no compensation. His only complaint about the village is that the roads are not wide enough and the encroachments are not safe because many areas are not accessible in case of emergency. He has a four person family and they are very happy. He did not want to comment on a success story but mentioned a man named Ungraz Sing, which means foreigner, whose land was taken by the government and used the compensation money to purchase more land. He now owns most of Badheri and his family actually rents from this man who is now very old.

The village was originally settled based on caste divisions. The more organized area is now primarily rental while the older more organic area is where the original villagers reside. Renting out apartments became very lucrative once the agricultural lands were all gone and the city developed around Badheri.

In 1960 a single room rent was about $10 a month, then increased to $50, now it is $100 a month and is the primary business. They pay a commerce tax to Chandigarh.

There is no formal legislation within the village.

As chief he tries to make improvements on behalf of the village. He has tried to get the roads widened. The city has a law that says they cannot build above 35ft., and he tried to get the height limit to be raised to 45 ft. He believes that if they can build one more level higher the opportunities in Badheri will really open as people could build a hotel, open up the ground level to commerce, reduce overcrowding and widen the roads.

However, the city didn’t listen. He would like Chandigarh to accept Badheri but says they won’t until the village becomes clean and more accessible.

I am interested in the transformation of Badheri through various physical and non-physical infrastructures. Infrastructure is an underlying framework that enables a group, organization, or society to function in certain ways. As the presence of infrastructure is the primary draw of people to the city, how architecture is designed as a component of urban infrastructure is of particular interest. There are two main types of infrastructure: hard and soft. "Hard" infrastructure refers to the large physical networks necessary for the functioning of a modern industrial nation such as transportation, electrical, water, and communication networks. "Soft" infrastructure refers to all the institutions which are required to maintain the economic, health, and cultural and social standards of a country, such as the financial system, the education system, the health care system, the system of government, and law enforcement, as well as emergency services. I want to draw attention to the usefulness of seeing people as a resource to urbanism rather than a burden. How can architecture create a framework for human resource collection and distribution in the urban context?

N 0

200’

400’

Edges, Systems, and Connection Points Urban edges are a constant variable of the city. They are made and unmade. At different scales they may be separate, have proximal relationships, or overlap.

Existing Building and Encroachment Typologies Study section

plan

Commercial Encroachment

Commercial Stall

Temporary Encroachment

Protruding Stair / Balcony

Recessed Stair / Balcony

Incremental Additions

Existing Building and Encroachment Typologies Study section

plan

Multi Level Commercial

Mixed-use Commercial-Residential

Shared Courtyard

Infill Densification

Overhang Densification

Vertical Densification

Group Intervention Strategy

Gateway Education

Housing Cultural / Entertainment Trucking / Warehouse Depot Commercial Center Village Administration / Migration Services

S As Badheri grows it will clog and suffocate without change. The refocusing of managing human inflows and distribution will help to release this clogging pressure on the hard infrastructure to allow for further growth of the soft infrastructure without suffocation. My specific design intervention proposes to establish a migrant services gateway complex into Badheri where the architecture will serve as a point of control and interaction between urban migrants and the city. This project can become a critical node for the convergence and distribution of several different systems under the umbrella of economic and social mobility. Can the collection and distribution of human capital be combined with the collection and distribution of other resources, such as information? Perhaps this is also a hub where information about the people and goods moving into and out of Badheri are collected, stored, and used to help make informed decisions about the growth or further development of the village. How might this become a resource connection point? I explored a phased, or incremental approach, where each phase of the development of the structure will not be temporary, but unfinished. As the village grows so will the needs of the migration/governmental center.

More of the building’s programmatic elements will be added as the existing housing structures on the site are reconfigured or dismantled.

Tutoring Center

Migrant Housing

Entertainment

Trucking Depot

Commercial Center

Parking / Village Admin.

Administration / Migration Services Program Diagram

Extended stay rooms for new arrivals / dormitory / guest rooms (12 singles @ 108 SF; 6 family @ 216 SF; 2,600 SF total)

Semi-public restrooms and wash rooms (4 stalls + 2 showers each = 750 SF)

Oasis / Resting Place (100,000 SF) Other Projects in Badheri

Parking for up to 260 cars / bikes / scooters (72,000 SF) Cafeteria / dining hall + kitchen and food prep (5,000 SF)

Jobs: trucking depot Housing: rooms / apartments Education: tutoring Healthcare: clinic

Labor Migrant Services (3,530 SF)

Commercial

Employment services

Infrastructure: water, roads, etc.

Trade training / placement Worker collectives Vertical park / recreation area (19,200 SF)

Financial services: banking, safe-keeping of money, transfers

Urban Migrants

Social services (5,430 SF) Operative Matrix Badheri

Village Administration (3,690 SF)

James

Commercial Jobs and Services

i

The City

Networks Jobs Housing Education Resources Community

Mike

Chao

Resource Distribution Economic Engine

Contracts and records

Housing

Legal aid Socio-Economic Threshold Andreya

Sisco

Education Services Childcare

Administration Migration Services Hyram

Infrastructure Entertainment

Migration control and monitoring Community support organizations

Identity documentation / voter registration Social entitlements

Meeting and assembly space (seating for 150 = 6,280 SF)

Connection to housing options Community assimilation Personal information collection / storage Connection to education / literacy services

Design Strategy

Incremental Development

i

Existing Condition

Phase Three Add second level parking Transition ďŹ rst level parking into program space

Phase One Relocate village administration Adapt apartments for temporary housing

Phase Four Add additional programmatic elements Convert remaining housing structures

Phase Two Add parking level Establish gateway

Phase Five Extend façade edge

Design Strategy

Parking Structure Typologies

Staggered Floors One-way circulation

Staggered Floors Two-way circulation

Flat Floors One-way ramps

Sloping Floors Cross connected two-way circulation

Sloping Floors Two-way ramps

Sloping Floors One-way circulation

car parking (up to 100 cars)

Kit of Parts

scooter parking (up to 150 scooters)

cafeteria assembly space ramp entry ramp exit

social services migrant services

village administration

i

new arrival housing

Incremental Deconstruction and Growth

Fourth Floor

1

intersect with parking ramp

Third Floor

2

intersect with village administration core

Second Floor

intersect with migrant services core

3 oďŹƒce spillover

First Floor

4

insert additional shop space

Ground Floor

5

mechanical space

temporary wall system

patterns of growth and change

Mostafavi, Mohsen, and Gareth Doherty. Ecological Urbanism. Baden, Switzerland: Lars MĂźller, 2010. Print.

Koolhaas, Rem, Bruce Mau, Jennifer Sigler, and Hans Werlemann. Small, Medium, Large, Extra-large: OďŹƒce for Metropolitan Architecture, Rem Koolhaas, and Bruce Mau. New York, NY: Monacelli, 1998. Print.

Gadanho, Pedro. Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Chandigarh Administration. Chandigarh Master Plan 2031. Publication. Chandigarh: Chandigarh Administration, 2013. Print.

Chandigarh Housing Board. Local Area Plan: Badheri, Chandigarh. Publication. Chandigarh: Chandigarh Housing Board. Print.

"Internal Labor Migration in India Raises Integration Challenges for Migrants." Migrationpolicy.org. N.p., 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 13 May 2015. <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/internal-labor-migration-india-raises-integration-challenges-migrants>.

"Migration." Census of India:. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2015. <http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/migrations.aspx>.

Thank You