FARID-ABAD___NCR
+198 M ↑
190 SQ.KM.
1607---1979
Existing Fabric of Faridabad
City Futures TOILING DREAMS A city that symbolises struggle and conviction. Where a daily-wage labourer earns less than the stay and food required to sustain him through those labours, it takes a truckload of grit and determination to sleep with the weight of an empty stomach on aching shoulders and still wake up every day with a motivated mind supported by blackened lungs. Where men live alone, leaving their families behind safely tucked away in their ancestral hometowns, to test their luck and make a name for themselves, it is the mirage of a land in close proximity to Delhi that sucks them into the chaos of an industrial city. Where pollution forms a shroud of smoke, dust and chemicals, the clouds gather and transform into a cloak of invisibility and anonymity that is often used interchangeably amongst its people to lament their loneliness and tired souls. Containing generations of histories in the land beside the river Yamuna, it once formed a crucial part of the golden city of Indraprastha during the times of the Pandavas. Today, it constitutes the industrial and commercial hub of Delhi-NCR. The majority population hailing from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, have together given a unique set of deep-rooted values to the people who have made a life for themselves in this city despite the hardships. When the wives came for their husbands, with their hair braided from Punjab, bold confidence acquired from Haryana and a slight undertone of uneducated domesticated slumber of innocence from the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, they came with henna painted hands and hearts filled with pure grit and determination to toil beside their husbands. The young couples who came here to carve out a name for themselves made a quite promise under the twilight spilling over the dimply lit streets scrambled on a barren land; to never let their children see a day of struggle in their own lives ahead. It was them, who laid the skeletal framework for innovation and technology to thrive here, and gave their children the opportunity to spread out their wings and pierce through the veil of darkened skies. Predominantly comprising of olden viewpoints, the visions carried by the youngsters of the city has a resonance with start-ups opening up even under a flyover of decaying concrete. Mirroring its people, the architecture seems to be mature for its age but gives a character of childlike naivete upon closer inspection. Multiple flyovers merging and connecting seamlessly with the decades old grand trunk road create a plethora of fast opportunities and quick getaways from ordinary lifestyle. Along the highway, in a linear fashion, the city reveals its secrets with communal colonies giving way to organised sectors and their accompanying embellishments. Not unlike a metropolitan city, Faridabad can be descried as a classic timeless veneer. Layers of sweat, toil and cracks under the skin make up the social fabric of this city. To envision a city of the future, a grout has to be developed first that can bridge the gap between the apparent developed part of the city and the core city which has remained unscathed by the test of time. Architecture is the means through
which true amalgamation can manifest between the city’s diverse predecessors’ ethos and the technically sound entrepreneurship of the coming generations. Today, Faridabad is an embodiment of innovation and a prime land for fresh promise synergising reinvigorated enthusiasm of the youth of our country. Home to the largest upcoming infrastructure in the fields of health care, education, hospitality, entertainment as well as housing opportunities in the newer extensions of the land, the city is slowly but surely coming out from under its cloak into a dawn of vibrant sunlight. All that is required is a vision that can be reflected in action and uplift the plinth of present cities into their futuristic versions all over the country. It is perhaps easier and more pleasurable to imagine and portray picturesque futuristic cities with elements of wonder, ecstasy and utopian qualities. On ground though, the reality is limited to mundane minute changes and betterment of public infrastructure which is more often than not, dependent on the humdrum of policies and regulations. It is a rare possibility that a city is to be constructed out of thin air in between valleys of mountains hanging on nothing but tensile ropes with clouds of opportunities and promised wishes drifting past the windows. Nonetheless, our creative and artistic minds conjure up fantastical images of futuristic cities that penetrate our subconscious and force us out of our lethargic analytical workings. For residents of industrial cities in general and Faridabad in particular, the scope for improvement is vast yet the solutions so simple. Clean air to breathe in, pure water to drink and bathe in, green spaces that offer respite from the stress of a manufacturing unit are some of the basics we fight for day and night. The metropolitan children of our generation have grown up watching technology take over the natural order of our world in the blink of an eye. We have been zealous witnesses and ardent participants of this modernisation in favour of globalisation. But now, it is high time that we question our objectives and preferences as a society. It is evident from our history that mankind learns from its mistaken experiments and failures. If mindless development were as beneficial and crucial to our survival as a species, why is it that after each setback and each decade that passes us by, we look back to the hanging gardens of Babylon or the colosseums and baths of Rome and immerse ourselves in the fantasy of a miniscule cottage atop a solitary hill for peace rather than planning another flyover or constructing another skyscraper rising out from the bowels of our dying earth? As active youth members of the design community, we yield little but significant power over the course of events that can alter liveability in our cities. In my opinion though, better pathways, green spaces, and tangible solutions are just one part of a whole that is necessary for transformation of a city that has evolved through generations of varied use influenced by multi-faceted behavioural patterns. Social technology and cultural architecture are the lead concepts that can influence and propel us towards a brighter future. These concepts are also the foundation over which a metropolitan city rests its structure. The people of a city are the threads that weave the social fabric over that structure. In cultural architecture, it is the process
rather than the source that determines the durability of an element. In today’s day and age, thanks to technology, even an undignified toxic material such as plastic can be transformed into a sustainable and most sought-after product in industries. Seemingly miniscule social activities, like stopping for a hot cup of tea near the fruit stall or slowing down our vehicles in front a school/temple or even a group of women waiting at the bus stop to pick up their children, will all become obsolete if activitybased planning, neighbourhood character and issues of safety and security do not take precedence over economically and commercially beneficial projects. Fallacies of greener environment can only do so much good before they fall into the traps of greed and corruption. It is all well and good to imagine futuristic cities which expand our horizons of creativity and technical prowess, but they will be incomplete and the social issues will still prevail if the design process does no pay heed to the very essence of a city; its people.