F5 Urbanity: Seminars on Architecture

SEMINARS ON ARCHITECTURE

2015

COVER PAGE

School of Planning and Architecture New Delhi

Edited By Nikita Bhargava, Nishita Mohta, Shamita Chaudhry Seminar Co-ordinators Prof. Dr. Ranjana Mital, Anjali Mittal Š School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi 2016 Disclaimer The authors and editors do not accept any responsibility or liability whatsoever, whether in contract, tort, equity, or otherwise for any action taken as a result of information in this report or any error, inadequacy, deficiency, flaw or omission in the information provided by the report.

The editors and authors of the papers do not claim any ownership over text/ content that has been referenced or already published.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher or authors, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quite brief passages embodied in critical articles in a review.

Published in 2016 by Department of Architecture School of Planning and Architecture 6B, Indraprastha Estate New Delhi 110002 India Printed in New Delhi

SEMINARS ON ARCHITECTURE

2015

Research Report Presented by students of the Department of Architecture B.Arch. Final Year 2015-2016

PREFACE

Seminars in Architecture has been an important event on the School calendar for the past nineteen years now. Spanning a semester in the final year of the B.Arch course, Seminars is typically a hectic activity involving research, documentation, analysis, presentation and publication that usually brings out the best in the students and faculty every year. Topics for research and investigation are identified by the Seminar coordinators along with the advisors. The seminar programme ends in the ‘Seminar Week’ that showcases a series of multi-media presentations by the various student groups, all of which culminates in the much-awaited annually published seminar book.

Seminars in Architecture 2015 was initiated under the broad title ‘Architecture and the City or Architecture and Theory’, the underlying objective being to ensure students on the verge of stepping out into the world as fully-trained professionals engaged in a discourse on architecture that would necessarily include philosophy and other theoretical abstractions that dealt with the semiotics and syntax of architectural expression on the one hand and methodological investigations of materiality and technology in architecture, down to the last ‘practical’ working detail on the other.

On the premise that architecture may be viewed as a manifestation of a society’s culture, we assumedarchitecture could serve as the starting point for investigating the well-being of a society.

Conversely, investigating the architecture of a particular city could provide a graphic illustration of a city’s engagement with different social groups, available technology and building materials, politics and power-games, prevailing norms of ethics and aesthetics. In other words, arrive at a theoretical premise with respect to the city to understand the interaction or relation between various social institutions and architecture, in itself the ultimate social institution.

To take a position on architecture that is relevant in the present context, it was expected that existing models and assumptions will probably have to be questioned even challenged. Therefore, architecture and its engagement with sociology, politics, behavior and perception, technology and so on were investigated in the context of the city to arrive at a theory that can provide relevant intellectual underpinnings largely obscure today.

i

Viewing architectural interventions as place-makers allows architecture to also be investigated for its physical, social and associative qualities. Thus the architecture of our city investigated for its physical fabric, its social fabric and through the activities generated, its associative qualities or meaning.This allowed our understanding of architecture and the city to be arrived at from various angles, also allowing different interests and skill sets to be included and utilized.

Limiting explorations to the city of Delhi, the students chose to engage with architecture through any of the following. First, from a technical perspective where architecture is investigated as an expression of available technology, appropriate technology and even speculate future possibilities.

Secondly, through a sociological lens where the city is discovered as a complex mechanism, expected (or not) to serve the various social groups. And, lastly through a philosophical lens, where the ideas, concepts and cultural underpinnings that create the architecture of the city are investigated.

As work progressed through the semester and the days of final presentations came close, a class discussion resulted in the seminar presentations being given another, more apt title. As it dawned on us that our various lines of research and explorations were leading towards reviewing existing norms and convictions, we called it: ‘F5 Urbanity’.

A total of 23 topics were identified for research of which this Seminar book contains selected papers which highlight the range and variety of our investigations. These papers not only meet the objectives of the Seminar but are also evidence of the hard work, capabilities and commitment on the parts of both the students and their advisors.

Prof. Dr. Ranjana Mital & Anjali Mittal Coordinators

ii

THE TEAM

Editors

Nikita Bhargava Nishita Mohta Shamita Chaudhry

Editorial Team

Bhashwati Mukherjee Kiran Kumar Ghosh Pulkit Mogha Sanket Biswas Shivani Raina

Graphics Team

Abhimanyu Singhal Nallam Phani Teja Shubham Kesharwani Venna Sri Hari Kanth Vishakha Sharma iii

EDITORIAL

The Seminar presentation is a rite of passage for an architecture student at SPA. Watching the seminars can be extremely intimidating in first year but before you know it, fifth year is upon you and it’s your turn to present your research work. An exercise in team work, the research papers and presentations are an outcome of semester-long research, debate, writing and fighting.

Working on the seminar book has had highs and low of its own. It has been fascinating, going through the seminar research papers – seeing the ways in which our peers’ minds work and just how far we’ve come in these five years. The best part, however, has been the joy of finally consolidating everyone’s efforts into this book which stands testimony to who we all have evolved into as thinkers and designers of the built environment.

An experience which was equal measures of excitement and chaos, it would not have been possible without our terrific guides and coordinators.

Here’s hoping this book proves useful to you, dear reader, and makes for an interesting read.

Cheers!

Nikita, Nishita & Shamita Editors

iv

F5 Urbanity, as a theme for the Seminar Series, embodies an attempt at a refreshed take on architecture and the city. The broad theme allowed for ample freedom to explore a multitude of issues. The focal areas of research were discovered and refined by each team as the semester progressed. A qualitative approach to research was undertaken, where commonly-held notions were challenged and looked at through a fresh lens.

The area of study chosen by each group was in pursuit of an ideology that could be taken forward by them as young professionals in the field. What followed was a semester-long process of research and robust introspection.

The end product that was presented was a strong reflection of the values and ethics that have been imbibed over the course of architectural education.

The resulting body of work covered extremely diverse subjects such as public health, finance, technology, urban policy, behavioural sciences and architectural criticism. This meant that the groups looked for guidance not only to the usual suspects - architects and urban designers - but also to doctors, economists, policy makers and psychologists.

The discussion, debate and ideation among peers and professionals ensured that the research achieved the intended level of complexity.

This book is a compilation of that body of research.

‘‘

‘‘

F5 :: Refresh

vi

CONTENTS

Preface The Team Editorial Seminar Presentation Schedule About the series F5 Urbanity Acknowledgements

Rethinking Densification Arpit Jain, Ayush Narang, Sanket Biswas, Tamanna Arora

Biourbanism and the City Ashveen Sudan, Michael Vivian Ekka, Sonam Choden Tshering, Sumedha Dua

Everyday Urbanism Nikita Bhargava, Oorvi Sharma, Shivam Kaushik, Vikas Verma

The Glocal Paradigm I V Sai Shashank, Jithin Kairamkonda, Nallam Phani Teja, Trisha Das,

Commodification of Housing Anurag Tiwari, Firas Qazi, Kiran Kumar Ghosh, Peetala Pavan Kumar

Investigating Behaviours Karishma Sehgal, Nishita Mohta, Shamita Chaudhry, Tanvi Goel

vii

01 25 53 81 107 131

Hostile Dilli Ankita Bhati, Gunjan Aggarwal, Shankar Shanmuganatham , Ujjal Hafila

Temporal Tamasha Anika Pahadia, Devansh Mahajan, Shivani Raina, Shubham Kesharwani

In the Pink, in the Open, in Delhi?

Dhiraj Sharma, Rishi Tirth, S.Nengvangliam, Vipasha Midha

Skin of Controversy Anshuman Jena, Dhanajit, Dixit Suman, Huzaifa Ahmedabadwala,

e-Mage of the City Aditya Patil, Ruchir Kumar, Sakshi Aggarwal, Vishwajeet Singh

Technology Infused Spaces Bhashwati Mukherjee, Jithin Shamsu, Pulkit Mogha, Shijo Jose

Abstracts of unpublished papers

155 181 211 239 263 291 313

THESE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS CAN BE FOUND ONLINE

viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Though there are many to thank for the success of the seminar series 2015, some need a special mention. We extend our sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr. Ranjana Mital and Ms. Anjali Mittal for their valuable suggestions, guidance and coordination without which this would not have been possible. The encouragement of the Director of the School, Prof. Chetan Vaidya and the Head of Department of Architecture, Prof. Manoj Mathur has been indispensable to the success of the seminar programme and we would like to thank them on the behalf of the entire batch. A sincere thanks to all the advisors for their patient guidance and the various resource persons for their valuable inputs time and again. A word of thanks to the school at large and finally congratulations to all of us – the graduating class of 2016.

The Editorial Team

ix

THE F5 PAPERS

x

RETHINKING DENSIFICATION A critical appraisal of the Densification trend of Delhi Due to rapid urbanization, Delhi’s population has been proliferating and the current pattern of growth is leading to an urban sprawl. However, the master plan of Delhi 2021 proposes that Delhi NCT still has potential to accommodate around 40 percent of current housing shortage. Hence, redensification should be adopted as it would help towards making a more sustainable city. In view of this, our policy makers aim at increasing net residential density through strategies such as increased FAR, land pooling etc. These policies are envisioned to work as standalone solutions and fail to understand the complex nature of Delhi. This seminar argues that densification, although a sustainable growth strategy cannot be implemented in a similar fashion throughout the city. It aims to evaluate the impact of policies on the built environment which is a determinant of quality of life.

Arpit Jain | Ayush Narang | Sanket Biswas | Tamanna Arora Guide - Shruti Narayan Chairperson - Prof. Kavas Kapadia 1

D

elhi was envisioned and designed to be a low-density city and thus, was planned for the same. It started as a bipolar city with a traditional low-density core. The Lutyen’s Bungalow Zone was created as a distinct signature of the city and remains at its core till date. At that time, the Master Plan 1962 postulated a low density urban planning for Delhi.

Consequently, to deal with the increasing population the MPD 2001 adopted densification as a strategy, which was taken up by the MPD 2021 as well. This along with the pressure to accommodate migrant population has resulted in a gradual increase in densities as one moves outwards with a low-density core, giving Delhi the characteristics of an urban sprawl.

(Singhal, 2011) “Delhi has been reeling under the pressure of population explosion, and has grown spatially to accommodate this growth.”(Kumar.A, 2005) Delhi, the capital city of India, boasts a population of a huge 182 lakh people in 2015, making it one of the most populous cities in India and the second most populous in the world (Singh, 2014). Delhi had a population of 137 lakh in 2001, 167.5 lakh in 2011, and is projected to have 230 lakh people in 2021 with a growth rate of 3.87% (MPD 2021).

The Delhi Master Plan 2021 identifies that the land potential of Delhi has not been completely utilized and there is potential for accommodating more people through ‘up-gradation and re-densification through redevelopment’ of existing housing areas of Delhi. It aims to provide more housing stock to the city to meet the current deficit with scope for infrastructural upgradation and augmentation for improved efficiency.

However, the Master Plan with its projected increase in population and the proposed plan to accommodate these inhabitants may not have opti-

2 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 1 - Growth pattern of Delhi

mally evaluated the associated infrastructure requirements or the quality of life required.

The process of redensification is complex and the factors involved are dependent on each other. There is a gap between the proposed and the reality as the city currently faces a lot of issues like traffic congestion, lack of water, pollution, health, social exclusion, failing quality of life etc.

Thus, the increasing urban stress makes us question the re-densification of Delhi.

Fig 2 - Issues of Delhi Fig 3 - Complexity of the process (Source : Authors)

Understanding the fact that the unplanned development contributes majorly to the increasing population, affecting the infrastructure, it is out of scope of our research. The research focuses on redensification in planned areas, its policy framework and its impact on quality of life. This paper will try to evaluate that though densification is an optimal strategy for making a city sustainable and work within its ecological footprint, can this be applied everywhere? Do all densification strategies make sense?

What is Redensification?

Re-densification is the allocation of an increased population in an already existing area for efficient utilisation of space and energy. It leads to compact cities, which is considered the most sustainable way of densification Rethinking Densification

| 3

because of various advantages discussed below • Less car dependency, low emissions, reduced energy consumption by

- Shifting from car to walking, cycling and public transport

- Reducing trip distances • Better public transport services, increased overall accessibility • The rejuvenation of existing urban areas and urban vitality, the preservation of green space and a milieu for enhanced business and trading activities.

Is Densification always better?

Compact city concept is being applied as a strategy by municipalities all over the world to accommodate their increasing population. Some of the finest examples of densified compact cities would be Singapore, which serve as a model to the world. This concept seems to work admirably in developed countries, which have strong infrastructural facilities, but can this process of densification be applied universally? It may also lead to some issues described below • Stress on available infrastructure as the total number of people using the same facilities increases.

• Land prices may increase as land becomes a premium • Unchecked densification leads to environmental pollution • If public transport does not develop at par with the increasing population, it may lead to increase of cars leading to traffic congestion and pollution • Densification may lead to non-inclusive growth.

(Jenks & Burgess, 2000) Impacts of Densification The densification of Delhi should take into account its current conditions and the impacts. There is a need to understand the balance between the ever increasing population of the capital and the pressure it puts on the infrastructure and the quality of life. Some of the impacts and consequences of densification of Delhi are discussed as follows 1. Social 2. Economic 3. Infrastructural 4. Environmental 4 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 4 : Impacts of densification at a city level.

(Source: Authors)

5. Safety 6. Spatial

Social impacts Densification, quite naturally, has a big impact on society, as it changes the social structure of a place largely. In properly planned compact cities, densification leads to the growth of small-scale opportunities and creates some employment.

Hence one big problem of densification is that land becomes a premium and property rates increase steeply. The rich who opt for second homes as a mode of investment exploit this fact. The economic divide increases and the rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer creating a ‘non-inclusive’ development. This in turn gives rise to slums and unauthorized colonies.

Economic impacts One of the most important impacts of densification is the impact of the increasing population on the economy. In addition, this can be classified into large-scale consumer economics and small-scale bazaar economics.

When the population of a place increases, the consumer market of that area also increases, creating a large demand for raw materials and finished goods. If the demands are met and the market is sustainable, there is stability in the market with prices remaining constant and low enough for the whole populace (Stenfit, 2007). So it can be postulated that if the

Rethinking Densification

| 5

market is not sustainable and there is more demand than the production, both in terms of processed goods and raw materials like food items, prices will rise leading to inflation. The same structure can be applied to the job market where a surplus market leads to densification and a saturated market leads to unemployment. Hence, this viewpoint should also be kept in mind during the densification of a city.

Infrastructure impacts When a region is densified, the brunt of the process is felt by the infrastructure. Similarly, if the infrastructure is inadequate, effects of densification are adverse as the utilization of capacity is increased, but how negative is this as against its benefits? The case of densification of Delhi comes out very strongly in this context. Despite what the MPD 2021 proposes, is the infrastructure of Delhi sufficient to handle the influx of a certain percentage of residents? The major components of infrastructure are discussed as follows: i) Waste management One of the crucial aspects of urban infrastructure is waste management, vis, solid waste and liquid waste. Delhi households generate 675 million gallons of liquid waste per day, of which only 48% of the sewage water is treated; the rest is dumped in the river and this Yamuna also provides for 70% of Delhi’s water demand. (Chandra, 2010) Coming to solid waste, the condition is similarly deplorable. According to the MPD Delhi 2021, the city has 20 landfill sites, out of which 16 are filled up and only four are functional. In reality, all resemble massive hills of filth, untreated, uncovered, polluting the air, water and environment of the neighbouring areas and creating health hazards every day.

How will this city hold the daily filth of its proposed inhabitants? ii) Roads Another main urban infrastructure is a city’s roads, for the number of cars plying on them. Delhi has more vehicles than the number put together in the three metropolitan cities of Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. (Malhotra, 2010)

Delhi roads, once deemed to be one of the best in India, are choking due to this massive increase in vehicles and are no longer sufficient for the vehicular volume. Traffic snarls are now an everyday issue. iii) Public transport

6 | F5 Urbanity

Public transport in the metropolis includes the Delhi Metro, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus system, auto-rickshaws, cycle-rickshaws, e-rickshaws, Grameen Seva and taxis. With the introduction of Delhi Metro, a rail-based mass rapid transit system, have gained ground.

The metro, which is now the lifeline of Delhi, also fails during peak hours. Overcrowding creates mass discomfort, but cannot be avoided as work-home distances are very high and metro provides a major line of connection.

“In fact, over the past six months, the Metro network has seen a significant increase in ridership. From around 23 lakh in late 2014, it has averaged out to over 24 lakh in the first half of 2015. Some days saw ridership touching 27-lakh mark.

However, in that period, the number of coaches running on the Metro network has remained the same”(Banerjee, 2015) The public transport system at the current date does not seem capable enough to handle the population of Delhi and hence unready for a greater load of densification. iv) Water The population of Delhi has seen phenomenal growth. It has crossed the figure of 130 lakh in 2001. This has put tremendous pressure on the existing civic services including supply of drinking water. The present demand for water in Delhi is around 800 MGD whereas the supply from all the available sources is about 650 MGD. “The gap between demand and supply is partly being met by extraction of ground water through wells, tube wells, deep bore hand pumps etc.” -Delhi Jal Board v) Noise Exposure to prolonged sounds higher than 60 dB lead to hearing problems, immune failure and increase of stress producing hormones and is detrimental to sleep. Many spots in Delhi are subjected to much higher levels of sound than permissible and the main culprit of sound pollution is increasing number of cars and traffic congestions. (Phukan, 2014) vi) Safety One of the basic urban amenities is safety from crime. The world crime index allows cities a rating of 60 in a scale of 0 to 100. The rating of Rethinking Densification

| 7

Delhi is 73 and hence is unsafe. (National Crime Records Bureau, 2015) In conclusion, it can be said that though densification is said to a solution towards sustainability, it does not seem to exactly fit the Delhi scenario. It is true that Delhi has a lot of potential trapped in its land, but if load on infrastructural facilities is increased then it would not be able to withstand redensification as it is already struggling to support the present demands.

People’s perspective A quick survey was carried out to understand the mood of residents about the redensification of Delhi. As discussed before, it is a very complex issue having major effects on the citizens of the city and hence, it becomes important to get a perspective of how the people of a city perceive the issue. Most stated that were staying in Delhi for their jobs and daily livelihood, some for the quality of life that Delhi offered, while a few were not satisfied and wanted to move out. When asked about the issues faced in the locality, the main problem came out to be parking space. Other issues included lack of proper drainage system, neighborhood parks and playgrounds.

People are satisfied with their accommodation, though they believe that there is a lack of infrastructure and their locality should not hold more people than it already has. The preferred mode of transport for most people is cars, while metro seems to be the second option. It is understood that increasing population is affecting Delhi, and the people believe that Delhi should not densify.

8 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 5: Survey Charts

Fig 6 : The CLC Liveability Matrix Diagram showin quality of life parameters.

(Source: www.livablecities.org/articles/ high-density-livability-question)

Quality of life “Quality of life is an individuals’ perceptions of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns.� (WHOQOL, 2012) In other words, it is the general well-being of a person living in a society, which is affected by a number of factors and variables. People want to spend their lives in favourable living environments and living conditions that provide comfort, health and are congenial for raising their families.

They should be well connected to places of interest and access various amenities with ease.

The Centre for Liveable Cities provides us with a matrix on livability and density. It becomes clear that increasing population does not mean reducing quality of life. Cities like Singapore and London have achieved high densities and high quality of life while New Delhi, Dhaka, Moscow, Lagos, Lima, Jakarta, Mexico etc. lie in the low livability zone. The reasons for high density and high livability in Singapore, Hong Kong etc. are integrated planning and development and a strong urban governance of a dynamic nature that sustains the conditions for a liveable city to thrive.

Quality of life directly relates to liveability and well-being of the resi-

Rethinking Densification

| 9

dents and hence can be an effective tool to assess whether redensification should be opted for or not. Living conditions are analysed according to the following factors: Political and social environment The political and social environment of a place are of immense importance to the quality of life of that place. A region of political or social unrest cannot provide a decent quality of life. A healthy environment would also encompass a healthy relationship between the administrative body and the residents, and an amiable relationship amidst the residents themselves on sharing facilities.

Economic environment A good economic environment with surplus of jobs and low levels of inflation are very important for a good quality of life whereas a saturated market with no jobs and inflated prices are detrimental. Density of a city is an important factor in the economic environment of the city.

Health and sanitation Health and sanitation are the basic rights of every citizen. This should be ensured by proper infrastructure including waste and sewage disposal, in the city as well as at the community level.

Schools and education Education is the basic human right of every citizen. Right to education is ensured by presence of a required number of schools, colleges and other educational institutions in the community and the city level.

Public services and transportation Public services and transportation include proper clean roads and short travel times between two places. Proper city roads with no congestion and noise and air pollution, adequate supply of water and electricity help in boosting quality of life.

Recreation Access to recreational facilities is required for a good quality of life which include playgrounds, open green spaces for community interaction, movie theatres, etc.

Natural environment A clean natural environment is required to ensure both mental and physi10 | F5 Urbanity

Scenario 1: Re-densification in Delhi

Fig 7 : Growth Pattern (Source : Authors)

Scenario 2: Extending the urban limits of Delhi

Scenario 3: Formation of satellite towns

cal health of the masses. Green areas, ample number of trees, clean water and are parts of the natural environment.

Housing An accommodation with optimal functional spaces and adequate density as per the requirement in local area plan become important while providing a good quality of life. w(Mercer Report,2015) Delhi’s current pattern of growth The pattern in which Delhi has been urbanizing can be broadly categorized into three scenarios.

Scenario 1 This scenario aims to accommodate the growing population within the present urban limits. This can be achieved through redevelopment and redensification of existing vacant land and low density housing areas as per MPD (2021). The strategies proposed for redensification will be discussed in the report.

Scenario 2 In this scenario, the increasing population is accommodated on the periphery of the city by extending the urban limits of the city. This is done by acquiring undeveloped or agricultural land and creates an intense need for new infrastructure and the resources necessary to support the need of residents.

Scenario 3 This shows the creation of new satellite towns around the parent city of Delhi. The development of satellite towns leads to decentralization and Rethinking Densification

| 11

Underutilized FAR

Utilizing FAR: Option 1

Utilizing FAR: Option 2

serve a number of purposes. They serve to bring down the population density of Delhi and take the load off its facilities.

The focus of our seminar will be scenario 1, which involves redensification within the existing city of Delhi NCT as it is the most sustainable way to shelter the growing population. This will result in a more ‘compact city’ form, which has several advantages. The excessive consumption of resources will be abated, transportation time will be reduced and thus energy consumption will decrease too.

Existing Policy Framework The MPD (2021) proposes a number of strategies to increase the housing stock of Delhi and urges urban planners to meet the projected demand. Some of these strategies are: • Increased FAR • Land pooling • Transit Oriented Development • Brownfield development Increased FAR One of the Master Plan’s leading strategies to accommodate the increasing population is to allow increased FAR for housing areas. This allows the residents to build vertically up much more and would allow more people to live in the same amount of land. It has identified zones where there is potential for redensification and has proposed an increase in its holding capacity. This has been done for optimally utilizing the available land with a view to increase the net residential density. However, utilizing

12 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 8 - Utilising FAR (Source: Authors)

Plotted developments combined to form a single plot, improving the quality of built environment.

Fig. 9 - Landpooling (Source: Authors)

increased FAR does not always mean increased density.

In the above case, Option 1 shows the same family utilizing the increased FAR available thereby increasing the amount of space per person. This does not count as redensification. Option 2 shows different families occupying each floor, thereby increasing the residential density. Therefore, the policy should ensure that in a city like Delhi, which is facing severe housing shortage, increased FAR provided for redensification should be utilized for the same and not as in the case of option 1. This would depend on various socio-economic factors.

Land Pooling Land pooling is another strategy which has been proposed by the MPD 2021 as a means of unlocking the land potential in Delhi. Under this policy, landowners owning separate plots of land and living in vicinity surrender their land into a central pool, and become a stakeholder of the development that is proposed on their land. After the land is pooled, the landowner would get back 40-60% of the land as developable land which can be sold to a builder for development. The rest of the land is kept by the DDA for development. This is considered to be a good policy as it would open up land for development within the city and would also help to meet the growing housing requirement. According to KT Ravindran, urban designer and former chairperson of the DUAC, “It is a good policy, but issues related to essential services like water should be addressed at a conceptual stage. It

Rethinking Densification

| 13

shouldn’t be like Dwarka, which struggled for water supply” (Chitalangia, 2015) “We have seen 60 years of planning fail. This policy, if implemented properly, will help in reshaping the city”, said S.M. Akhtar, dean of the Department of Architecture, Jamia Milia Islimia University. (Chitalangia, 2015) There is a state of impracticality in this policy as it involves multiple ownerships , differences in land values, different priorities etc. Thus not everyone would be willing to pool their piece of land making joint action difficult.

Brownfield Development Brownfield development means utilizing land unfit for farming to provide housing for the city. These lands generally include areas, which are too polluted for farming, or industrial areas. Delhi holds huge potential for brownfield development. There are a number of abandoned factories and power plants, also government housing projects, which have been abandoned for various reasons and are now empty. Developing these would provide valuable housing area to the overburdened city’s populace.

However, not much initiative has been taken for the development of such sites.

Transit Oriented Development Transit Oriented Development refers to any development – macro or micro – that induces people to prefer the use of public transportation.

There are two primary goals for Transit Oriented Development in Delhi. First being reduction in private vehicle dependency allowing the use of public transport. The second is providing public transport access to maximum number of people through redensification and enhanced connectivity. (UTTIPEC, 2012) 14 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 10 - Impracticality of the policy

Existing areas: Holding capacity available Source: Illustrations by authors based on the

Fig 11 - Existing areas: data in MPD 2021 Holding capacity available (Source : Illustrations by Authors based on the data in MPD 2021)

Fig 12 - Bar chart to show the holding capacity and population in 2001 and proposed holding capacity in 2021 (Source: Authors)

It also focuses on the concept of eyes on street with buildings built to edge. But, what if an owner on the ground floor decides to keep a blank wall facing the street? What happens to the eyes in this case? Shouldn’t we incorporate some regulations to ensure a safe, healthy built environment?

There needs to be a detailed planning and policy framework to ensure that these policies actually contribute towards a better built environment.

Identifying Zones Based on the Master Plan’s projected population of 230 lakh by 2021, the estimated additional housing stock required will be 24 lakh dwelling units.

It has been assessed by the MPD that around 40% of housing need can potentially be satisfied through redevelopment of existing households in Delhi NCT. It further proposes that the population holding capacity of A to H zones is to be enhanced through redevelopment strategy and modified development norms, which include increased FAR, ground coverage and land pooling.

Case study: Zone G and Zone E The MPD has proposed an increase in the holding capacity of existing areas, primarily in Zones E, F and G as seen in the above bar chart.

The urbanisable areas have been opened up for development in a phased manner to meet with the needs of the urbanization envisaged in the Master Plan 2021. Because of the limited time frame of the research, Zones E and G have been studied.

Although redensification has its impacts on various aspects, but for the scope of our research, a pilot study of the said zones has been conducted. It aims to understand the impact of policies on the built environment which is directly related to the quality of life of people. The case studies chosen lie in between 50- 750 sqm plot area, because most plotted developments lie in this range.

Rethinking Densification

| 15

Zone G Rajouri garden and Ramesh Nagar are plotted developments which lie in Zone G. Rajouri garden is an upscale colony and Ramesh Nagar is a resettlement colony. Both the colonies have different spatial characteristics and built environment. Rajouri garden has bigger plot sizes and wider streets as compared to the latter which is characterized by small plot sizes with narrow streets and elongated community greens. Both colonies are going through redensification and are seeing an increase in residential density. A single-family house is being converted to a stilt + 4 floor structure, utilizing the enhanced FAR. Streets of varying widths were identified in both the areas and comparative volumetric study was done of the built environment resulting from the recent developments.

16 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 13 : Rajouri Garden Plan - area of study (left), Ramesh Nagar Plan area of study (right) (Source : Authors)

Current Scenario

Section through 18m wide road showing stilt + 4 structures on both sides.

Isometric view of 18m wide road

If Densified Further

Section showing stilt+6 structures on both sides.

Street View 1

Isometric view of 18m wide road

Street View 2

Rajouri Garden Fig 14 : Rajouri Garden (Source : Authors)

Plot sizes are in the range of 200-300 sqm in the street selected for the purpose of study. As per the MPD, this 18m wide street will be allowed only G+3-4 structures as the norms are only based on plot sizes. The study shows that the building heights are regardless of the width of the road. The street can however accommodate more density, with higher buildings on both sides without sacrificing the quality of built environment which is one of the parameters for assessing quality of life.

Rethinking Densification

| 17

Current Scenario

Section through 15m wide street bifurcated by a green pocket.

Isometric view of 15m wide road

If Densified Further

Section showing stilt+6 structures on both sides

Street View

Isometric view of 15m wide road

Street View

Ramesh Nagar Plot sizes are in the range of 80-100 sqm in the street selected for the purpose of study. The study shows that the 15m wide street might have the potential to support higher residential density than the proposed, without much affecting the built environment. But in this case, since the street is bifurcated by a green pocket, the paths left for vehicular and pedestrian movement are only 3.5m on both side. This is not sufficient and increased the number of households will add to more congestion and the parks might have to give way for parking.

18 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 14 : Ramesh Nagar (Source : Authors)

Current Scenario

Section through 9m road showing stilt+4 structures on both sides.

Isometric view of 9m wide road.

If Densified Further

Section showing stilt + 6 structures on both sides

Isometric view of 9m wide road.

The narrow street, if further densified will definitely result in deteriorating the spatial charactersictic and hampering basic aspects for providing good quality if life such as light, ventilation, green spaces, etc.

Street view Fig 15 : (Source : Authors)

Rethinking Densification

| 19

Zone E

Current Scenario

Section through 22m wide road showing stilt+4 structures on both sides

Isometric view of 22m wide road

If Densified Further

Section showing stilt+6 structures on both sides

Isometric view of 22m wide road

The study area that has been taken up is Hargobind enclave in Zone E near Karkardooma metro station, which is a plotted development. As a result of increased FAR for plotted housing, residences have started to become stilt plus four floors. But the question arises that can every street section have the same potential for densification? The scenarios above will help in understanding these issues.

20 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 16 : Hargobind Enclave - area of study

In 22m wide roads, if the number of floors is increased from 5, to say, 7 , it might not hamper the built environment. Therefore, in this case the road section allows the building to accommodate increased population without compromising with quality of light, ventilation etc.

From the above cases it becomes very clear that the same height and FAR restrictions for all the buildings in the same zone is not viable. Every community needs to be densified differently and therefore the decisions regarding densification should be at a local level through extensive research. There should not be a uniform law for every plotted development in the same zone. These decisions should be taken on the basis of accessibility, proximity to open space, infrastructural capacity and height, form, road width and built environment rather than only plot sizes. This is so because in a zone there can be many localities where some plots might be able to hold more number of people and there might be some which cannot hold any further. The approach should be bottom-up, where local area planning is used as an effective tool to densify the city in a sustainable manner.

Conclusion The redensification process is very complex with its positive sides which are related to compact cities offer optimal utilization of resources, decreased travel time, efficient public transport, increased sustainability etc.

But it has various layers and needs to get merged with other factors like their long-term impact, construction of an efficient and productive society etc. Delhi has potential for redensification, but it faces some unique problems, firstly, that the infrastructure of the city is already at its breaking point. The increasing population of the city has found space in the unauthorised colonies. The bye-laws passed by the government include giving lands to the real estate agents for development, who are directed to provide housing to the economically weaker section of the city. But in the profit driven real estate industry, as the cost of development increases, these become unaffordable. Hence, the densification which is going on in the city is becoming non-inclusive, non-sustainable, and increasing the social and economic divide.

A city should always work to strike the balance between the demand and supply of land for present and future needs. Urban planners should not view a planning time horizon of 50 years as too long; they should look at development as well as redevelopment while considering the densifi-

Rethinking Densification

| 21

cation of a city. A combination of long-term planning, responsive land policies, development control, and good design are required for the city to have dense developments that do not feel overly crowded.

Densification should be a bottom up approach and should be done area-wise. Adopting it in certain areas makes much more sense than overall densification of the city. The areas can be chosen on the basis of holding capacity and whether the densification will affect the quality of life of the city. Local planning bodies should be set up which surveys zones, which have potential to densify and come up with viable plans for densification and strengthening of the existing infrastructure.

By raising the number of floors equally in all areas as per plot size means that they have allowed the population to be added in areas which might lack in terms of social infrastructure, market places, green areas and a further addition without the provision of the basic requirements of a human being may introduce a set of new kinds of urban issues. All these policies are envisaged to work as standalone and therefore there is a disconnect between what is proposed and what is the ground reality.

So incentivisation should be implemented. For example, increasing the FAR alone may not be plausible. Similarly, land pooling as a standalone policy is not viable as it has certain shortcomings which make unfeasible for small plot holders. While if land pooling policies are coupled with high FAR policy, buildings of high-rise high-density neighbourhoods with good standards of living might be possible. Considering TOD, the question that arises is - why is increased FAR not provided along other major transport corridors such as existing bus routes and metro lines?

Wouldn’t that also be called as transit oriented development?

When discussing about quality of life an important aspect that comes into play is the occupancy certificate. An occupancy document should be more than just the documentation of drawings, that is, it should not be provided without considering factors that affect the quality of life like proper light, ventilation, services etc. The procurement of occupancy certificates may be made easier in areas, which work towards densification using sustainable strategies as an added incentive.

Like all design decisions, densification of a particular area, or a city, needs to be critically examined, and implemented after thorough research into

22 | F5 Urbanity

the present scenario, context and infrastructure of the city to provide a healthy quality of life. The densification of Delhi is inevitable. However, unplanned and uncontrolled densification should be checked and a suitably flexible and accommodating plan should be in place to ensure a better future for the city.

Bibliography Aganivanshi, J. (2012) Urban failure in india [Online] 21th Jan 2014.

Available from: urbanfailure.blogspot.in [Accessed: 15th July 2015] Banerjee,R.(2015) Crowded Delhi metro in peak hours to continue, no new coaches as lines run below capacity [Online] 1st June 2015. Available from: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/railways/crowded-delhimetro-in-peak-hours-to-continue-no-new-coaches-as-lines-run-below-capacity/ articleshow/47496979.cms [Accessed on 10th September 2015] Batts, S. (2007) The real surprise in Delhi’s Master Plan 2021. [Online] April 24th 2007.

Available from: http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/feb/24spec.htm [Accessed: 2nd July 2015] Boniface. G. Fernandes. (2009) Fixing flawed urban planning, the case of Delhi. Ghaziabad, India: COPAL Publishing Group.

Burdett. R (2007) Urban India: Understanding the maximum city [Online] November 2007. Available from: http://v0.urban-age.net/0_downloads/UrbanAgeIndiaNewspaper-web.pdf [Accessed: 2nd Sept 2015] Burgess, R. Jenks, M .(ed.) (2000).Compact Cities: Sustainable Urban Forms for Developing Countries. London: St. Edmundsbury press.

Centre For Livable Cities And Urban Land Institute (2013) 10 Principals for Livable high density cities [Online] 24th January 2014 Available from: http://uli.org/wp-content/uploads/ULI-Documents/10PrinciplesSingapore.pdf [Accessed on 6th October 2015] Chandr.n (2012) A new poison in toxic Yamuna: Study finds high dose of harmful insectide used in mosquito repellents. [Online]22nd August 2012.Available from: http:// www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2192292/A-new-poison-toxicYamuna-Study-finds-high-dose-harmful-insecticide-used-mosquito-repellents-riverswater.html [Accessed: 18th August 2015] Chitlangia. R Without basic services in place, land pooling won’t help: Experts[Online] 6th September 2015. Available from:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ delhi/Without-basic-services-in-place-land-pooling-wont-help-Experts/articleshow/48849062.cms [Accessed on 10th September] Delhi Masterplan.(2015) Land Pooling Policy[Online] 15th October 2015. Available from:http://delhi-masterplan.com/land-pooling-policy/[Accessed:15th August 2015] H. TAUBENBÖCK et al (2013) Spatiotemporal analysis of Indian mega cities [Online] Available from: http://www.isprs.org/proceedings/XXXVII/congress/2_pdf/1_WGII-1/13.pdf [Accessed: 5th Sep 2015] International Making Cities Livable (2015) The High Density Livability Question [Online] Aug 18th 2015. Available from: http://www.livablecities.org/articles/high-density-livability-question [Accessed on 14th October 2015] Kumar, A. (2014) Plan Implementation and Monitoring: Interface between Urban Local Bodies and Development Authorities [Online] April-June 2005. Available from: http:// www.itpi.org.in/pdfs/newsletters/newsletter-2005-apr.pdf [Accessed: 15th Aug 2015] Li.L, Sato.Y, Zhu.H (2003.Simulating spatial urban expansion based on physical process. In: Landscape and Urban Planning, Vol. 64, pp. 67-76. [Online] Available from: http://libra.msra.cn/Publication/41224012/simulating-spatial-urban-expansion-based-on-a-physical-process [Accessed on 8th August 2015]

Rethinking Densification

| 23

Malhotra, T.K.(2010) Private cars and pollution in Delhi.[Online] Available from: http:// cria.co.in/aaui/article16.html [Accessed on 10th September 2015] National Centre Bureau Records (2014). Survey of crime [Online]Available from: http://ncrb.nic.in/ [Accessed on 11th October 2015] Pandey.R, Garg.Y.K & Bharat.A (2010) A Framework for Evaluating Residential Built Environment Performance for Livability, [Online] October – December. Available from: http://www.itpi.org.in/uploads/journalfiles/oct8_10.pdf. [Accessed: 2nd Sept 2015] Phukan, R. (2014) Delhi tops in pollution: how can it be controlled?[Online] 25th November 2014 . Available: http://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/cities/delhi-tops-inpollution-how-can-it-be-controlled [Accessed on 1st Aug 2015] Power. A, et al. (2004) A framework for Housing in London Thames Gateway [Online] 27th May 2004. Available from: http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/cb/CASEbrief27.pdf[Accessed on 1st October 2015] PTI. (2014) Delhi stares at acute water shortage. [Online] Dec 24th 2014. Available from: http://zeenews.india.com/news/Delhi/Delhi-stares-at-acute-water-shortage_1519598. html [Accessed: 2nd Aug 2015] Sasekapa.I, Kaapstad.S.(2009) Capetown Densification Strategy Technical Report [Online]1stAugust 2009 Available from: http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/sdf/Documents/Densification_Strategy_web.pdf [Accessed on 9th October 2015] Singh.Y (2014) Delhi now second most populous city in world [Online] 12th July 2014.

The Indian Express. Available from: http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-becomes-worlds-second-most-populous-city-after-tokyo/ [Accessed on 5th September 2015] Singhal, R. (2014) Redevelopment Strategy for the Central Government Employees’ Housing by Central Public Works Department: Case Study - R.K. Puram, New Delhi[ Online] 21st Dec 2014. Available from: http://www.itpi.org.in[Accessed: 25th July 2015] Srivastava,P,P (2007) Delhi Master plan 2021. Noida, India: Rupa.Co. UTTIPEC. (2012),Transit Oriented Development [Online] December 2012. Available from: http://uttipec.nic.in/writereaddata/linkimages/1304972657.pdf. [Accessed: 1st August 2015] World Health Organisation Quality Of Life (WHOQOL) (2012) WHOQOL-HIV Instrument. Geneva.Availablefrom:http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/77774/1/ WHO_MSD_MER_Rev.2012.01_eng.pdf?ua=1[Accessed on 10th October 2015]

24 | F5 Urbanity

BIOURBANISM AND THE INDIAN CITY The city as a sustainable Urban Organism A model paradigm in Urban Design and Planning has been bought in by the concept of Biourbanism, which combines the new sciences and technologies with the existing environmental and traditional ways of building design. The Seminar looks at the features which the Indian City already has but lacks the relevance which the concepts talk about. The inherent energy level and its flow patterns already exist and have to be bought into prominence for revitalising the city. This also helps in guiding the value system which is closely related to being more nature and people-centric and hence leads to a more sustainable Urban Morphology.

Ashveen Kaur | Michael Vivian Ekka | Sonam Tshering | Sumedha Dua Guide : Ms. Divya Chopra Chairperson : Mr. Kanu Agrawal 25

Fig 1 : Inherent Characteristics of a city: Levels of Scale, Strong Centres, Boundaries, Alternating repetition, Positive Space, Shape, Local Symmetry, Deep Interlock, Contrast, Graded Variation, Echoes, Voids, Inner Calm and Non-seperation.

T

he city of Delhi is a fertile ground of layers, on which have grown several cities, each of them having their own identities and set of principles of development and ‘evolution’ in terms of building and settlement. With the onset of modernism and revolutionary technologies, the design of buildings and settlements has changed over the years. From the indigenous and traditional ways of building and designing, urban patterns have come a long way, with impacts on our quality and way of life.

Architecture needs change. It needs a reminder to let it know there is more to it than just man making changes in the environment which is conducive to his luxury and not well-being. A model paradigm lies in the concept of Biourbanism, the new science of combining technical aspects of our modern age whilst being aware of human and environmental well-being. Considering the city and its architecture as living organisms, many new and exciting developments (fractals, complexity theory, bio architecture etc.) get interrelated with each other to form a constant stimuli between man and his environment.

Biourbanism was acknowledged as a discipline officially in 2010, when it was decided to establish the International Society of Biourbanism in order to link together professionals and scholars from different disciplines, who are interested in building a new way urban design, which is highly sensitised towards building a human-oriented environment. In its manifesto, Biourbanism focusses on the urban organism, considering it as a

26 | F5 Urbanity

hyper complex system, according to its internal and external dynamics and their mutual interactions. This helps the phenomena deal with issues related to a city by thinking of it as an urban organism, especially cases of self-organized societies and urban design and planning. This concept works on the realisation that certain technologies and man-made changes have had harmful effects on human beings. The aim of biourbanism is to introduce ‘new conceptual and planning models for a new kind of city’ which will help in enhancing the quality and health of life and social sustainability. (Tracada, 2013).

Cities today need to incorporate and accommodate qualities of the natural environment. Authors like Geddes or Ruskin have been interested in such an idea, not to forget the works of Arata Isozaki and Kenzo Tange who refer to biology after the relevant Japanese school of Metabolism.

Biomimicry is also an approach that refers to biological model nowadays, and tries to imitate the engineering solutions found in nature. This arises from the concern not only for the metropolis, but also for the natural environment itself. Therefore, this needs human co-operation, or in other words, participation, when dealing with urban development of parts of the city.

Efforts such as to reduce the number of cars on the roads and pedestrianizing the city are indicative of the need to have regenerative design strategies. In a statement typical of this approach, architect Jose Luis Sert, one of the key spokesmen for the Congrés Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM) in 1942, said: ‘Cities [are] living organisms; [they] are born and … develop, disintegrate and die … In its academic and traditional sense, city planning has become obsolete. In its place must be substituted urban biology’ (quoted in Time magazine, 30 November 1942) A significant difference between biourbanism and other approaches that refer to the living world relies in the very concept of life that we refer to. Almost everyone sees nature and life as a mere linear physical mechanism, and fail to grab the essential complexity of auto-poetic phenomena of the natural world, while we see life as a complex system with special emerging proprieties that cannot be explained with the linear physics of two centuries ago. Complexity in life sciences produces very interesting features, but it is not the trivial imitation of them that can produce a real Biourbanism and the City

| 27

life-enhancing design. One must rather focus on the logics that is behind those features, and that produce them.

Biourbanism, as a concept, works towards economic and social regeneration and urban revitalisation, where the city is seen as a living organism, derived from nature. (Caperna, n.d.) Instead of treating the city like a machine, the city is understood as a biological model, and treated as a function of human beings. Also, because the city represents a living environment of human species, the inhabitants are entitled to participate and engage not only in feedbacks but also in designing and planning.

Their participation and reactions help verify the results of this concept, along with objective and experimental measures of social, economic and physiological reactions.

As an inhabitant-oriented concept, Biourbanism aims to re-establish the city and settlements by enhancing the ‘organic interaction’ between the physical and cultural factors in urban reality. According to the needs of human beings and also of the ecosystem that they live in, it identifies and actualises the environmental enhancement. Biourbanism is not only about theory per se. It primarily involves an epistemological foundation, a methodology, theoretical research and theory’s instantiation in practical design and activities. (Caperna, n.d.).

Biourbanism also deepens the organic interaction between cultural and physical factors in urban reality (for example, the geometry of social action, fluxes and networks study, etc.). It also aims to achieve one of the objectives to manage a transition from a fossil fuel economy to a new organizational model of civilization. (Caperna, 2013) Where does its importance lie? It deals with the urban fabric by calling it a tree of energy, where creation and evolution of new boundaries and interfaces follows the theory of a never-ending pattern of growth, which would result in an optimum systemic efficiency for the quality of life for the people in the cities.

Tracada (2008) proved that patterns of energetic lines, such as preference paths, flowing and exploding in very ancient landscapes, had kept quite intact their evolving energy for many years. They also acted as generators of further expansion and development until recent times, which in turn managed to influence and inform human behaviours and life in cities.

28 | F5 Urbanity

As an inhabitant-oriented concept, biourbanism aims to re-establish the city and settlements by enhancing the ‘organic interaction’ between the physical and cultural factors in urban reality. According to the needs of human beings and also of the ecosystem that they live in, it identifies and actualises the environmental enhancement. (Caperna, n.d.)

The seminar aims to look at different components which supplement this concept, and thereby, understanding the principles and values that can be derived from the idea of biourbanism. This provides insight to making future urban development more inhabitant-friendly, and aspires to achieve sustainable survival of the city.

Divided into three main parts, the seminar introduces biourbanism in brief and describes its aims and objectives for research and application at the city and architectural level.

This can be achieved through an intensive practice and consummation of scientific developments such as Fractals, Biomimicry, Complexity theory, Morphogenesis, Peer-to-Peer Urbanism, Evolutionary Biology and Artificial Intelligence. This is an approach to link the basic ideology of Biourbanism to Life Sciences and Integrated Systems Sciences. (Caperna, n.d.) This approach helps to recognise physiological and ecological scales of optimal forms, to enhance the quality of life of the users of the built environment.

The research focuses primarily on four of the practices – Biomimicry, Fractals, P2P Urbanism and Urban Acupuncture. The relationships between these are multi-dimensional, and will be analysed through examples and secondary case studies. The research concludes with the key findings and tries to relate these concepts to the Indian context. It also tries to look at understanding the energy levels and inherent patterns existing in the city of Delhi, and why they should be brought into prominence for revitalisation of the city.

The seminar is set in a belief that a designer’s value system can be guided through this concept, to achieve a more people and nature-centric approach towards architecture and urban design. As biourbanism covers some of the advanced methods of city and architectural design under its wings, it is imperative to get a grasp on how far it can lead to our understanding of a sustainable city.

Biourbanism and the City

| 29

Fig 2 : Urban by Nature aims to redefine the city and urbanity, to analyse the relationship between city and nature, and see the city as a natural ecology, analyse its structure and metabolism, and understand and use the process of its material flows, to make the city more resilient and thus act to contribute to a more sustainable future world.

The aims and objectives of this Seminar include; understanding a new phenomenon and concept to see what is it all about and why is it necessary or of value in the urban scenario today, looking at different components which supplement the concept and understanding their principles and values. It also answers what is the need for this concept and what are its merits are in the urban design of the complex Indian City.

Western technological concepts are hard to sustain in the Indian City due to it being in a primal state having few or no connections to an Indian Metropolitan idea. It becomes viable to understand what part in its necessity from the concept can be a driving guide for future design and hence understanding energy levels and inherent patterns within the city and why should they be brought into prominence for urbanisation.

Therefore, Biourbanism has the potential to positively transform the environmental performance of the built environment. This presumes that a holistic approach to architectural design that incorporates an understanding of ecosystems could become a vehicle for creating a built environment that goes far beyond simply sustaining to the current conditions, to a restorative practice where the built environment becomes a vital component in the integration with and regeneration of natural ecosystems.

This leads to this paper’s argument, how values already present in the Indian culture are subject to our acceptance only after recognition on the western radar. It also becomes relevant to understand from this paper 30 | F5 Urbanity

the underlying principles it talks about and its significance to the modern Indian City, whose complex layers are what driving it to the future.

Fig 3 : The process undertaken to understand the concept and its aspects.

Fractals Theory of Planning Fractals Theory of Planning speaks of a structure that follows a similar pattern of planning, functioning or complexity at any level of magnification (Salingaros, 2001). A detailed study into the Fractals Theory shows how, whether a building or a city, are subject to same organisational laws as a biological organism. This theory believes that modern planning principles encourage strict alignment and straight roads, and have no links between different scales of planning. Instead, older cities, that were planned organically, have an organised interweaving and an architectural interface

Biourbanism and the City

| 31

Fig 4 : Indian temples are like 3-dimensional structure based on fractal geometry.

for exchange, which was strongly connected through a specific process at every scale, which made them come alive. (Salingaros, 2001).

The different levels of scale where a particular observable rich connective structure can be found, are strongly linked by the design. These ‘fractals’ are found to have perforated edges, which allow interchange between an edge and its adjoining space. Such fractal interfaces are found in traditional villages between the building fronts and the streets. Hence, one can understand that physical forms of planning can determine the social and economic functioning and the quality of life in a settlement or a city. The fractals theory also establishes the fact that fractals on a human scale are more engaging. Non-fractal structures suppress human scale and alienate the user. (Salingaros, 2001) Fractal qualities of structures, which are also found in nature and structural organisation of living forms, help connect the humans to their environment.

Fractal cities can also be seen as cities that have grown organically over centuries. Cities that grow naturally are formed through individual decisions, fit in the natural landscape, and address more intense concerns at the local level. These cities are more workable, more equitable and more efficient. (Batty & Longley, 1994) These cities that grow slowly over time develop a certain pattern of growth which is permeable, allows exchange, and is also observed to follow the same pattern on a larger scale. This pat-

32 | F5 Urbanity

tern does not necessarily need to be geometrical or visibly or aesthetically similar looking, this pattern can be understood as a concept of growth.

The idea or intent in which a house has been designed, can be very similar to the planning of the neighbourhood and therefore, the precinct and the settlement or the city.

Fig 5 : The above image – called Substrate – is only one stage in a long algorithmic process. The various versions morph through different, oddly city-like fractal patterns, forming boulevards, squares, medians.

It has been repeatedly established by various noted authors that living cities have intrinsically fractal properties which have been erased, primarily to accommodate automobile and population growth. This has led the urban fabric to face disastrous consequences, one of which is to impose anti-fractal geometrical typologies over a well-laid fractal planning. Modernism has been seen to eliminate fractal structures, and replace them with non-fractal built structures. This has led to psychological, philosophical and physical separation of human beings from the natural and built environment. The deliberate destruction of comfortable and emotionally nourishing human environments has transformed the city into places that are hostile to natural human activities. (Salingaros, 2001) Fractal analysis and theory in Biourbanism intends to undo or override this damage through methods of connecting and repairing urban space.

Within an effective way to overlay pedestrian, automotive and public transport, the intricate connectivity of the living urban fabric also needs to be re-incorporated. It also aims to integrate the physical connections Biourbanism and the City

| 33

Fig 6 : Modular para-city for habitat in Helsinki; Based on development contrary to typical urban growth. Rather than existing in its finalized state upon initial occupation, the city gradually grows by infilling the open framework. The model utilizes design-build and ‘do-it-yourself’ approaches to architecture, where the users dictate their environments’ functionality and makeup.

with the modern-day electronic connections. The bottom-up component of regeneration encouragement at small scale will help regenerate urban forces that will help bring the city ‘back to life’.

Peer to Peer Urbanism P2P urbanism follows a philosophy similar to that of ‘new’ and ‘traditional’ urbanism which promote walkable communities where people can socialize, live and work without being dependant on cars and which allow non-rigid zoning with well-proportioned buildings that are inspired and built with traditional forms and techniques.

Further, it stresses on the ‘open source movement’ which is basically sharing knowledge equally amongst all citizens so as to educate them and make them aware of experiences of other users all over the world.

P2P urbanism allows active users to freely adapt and modify theories, research, and practices following proven experience and based upon their specific needs and intuitions (Salingros, 2010). This helps in adjusting the complex needs that otherwise may be overseen by the designer, through

34 | F5 Urbanity

involving end users as an important part of the design and decision making of a project. The end users therefore receive power, since they understand the real life problems better. It takes ‘power’ out of the hands of the ‘starchitects’ as the sole creator of places. It instead advocates for people being allowed to modify their environment to suit their needs, instead of relying exclusively on a designer who does not even live there.

(Salingros & Mena-Quintero, October 2010) “It is important to establish communication between users, builders, designers and everyone who is involved with a particular environment.” (Salingros & Mena-Quintero, October 2010).

P2P-Urbanism and Biourbanism both dwell on the concept of participatory methods. P2PU is all about letting people design and build their own environments using information and techniques that are shared freely. Through these processes of redistributing knowledge and initiating group discussions among interested individuals, results that may be appropriate for the city’s growth can be produced. For example – the DZP (Duany Plater-Zyberk) smart code provides with a set of instructions that can be broadly followed to achieve and implement the concept of P2PU. However this requires an input through discussions from a set of individuals to make these set of instructions more applicable and calibrate to the local conditions. The most important point is the commonality of design methods in both P2PU and Biourbanism that revolve around human-centric architecture and urban design.

P2PU would aid in spreading knowledge to its end users to make them more informed and hence taking appropriate decisions through group discussions and peer to peer to interactions to attain the common goal of making a more habitable, sustainable and vibrant urban environment.

This idea can be better exemplified by taking few examples from around the world, • J.F.C Turner’s work on self-built housing in South America (Design, n.d.)

• DZP’s project in Kennewick, Washington, USA – A former municipal airport redeveloped in a market connecting three existing neighbourhoods. (Company, n.d.)

• DZP’s project in Atlanta, Georgia, USA – Building of ‘Live work unit’ comprising of commercial and residential in the same unit.

“The physical characteristics of walls are not decisive as to their meaning.

Rather, the key question is: Who is on which side of the wall?

Does the wall perpetuate power, or defend against it?

Does it reinforce domination, or shield vulnerability?

Does it strengthen hierarchical relationships among people, or does it pave the way towards greater equality?”

-Peter Marcuse

Biourbanism and the City

| 35

(Company, n.d.)

Back in the Indian context, Gandhi’s vision that stated ‘The future of India lies in its village’ was reinterpreted by Dhiru Thadani in one of his articles. He talks about Gandhi being inclined more towards the villages and rural areas as opposed to Nehru’s vision of creating independent India through industrialization and big cities (Thadani, 2011). Gandhi saw a strong connect and respect of the people with their land. The human scale houses and the agricultural occupation seemed more indigenous than machines and industries. The village/rural areas can be looked up for inspiration for building better neighbourhoods in the cities. A cohesive pattern in decision making for building of neighbourhoods and common spaces can be learned from this.

P2PU leads to certain acknowledged principles of not only taking an ecologically sensitive approach towards the construction of an appropriate urban model, but also encourages and aids contact and discussions among the designers and end users of a model to produce satisfying results. This strategy also helps to make knowledge regarding urban issues more attainable and ‘free source’, hence empowering citizens with the tools to make informed choices (Salingros & Mena-Quintero, October 2010).

Urban Acupuncture Urban Acupuncture is an urban environmentalism theory which combines urban design with traditional Chinese medical theory of acupuncture. This process uses small-scale interventions to transform the larger urban context. By analysing social, ecological and economic factors, sites are selected and developed through a dialogue between designers and the community. Just as acupuncture relieves stress in the body, urban acupuncture relieves stress in the environment. Urban acupuncture produces small-scale but socially catalytic interventions into the urban fabric.

This phenomenon looks at the city as a living organisms and concentrates on the areas that have to be repaired. It views cities as complex energy organisms in which different overlapping layers of energy flows are determining the actions of the citizens as well as the development of the city. By mixing environmentalism and urban design it develops methods of punctual manipulation of the urban energy flows in order to create an ecologically sustainable urban development towards the so-called 3rd 36 | F5 Urbanity

Generation City (post-industrial city). With this focus, urban acupuncture is used as a design tool to contribute in creation of a sustainable urban framework, such as community gardens and urban farms.

Fig 7 : Urban Acupuncture by Daniel Sacristรกn Contreras, Spain - The strategy is acupuncture where punctual developments will change the overall living outline.

Any social interaction includes a fundamental part of the human person: the body and it always occurs in a place. Space becomes places when intentionality is at stake, and landscapes, nature, buildings, and forms in space have a meaningful interaction with life. Urban Acupuncture is a strategy where each citizen is involved. The whole idea is to open doors for freedom and creativity. Everyone is allowed to join the creative parBiourbanism and the City

| 37

ticipatory planning process, feel free to use city space for any purpose and develop his/her environment according to their will. The citizens are sensitised to move towards a sustainable co-operation with the rest of nature. They are aware of the destruction that the insensitive modern machine is causing to nature including human nature. In a larger context a site of urban acupuncture can be viewed as communicating to the city outside like a natural sign of life in a city programmed to subsume it.

“Think of the last time you chose to visit a great urban neighbourhood, to eat or walk in the park or on the street. Now, how many times have you decided to go visit someone else’s conventional subdivision if you didn’t have to be there?”

-Andres Duany

Urban acupuncture works with a bottom-up approach, rather than topdown. Urban space is all of the fundamental process that generates itself.

It is understanding and fixing the minute details so as to fix the larger problem in the city. It focuses on local resources rather than capital-intensive municipal programs and promotes the idea of citizens installing and caring for interventions. These small changes, proponents claim, will boost community morale and catalyse revitalization. Boiled down to a simple statement, “urban acupuncture” means focusing on small, subtle, bottom-up interventions that harness and direct community energy in positive ways to heal urban blight and improve the cityscape. It is meant as an alternative to large, top-down, mega-interventions that typically require heavy investments of municipal funds (which many cities at the moment simply don’t have) and the navigation of yards of bureaucratic red tape. The micro-scale interventions targeted by “urban acupuncture” appeal to both citizen-activists and cash-strapped communities.

Jaime Lerner, the former mayor of Curitiba, suggests urban acupuncture as the future solution for contemporary urban issues; by focusing on very narrow pressure points in cities, we can initiate positive ripple effects for the greater society. Urban acupuncture reclaims the ownership of land to the public and emphasizes the importance of community development through small interventions in design of cities. It involves pinpointed interventions that can be accomplished quickly to release energy and create a positive ripple effect.

Biomimicry in Architecture Energy and its flow is imperative to the growth of cities as it has all its inhabitants’ intentions, attitudes and ambitions towards the built and the unbuilt environment. This energy is defined by the active path lines in the urban fabric (consider the view of Taj Mahal while entering through the doorway). A delineation occurs when this flow is interrupted by manmade changes to his previous stable and healthy areas, which have appar-

38 | F5 Urbanity

ently gone in decline and are examples of an unhealthy urban fabric.

The nature of man is always to come back to nature. It is the perfect example of harmony and health within its beings, in its own art and architecture and in its own science. Biomimicry becomes the major driving force for architecture in the search for sustainability. Organisms refined and developed by natural selection over a billion year long research and development by nature, can be seen as embodying technologies, functions and systems that can help bridge architecture and nature, as nature has always been ahead in what it knows is important and will last on earth.

Fig 8 : Soma Architecture’s Solar-Powered One Ocean Pavilion in South Korea, designed to keep visitors cool during humid summers. One Ocean is also a nod to Biomimicry with its gilllike facade that overlooks the harbour. The soaring glass fibre gills are designed to function like lamellas, the papery ribs under a mushroom’s cap.

It’s no secret that what surrounds us, is the secret to survival. Biomimcry studies nature’s models, and then emulates these forms, processes, systems and strategies to provide a new perspective of living – sustainably. It thus introduces an era based not on what we can extract from the natural world, but what we can learn from it.

The most ecological way to cut down the energy footprint of urbanism, is to follow nature’s footpath - create “living” structures and spaces that operate close to being alive themselves. It thus makes sure that our perBiourbanism and the City

| 39

ceived view of the urban fabric is a dynamic and ever-evolving ecosystem. This gives us an added advantage of an arsenal of more considerate approaches to architecture of the city. It gives a potential for true shifts in the way humans design and what is focused on as a solution to a problem, paves the way for a potentially novel and unique architectural promontory. There is also a certain framework to work out the application of Biomimicry and increase regenerative qualities of the built environment.

It is also often termed as the new tool towards sustainability.

The built environment now is held accountable for global environmental and social problems, with vast proportions of waste, material and energy use and greenhouse gas emissions attributed to the habitats the humans have created for themselves. Mimicking life, including the complex interactions between living organisms that make up the ecosystem, is both a readily available example for humans to learn from and an exciting prospect for the future human habitats. These may be able to be intertwined with the habitats of other species in a mutually beneficial way.

Talking about the connections it has with design and architecture, a closer look is necessary to understand why this approach is becoming popular. What more can it not relate to in architecture? Pattern, aesthetics, energy, ethics, efficiency, shape, structure, symmetry and symbolism are all little parts of the huge world we know around us as the environment.

Everything that we could ever need to sustain and survive is right around us and has been for many years. It is peculiar that we are realising this fact now more than ever, knowing that our ancestors had already seen this as the best way for a good and healthy mutual interaction between man and nature. Nature’s bounty is filled with all the required ingredients for a sound design which will not delineate the environment.

But modern era has brought huge developments in lifestyle and settlements and thus has been able to cast aside the existing natural cycles like weather and surrounding conditions to become independent of its environment. It has been able to create lifestyles, including urban developments, which have little or nothing to do with life in the natural habitat.

Nevertheless, barring the sceptic who still refuses to see the impact that our development is having on the planet- and for us as a species - most people are aware of the issues every time a new page of the book of reality is turned (Salvador, 2014).

Many would say that Nature had it right, and that she’d be much bet40 | F5 Urbanity

ter off environmentally speaking, without human interference. However, since we’ve now burned through the industrial revolution and now find ourselves struggling for solutions to house a human population boasting 7-10 billion by 2050, architects and scientists alike are asking - should design imitate nature?

“If you were to actually make a city that functioned like the native ecosystem next door, it would produce ecosystem services” (Benyus, 2010) Ecosystem services may include the purification of water and air, sequestering of carbon, and cooling of local temperatures. Those services, Benyus said, will also make a city more resilient to climate change (2010).

Questions will be raised about the ability to distinguish between simply a ‘beautification’ vs. ‘biodiversity’- enhancing project; but for the most part, the approach of Biomimicry in design is well recognised as the next big step.

Fig 9 : Biomimicry used as a guiding force to design Lavasa Township; HOK International has worked on the township planning with biomimicry as their guiding principle to design this widespread development, by an extensive study of the local ecosystem, coming up with strategies that work in harmony with local biome as well as climatology.

Source: http://blog. worldarchitecturenews. com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/hokindia1. jpg

We as humans have been more demanding than nature itself and the positive message of Biomimicry and ideas of nature for enhancing life is the type of powerful point that will sow seeds for the fundamental will to change. Our current world is dangerously unsustainable. Greenhouse gas levels are reaching dangerous tipping points, climate change is a reality,

Biourbanism and the City

| 41

freshwater shortages are likely to become an issue in the near future, large vortexes of plastic waste are spinning around in the ocean, mass species extinction is a serious encroaching threat, materials are being over consumed and forests are being over harvested (leading to soil erosion and loss of topsoil), all while the world’s population continues to grow and is expected to break the 7 billion mark sometime this year.

Sustainability needs to become the theme of our discussions on development. Humans are not separate from nature but rather a part of it.

Nature has been around much longer than us and in it we can find wisdom far greater than anything humans have thought up in the past couple thousand years. The goal shouldn’t be to overcome nature as we’ll never win that battle. Our goal should be to work in cooperation with nature, learning from it as we go along. Nowhere is this more applicable than in our cities (Benyus, 2010).

“Cultural evolution is intertwined with genetic evolution, but neither can be neatly mapped onto the other”

Cities can be very sustainable places to live when built in accordance with nature rather than in defiance of it. Biomimicry can be applied on a much larger scale than just individual buildings. City planning needs to include biomimetic concepts in order for the urban landscape to become a truly sustainable place. This means understanding metrics like how much rainfall should be absorbed into the ground and how many tons of carbon should be there. Janine Benyus says, “We need cities to perform like ecosystems, not just look like them.”

A city that reprocesses all its waste, doesn’t damage the land or pollute its waters or air, understands its limits, is powered by local sources of energy, and works in cooperation with nature – now that is a sustainable idea. Just as humans are part of nature, so are the buildings and cities. Everything comes from the Earth, and once it is understood that all of our manmade creations came from somewhere in the ground we can begin to truly see the potential of the sustainable, biomimetic city (Suave, 2011).

Understanding the Multi-Dimensional Connections The following matrix of connections help us to understand how the aspects of Biourbanism relate to each other. Some parts can be understood as being just concepts, while some can be seen as strategies to get those ideas implemented. It is self-explanatory from the diagram about how these dependencies function. As an example, when looking at how Fractal Urbanism and P2P Urbanism are related, the forms as suggested by

42 | F5 Urbanity

Fractals are used and citizens get empowered to apply them through legal channels as seen in P2PU. There exists a common functionality between them based on pattern, structure and involvement of the people. Understanding these connections hence becomes vital to formulate the application of each and hence, give an overview of the principles behind each.

This can be further developed and implemented as per need in the context that it needs to sustain. Although the connections can be interpreted in whichever possible manner to suit the needs, the wholesome nature of this approach will lead to a more sustainable approach towards designing.

Fig 10 : Matrix of connections between the sub parts of Biourbanism - interrelations and cross-linkages have been analysed. A singular connection is looked at and analysed at a city level.

The theory of Biourbanism suggests that no being or building exists in isolation. They are interdependent, functioning according to each other’s needs. The four concepts of Biourbanism in the scope of study of the seminar are also inter-connected. Each concept has an association with the other, and exist in coherence. These inter-connections are strong catalysts for the efficient functioning of these concepts in the city. The ideas of fractal urbanism and Biomimicry are based on natural forms and patterns, and implementation of these to planning or designing either a building or a city follows inherent principles of nature. Biomimicry, when applied to design in terms of mimicking the function or process, can be Biourbanism and the City

| 43

evolved to have similar patterns of function or process being implemented in the city planning.

“Convivial towns can offer solace in disaster, solidarity in protest, and a quiet everyday delight in urban life‌ Creating and revitalizing places that foster conviviality is essential to the good life.â€?

-Mark C. Childs

The other two processes, Urban Acupuncture and Peer-to-Peer Urbanism have a common ground of being able to function at the neighbourhood level. Both the processes heal or work on a small part of the city, and may be applied similarly or differently in different parts of the city. Such a connection is viable in the Indian context where such different layers of cross-cultural connectivity happen and the involvement of the public becomes paramount. While the two concepts have much in common, the ideas share common ground even with the processes. While Peer-to-Peer Urbanism engages with neighbourhood to create systems followed by nature, which is also seen in Biomimicry, it also engages the residents of these neighbourhoods to design for themselves. Similar to Fractal Urbanism, P2P also follows a structure at every level of application.

Akin to this connection, Urban Acupuncture follows at a smaller scale what Fractal Urbanism follows at a larger scale. It associates with a neighbourhood to heal it and follows similar patterns of healing at every scale.

This becomes a system of design throughout the city, at every level, therefore making these two strongly interwoven. This phenomena is investigated in this paper. The patterns of the urban morphology and its inherent energy flow and the spread of axes have been in the city since long. Their importance had not been recognised till the Western theories pretty much started to adopt them as their own. There are many examples that suggest returning to our roots and understanding why they had worked and are still going strong after all these decades of existence.

These phenomena can be seen to be used in times of a financial or social crisis, when one needs to avoid traditional large scale projects yet find a means to improve the urban landscape.

One of the examples from history where this idea can be observed, was for reconstruction in times of financial crisis after the nuclear bomb attacks on the city of Tokyo during the World War II. The citizens rebuilt the city, healing neighbourhood by neighbourhood, eventually having similar organisational laws on all levels. This regeneration of the city grew on lines of an inherent pattern of the old city, which was followed to rebuild the city.

Another example where both Fractal Urbanism as an idea and Urban Acupuncture as a process is seen, is in a pilot project to be implemented

44 | F5 Urbanity

in a slum in Pune. The aim is to repair small scale projects of problem areas to transform the larger urban context. It puts the needle in the right place, so as to drain out the tension from the entire body. The team who worked on the project wanted to achieve a similar function by preserving the organic and fractal urban fabric of the slum. A strategy was formed to develop informal slums into permanent urban districts through a process of gradual improvement to existing dwellings instead of demolition and rebuilding. The strategy could be appropriated in any country with similar urban conditions (Balestra, 2009).

The strategy strengthens the informal and aims to accelerate the legalisation of the homes of the urban poor. Communities are asked to engage with the construction process to customize each house and to understand which prototype is the best for the family. The architects hence developed three house typologies consisting of simple frames that allow for future expansion. They developed 3 basic prototypes for the slum dwellers to choose from; House A being a two storey home, structured like a 3 storey home to ensure safety in future vertical extension; House B had an incremental ground floor, which was left open for either parking or for the family to turn this open space into a shop. House C had an incremental middle floor, to hang clothes or to be used like a living room (Balestra, 2009). These patterns may or may not be geometrical or visibly or aesthetically similar looking. These can be understood as a concept of growth. The idea or intent in which a house has been designed, can be very similar to the planning of the neighbourhood and therefore, the precinct and the settlement or the city.

The Analysis of the Focused Connection - Delhi & its Revitalization (Cross Fractal Urbanism & Acupuncture) Delhi is understandably one of the most complex cities in the world. Its dense, complexly layered cultural, traditional and lifestyle components have led it to become a city known for its inherent energies, patterns, flux and multi-nodal axes. Evident is then the discrepancy caused in the way it got planned for the future where now it seems cut into two different pieces. This causes a break in the flow of its aura.

These connections mainly are analogies of how the aspects under study connect together and are vital to the long-term survival of the city and how far its inhabitants would want to go to see that happen. This analytical connection shows how the patterns of growth and energy levels in Biourbanism and the City

| 45

Fig 10 : Delhi’s lines of energy - the image shows the different axes which serve well the different parts they deal with, but as a whole divide Delhi into two.

These inherent patterns can also be seen in the way the built and unbuilt interact (as fractal imagery) and are also reflective of the flux in the city.

the following parts, give an overview of a deeply layered structure of a city. This layering is never to be disrupted by abrupt changes but needs to retain a certain level of simplistic congeniality the whole city has thrived on since the yesteryears.

Fractal patterns are subjective to be read differently, owing to their randomness. Yet, it is vital that people accept, flow and function around these, and maintain them as the main connectors for the flux of the users of the city. Such patterns have also been studied in the drainage and storm water sewer lines running throughout the city (done by Morphogenesis Studio) and now have become vital to the upkeep and sustainable growth of the city. The part where Urban Acupuncture becomes important is that it’s applications help revitalize these existing characteristics of the city.

The post- independence Indian state, took up the administrative responsibility to unify and develop the diverse nation by taking the path of planning its economic, social and cultural resources. While it avows using arts and culture and community participation in it’s architecture and urban planning as tools for social inclusion, in reality they are typically utilized for strategies of development such as diplomacy and tourism. Hence, revitalization is a necessity to the upkeep of the city and its sustainable survival.

46 | F5 Urbanity

As Delhi becomes a venue for creation, learning and presentation of the efforts of sensitive people, this will help introduce and encourage participation in the practice of culture to people in and around the space. This becomes one node which creates a vibrant microclimate of interaction within a given radius. The proposition is to create more catalytic nodes which then cause a ripple effect through the entire city facilitating an urban level regeneration process.

Fig 11 : ???

All these ideas can only take shape when there is an active collaboration between the various stakeholders, including architects, urban designers, policy makers, cultural managers, government agencies, responsible citizens from every strata of society. All have to come together as active catalytic factions of the society to realize the revival of the city. Such a progress can be generated by the proper implementation of technologies and traditional methods with the proactive backing and judicial transparency, which this paper focusses on. The values imbibed by the inhabitants of the city should reflect in the smooth and unhindered functioning of the city.

The following graphic underlines the process which helps in implementing such catalysts of change. These also give the layman a major understanding in the awareness he has to attain to be of service to his own habitat.

By being one with the ecosystem of Delhi and being one with the flux of the city, is how the city becomes a living organism itself. Urban planning and design appraisals do not remain then as islands of difference, stratification and cultural discontinuity, but behave as support factions to the city.

Biourbanism and the City

| 47

Arguments Fig 12 : The Revitalization Process - the image shows how the existing infrastructure can be revitalized by Urban Acupuncture at different levels, turning the city into nodes of activity at many points. Finally when the nodes connect, they transform the city and give it a new layer for sustainable future Urban Developments.

48 | F5 Urbanity

What finally arise are questions which will enhance the understanding of these concepts and how they react to the Indian context. One of the major challenges this theory and its sub-parts face are the bureaucratic control over policy making and approval which allow delayed or no participation from the public of a concerned area or community. Also, the acceptance of these theories at a very basic level; like aesthetics for Biomimicry, random algorithmic patterns for urban form and faรงade generation et cetera inhibit the designers to think beyond the obvious. People tend to be resistant to accept new upcoming technologies which have not been tested for their potential and as a result newer and better technologies and concepts, although derived from the most basic characteristics in our environment, find it hard to gain acceptance. This results in the implementation of such technologies facing huge challenges.

Although these theories may seem Western in nature, their roots can be traced back to Indian traditional ways of building and planning. The strategies and passive technologies used by existing built forms, which

have sustained through the ages, need to be recognized.

Fig 13 : The Vibrant City of Delhi

Further, the theme has sub parts which in themselves can become another topic altogether. Studying them under one head gives the chance to understand the complexity of a layered city in a more comprehensive manner. In this case, Indian cities are quite viable for scrutiny as they are dense, complicated and intricately layered. Hence, it can be understood that their importance lies in the way the Indian city is planned for the future.

Conclusion It is evident that Biourbanism can play a significant role in garnering the natural sciences in architecture and planning for a more environment centric approach which will sustain for a longer time without being a burden on the already famished supply of resources. This has been established by experts through intensive critiques on the nature of modern urban planning principles.

Biourbanism and the City

| 49

These principles have dealt with the city landscape as isolated development plots rather than a holistic ecosystem where elements exist cohesively. These elements, which have a sense of overall energy and flow, have been delineated to a degree where urbanism is bespoke with the modern landscape and boastful of its own statement, rather than being unified with nature and its inhabitants.

A number of values and teachings emerge from the concepts studied under Biourbanism. Understanding the city is paramount; how the city has evolved and what it aspires to be. Why people would want to be in that city, what inspires them and keeps them rooted. Cropped urbanism here and there has generally degraded the level of energy and the undertones of the urban fabric, which feel fatigued and pushed.

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.�

-Isaac Asimov

Although population and resource management play an important role as well in governing the extent of impact by urbanism, the concepts of Biourbanism, when realized, show that there is a way where one can associate intricate inherent natural play of systemic approach to a dilemma and not be blind to the context which circumscribes it. It is also apparent that these concepts are not solutions to the problems faced by the cities today, but merely observational tools to make sure future developments are more sustainable. They are to be understood as methods and values which have a practical and time-proven background and not just gimmicks for individual success.

Through this research, it is found that these different aspects exist in the traditional Indian city, such as inherent energy flow, passive architecture, vernacular materials, axes of movements and patterns in the urban morphology. Despite the awareness towards these aspects and their importance, they remain unnoticed and to an extent, alienated by urban designers. It is only when western theories start to acknowledge and converge on these as basics that need to be revisited that the Indian architect comes to realize the importance of these aspects. It is ludicrous how the Indian planning principles are forgotten and overridden by whatever the Western theory has to offer, without testing it against the Indian traditional and indigenous principles.

This leads to a controversy where it becomes important to choose between either following a certain specified theory, or to reflect back on the Indian value system and apply the stated concepts and theory only after

50 | F5 Urbanity

completely understanding it. These theories may need to be analysed so as to test their ability to be able to adapt to a certain context or requirement of an area.

In the present day discourse of smart cities, we continue to look up to Western cities for inspiration. Here, we may need to pause and reflect back on our indigenous concepts of planning and their inherent principles and find what the traditional Indian cities have to offer.

The nature of the paper sheds light on the theme of Biourbanism and its concepts. It does not intend to proclaim these as ideal tools for design, but rather bring forward the idea of a new theory in design. It is essential for upcoming architects to be able to respect and acknowledge the fact there are multiple suggestive as well as detailed theories. One should be able to have an informed grasp on them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Balestra, F., 2009. dezeen.com. [Online] Available at: http://www.dezeen.com/2009/05/05/incremental-housing-strategy-by-filipe-balestra-and-sara-goransson/ [Accessed 26 August 2015].

Batty, M. & Longley, P., 1994. Fractal Cities. s.l.:s.n.

Benyus, J., 2010. Can We Use Biomimicry To Design Cities? Janine Benyus Says Yes. [Online] Available at: http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/can-we-use-biomimicry-to-design-cities-janine-benyus-says-yes.html [Accessed August 2015].

Caperna, A., n.d. International Society of Biourbanism. [Online].

Caperna, A. & Tracada, E., 2013. A New Paradigm For Deep Sustainability: BIOURBANISM. International Soceity Of Biourbanism, Volume 1, p. 15.

Casagrande, M., 2010. Urban Acupuncture. Urban Acupuncture.

Chan, K., 2012. Urban Acupuncture. Urban Acupuncture.

Company, D. P.-Z. &., n.d. Projects. [Online] Available at: http://www.dpz.com/Projects/All# [Accessed 15 August 2015].

Design, A., n.d. John Turners Archive. [Online] Available at: http://www.communityplanning.net/JohnTurnerArchive/pdfs/AD802Self-builtHouse.pdf [Accessed 5 September 2015].

Harrison, 2011. Better Blocks: One of Many Urban Acupuncture Needles – Kelly McCartney, Shareable: Cities.

Harrison, A. L., 2013. Ruin Academy – Architectural Theories of the Environment: Posthuman Territory Routledge.

Macnab, M., 2012. Design By Nature. Berkeley, CA: New Riders.

McHarg, I., 1962. The Ecology of the City. Journal of Architectural Education, 17(2), pp. 101-103.

Miller, K., 2011. Urban Acupuncture: Revivifying Our Cities Through Targeted Renewal.

Biourbanism and the City

| 51

Milne, G., 2012. BUILT CITY review: Nature, Urban Space & Biomimicry. [Online] Available at: http://www.museumofvancouver.ca/programs/blog/2012/01/25/ built-city-review-nature-urban-space-biomimicry [Accessed August 2015].

Mugerauer, R. & Liao, K.-H., 2012. Ecological Design For Dynamic Systems: Landscape Architecture’s Conjunction With oOmplexity Theory. Journal Of Biourbanism, 29(2), p. 18.

News, 2011. Chi Ti-Nan develops a project to preserve Hong Kong coastline Tai Long Sai Wan. s.l.:World Architecture.

Rao, R., 2014. Biomimicry In Architecture. International Journal Of Advanced Research, 1(3), p. 8.

Salingaros, N. A., 2001. International Society of Biourbanism. [Online].

Salingros, N. A., 2010. P2P Urbanism. P2P Urbanism.

Salingros, N. A. & Mena-Quintero, F., October 2010. A brief history of P2P-Urbanism.

P2P Urbanism, Volume 4.

Salvador, O. J., 2014. Biomimicry and City Design. The Meiated City Conference, Volume 1, p. 8.

Suave, P., 2011. The Biomimetic City and Sustainability. [Online] Available at: http://2ndgreenrevolution.com/2011/03/06/the-biomimetic-city-and-sustainability/ [Accessed September 2015].

Tadhani, D., 2011. The future of India lies in its village. [Online] Available at: http://www.planetizen.com/node/50694 [Accessed 5 September 2015].

Zari, M. P., 2011. Biomimetic Approaches to Architectural Design For Increased Sustainability. Journal Of Biourbanism, Issue 33, p. 10.

Dhar, V., 2013. Creative arts as a catalyst for revitalisation of industrial areas in Delhi , New Delhi: SPA Delhi.

52 | F5 Urbanity

Everyday Urbanism This seminar paper looks at the notion of Everyday Urbanism and how it is understood to unfold. It seeks to reveal the everyday as a rich repository of meaning and a source of great information for architectural practitioners. In order to truly grasp the complexities of the everyday, immersion and interdisciplinary dialogue is essential. Everyday Urbanism theorizes a more democratic and participatory approach to the practice of architecture and urban design. Discourse on Everyday Urbanism revolves around encouraging and intensifying everyday life.

The seminar paper highlights the need for an onset of a pedagogy, which promulgates designing with the everyday at the forefront of the mind.

Nikita Bhargava | Oorvi Sharma | Shivam Kaushik | Vikas Guide : Ms. Mukta Naik Chairperson : Ms. Mriganka Saxena 53

“To operate in the world of the everyday is a really radical project right now.”

Theodore Spyropoulous

T

he concept of the everyday is a double-edged sword. On one hand,

the everyday presents itself as an exceedingly simple concept. It is difficult to imagine a world where it couldn’t or didn’t exist in some form. It could be argued that everything within our daily lives classifies as everyday where it is usual and normal; thus, descriptions of the human phenomenon motivated by the consideration of everyday life as a critical political construct and primary lens, would be unavoidably banal or ordinary. Such words are rarely used to praise architecture or urbanity.

An alternate view presents the everyday as a complex, and multifaceted phenomenon. Discussions regarding the everyday in this view are comprised of so many elements and varying definitions that it is hard to know where to begin when describing it. Building and thinking that is cognizant of the complexities of the everyday, attempts to propose ideas and forms that specifically and successfully accommodate it. These informed proposals and structures facilitate a person’s ability to fully live and experience their everyday life.

“It would not be unfair to say that most of the time, most people spend the majority of their time in buildings that have been constructed for the purposes of everyday activity, and as such these buildings have been designed and built for this purpose. However it is harder to say that the average house, apartment or office building has been designed with elements of the everyday in the forefront of the mind of the architecttime, financial constraints, space and other limitations are influential.”(Berke and Harris 1997) 54 | F5 Urbanity

People experience the everyday in an architectural context either consciously or subconsciously. The influence of the concept of the everyday within society and practices is thus undeniable. It is imperative that conceptual theories and ideas smoothly translate in a practical sense, improving the fulfilment of designated purposes in designed spaces, and their collective urbanity. Designing with an emphasis on the concept of everyday overcomes any potential “estrangement of direct experience from architectural discourse, and avoids the alienation of architecture from lived experience. “ (Berke and Harris 1997)

Fig 1: Scenes from videos shot at various locations in Delhi, in order to grasp the nuances of everyday life in the city.

This line of thought engages intimately with the quotidian, with lived experience and political struggle. This line of thought was followed

Everyday Urbanism | 55

Fig 2: Flowchart designed to organize our processes and thoughts.

1

• Exploring an aspect or a reality in cities in India

2

• Arriving at an understanding of how specific Architectural Theories influence Built + Unbuilt Spaces, Forms, Interactions and Events.

• Assessing consequences in soceity and culture

3

• Deriving a definition based on the current state of architecture (or factors influencing architecture) in cities in India

4

• The architect is scrutinized, as part of a project that examines their own, and their projects' narratives in realtime. What is our identity wrt our education and the country of our education?

primarily by repeatedly activist groups such as the the question Situationists, however refined As students, we are asked to tackle of “AbKyaKarein?” while designing throughourselves Henri Lefebvre Certeau’s tactical elaboration and orienting in the city.and TheMichel seminarDe brief posed a more ideological senseon of the same

theFollowing concept. the Recent debates involve Margaret Crawford, question. designed breakdown, wescholars began by like mapping key aspects and influencers.

Dell Upton, John Kaliski, Deborah Berke, Douglas Kelbough, Jeremy In the following steps, we used the influencers as prompts to identify areas of interest in Delhi Till and Steve Harris. Their arguments extend the spectrum of the that led to an all-encompassing phenomenon that could be studied in Delhi. everyday within the field of architecture and urban design, by adding the complexity that arises from having several voices while simultaneously By theelucidating end of our program time indebate Delhi, and we wish to have nurtured a sensibility conceptsand through at times, confrontational essays.that would enable us to witness and grasp the details of our environment in a manner that optimizes our

The Brief performance as architects. A trained sharpeningof observation to better discern the environment for which weneed to design is a necessary prelude to all following processes of design that We were asked to explore an aspect or reality to be contextually located requireininformed decision-making.

Theencountered close study ofduring existingour landscapes the everyday offers New Delhi, and that was time as and students of

an opportunity to approach our urban scenario with awareness of the to “untidiness of urban life.”

Architecture in the city.

We designed the the above breakdown organize (Uptonour 2002) processes, and thoughts.

As students, are repeatedly to tackle thealso question Kyaof concern.

This implies that the we architect should not asked only invest skin, but soul in of the “Ab canvas Karein?” while designing ourselves the city.

Thethe seminar It is imperative for the architectand to orienting immerse himself or inherself within expanse of the brief posed a more ideological sense of the same question. Following the designed breakdown, we began by mapping key aspects and influencers.

56 | F5 Urbanity

3

In the following steps, we used the influencers as prompts to identify areas of interest in Delhi that led to an all-encompassing phenomenon that could be studied in Delhi.

By the end of our program and time in Delhi, we wish to have nurtured a sensibility that would enable us to witness and grasp the details of our environment in a manner that optimizes our performance as architects. A trained sharpening of observation to better discern the environment for which we need to design is a necessary prelude to all following processes of design that require informed decision-making. The close study of existing landscapes and the everyday offers an opportunity to approach our urban scenario with the awareness of the “untidiness of urban life.”

(Upton 2002) This implies that the architect should not only invest skin, but also soul in the canvas of concern. It is imperative for the architect to immerse himself or herself within the expanse of the everyday. They should become a part of their landscape, and contribute as an integrated entity from within the system.

In addition, architects, who are now immersed as citizens, have the ability to define their depth of field and thereby adjust the degree of specificity required to scrutinize the everyday. Efficiency in our performance is enabled by our ability to traverse the span of scale at our will. It is augmented when the architect is able to specify a certain degree of zoom within the entire span of control. This refines the architect’s power of perception by training the eye not to only witness sharply, but to also gather relevant data as required.

The trained eye must comply with the noticed niche realities of Delhi.

The context requires an empathetic understanding of the sporadic, unpredictable procession of the everyday. Delhi’s everyday landscape is scattered with intermittent sparks of brilliance that one must be trained to notice, appreciate and utilize. Delhi does not seamlessly unravel itself as a coherent, cohesive thread. The sharpening of observation would allow us, as designers to sharply capture and capitalize on these explosions of aspiration.

Calibration of observation and experience in the city has a broad spectrum of diversity and driving contributories. One has to have both, a broad understanding of the scenario and sensitivity for the granularity to decode Everyday Urbanism | 57

Fig 3: The Russian Doll serves as an example to illustrate the granularity found in cities, that must be explored and respected

the characteristic spirit of the culture and community as manifested in its attitudes and aspirations. Capturing this ethos is seminal to infusing it into any future work.

There is the empirical, and the constituents of the empirical. This phenomenon is procedurally equivalent to exploring the successively enclosed layers of the Russian doll. Thus, granularity is infinite while the empirical is definitive and easily comprehensible. It is easy to broad brush any given scenario within the everyday with the empirical outer. However, successful design delves into the complex depths of the granular.

Delhi is different things to different people. In lieu of this, it is important for the architect to avoid generalization. In order to propose better solutions, local and foreign designers, alike, must contextualize cognizant of the granular constituents.

Another aspect that we sought to grasp, and regarded as an important step to take before participating in our visual environment was the art of drawing, but with a lighter hand. To design along the natural flow, tolerant of the “untidiness of urban life� in the existing landscape. We feel 58 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 4: We seek to design along the natural flow, tolerant of the “untidiness of urban life”

that keeping this in mind avoids the proposal of alien solutions.

In Delhi, this approach is necessary to maintain a flow along the grain of the visual environment that we have inherited. “… the everyday is accessible to all, and at whatever level you enjoy it or benefit from it, that’s fine. Whether it’s an extremely high level of appreciating a composition, or just the everyday citizen not being put off by a building that is intimidating by its aspirations.” (Deborah Berke,1998 with Peter Halley 1998) Most importantly, we seek a mode to contribute and intervene, in a manner that does not interfere. It is our priority to eventually propose informed interventions that are inherent. This idea incorporates the challenges of designing for inclusivity in Delhi. Espino and Mehrotra present a refreshing take on this topic by suggesting that the discussion about inclusivity instead become one on how not to make the city exclusive.

As architects, we influence and shape everyday space to encourage the

Everyday Urbanism | 59

unobstructed flow of everyday life. Similarly, we capture everyday life in instances, and employ them as sources of inspiration in our approaches when shaping everyday space. The underlying philosophy that this exchange regards is that the amorphous everyday is actively social. This dynamic, biotic character must be retained in our processes.

“The everyday demands not design leaders, but designers who deploy design intelligence and the visualization of urban options for the citizenry at large in order to facilitate decisions that reflect the consensus of an open and democratic community.” (Upton 2002) The everyday is an assemblage of the experiences stemming from segregated urban geographies. Designing with elements of the everyday in the forefront of the mind of the architect nurtures an overall approach to design where we still intercede where we can to transform our environment, however without taking away from the vast potential of its heterogeneity, innate character and integrity.

Thus, the everyday is a source of information that is of immense value to us, as it is the coming together of values we seek to embed in our future work as architects.

Seminar 2015: Studying the Everyday Urbanism that Unfolds in Delhi “Urban design within the context of everyday urbanism is never an organized movement, but a critical, humbling and creative attitude towards practice open to any designer interested in the ubiquitous practices and productions of the contemporary city.” (Kaliski 2008) Delhi is read through a designed immersive experiment carried out in specific sites. The experiments elucidate the concepts of the everyday at play, in real time in Delhi. Through this exercise, we come across the various deterrents to easy observation, and acknowledge the challenges that such tasks present. Data is collected and shared to reveal that designing “with elements of the everyday in the forefront of the mind of the architect” is valuable and applicable in Delhi. Following this, we derive a vocabulary to describe Delhi’s specific scenario.

60 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 5: A scene from Khari Baoli, Old Delhi illustrating the heterogenous character of urban life we wished to study

The areas considered within Delhi are limited to those in Old Delhi. This limitation was implemented in order to present a cogent, complete case to the reader, which was only made possible through the selection of a small, dynamic site. The choice of site is also an expression of what we believe an interesting context in Delhi is, and what we regard is an apt space to study Everyday Urbanism in Delhi.

Our literature was selected through an incremental process of finding related material on subjects that overlapped with our area of interest.

While Dell Upton served as an interesting introduction to the concept of Everyday Urbanism, Crawford, Kaliski furthered these concepts by fortifying the relevance of the concept of the everyday in practice.

Kelbaugh remained wary of the implication of Everyday Urbanism, which kept reminding us to reel in from revelling in romanticism. Lefebvre and De Certeau helped overall by providing a larger, classical canvas of thought that also helped build the foundation of our arguments.

Our main argument can be considered to encourage the onset of a pedagogy that supports the building of a sensibility for the everyday, as a forerunner to other parameters i.e. time and money. The audience we specifically regard is actually the entire realm of practitioners in the field of architecture and building, as the notion of student versus practitioner is difficult to segregate in the field of architecture. Architects must be eternal students and are simultaneously schools of thought that they share and build their practices with.

We believe that the principles of everyday urbanism, beginning from our case to specifically consider the everyday as a matter of importance, is of use to all in that it re-introduces the importance of a neglected principle. The overall paper will specifically be useful however, in the final

Everyday Urbanism | 61

presentation of the architect’s lexicon for the everyday in Delhi.

Introduction to Urbanism “…the city is…a special framework directed towards the creation of differentiated opportunities for a common life and a significant collective drama.”

Lewis Mumford, “What is a City?’

From a sociological lens, the city is seen as a product of the synthesis of the demands of everyday use and the social struggles of urban inhabitants. (Chase, Crawford and Kaliski 1999) Cities are not born of bursts instantaneous creation but are a product of growth which must foster ‘previously dominant modes of human association’. (Wirth 1938) Urbanism is understood to be a human and social discourse in cities.

Wirth (1938) defines urbanism as a ‘complex of traits which makes up the characteristic mode of life in cities’. In defining urbanism in such a manner, it is revealed that the practice of urbanism is not the domain of a single discipline, but interdisciplinary. It requires sensitivity to the ordinary, the routine, the quotidian so as to facilitate the continuum of these ‘modes of human association’.

This paper, however concerns itself primarily with the domain of the architect. The architect affects this ‘mode of life’ by intervening in the urban environment. These primarily physical interventions inform human behaviour and interaction to a great degree. This highlights the need for a critical study of existing systems of human interaction.

In his essay ‘Architecture and the Everyday’ Upton(2002) introduces the link between the everyday and built. He summarizes his view of one in relation to the other: “… architecture forms the fabric and setting of everyday life.” This can be understood by likening everyday life to theatre, where the backdrop to the act tells as much of a story as the actors.

Architecture is much more than the backdrop to everyday life- in its most fundamental role, architecture must be conducive to the very best possible version of everyday life. This equation is seen as working both ways, where architecture acts as both the informant and the informed.

Upton suggests an extant division between “life and landscape”. It is here that he introduces a binary- that of Architecture and architecture.

62 | F5 Urbanity

‘architecture’ he explains is the ‘cultural landscape that people make and think’ and ‘Architecture’, the realm of high design and theory. He develops the distinction by critiquing contemporary Architecture’s inclination towards hard, tangibility and priorities of commodification. He alludes to Sarah Wigglesworth’s and Jeremy Tills’(1998)conceptualization of the division between architecture and Architecture in the co-authored ‘The Everyday and Architecture’. The relationship between the two, as perceived by them, is explained in the following quote “…the professional world is ‘an island’ defined by the self-contained and self-referential languages of architecture.

Surrounding the rarefied terrain of Architecture’s island is the everyday mainland…”

However, the authors also caution against the “binary trap or remaining immersed in the ordinary.” These leads to loss of creativity and architectural knowledge alike, and insinuate embarrassingly literal or decorative results.

A world imagined comprising of only Architecture is unthinkable, for the setting of life is bound to be an expression of human identity, born out of history, culture and tradition. Similarly, to imagine for only architecture to exist is undesirable, for Architecture imbibes the aspirations of communities and may even serve a pivotal role, around which society orients itself. They must co-exist.

With this understanding, it can be construed that the discussion of the everyday takes place at the intersection of Architecture and architecture - where the study of material settings of human life meets that of the narrower concerns of professional design. (Upton 2002).

“At an interdisciplinary nexus, as an intrinsic element of everyday life, architecture is not composed of isolated and monumental objects. Architecture is ambient and atmospheric, and architecture allows us to tell stories.”

(Upton 2002).

Architects must be cognisant of the distinction made between the two so as to position themselves in alignment with their principles. ‘architecture’ is what results when designing as the observed rather than the observer.

The architect cannot afford to operate removed from the landscape he is to intervene within. Opening up to the idea of the everyday being the Everyday Urbanism | 63

rich repository of meaning that it is, “forces one to acknowledge that Architecture is a part of architecture, that designers are a part of the everyday world, not explorers from a more civilized society…” (Upton 2002).

As architects at the threshold of the profession, we wish to approach design with humility. This humility is reinforced by our focussed observation of human adaptation and innovation as revealed in everyday living.

Everyday Life And Everyday Space Thus it can be established that the study of the everyday serves as a ‘critical political tool to resist and dominate a paradigm’ to counter the increased ‘commodification and homogenization of life and landscape’ (Chase, Crawford and Kaliski 1999). This may be interpreted as a subconscious phenomena with internal beginnings within society itself. However, external forces like Globalization have led to social stratification which too can be resisted with a closer reading of the everyday.

The everyday may be described as “a set of functions which connect and join together systems that might appear to be distinct” (Upton 2002) More often than not, the everyday is defined more by what it is not rather than what it is- leftover, that which is looked over by power and officialdom and what remains once all specialized activities have been removed. (Upton 2002) Our tableaux of the broad, all-encompassing term everyday as seen in the city, may be analysed with regard to two further sub divided termseveryday life and everyday space. Simply put, everyday space is the stage for everyday life. However each of these terms is complex and open to a number of different interpretations.

Of all the definitions of everyday life we came across in literature, the most apt to our research probe, as expounded by Upton, is “the nexus of spaces and times that repeatedly trigger bodily habits and cultural memories”. He goes on to say “Everyday life can be oppressive or liberating, depending on the ways it is organized temporally and spatially. Everyday life shapes selfhood and personhood through material, and 64 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 6: Diagram depicting our understanding of the three dimensionality of everyday life and landscape

particularly bodily, practices, but its critical quality is time, as Michel de Certeau realized... So the power to organize space and time, to articulate Certeau’s “organizing discourse,” those qualities of modernity that Lefebvre identified as sources of the banality and alienation of everyday life in the modern world, gives considerable power to shape self and society.”

With a perfunctory reading of the everyday one would assume the somewhat pessimistic views of Lefebvre- that of everyday life in modern times to be ‘colonized’ overly influenced and dictated by those few in power. Lefebvre’s communist, Situationist tendencies must be subdued for universal acceptance. Upton states, “Lefebvre demands not transformation, but eradication of the distinction between the extraordinary and the ordinary. There can be no Architecture, only architecture.”

However, as Michel de Certeau (1984) describes space as the proper domain of power. He says everyday life works in time, not space and employs ‘tactics’ – short-term raids on power. A tactic insinuates itself in fragments, spread over a period of time. Everyday practices operate Everyday Urbanism | 65

Fig 7,From Left to Right: Architecture; architecture; and the coexistence of Architecture and architecture

where power’s radar is unable to find them. This understanding of the nature of everyday space is more in alignment with characteristics of modern everyday space.

Other theoreticians have also put forth their own reading of what everyday space means to them. Steven Harris (Berke and Harris 1997) describes everyday space as ‘anonymous’, that which is ‘undated’ and ‘apparently insignificant’. It is this superficial reading of the everyday space, that the architect must overcome and celebrate the significance and complexities.

Margaret Crawford (1999) introduces a new and very relevant metaphor for everyday space which clearly explains the relationship between space and life and in doing so incites a clear visual. She says “Everyday space lies in between defined and physically definable realms such as the home, workplace or institution, it is the connective tissue that binds everyday lives together.”

Much like organic connective tissue whose most basic unit is the cell, the most basic unit of the urban connective tissue is the human body.

But it is not merely as assemblage of people in space, it is almost a living organism, where the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts.

A critical, analytical and immersive reading of the everyday tableaux will reveal the inherent forces of Everyday Urbanism. It is our belief that what ensues this immersive approach to design is ‘intervening without interfering’ and the architecture so created, more purposeful and engaging.

This democratic approach would lead to increased participation, and the fostering of an environment more respectful of the lives it is to contain.

66 | F5 Urbanity

Everyday Urbanism Everyday urbanism does not constitute a design movement; everyday urban design is better described as an attitude that needs better definition.

It can be construed as an approach to a broad-based and inclusive critical practice with approaches that seek to promulgate more humane and liberal approaches to the production of the city.

The ultimate purpose of operating under Everyday Urbanism is to bring about social change. This social change must be born out of the ‘specific concerns that arise from the lived experience’ of the people as opposed to through forced abstract political ideologies. (Chase, Crawford and Kaliski 1999) In acknowledging the everyday as a motive force, each individual learns equally from the traditional and new -precedence meets innovation.

Under these conditions urban design becomes a focused endeavor to nurture daily life. This will lead to urban design where each project is necessarily special, shaped by individual circumstance and stitched together through ‘careful observation and evolution of highly specific situations and conditions’. Each everyday urban design realized is unique to itself.(Kaliski 2008) Principle support The focussed endorsement of the everyday in Everyday Urbanism was grounded in a reaction against the determinism of any defined urban design practice. It seeks means to observe and remain open to the diversity of cities.

Everyday Urbanism exhibits an interest in exploring the complexity of the whole city, championing of the role non-experts play in ameliorating neglected urban environments, a sense that professional designers would do well to acknowledge the vitality of the tactics of the everyday .

Everyday Urbanism begins with what exists and then encourages and intensifies it. Any gesture made under the premise of Everyday Urbanism must necessarily be grounded in the present conditions rather than overturning them and starting over with a different model. Everyday Urbanism is interested in the neglected places and experiences of cities that other urbanisms ignore. These spaces could be a starting point to construct a practice of an inclusive urbanism. (Chase, Crawford and Everyday Urbanism | 67

Fig 8: Connective Tissue

Kaliski 1999) Design intelligence is applied, with an acceptance of democratic design discourses to better the present situation. Although a framework describing the potential of urban design shaped by the everyday can be assimilated, discussion and conjecture regarding the specific principles and places that exemplify the approach of Everyday Urbanism prove especially varied.

Everyday Urbanism does however employ the core principles of inclusivity and participation as launch pads to any discourse. An attempt to frame a practice of city design through an acknowledgement of the everyday begins with respecting and honouring the daily rituals and cycles that shape communities. Forms and places of communities are therefore justly formed through incremental design processes implemented through time. In everyday contexts designers are asked to facilitate the portraits that communities desire to draw for themselves. A framework of democracy becomes the most cogent means to shape citizens’ and designers’ ideas regarding the space of the city. Designers, working with communities, also benefit from the scrutiny of public debate. Democratic urban 68 | F5 Urbanity

form-making demands urban design nimbleness. (Chase, Crawford and Kaliski 1999) Parameters Everyday Urbanism is seen to be non-utopian in having little pretence about the tidiness or perfectibility of the built environment. It is however idealistic about social equity and citizen participation. (Chase, Crawford and Kaliski 1999) Everyday Urbanism is associated with the city intangibles of ‘ephemerality, cacophony, multiplicity and simultaneity’ which designers must be open to and incorporate. This departure from a strict doctrine of purely visual continuity and willingness to open up to informality, is what makes Everyday Urbanism conversational. (Kellbaugh 2009) Everyday Urbanism is seen to be the most populist of the three urbanisms by way of seeing the design professional as an equal participant in public dialogue which aspires to be very democratic and open-ended. There are no pre-conceived notions of what is ideal and pure but a sense of wonder at what is common and popular. (Kellbaugh 2009) Everyday Urbanism has been criticised for being difficult to translate into a formal language of urbanism. However, it must be understood that it is an attitude towards the city which can have a number of different formal outcomes.

“Everyday Urbanism is about small moves grown out of real needs- must be woven into coherent recognizable schema for urbanism thus bringing to formal types, the richness of human presence.” (Crawford, Speaks and Mehrotra 2005) Everyday urban design is situational and specific-studies retrofits already existing to better accommodate everyday life . It flourishes as a by-product of economic and cultural activities. (Chase, Crawford and Kaliski 1999) It is non-structuralist in downplaying the direct relationship between physical design and social behaviour, unlike New Urbanism. It acknowledges the unpredictability of human behaviour and champions adaptation and innovation- the ‘spontaneous and the indigenous’. It, for instance, looks for inspiration in the imaginative ad hoc ways that marginal spaces are used for commerce and recreation. This highlights culture more than design Everyday Urbanism | 69

Fig 9, From Left to Right: New Urbanism; Everyday Urbanism; and Post Urbanism

as a determinant of behaviour. Thus ‘form and function are structurally connected in an open-ended way’. (Kellbaugh 2009) The Three Types of Urbanism Everyday Urbanism operates in a city, in conjunction with the other types of urbanisms. The divergence of urbanisms owes itself to individual sensibilities. Sensibilities often come down to early experiences and memories, such as childhood play. They are less conscious and harder to change than cognitive knowledge and learned values.(Kellbaugh 2009) As identified by theoreticians like Douglas Kelbaugh, Margaret Crawford, John Kaliski, to name a few, there are broadly three types of UrbanismNew Urbanism, Post Urbanism and Everyday Urbanism. Though typologizing urbanism in such a manner may over simplify concepts, it helps contrast and find overlaps in the three approaches.

New Urbanism may be said to be the most popular paradigm of the three urbanisms, especially in the realm of pedagogy. Broadly described as ‘idealist’, it operates on a set of principles and ideals which are translated into

70 | F5 Urbanity

the built environment, to best suit the needs of people. This makes it easy to relate to and hence imbibe in practice. At the heart of new urbanism is the belief that there is a relationship between physical form and social behaviour. It propagates aesthetic unity and caters to consumer tastes.

(Crawford, Speaks and Mehrotra 2005) New Urbanism results in tidying up the city and is committed to walkability, mixed use, compactness and transit-oriented development.

Though efficient, practical and easily adaptable, such development often times fails to represent the culture and context it sits in and leads to visual homogeneity-you could be anywhere in the world.

Post Urbanism is associated with visual drama in the urban landscape.

Forms are ‘predictably unpredictable’ designed for the ‘wow’-factor. They are bold and make you notice them. It can be described as ‘relativist’, always attempting to challenge the pre conceived notions of architectural and design knowledge. (Crawford, Speaks and Mehrotra 2005) Post Urbanism is the realm of the ‘Starchitects’, designed to be provocative. The attitude is criticised for disconnecting from the context and many a time, for being out of scale. The experience of post-urbanist forms is designed to be out of the ordinary, at the risk of leaving one feeling disconcerted, intimidated and overwhelmed.

“Everyday Urbanism, New Urbanism and Post Urbanism’s wrestle amongst one another does not highlight a contest – it’s only part of a narrative that highlights the pre-eminence of New Urbanism.”(Kellbaugh 2009) New Urbanism’s success is in providing straightforward place-making principles that are image-able, reassuring and communicable. It is fleetfooted: New Urbanists create constant renewal within their movement by quickly adopting exterior concepts.

However, holding interest in the everyday makes it difficult for other forms of Urbanism, to claim a single position in Urban Design. Where Everyday Urbanism succeeds in being more inclusive and democratic is where the other two forms of urbanism are in lacking.

Everyday Urbanism | 71

Fig 10: Venn diagram showing theory, practice and praxis

Praxis of Everyday Urbanism The preceding arguments compound and establish a common database for potential democratic changes to be imagined through the concepts of Everyday Urbanism. What lacks, however, is clarity on the undertaking of these principles in architectural praxis. The arguments supporting Everyday Urbanism provide richness to the discussion and design of a potential mode of implementation.

Balancing the amassed information with the end product of what our training as architects equips us to do – propose and construct physical solutions – reveals an unreconciled caveat between the amassed theory and practice. This gap makes it difficult for Everyday Urbanism to be understood as more than innovative terminology and interesting concepts that persuade powerfully, but only on paper. These leads us to question- What is the praxis of everyday urbanism? How do the concepts of everyday urbanism materialize?

This line of thought exceeds the current body of knowledge on everyday urbanism, as the majority of thinking associated with the concept

72 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 11: A line drawing and a satellite image showing ground realities (Source: Google Earth)

remains largely preoccupied with the defence of its own principles and against competing schools of thought. A conundrum introduced earlier, periodically resonates in these arguments. On one hand, the everyday presents itself as an exceedingly simple concept; while on the other, it is seen as a complex enigma. Having made the leap from operating with the former conviction to the latter, one is confounded as to where one must begin acting.

Decoding the details of everyday life and everyday space by rethinking the tools we use and redesigning the methods we employ, leads to the familiar becoming unfamiliar. Here we witness the emergence of previously unforeseen solutions. In this context we propose a methodology for the praxis of Everyday Urbanism that realises the constructed taxonomy and leads the way to a more holistic practice.

Registering details about the everyday isn’t about registering everything within it. It isn’t about dwelling in the details for prolonged periods of time. There is just so much to everyday life that regarding it in a great amount of detail seems exhausting, counter-productive and inefficient.

The taxonomy of Everyday Urbanism that we have encountered till date, does not relate prolonged, exhaustive exposure with clarity. We may depend on a sense of knowing. The whole pie does not need to be eaten to know what it tastes like. A single bite may suffice. We deconstruct to address the irrationality, by establishing specific, intelligent parameters.

This way, we can hope to efficiently extract the vitals of any scenario.

However, the nebulousness of everyday scenarios make them extremely difficult to study. As expressed by Jeremy Till, one is at the risk of adopting a detached view of the city in which a series of social and political issues are excluded.

Everyday Urbanism | 73

Fig 12 Left to Right: Construction of Etant Donnés (Source: http:// dirae.weebly.com/etantdonnes.html); Image through the peephole (Source: http://dirae.weebly.com/etant-donnes. http://gorselara.com/ gorsel/%C3%89tant-donn%C3%A9/ html)

Upton quotes John Friedmann’s concern of there being very real difficulties of authentically representing the city of everyday life. The standard method of architectural production is ‘stable, unified and ordered within a coherent system’ and ‘demands a linear trajectory of investigation and production’. He goes on to say that maps and statistics often fail to do justice to reality.

“The formal devices of the figure ground, the diagram, the zone and the type all contain the investigation within tidy boundaries, a certain type of quasi-scientific analysisquestions of quantity are addressed before those of quality. The city is reduced to a series of codes in which the issue of content is bypassed. The realm of the body is excluded in scale, the social and political is excluded in the graphic and the rational method excludes the imaginative & the irrational.” (Till 1994) When faced with these complex tableaux, designers feel the need to either find order or impose one, for ease of translation and coherence.

This reduction fails to represent the true picture.

The urban miniature, according to Jeremy Till, concentrates the attention to such an extent that one can no longer ignore the detail or what it may represent beyond. It is seen as the authentic repository of experience and meaning. He goes on further to define the urban miniature where the body is seen not as a diagrammatic object but as the subject of conflicting forces. This method of viewing the city reveals the ‘hazardous play of dominations’. One may see the urban miniature as a catalyst to productive disorder. In adopting this method, the designer is removed from podium and is forced to act.

74 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 13: Flowchart of Methodology proposed.

At the small scale the individual is empowered to act. The urban miniature is seen as part of a wider structure and means of resisting unwanted mechanisms of control can be developed. Idiosyncrasies and differences flourish and are celebrated. Here, the everyday is addressed as something with extraordinary productive possibilities.

Having narrowed the focus of study down to the urban miniature, one must recognise that the urban miniature is further constructed of the synergetic relations between many different elements and activities. In a manner parallel to the construction, and viewer experience of Marcel Duchamp’s 1966 ‘Etant Donnés’, the concept of urban miniatures and their potential can be interrogated, and the details and layers of the city segment’s composition exposed. Inspired by the Etant Donnés, we can design and develop a construct to read and continue the developing, evolutionary dialogue of the everyday.

Etant Donnés begins by drawing the viewer to a heavy wooden door with two small holes, through which they are prompted to peer through.

Looking through the peephole, the viewer sees a strange, confounding Everyday Urbanism | 75

three-dimensional diorama. Etant Donnés’ composition, not as a two-dimensional image, but instead as an elaborate assemblage of materials and artefacts, parallels an original conjecture discussed as the paper was written; where, everyday life is the three-dimensional facing a two-dimensional façade which is representative of the architect’s effort to spatialize the richness of the temporality he or she witnesses. The Etant Donnés is a similarly constructed experience: an apparently complete image composed of disparate, abstract parts, viewed in totality through a lens - the peephole.

In a similar manner, the constituent elements of the urban miniature can be understood to be pulsating with life and meaning which are then interpreted and translated according to the lens adopted. The lens one adopts is informed by one’s discipline, past experiences and individual sensibilities.

Architecture, in lieu of the paper’s arguments, works better from a place of interdisciplinary interaction, as opposed to working in esoteric isolation.

This interaction largely comprises the base upon which the act of building is undertaken. Architects need to be able to collect, interpret and utilize dynamic data in a malleable manner to discern and consequently instruct the synergies between the components of everyday space and everyday life. A mode that can be used to implement a vision of operationalizing based on this dynamic data would allow the everyday to materialize a grand vision of architectural thinking, where the architect is considered a value addition and assimilator of all opinions and stakeholders that can potentially invest in their environment.

“To be effective, an architect must recognize and respond to a host of factors that taken in their totality describe the architectural problem, which a building represents: a building is not the solution but a solution. We embrace the complexities and the contradictions of the contemporary, recognizing that today’s issues are not for architects to tackle in a vacuum. Architecture is a collaborative art…”(Robert A.M. Stern) A methodology designed to decode the dynamic data, ideally involving several participants, would result in data, which would be far more representational of users as it sources the data itself, from an incredibly diverse array of users. Together we create a database to make a better 76 | F5 Urbanity

urbanism that everyone contributes to through his or her needs to.

This mode of observation was attempted in a selected Urban Miniature in Old Delhi.

Through direct contact, layers of the selected Urban Miniature in Old Delhi were exposed, in an attempt to decode components of its everyday life. As the group observed, recorded and hypothesized, responses as embedded in the environment of the everyday life – everyday space – were assessed for their suitability and success.

As the group wove through Old Delhi, observations were shared within the walls of the Naughara havelis, at the intersection of Fawwara Chowk, and atop the terraces of Khari Baoli, overlooking the Fatehpuri Masjid.

Site selection dilemmas became grounds for the sharing of critical opinions. Any potential convolution of ideas and intent was straightened out by returning to approaches practiced in Design Studio where, design problems were identified, and potential solutions were proposed with the intent of ameliorating and overcoming any observed lapses.

The intent of the research group was to decipher alternative narratives, by assessing the construction of everyday life and space in the form of images, videos, urban plans and spatial and material scenarios. This inception of this method by members of a particular discipline, in this case students of architecture, must be understood to have a direct bearing on the data presented.

Designed Methodology While framing the methodology, it was established that as no two scenarios are alike, it is difficult to ascertain a standard fit-for-all. In this case, we must isolate universal criteria within which the differences revel. The three dimensions of Everyday Life: 1) pace and rhythm, 2) phenomena, 3) properties can be assumed to apply universally as can the three dimensions of Everyday Space: 1) latitudinal, 2) longitudinal, and 3) vertical.

Once the dynamic data is broken down into these dimensions, the data can be interpreted with respect to the collective interactions. For example, determining how different archetypal characters constitute different floor levels could be representative of how the everyday-life dimension of phenomena meets vertical dimension of everyday-space.

Everyday Urbanism | 77

Fig 14: Left to Right: Dimensions of Everyday Life; and Dimensions of Everyday Space

Similarly, an alternate example could relate pace and rhythm with that of the longitudinal dimension of everyday space – where one could observe how recorded points of pause in the citizen’s movement could affect characteristics of the street edge, and vice versa.

We live in a world of interdependence where the difference between success and failure hinges on the ability to see, shape, and shift a broader ecosystem. The wide lens in our proposed paradigm is the definitive framework to capture the perspectives of this new world. Its breakthrough approach can help eliminate strategy blind spots and multiply our odds of success.

The architect now operates using a database of meanings and interpretations sourced from stakeholder citizenry, each of whom would have their own unique reading. The results of any sequent act would no doubt be more democratic, inclusive and responsive than one where the architect were to operate in isolation.

78 | F5 Urbanity

Conclusion A methodology is a means to an end. It is not the end.

By broadly coalescing modes that would allow us to specifically discern, smartly interpret, and democratically design solutions, we construct an approach which addresses Everyday Urbanism’s promulgation of more humane and liberal approaches to the production of the city. We appropriate these values and finally, propose a mode that a designer may use.

We live in a world of interdependence where the difference between success or failure hinges on our ability to see, shape, and shift the broader ecosystem. The wide lens in our phoropter paradigm forms the definitive framework to capture the perspectives of this new world.

The paper does not conclude with a formula. The method is a proposal.

As explained earlier, Everyday Urbanism does not constitute a design movement: it is better described as an attitude that needs better definition.

Everyday Urbanism is read between the lines. It is the structure that underpins all other methods, and leads one to a cogent understanding of the end.

Everyday Urbanism | 79

Bibliography BERKE, Deborah and HARRIS, Steve (1997). Architecture of the Everyday. Illustrated ed., Princeton Architectural Press.

CHASE, John, CRAWFORD, Margaret and KALISKI, John (1999). Everyday urbanism: featuring John Chase. New York, Monacelli Press.

CRAWFORD, Margaret, SPEAKS, Michael and MEHROTRA, Rahul (2005). Everyday urbanism: Margaret Crawford vs. Michael Speaks. Ann Arbor, Michigan, University of Michigan, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture.

Deborah Berke,1998 with Peter Halley. (1998). [online]. http://www.indexmagazine.com/interviews/deborah_berke. shtml KALISKI, John (2008). Everyday Urban Design: Toward Default Urbanism and/or Urbanism by Design. New York, Monacelli.

KELLBAUGH, Douglas (2009). Three Urbanisms and the Public Realm. University of Michigan, USA. TILL, Jeremy (1994). The Urban Miniature. [online]. https://jeremytill.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/attachment/44/1994_The_Urban_Minature.pdf UPTON, Dell (2002). Architecture and Everyday. New Literary History, 33 (4), 707-723.

WIRTH, Louis (1938). Urbanism as a Way of Life. The American Journal of Sociology,.

80 | F5 Urbanity

THE GLOCAL PARADIGM In the era of continuous globalization, there is a dynamic exchange of culture and technology. As a result, the differentiation between what is ‘global’ and what is ‘local’ is becoming redundant. In a long-term view, globalization becomes glocalization, an amalgamation of both global and local, and a way of adapting global vision to local relevance. The word ‘glocal’ as a term is first used in Japanese business terminology around 1980s to refer to the customization of global products and services to suit the local cultures. This paper attempts to acknowledge this phenomenon in architecture and analyse it through image and perception. The glocal paradigm, in full potential can refresh urbanity by turning out as a new perspective that architects can’t ignore in the near future.

Jithin K | I V S Sasank | Nallam Phani Teja | Trisha Das Guide : Divya Chopra Chairperson : Archana Gupta 81

Fig 1: Allegory of the spinning coin.

(Source : Authors)

“The speed of light does not merely transform the world. It becomes the world. Globalisation is the speed of light.” - Virilio, Paul.

G

lobalization is undeniably a major force governing the world-class cities, predominant in every aspect of human life, mainly due to the economic contest between the nations, proliferation of information and advancement of electronic media and communication. Localization is a prevalent attempt of re-evaluation and reinstatement of the locality which is the actual place of human activity and local culture. These two paradigms exist in a symbiotic relationship, feeding and fuelling each other while carefully constructing their global and local imagery or identities.

Since the advent of globalization, the city has adorned this duality of homogenized and indigenous identities as two opposing faces of the same coin, in a conflicting co-existence. But assigning the terms ‘global’ and ‘local’ to architecture in the present context has become redundant as these notions have been amalgamated beyond distinction. The economic and cultural forces of the previous decade have set the coin spinning and the identification of the global and local entities individually is virtually no longer possible.

The Indian globalized economy is strongly based on the ideals governed by change and modernism. The progression into modernism has initiated under the premise of inclusivity, but over time, has propagated a mass trans-national culture to the ultimate exclusion of local identity. (Prasad, 2010). The sense of loss from this, of identity and tradition, permeates circles of art, culture, cuisine and a lot more which leads to a certain endemic loss of culture. What permeates around are symbols of a dislocat-

82 | F5 Urbanity

ed and rootless global paradigm dominating the skylines.

The growing world economy has a very fast effect and is quite prominently seen in developing countries like India, both in the urban and rural zones. The urbanization effects are predominant and instigate changes in the built environment through technological advancements. Such important changes initiate various experimentations in architectural movements and styles where architects attempt to combine the dynamic context, world events, and public response to create something new. India, being a developing country has similarly undergone all of these modifications.

From metropolitan suburbs like Gurgaon to urban extensions for traditional cities like Jaipur, India is facing the challenges of globalization now like never before.

Fig 2 : (Clockwise from top left) i. City Center Mall, Mangalore, ii. Inorbit Mall, Mumbai, iii. South City Mall, Kolkata, iv. Select City Walk Mall, Delhi.

(Source : Wikipedia)

What Is Globalization?

A series of social, political and economic changes that affect everything from the operation of nations to everyday life come under the collective title of ‘globalization’. (Adam, 2012).

The Glocal Paradigm

| 83

Fig 3: Allegory of the Brakeless train.

(Source: Authors)

Globalization is defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as a phenomenon which has standardized all of our experiences and processes in daily life. As Eldemery (2009) states, it refers to the discussions and exchange of knowledge over large physical boundaries that increase the awareness in each of those places.

The effects of globalization include faster communication between distant cultures, increased multinational business activity, increased standardization of technology, economic growth of business and tourism, increased aspirations for goods and services, and increasing threat to economic sustainability. (Lewis, 2002). Communication technologies are something that have led to, as well as have been affected by globalization.

This has resulted in the world coming together, increasing international interdependency. The effect is described by Helena Norberg-Hodge : “Western consumer conformity is descending on the less industrialized parts of the world like an avalanche.”

‘Development’ brings tourism, western films and products and more recently, satellite television to the remotest corners of the Earth. (Adam, 2012). Universal flow of media, information, finance, ethnicities, and technologies shape societies and therefore cities and countries. As Friedman (1995) puts it, cities are spatially organized socio-economical systems; and they become fields of global accumulation. ‘Global’ cities – metropolises – are focal points of the world and representing globe-wide activities and the position of their countries.

Nature Of Globalization Globalization is a chain reaction that sustains itself, improving the ways in which it can improve. The major factor that has set it into motion is 84 | F5 Urbanity

economic growth and modernization. From the colonial era to the information age, there is an advancement of technology and an improved exchange of information. From an economic point of view, international travel is made easier, enabling a greater movement of people and commodities across the world and prospering globalization. The technological advancement was a product and equally a factor of this world phenomenon. Internet is arguably this generation’s greatest technological invention and has facilitated it far beyond imagination. Multi-national companies created a global presence for themselves by opening up branches in many different economies. International trade has interconnected countries and is increasing constantly through economic growth, which is global in nature (Pettinger, 2013). The impacts of economic globalization have had both positive and negative effects.

Fig 4 : (Clockwise from top left) i. Old Delhi ii. Gurgaon iii. Connaught Place (Source : Wikipedia)

‘Globalization is a heroic process, globalization is a sinister process, depending on which side of the debate one stands.

Some tend to see globalization as a brakeless train crushing everything in its path, others see benefit in getting on board the train towards economic growth and modernization.’ (Khondker, 2004).

Developing countries gain large benefits through free trade and commerce. Home grown industries can cross trade barriers and have access to much wider international markets. The influx of foreign capital and companies reduces unemployment. Funds from foreign nations can improve infrastructure and standard of living of the developing nations.

This growth further gives scope for innovation in products and services.

The Glocal Paradigm

| 85

Over a longer term, there will be a rise in education levels and financial health but in the shorter term, some of the poor will become poorer.

Wage gap increases between the educated and those who are not and living standards of everyone doesn’t improve. Skilled labour sees employment opportunities whereas unemployment will still be prevalent in sectors where technology replaces manual labour. (Mohr, 2003).

Globalization is also a two-way process. If we take the case of India, where on one hand, foreign technologies are applied into the daily life, on the other hand, Indian traditions also inspire the west where cultures have travelled across nations. Modernization has helped in improving the transport networks, health facilities, communication facilities and education facilities. On the other hand, the science of Ayurveda and yoga has spread from India to other parts of the world. The key here is to get on board the train, Khondker (2004) mentions, generating infrastructure that helps the unemployed and underclass to sustain in a global economy but sustaining local identity simultaneously.

Impact on Architecture and City Image In architecture, the chronological development of globalization resembled closely to the ascendancy of Modernism. Adam (2012) states that the founding ideals of Modernism had always been global in ambition, creating a world-view that is universal. The architectural expressions of this ‘universalism’ are visible all around the city, for example, towering offices, chains of standardized hotels, franchise restaurants, brand stores, multiplexes etc. Any city having undergone the changes of globalization and possessing any of these services are widely referred to as ‘global’.

The experience of walking through an upmarket mall or staying in an extravagant hotel room is something the people of many cities can experience today. (Lewis, 2002).

There is a sense of familiarity in certain kind of architecture that is prevalent all over the world. The ‘global’ kind of architecture has spread all around the world to fulfil the economic, financial, functional, and recreational needs of the people.

In globalization, design or visual forms of architecture tend to be swiftly disseminated via magazines while being quickly and indiscriminately reproduced and copied all over the world, irrespective of whether it is in a Middle Eastern desert or a monsoon affected region that is dissociated 86 | F5 Urbanity

from the climatic and cultural context of the place. (Nagashima, 1999).

Fig 5: Skylines of different cities

This lack of relation with the context and the dominant universality can be observed and understood by looking at the city. City’s representation in images is one way of looking at global cities where their general characteristics are coherent in comparison as they project a universal image.

Image is a representation which places an impression in the mind. The imagery of all cities are subjected to this universality and the similarity of image as such lack personal identity. Images like prominent skylines, logos, symbols and signage are tools to understand the aspects of all kinds of imagery. McNeil (2005) explains how skylines, though partial in representation, are powerful makers of the city’s image.

“Impossible to ever inhibit in its totality, existent in full dramatic form only from a relatively distant perspective, the skyline is nonetheless the most frequently invoked image when considering the impact of skyscrapers on cities.”

(McNeil. 2005) For example, the skyline of IT hub in a city like Bangalore looks quite similar to the skyline of the IT offices in Gurgaon, in spite of the contextual difference in both cities. If we look into detail, then we will obviously find the peculiarities of the significant structures for each of the cities and hence realize the differences in their images. But at one glance, it is not easy to differentiate. In fact, as an experiment, if we take silhouettes

The Glocal Paradigm

| 87

Fig 6: Mixed skyline of Bangalore and Delhi (Source: Authors) Fig 7: Pie Chart showing Survey 1 results

of the skylines of all the major cities of the world, it will definitely be tough to distinguish one from another (figure 5) which has in fact been a major consequence of globalization. Generally, people associate the city’s image with the skyline. Many of the Delhi based architecture students and teachers were unable to distinguish the skyline in the figure 6 as part Delhi and part Bangalore. (Survey 1).

A majority (43%) of the public felt that the skylines of both the cities are represented in the image whereas almost an equal share of the public (38%) also felt that the entire skyline could be of Delhi. In reality, the skyline is actually a combination of both Bangalore and Delhi’s. (Survey 1).

Though people tend to identify cities with their iconic imagery, the imagery itself is being homogenized beyond recognition. Globalization has made the various skylines similar to one another across cities and even nations which can be observed from the analysis of images and people’s perception towards them. (Survey 1).

Before analyzing the images, its aspects concerning the creation, consumption and limitations must be identified. In this paper, the aspects of the city image are classified and analyzed as follows: representation (in all 88 | F5 Urbanity

media), physicality (or the imageable city), perception (or the interaction with the city) and memory (reading and remembering the city).

Fig 8: Differentiating the skyline of Delhi and Bangalore.

(Source : Authors)

Representation This is majorly a secondary source, and is the chief aspect that defines or creates the image of the city. Representation of cities through text, images, media and film communicates ideas and interacts with people’s emotions and creates images and identity of the place in their minds.

The representation is generally critiqued on the authenticity, way of portrayal and incompleteness. Veseley (2004) explains that the flaws of representation must be identified and that there is no singular image to depict the whole reality but overlapping duplications of images which should be realized.

“Because any representation, despite its claims to universality, is inevitably partial, there is always a residuum of reality left out, which has to define its own mode of representation. The result is a duplication that may be best described as ‘divided representation”. (Veseley, 2004).

Also, media as a carrier of represented image is the most reachable one to the outsiders. But the media, like history, tends to highlight the extremities rather than the average and the mundane.

“The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle.” (Eric Hoffer) It taps the consumerist obsession to know the superlatives and spectacular while the average cities are ignored. But these cities are statistically more in number and can be visualized in graphical formats in a bell curve that forms in such graphs.

The Glocal Paradigm

| 89

Fig 9: (clockwise from top left) i. Representation, ii.

Physicality, iii. Memory, iv.

Perception (Source : Authors)

“Our lives today are filled with information coming from the extremes of the bell curve while the vast majority of life continues to reside in the middle. This flood of extreme information has conditioned us to believe that “exceptional” is the new normal.” (Manson, 2015).

Regarding the amount and nature of media coverage of places, Avra¬ham and Ketter (2008, p. 30; see also Avraham, 2000) – drawing on Manheim and Albritton (1984) – have proposed that places either: receive much negative coverage or much positive coverage and are largely ignored during the normal times generating stereotyped images for places. The representations though largely indirect and subjective to perception, play a major role in creation of image in the individual’s mind, especially the outsiders.

Physicality Majority of the elements in the city are noticed, elevated and perceived in terms of their operational roles. As a person uses the city, executing various tasks, he chooses particular aspects of the environment for the

90 | F5 Urbanity

purpose of carrying out these tasks. The details of traffic circles, islands, nodes and intersections are often elevated to grand proportions in subjective and mental maps.

Fig 10: The bell curve of Media Portrayal (Source : Madson, 2015)

The major and most common characteristic used by subjects to describe buildings is their ‘location’, which is contextual and hence, home-grown.

Even without a visual image, a person can recall where it is located. Most buildings are further described by their size, shape, colour, materials, style, and other such ‘imageable’ qualities.

Signs, billboards, gas stations, water and people are few examples which occur under the operational view patterns of passengers on the circulation system, and can also be noticed in peripheral vision or subconsciously while the traveller is engaged in another activity. These are the ‘imageable’ elements of the setting and environment which Lynch (1960) has described in such detail.

Perception The perception refers to the intangible, logical and metaphorical interpretation of the perceived characteristics through a subjective observation.

With a balance that hangs between what is shown and what is seen, images of multiple meanings are recreated. The senses contribute to a primary knowledge and perception of the world.

‘Structuring and identifying the environment is a vital ability among all mobile animals. Many kinds of cues are used; the

The Glocal Paradigm

| 91

Fig 11: Local + Global Imagery (Source: Krier, 2010) Fig 12: Integration of Global & Local (Source: Krier, 2010)

visual sensations of colour, shape, motion or polarization of light, as well as other senses such as smell, sound, touch, kinaesthesia, sense of gravity, and perhaps of electric or magnetic fields’. (Lynch, 1960).

All sensory stimuli generally combine to give a comprehensive awareness as a whole. Particular actions may tap specific senses or are activated by paying attention to a specific perception.

‘The individual dimension can only be separated out by deliberate actions (closing one’s eyes, blocking one’s nose or ears) or by selective attention. While vision is the dominant sense, the urban environment is not perceived visually.’

(Carmona et al, 2010).

Besides visual, there can be distinctive smells, sounds, or tactile experiences. Their level of imageability is a function of its intensity in certain characteristics and their relative uniqueness in the specific context. (Appleyard, 1969c). This is a factor in an active creation of an indigenous image as context gains more importance through direct sensory perception.

Perceptions sometimes impose new types of behaviour and tastes and have an influence on the overall perceptions of the environment we live in. In spite of a tendency in the contemporary city for perceptions to be blunted and confusing, it is still possible to identify their origins. (Sepe, 2013).

92 | F5 Urbanity

Memory Image perception is inferential and probabilistic in nature. As we grow up, we tend to develop a generalized system and categories of environments, concepts, and relationships which form our own coding scheme for the city - our personal urban model built on ‘memory’. This forms as our standard when we encounter a new city by matching each new experience against our general expectations. This sense of perception can be seen more as a cognitive decision process, matching categories, fitting places and events, predicting probabilities, forming, testing and evaluating hypotheses. (Bruner, 1966).

Fig 13 : Juxtaposition of images of monumentory Red fort and chaotic Chandini Chowk.

“Cities in reality are great camps of the living and dead, with elements like signals, symbols and cautions, scarred and reconstructed over time.” (Rossi, 1981) Many elements of the city are ‘recalled’ as images, signals and symbols.

Although society has developed and elaborated symbol systems (verbal, numerical, and graphic) for representing and communicating environmental experience, urban experience is predominantly direct rather than symbolic. Events and places are absorbed and represented in the memory as images or actions without transformation as iconic images or enactive events, while others are categorized, labelled, or interpreted for specific purposes or through habit or experience. Memory is a way of retaining the image.

Global + Local Imagery Place experience and image is infused with a range of dialectic tensions— vertical/horizontal, inside/outside, local/global, and appropriation/exThe Glocal Paradigm

| 93

propriation. In the modern world, local/global tensions infuse all places signaling a loss of self-identity and revealing a collision of signs and images. (Sassen, 1991). A ‘transnational imaginary’ thus shapes local constructions of image, giving the experience of place a phantasmagoric character wherein the global and local become inextricably intertwined.

(Dovey, 1999).

As an example, in Delhi, outsiders do visit Red Fort and Chandni Chowk to experience the old city that is envisioned as a global image. However, only the local residents will know the local shops, or eateries that will be hidden in the narrow lanes of Chandni Chowk. While the lines between an insider and outsider are blurred on various levels depending upon their perception and interaction, they tend to complement each other.

Giddens (1991) explains the constructions of identity in this regard. He suggests that globalization and modernity have transformed the very tissue of place experience. But this does not signal a loss of ‘place’ any more than it is a loss of self-identity. Rather it is the end of the closed local place; the romantic view of the harmonious village is in many ways a nostalgic response to this loss.

The Dichotomy - Global and Local The word ‘global’ is generally associated with terms such as technology, diversity, travel, brand, modern, high rise, fast and glass etc. These words represent the ideologies of global movements and expectations from globalization. But the word ‘global’ nevertheless, is also associated with terms like self- sustainable, humane, radical, development, media, investments and harmony. Generalizing the above terminologies, ‘global’ has a positive sense of expression and is clearly referring to development for a lot of people in Delhi. The word ‘local’ is usually related to the terms tradition, vernacular, sustainable, home, village etc. It tries to emphasize the nature of associating with the distinctive culture of the locale, an identity and something that they could hold on to for comfort. (Survey 2). As Adam (2012) puts it, the two-poles of globalization are homogenization and localization.

Globalization in its attempt of advancement, creates opportunities and quite surprisingly revives local cultural identities. Localisation, is closely associated with the politics of identity. Identity is community and place related and the individuality of community and place are undermined by 94 | F5 Urbanity

global homogenisation. (Adam, 2012). In the current scenario, the global paradigm is rendering an overpowering challenge against local paradigm.

Furthermore, there is need for carefully evaluating the situation and giving direction to both, especially to the local paradigm which seems to lack confidence at the moment fighting a near losing battle.

Fig 14 : Cartoonic representation of Globalization and Localism.

(Source: New York Times)

Nagashima (1999) believed in an optimistic future that the dialectic process between the two extreme paradigms of global-universality and local-particularity which proved to possess potentially positive and activating energy in terms of stimulating architectural creations. Thus, assessment and operation of the interrelationship between the global and the local is required in the current millennia to create better platforms to accommodate their connection.

Universalization and Particularity The architectural impact of globalization on the city has been through homogenization or global universalization. The homogenization effect was seen in the built environments of the cities wherein a similar response to globalization was repeated in many differently structured cities.

This has been observed by Henry Russell Hitchcock as early as 1951.

According to Robert Adam (2012), “The glass-walled office block has become the Coca-Cola of architecture.�

The effect of homogenization is such that most of the office buildings we see today have are the same tall, glass structures all over the world.

The idea of office buildings in older times, was more of traditional building with the design varying as per the function of the space. With inThe Glocal Paradigm

| 95

Fig 15 : Office buildings in Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore , Seattle respectively.

Fig 16 : i. Anand lok Coorparative Society, Delhi; ii. Housing Tower IIT Bombay, iii. Waterloo Towers Sydney, iv. Crossway Estate London.

creasing globalization, the idea of offices has started losing its diversity.

In most cases, the climate peculiarity is completely ignored and the same prototype is repeated everywhere.

The importance of context in architecture has always been so important that the kind of architecture of a place reflected the characteristics of the place. The style vernacular has been used to describe buildings or materials that reflect the truest nature of a city, town or village. However, globalization has diluted the significance of context in architecture to a large extent. In any case buildings are created as self-sufficient structures that by placing in any city will fulfil the same functions.

At a glance, it is quite impossible to differentiate between the urbanized landscapes of New Delhi, Mumbai, Dubai, San Francisco, Sao Paolo, London or Sydney. (Adam, 2012). A housing tower in Gurgaon, Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore, London, or Sydney will look the same today.

As Rem Koolhas has stated, any kind of generic architecture that exists is a sign that globalization is trying to neutralize any kind of differences that exist. Such lack of variety is leading to the loss of the local image or

96 | F5 Urbanity

characteristic architecture of a place. When localization or particularity is talked about as a concept, it is immediately related to the identity of a place, what it represents and portrays to the rest of the world. This also relates to the community and individuality and is somewhat contrary to the idea of homogenization. The movement of people outside from a place, or the advent of new ideas all have a large effect on the local cultures. In many communities they are critical about these changes and resist any modification that occurs. In some cases, the people welcome new ideas with open arms. (Adam, 2012) In spite of the ideas of globalization and localization being so different, they actually affect each other in a positive manner. For the localized communities, the presence of global technologies helps the residents to connect to their loved ones over long distance. Robert Adam (2012) has talked about urbanist movements which are, “the reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighbourhoods and diverse districts” and “the redevelopment of towns and cities with respect to historical patterns, precedents and boundaries.” Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim museum is viewed as one of the most iconic buildings around the world that gives identity to city of Bilbao. But, apart from being iconic it actually draws attention to Bilbao as a historic centre. (Adam, 2012).

The campaigning and promotion of traditional spatial typologies and building practices strengthen local distinctiveness and coherence in the current globalizing world. An identity has to be a result of the local urban morphologies, vernacular resources, architectural spatial typologies, local ecology, traditional skills and lifestyles. This ensures a response to the local concerns and values.

Glocalization - Transcending The Binary The interest in the present binary relationship between the global and the local arises with the long debates of globalization and the rise of anti-globalization movement at the end of the 1990s. Much of the debate is based upon the perception that there was a tension between the indigenous and the universal. In the mid-1990s there were many attempts by academics who tried to synthesize or combine both and transcend this binary. It was in this context, where the Glocalization as a concept came to the surface. (Robertson, 1995).

According to their dictionary meanings, the terms “glocal” and “glocal-

The Glocal Paradigm

| 97

ization” are “formed by telescoping global and local to make a blend” (The Oxford Dictionary of New Words, 1991:134 quoted in Robertson, 1995). In the business world, this notion was adopted for referring to the process of global localization. The word as well as the idea came from Japan (Robertson, 1995). In business terminology, glocalization means “the creation of products or services intended for the global market, but customized to suit the local cultures.”

Glocalization is already happening around the world without us even realizing it. Many international companies have adopted the glocal approach not just to maximize profits but essentially to survive in a local market by acknowledging the versatility of local cultures. Large food brands often change their menu according to a particular country’s cuisine while the number of drive-throughs or playgrounds may increase in locations with large numbers of car owners or children. In some places, the restaurant’s store frontage blends with the local architecture. Some examples of this are the McDonald’s chain, Oreo, MTV, DHL, Vespa etc. In contemporary architecture, it is difficult to label any structure as either global or local.

A house situated on a highway in a metropolitan city in India can illustrate the above discussion. The materials used could be bricks and RCC and the features could be thatched roofs, verandahs, courtyards with cement plaster and iron railings. Every part of the structure has a different geographical origin and history. The concept of brick construction comes from the ancient era and has multiple birth places like Tigris, Mohenjodaro and China. RCC was first introduced in Paris. The concept of verandah houses have been prevalent in traditional Hindu culture in the Indian history for a long time. The building is connected to the rest of the city through the major highways and roads that may be built by a developer like DLF for example. In addition to this, the entire material and labour source for the construction comes from surrounding towns and villages.

In the building of this one house, at least five different cultures, countries and communities have come together. This is characteristic of many architectural elements and constructions in today’s context.

A careful observation of all those structures or spaces that have been labelled as either local or global will reveal that neither of them describe the buildings completely. By the introduction of the term ‘glocal’ here, it can be easier to accept the fact that the distinction between global and local is redundant as they are interdependent in contemporary architecture.

98 | F5 Urbanity

Propositions of Glocalization There has been a prevailing fear in the hearts of many that the phenomenon of globalization is like a tidal wave erasing all the differences and making everything mundane. In the world of rapid globalization and threatened native ideals and cultures, glocalization has appeared as a necessary balance and as a relieving notion. It has actually revived the local industries and given local cultures an international arena.

The present discussions on the subject portrays it like a ‘force that creates a uniform world, a world where barriers disappear and cultures become amalgamated into a global whole.’ (Khondker, 2004) In the process of the paradigm shift, where glocal was emerging out of the two words, there was a temporary phase of tension, wherein glocal certainly did not appear as a solution to all the problems. It was still the beginning stage where the public had doubts about this concept and surprisingly this doubt existed for a while, in spite of the inclination towards glocal being much too obvious. Glocalization has gradually increased and is a much beneficial change towards the future. As stated by Khondker (2004), it promotes an idea of togetherness and practicality. It also promotes the idea of interdependency of localization and globalization.

This idea of a co-existence is also logically acceptable by the masses. For example, the acceptance of Delhi culture as something beyond global and local alone has been initiated. In a survey conducted amongst students and teachers in Delhi, majority (57%) consider that Delhi has moved past these individual terminologies to become a dichotomy. Even though a lot of them (38%) still believe that Delhi is a global city, the more popular opinion includes its traditional identities as well. This shows a subconscious inclination towards ‘glocal’ though not well articulated in the present conditions. (Survey 3).

From the survey conducted, it can be inferred majority of the people believe in the interdependency of globalization and localization and how ‘glocalization’ is an unsaid choice. Here, 85% people believe that globalization and localization are dependent on each other while only a meagre 10% believe otherwise. From the survey, it can be inferred that the residents of Delhi have identified the language of Delhi as a combination of global and local, but they haven’t yet completely abandoned the differences to accept the next paradigm.

The Glocal Paradigm

| 99

Glocalization In India Fig 17: Pie Chart showing Survey 3 results

India’s globalized economy depends upon the ideals of modernism when it was opened up in early 1990’s following the economic crisis. This globalization, even though came with the idea of inclusivity, later lead to westernized culture thereby starting to exclude localization. In this sudden consequence, ‘the built’ has become one of the most visible indicators of change. (Khemka, 2010) The population explosion and a need for economic stability, thus supported by the urban opportunities, encouraged the globalization phenomenon. But this entry of globalization later on resulted in increasing the gap between the social classes and cultural identity, raising debates and conversations in the name of ‘the two faces of India’ (Timeasia, 2004), one being the global and the other local.

As a visible manifestation, the built environment reflects our sense of place, the importance of our past and our traditions in our lives. But they have been modified with the economic, social and cultural needs of our times. Local aspects of our society are influential in providing a coherence between society and nature, through the use of resources and of local skills and craftsmanship. As strong forces of globalization contemporarily drive the creation of new architecture and urban design in India, the time is now or never to instill in this huge process a sense of “appropriateness” to the local context.

Professionals in our country, for instance in making plans for cities in India - (a) the Garden City concept of Ebenezer Howard and (b) the Baroque City plan of Lutyens’ for New Delhi, were evidently more inclined to adopt and achieve order and patterns of beauty rather than dealing

100 | F5 Urbanity

with the complexities of Indian urbanism. They tend to never adopt the policies and programs associated, with their universal experience, to analyze the urban imperatives that generated those urban patterns. (Menon, 2010).

Fig 18 (top) : i. (left) DLF Cyber City Gurgaon (Source : Youtube) ; ii. (right) Chandini Chowk (Source: https://www. fuccha.com)

“There is little doubt that the economic growth of this country (India) is sustainable, but the issue is what kind of a country will it be? Will it be a country of glass facades where hundreds and thousands of people are ghetto-ised in suburbs or the degraded urbanization of crumbling infrastructure?

On the other hand will it be an inclusive society where people are interconnected?” (Khemka, 2010)

Fig 19 : i. Develepment Alternative Head Quarters, Delhi (left) (Source: Ashok B lal Architects) ii.

IHC Delhi(right) (Source: http://www. thedelhiwalla.com)

A similar kind of obsession with ‘image’ had defined the slender domain of the architectural strategies in India. This mentality, consequently led to ignore the mundane life of vernacular urbanism, thus creating a bias in dealing of architecture. Old Delhi, or Shahjahanabad, is therefore considered a slum as its morphology contradicts their idea of the ‘beautiful’ globalized city (Menon, 2010).

For instance, in the city of Gurgaon, one can see ‘beautiful’ glass towers having no link to our culture and traditions that are surrounded by appalling poorly built building blocks where people are uprooted, infrastructure is disintegrated in an unbalanced social and economic condition. Thus,

The Glocal Paradigm

| 101

Fig 20 : i. Shahpur Jat (left); ii. Connaught place (right) (Source : http://www. thedelhiwala.com)

it directs us to think and question whether Gurgaon could ever be the model of our contemporary and future cities.

But on a positive note, few architects in the recent past have already portrayed the idea of amalgamation and incorporated that in their buildings. Charles Correa’s British council building in New Delhi, completed in 1992, is an example of this. As Vicky Richardson puts it forward in the ‘Uncube’ magazine that Correa’s principles are universal yet highly rooted in site. Through that building Correa took the opportunity to make a profound comment about the historical and local influence of external belief systems on Indian culture. Another such design is the campus of India Habitat Center by architect Joseph Allen Stein, where he changed the conventional image of an office building as an architectural project and transformed it into an urban design project. According to Professor Jeffrey M Chusid, “The IHC has made an extraordinary contribution to the city of Delhi.” Constructed on nine acres, the building eschewed traditional building materials and techniques in the modern spaces.

The glocal phenomenon is not just limited to buildings, but even to entire localities. Shahpur Jat is an urban village where the local village and markets are coexisting with contemporary design stores, souvenir stores, boutiques and restaurants. In fact, a great deal of contrast can be seen in the traditional and contemporary side of the area. Many of the urban villages in Delhi are of a similar nature. Connaught place is also a combination of foreign brand shopping and local street shopping. The built structure houses not only the international brands but also state emporiums and handicraft stores. In addition to that the colonnaded open area also has a hoard of informal shops.

102 | F5 Urbanity

Juxtaposition And A Holistic Approach When a person perceives a city, the things that affect him are not just physical elements but also the various local factors of environment, people, culture and context. Image thus is an entity of multiple factors and is not singular but multi-dimensional. A city further is an entity comprising various local layers, varying from the kinetic, non-designed and everyday urbanism to the static layers of architectural buildings rendering an iconic image. Juxtaposition of the iconic skyline with the everyday urbanism layer creates a holistic image that incorporates resident environment, breaks monotony and gains identity.

Fig 21 : Juxtaposition of the iconic and everyday image of Delhi (Source : Authors)

Conclusion As the interdependent city, Delhi, moves ahead into the future of 21st Century, the themes of urban revival are becoming more and more relevant every day as it is facing social and environmental challenges at a huge scale that requires the attention of everyone — from individuals to various organizations. In this time of revival, the concept and image of the city has been distorted in its every form and stretched in terms of rules, fabrication and identity which is beyond recognition. According to Koolhaas (1995), this demise of an urban entity is rooted in the professional and educational reactions of high modernism and these realms have caused people to retreat into nostalgia.

“Our amalgamated wisdom can be easily caricatured: according to Derrida we cannot be Whole, according to Baudrillard we cannot be Real, according to Virilio we cannot be There.” (OMA/Koolhaas/Mau, 1995)

The Glocal Paradigm

| 103

Fig 22 : Cartoon showing the Koolhaas’ quote (Source : Authors)

The future of the city is thus neither in the glass facades of Gurgaon nor in the mundane urbanism of old Delhi, but in the amalgamation of both. As Koolhaas emphasizes, the importance of urbanism is that it is no longer about imposing limitations, separating and identifying entities but about expanding notions, denying boundaries and discovering hybrids, addressed in this paper as a hybrid of global and local, a ‘Glocal’ community.

It could be envisioned that in this century, because of the further innovation in electronic media and accessibility of the transport networks, what is currently called the national or collective state will be outdated, particularly because of the occurring population explosion and diversity among the agglomerated. As Nagashima (1999) puts it, the better idea would be to work in the local community where people live their mundane lives communicating with each other, and may be a direct connection with the virtual global community, which could be termed as a Glocal village.

Thus, when contemplation arrives at the Architecture of the Future, a glocal approach has to be employed, sublimating global and local forces.

(Nagashima, 1999).

With ‘glocalization’ as an optimistic vision that generates a greater meaning, strengthens local connections and creates a bigger arena: we can be More, we can be True and we can be Everywhere.

At that center, the architects and urban development professionals are bearing a major responsibility of leading the world. In this case, our city in the search for holistic solutions that unify both, the existing global technological assets, and the sense of locality in a sustainable and balanced way. There should be thus a re-emergence of urbanism as mentioned by Koolhaas as, “Redefined, urbanism will not only, or mostly, be

104 | F5 Urbanity

a profession, but a way of thinking, an ideology: to accept what exists.”

(OMA/Koolhaas/Mau, 1995) The process of creation mentioned above has been practiced almost unconsciously by few architects for all time and it is necessary to implement it more.

The glocal perception, in its global vision based on local relevance, has a hybridity and an ideology strong enough to refresh and rethink urbanity.

In this complex time, Delhi is planned as a world-class, interdependent and a glocal city. The future architects who enter the profession, particularly in approaching our city Delhi, have to be prepared for any paradigm shift, both gradual and sudden. It is evident that, “glocalization” has already entered the game and its major impact is just around the corner.

Bibliography Ibrahim Mostafa Eldemery- GLOBALIZATION CHALLENGES IN ARCHITECTURE, 2009, Locke Science Publishing Company, Inc. Chicago, IL, USA Roger K. Lewis- Architecture and the Global City, 2002, Washington Post Robert Adam- Globalization and Architecture, 2012 Nicole Direnzo- The Global vs. Local Debate, 2014, lynnipulse.org Mandler, George (1962). New Directions in Psychology. New York.

Bruner, Jerome; Olver, Rose; Greenfield, Patricia. (1966). Studies in Cognitive Growth. American Educational Research Association.

Sepe, Marichela, (2013). Planning and Place in the City – Mapping Place Identity, Routledge: London.

Carmona, Matthew; Heath, Tim; Oc, Taner; (2010). Public Spaces, Urban Spaces. Routledge: McNeill, Donald. 2005. Skycraper Geography. King’s College, London.

Rossie, Aldo. (1982). The Architecture of the City.

Appleyard Donald, Lynch Kevin, Myer W. John (1964). View from the Road.

Calvino, Italo. (1972). Invisible Cities.

Giddens, A. (1991) Modernity and Self Identity, Cambridge: Polity.

Manson, Mark (2015), In Defense of Being Average. “http://markmanson.net/being-average” Anholt, S. (2010). Places: Identity, image and reputation. Houndsmills, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.

Avraham, E. (2000). Cities and their news media images. Cities, 17(5), 363-370. doi: 10.1016/S0264-2751(00)00032-9 Avraham, E. (2003). Behind media marginality: Coverage of social groups and places in the Israeli press. Langham, MD: Lexington Books.

Avraham, E., & Ketter, E. (2008). Media strategies for marketing places in crisis: Improving the image of cities, countries and tourist destinations. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Inc.

The Glocal Paradigm

| 105

Manheim, J.B., & Albritton, R.B. (1984). Changing national images: International public relations and media agenda setting. The American Political Science Review, 78(3), 641-657.

Lynch, Kevin. (1960). The Image of the City: MIT press.

Koolhaas, Rem. Mau, Bruce (1995). OMA – S, M, L, XL.

106 | F5 Urbanity

Commodification of Housing

A Study of Rehabilitative Housing in Delhi The paper is a study of housing typologies in resettlement colonies. It takes up the examples of Savda Ghera and Seelampur to identify the evolutionary trends in architecture of these places. Inferences drawn from the study further the course towards larger processes of economic and political nature.

Commodification of space and architecture is studied to understand its architectural implications and eventually the paper evaluates the principle of social value and the effect it can have on architectural practice.

Anurag Tiwari | Firas Qazi | Kiran K Ghosh | Pawan Kumar Guide : Venugopal Madipatti Chairperson : Narayani Gupta 107

H

enri Lefebvre (1901-91), the foremost social-geographer of his time, claimed space is a product of something that is produced materially while at the same time “operate[s]…on processes from which it cannot separate itself because it is a product of them” (Lefebvre, 1973). These processes are our value system. Space and its design create and respond to the value system of a scope. The value system inherent to the architecture of a place is the architect’s design vision.

The design vision of a settlement is reflective of how its people live and vice versa. The design approach to shelter and house civilians make up an intricate value system in return. The paper deals with the value system in place currently and questions how and to what extent does it affect the architect and architecture.

The paper sets its scope to the formal resettlement housing sector in New Delhi. Resettlement colonies are a transformation of the informal to the formal, whether in-situ or otherwise. The study of resettlement colonies explores architectural implications of formalization. The way life moulds in the informal sector is very different and much less organic than in the formal. The processes in place are also quite different. While formality introduces many a perks including services, amenities, rights and responsibilities; it also increases strict order and authoritative control over lifestyle. Resettlement colonies also carry with them a responsibility to elevate the economic and social stature of the informal sector. A study of such colonies helps to explore the way life happens in and around architectural design and eventually reflect the architectural thought.

The architectural thought of a group, community, settlement or nation is dictated by the design vision of its architects. Current architectural thought is almost dismissive of future outcomes not in line with current

108 | F5 Urbanity

scenarios. Understanding resettlement colonies helps arrive to a much more holistic approach as it shows trends and patterns of evolution of life. Change in lifestyle and family sizes dictates the informal typological evolution and in turn existing formal typologies dictates lifestyle.

Hence, it is imperative for architects to understand that their design implications are not only valid to direct stakeholders and clientele at that point of time, but also to future clientele and indirect stakeholders.

To understand such design implications it is important to visit studies reflecting on change primarily. The choice of a comparative study brings about a correlation between such changes and produces trends and patterns for further study without dismissing different outcomes possible. The research is based on the study of firstly that of Seelampur, which had been established in 1962 and the other being of Savda Ghera a more recent resettlement plan. Seelampur and Savda Ghera has been taken up as both reflect on different decades under similar circumstances and difference in the way architecture was approached. While the mission objective was practically the same for both these settlements, both reacted and evolved differently. Examination of these will lead architects to learn and acknowledge the resultant of their design.

The typologies are to be studied and critiqued. Inferences will be drawn in terms of quality of architecture and life. The inferences shall be further studied to understand the extent that architecture can help to resolve issues directly through design interventions. Those which cannot be dealt with directly shall be studied in depth to understand larger processes. The paper further defines the act of surplus production, commodification as a process and commodification of land. It will move on to define market and social values to help understand the larger political processes.

The relation and process of commodification shall be tested against our findings and the extent, if at all, shall be discoursed and concluded on.

At its core, the idea of the paper is to explore prospects of returning social value and order to commodities. The rationale of its need is embedded in the nature of New Delhi as a polarized city. The surplus accumulation economy ensures disproportionate resource allocation and liberalization of public resources into the privatized market. The paper shall critically construct arguments for and against social valuation of commodities and a policy framework which allows value of use to be prioritized over exchange. It shall look into the extent to which social value can aid or affect the practice of architecture and the importance of sensitivity towards social value systems beyond the current modality of Commodification of Housing | 109

capitalism. The nature of a city in it being urban and its urbanity lies in its continued growth, accumulation and multiplication of surplus value.

Our current economics can be labelled as capitalist. Harvey (2006) says that to remain a capitalist, one must reinvest the profits to make even more surplus. The direct result of this sort of action is the growth of a surplus in a compound rate. That sort of surplus production leads to the creation of more ways to invest because if this is not done, then the value of the surplus diminishes. To keep this from happening new means of labour and resource production must be found. These factors also result in rapid technological advancements due to the rise in competition between the capitalists. If there is not enough scope to purchase in the markets then to keep the surplus from diminishing new markets must be found and new avenues must be explored. This promotes new lifestyles and creates new credit systems(Harvey, 2006). Commodification is one such modality. This modality redefines objects, people, existences and even the abstract into the domain of commodities or products. One such baptism has been our land market. In line to the commodification of land this paper delves into the commodification of space by taking up rehabilitative formal housing as its area of research. Being permanent and conceptually stable does not allow for architecture to be experienced in its entirety. Space exists beyond that singular moment of time that it is experienced in. When the transformative ability of space is recognised and suitably responded to, then the architecture thus created is considered temporally sensitive.

Resettlement Colonies Post-Independence, India has struggled to find a financial-social system which caters to all classes and communities with respect to land-use, town planning and development of cities. Academically and technological research into the ‘city’ is fairly a new topic in India. The paradigm shift in the way policies are made was marked by the realization that our cities are the instruments for a better financial growth model; this concern has bolted the importance and limelight given to city- benefiting policies in our ruthless race in the neo-liberal economy and capital surplus.

(Mendiratta, 1992) Post-independence Delhi was characterized by a great in surge of migrant refugees into the city. The city faced its first dearth of housing. The newly formed ministry of rehabilitation launched a rehabilitation programmes to house the. 6480 dwelling units were provided in 20 colonies but

110 | F5 Urbanity

satisfied only 50% of the demand. Colonizers became very active due to demand on land and sub divided agricultural land and sold it without providing any developments at much lesser prices than in legal market.

Even though these areas could not be approved by competent authority, people invested in them for two reasons. Some purchased plots because they could not afford to same in legal market and some invested for speculative reasons. (Chitra, 1991) Squatting on public land especially by fresh rural migrants was on increase.

There was not a single agency to control the developments till 1956. In 1957, DDA was formed with the passing of Delhi development act which assumed the responsibility for the planned development of the city. In 1959, a very important step was taken by freezing all vacant undeveloped land within the urbanizable limits, in preparation for implementation of policy of socialization of urban land. Intention was made in 1957 but legal notice was served in 1959. There was a boom in building activity to prevent land from being acquired. In 1960 jhuggi-jhopri removal scheme was introduced. Resettlement colonies after 1962 can be divided into two. Firstly those established before 1975 called jhugg-ijhopri removal scheme. Eighteen such colonies were developed. Secondly, colonies that came up during national emergency period: 16 colonies were developed.

Out of the total 44 colonies, 6 major colonies accommodating more than 50,000 populations each are Mangolpuri, Sultanpuri, Jahnagirpuri, Patparganj Complex, Dakshinpuri and its extension and Nand Nigari phase I and II. (Chitra, 1991) In 1961, work studies conducted for preparation of master plan indicated that over 80% of Delhi’s households had income below Rs. 250/- per month, 70% of households lived in one room dwellings with an average living space of about 18 sq m. The master plan got later prepared in 1961 for developments up to 1981. (Mendiratta, 1992) The urban poor in absence of affordable housing avail adjacent to his place of work squats on public or private lands. This started in 1960. Policy is to resettle the squatter families in transit camps which are 10 sq m built accommodation.

According to first master plan stipulation, construction of 5000 DU/ year are to be done.

As Disraeli had famously stated change is inevitable, it is more likely to occur than not. Human lives are subjected to the same principle and can therefore be said to be socially, economically and politically dynamic.

As our lives change, so does our needs and requirements which are Commodification of Housing | 111

Fig 1: Above : Transformation of Typology in Seelampur (Author) Fig 2: Below: Seelampur Formal Unit Plan (Author)

undisputedly reflected in our dwellings. In regards to resettlement colonies, this change is much more visible as the economics and social aspects of family units change rapidly. Families grow and wages might inflate or deflate. With the example of Seelampur (established in 1962) and Savda Ghera (a much more recent plan) one can explore the changes in these processes with respect to their dwelling units. It shall also help to understand a larger political process of controlling the nature of these changes. The study also reflects on how these transformations are largely informal and organic.

Seelampur Seelampur phase I & II was originally established in 1962 to resettle squatters from Kishenganj and Shantivan, it is located in East Delhi across river Yamuna, along G.T. Road about three K.M. from old Yamuna Bridge. Its proximity to Shahdara and ISBT are its location advantage. The sit measures 34.64 Ha consisting of 80 sq. m. plots, arranged in 9 blocks of varying number of plots arranged about a central spine. Fronted by 5m lane, it has two sides open in short rows.

Some of the initial residents of Seelampur moved out of the colony as

112 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 3: Seelampur: Location (Mapstack) Fig 4: Seelampur: Transformation of typology (Author)

their work place were too far away. By 2001, only 49% of the original allottees remained. At its inception, community toilets were provided but no sewage lines were laid. Water and electricity were also provided on a community basis. The transformation of this settlement, since 1962, has resulted in each house having an individual toilet, own water supply, drainage and electricity. (Chitra, 1991) The land-use has changed drastically in terms of the extent of nonresidential activities in the residential areas. The more drastic urban level transformation has been possible due to the development of economic and transport linkages with the rest of the city.

The above illustrations clearly suggest that the inadequacy for the proposed units in catering to the populous has led to the incremental growth of it. The typologies typically start with a single room accompanied at times by a toilet outside the unit. Initial stages of development shows the establishment of kitchens and storage, which surprisingly wasn’t addressed in the first place. Eventual stages construct further rooms and terraces to adjust to the loss of open space on ground. The average household size had doubled from 4 in 1962 to 8.3 in 2001. (Chitra, 1991) Commodification of Housing | 113

Fig 5: Savda Ghevra: Location (Mapstack)

(Sheikh, 2014) (Re-Thinking Re-Settlement Colonies, 2011) Clearly, the need for further rooms was justified. Apart from extension of families, rentals also urged the need for further living spaces as 20% of the units had a part of it rented out. Furthermore, the gentrification of living in an incremented house itself is a motivation as it impacts the pseudo socio- economical stature of the family. Final stages of transformation shows establishment of shops on the ground floor. This is due to a need for livelihood at home as well as a requirement for informal shops. From these transformations one can state that nature of these changes is brought about by social (family sizes, gentrification), economic (home based economic activities) and political (lack of jurisdiction over violation of policies) changes within and without the community.

Savda Ghera The Savda Ghevra JJ Resettlement Colony was established in 2006 in Phases I and II of Savda Ghevra. It has been built on 250 acres of land in the western periphery and inhabited by the most recently displaced.

According to the Records of the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) the colony includes 8,686 plots. The

114 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 6: Ground Floor Plan Savda Ghera Formal Housing (Re-Thinking Re-Settlement Colonies, 2011)

third phase of construction was supposed to be that of 7,620 EWS (economically weaker sections) flats. Although work on these five storeyed buildings continues, there are no residents in these flats. The population living in the colony exceeds 46,000. Located off National Highway 10, the colony is about 30 kilometres from Connaught Place. (Re-Thinking Re-Settlement Colonies, 2011)The Slum and JJ Department of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) managed the allotment of plots to JJC residents during 2006 and 2007.

From this time until 2010 the Slum and JJ Department governed the Savda Ghevra Resettlement Colony; in 2010, along with the Department’s other responsibilities, governance of the colony was transferred to the newly created state-level Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB).

The residents were relocated to Savda Ghevra from colonies located a considerable distance away like Tagore garden, lakshmi nagar JJCs at Karkardooma, Shahdara, Palam, Raja Garden, Lodhi Road, Nizamuddin, Geeta Colony, Dilshad Garden, Khan Market, Yamuna Pushta, Pragati Maidan (Naglamachi), and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. It ranged from 20 to 44 Km away.

Commodification of Housing | 115

Allocation was determined by two different ‘cut-off ’ dates: 1990 and 1998. If the documents presented by a JJC household showed residency prior to the 1990 cut-off, it received an 18 square metre plot. Those who presented documents satisfying the 1998 cut-off date were allotted a plot of 12.5 square metres. Initially as there were no water pipes laid, water was distributed through public or community standposts installed by the DJB. Though the distribution process is better it still lacks regularity and security. (Re-Thinking Re-Settlement Colonies, 2011) One community toilet complex (CTC) was built in each inhabited block of the colony around the time of original settlement. Many of these are sealed to this day. The disparity between the number of toilets and users has forced the inhabitants to resort to open farm lands for toiletry purposes. Furthermore the maintenance of CTCs have been contracted to residents who charge Re. 1 for adults and nothing for children. Those who could afford have constructed toilets in and outside their units.

These are usually bamboo poles covered with flex, lack sanitary facilities and discharge into storm drains.

While the inhabitants were provided the blueprints of G+1 permissible increment, most units which have transformed has done so illegally using local masons as there is a lack of awareness and certainty around the building codes. The allowable was FSI- 50% said and permissible number of floors were G + 2 ½, while most inhabitants were not educated about these policies. (Sheikh, 2014) The cost of construction ranges from INR 50,000 (1 floor) to INR 100,000 (2.5 floors) to INR 150,000/175,000 (use of RCC instead of stone, presence of toilet, better furnished) The quality of living condition on plots of 12.5-18.5 sqm is low in SG because of the nature of plotted development where a plot is surrounded by houses on all three sides, with no scope for ventilation.

The transformation in the informal part of the colony has been from kuchha houses to pucca ones. Further addition of rooms has been done through G+1 construction to allow for the ground floor to be used as home based economic activities (HBEA). (Chitra, 1991) The transformation of Savda Ghera’s informal typology suggests need for HBEA and open spaces on the terrace. The following plan is the proposed units for upgradation. It clearly does not address the existing 116 | F5 Urbanity

needs and fails miserably to provide opportunity for future ones.

Inferences

Fig 7 : Transformation of Savda Ghera Informal Typology (Author)

Seelampur and Savda Ghera provide an excellent contrast between formal resettlement colonies, where the dwelling unit and its transformation is controlled by the inhabitants as opposed to one where use and construction terms are restricted. In terms of plot sizes the drop from 80 sq m to 12.5 sq m is incredible. It not only restricts open spaces on the ground but also dictates its own ideas of privacy and function onto the residents. The dwelling units in Savda Ghera have strict partitions which presents itself modularly to each family. Functions are pre-determined and use of space is pre-established.

Seelampur provided flexibility in terms of hierarchy, function and use of spaces by providing one large room on a much larger parcel of land.

Seelampur was also much more flexible in terms of transformation or increment as more land was available. Though Savda Ghera allows for G+1 construction, it fails to provide any real potential. This is enforced by the fact that Savda Ghera failed to upgrade its public amenities of Commodification of Housing | 117

Fig 8: Ground Floor Plan Savda Ghera Formal Housing: Segregation of Space (Author) Fig 9: Savda Ghevra: Restriction to increment (Author)

water, electricity and sewage as well as Seelampur.

The incremental nature or its lack is part of a much larger discourse.

Apart from plot sizes, the unit typology acts differently as per intentions in both. Savda Ghera was never meant to be similar to Seelampur, as it has been envisioned as a transition colony. (Bhan, Commoditization of Housing, 2015) Economically weaker sections are supposed to inhabit these units till they can alleviate their financial stature and move towards better housing in the city to provide housing for fresh migrants into New Delhi. The intention of the colonies is what shapes the quality of life inside it.

Formalization of housing in the mentioned context shows a clear shift towards a much stricter order. Flexibility in terms of growth, transformation and use has been limited, at least for the first few years of use. Transformation in the later stages is characteristically informal.

Increments are more often than not a violation of formalization. Yet the need for transformation is justified as much as, If not more, the informal settlements. The idea of a resettlement policy is to provide welfare support and growth opportunities. Yet the current scenario of

118 | F5 Urbanity

formalization defies it.

The drop in plot sizes reflects on the fact that the valuation of land has been such that from 1960s to the new century land has become a commodity to be conserved. Though one cannot deny the need to conserve land, one should be critical as to why .The awarding of land in the formal rehabilitative housing sector has taken a plunge. Similar trends have not been seen in commercial and institutional sectors as seen from large built like Akshardham.

Fig 10: Delhi’s Resettlement sites moving away towards periphery (Author)

The similarity in between Savda Ghera and Seelampur lies in their lack of amenities and poor to none services provided. While Seelampur could bypass these and increase the quality of life, Savda Ghera still struggles.

Furthermore, both colonies faced displacement towards the periphery of the city leading to a detachment from their work place. This led to livelihood mobilization for some and a change in occupation. Others resorted to retain their jobs and either travel ridiculously long distances everyday to work or move out of these colonies.

As the extent of the city grew drastically from the 60s, peripheralization Commodification of Housing | 119

Fig 11: Shrinking of Sizes of Unit (Author)

increased in its extent. Savda Ghera moved much more away from city center than Seelampur had. Savda Ghera had much smaller plots with a lower quality of life in terms of dwelling units. Spatial segregation was stricter and flexibility of increment or growth was much lesser. Ventilation, light, accessibility of open community spaces were all compromised in the case of Savda Ghera. While services can be upgraded at later stages, it is nearly impossible to upgrade and intervene in all the dwelling units after occupation.

While the similarities highlight issues of housing which have been since the 1960s, the differences between the sites show shifts and trends in larger processes and architectural thought since. The design vision of approaching Savda Ghera was much different than that of Seelampur.

Seelampur was designed as one large multi-purpose room flexible to different use and functions. The control of space was much more towards the clientele than the designer. It acknowledged the organic nature of life and acclimatization. Savda Ghera visits a typology which no doubt increases the efficiency of use of land but fails to address the future growth prospective. The architecture reflects the fact that the typology is meant for an economically weaker section with compromises in terms of ventilation and light while lacking ambition or possibility of alleviation.

Both Seelampur and Savda Ghera by virtue of being formalized had regulations for increment. Scope of increments has reduced in the case of Savda Ghera. Since the mission objective of resettlement colonies still stick to the beneficial of the people, it can be said that it’s the ineptitude of the regulations and policies in place to respond to the need of the future.

Post 1960s, the change in perception of relocation is clear. Poor

120 | F5 Urbanity

implementation of it accompanied by lack of regulations on the commoditization of housing led to a demand and supply imbalance.

The policies shifted to redefine these colonies as transitional zones to be lived in for a period of time till the inhabitant can move into better housing. This was partially done to accommodate the continuous flow of migrants and lack of housing. Savda Ghevra and other recent resettlement locations added a set of new standard of peripheralisation for the urban poor in Delhi; resettlement colonies established in the 1960s and 1970s were located more centrally, within 20 kilometres of Connaught Place (Sheikh, 2014). Sizes shrank from 80 sq. m to 12.5 sq. m. G+1 construction became legal and the extent of illegal construction increased to G+3. Amenities provided started being commoditized, in the case of water contractors in Savda Ghera. At the same time market value of land sky rockets, rentals raise the roof and housing becomes less affordable and accessible.

Tracing these inferences leads to a few observations. One, the market value of land has taken precedence over its use value. Secondly, segregation of space has taken away control and individualism from the dwellers. Thirdly, quality of architecture has been compromised to attain efficiency. Finally, the upward mobility of these groups is not possible insitu anymore. To elevate themselves to better conditions and growth, they need to move on to better housing with a superior market value than the current welfare housing. While the second and third inferences have explicit bearings to the practice of architecture, commodification of land and discourse on upward mobility has a much more intricate and implicit one. Design values can address issues of land valuation and increment through the way one designs. To do so, one must understand processes dictating these controllers much like the study of development controls are to site planning and analysis.

Policies To approach any design brief a designer is taught to respect the immediate.

One looks into the topography, vegetation, climate and context. One of the more important presets of the design is developmental controls. It needs to exist to control urban growth. A detailed understanding of these by-laws help us cater to the design without illegitimating it. As discussed in the previous section, certain controllers have led to restricted mobility and land valuation. Understanding the trends in resettlement colonies and their policies makes it clear as to why these issues exist and can help shed Commodification of Housing | 121

light on how to tackle them. In 1961 built up areas were to be released from the purview of acquisition and regularised by providing facilities and services. 110 colonies were regularized on this basis. In 1969, the government decided that DDA and MCD would prepare regularisation plans of unauthorised colonies which had come up before 1967 subject to few conditions. 69 colonies were regularized. In 1972, the government decided to ban sale of land notified for acquisition under the Delhi land act. In 1974, a high level committee was appointed by the government of India to study the problems of unauthorised colonies in Delhi. In 1977, the policy for regularization of unauthorised colonies was approved.

Clearly the 1960s mark a milestone change in the perception of relocation and resettlement. Awareness in terms of human rights and needs of migrants were realized and worked on. (Batra, 2009).In the following years the shifting of people was done in a haphazard manner and without informing those who were involved in the process. Moreover, it was done on the basis of individual family without any regard to the social network or to the community ties that existed as ‘symbiotic relationship between social and spatial system’. The scheme also ignored the proximity to the work. The squatter families were shifted to relocation sites without the development of the basic services and amenities.

Eligibility was awarded to those squatters who did not own a house in urban Delhi and people with less than 250/- income were given 50% subsidy and rest paid in instalments within 10 years. People greater than 250/-income were given no subsidy and were to pay cost in lump sum.

These political shortcomings led to individuals adapting to them by transforming allotted housing through illegal/ legal construction to suit their means. (Batra, 2009) Post-Emergency period, India saw under Indira Gandhi a change in land acquisition acts as seen above. In simplicity, with the decline of land acquisition, valuation of land should have been controlled. Intense development and commercialization of land in Delhi with the advent of the New Economic Policy in 1991 skyrocketed land valuation. This led to not only smaller plots but also periphelization of resettlement colonies.

Digging deeper into the cause and effect of this phenomenon leads us to the process of commodification of land, space and architecture.

122 | F5 Urbanity

Commodification In Das Kapital, economist Karl Marx (1818-83) introduces us to his definition of commodities. A commodity is an external object that can satisfy human needs or requirements either directly or indirectly. Marx looks at these commodities in terms of quality and quantity. Since these have many attributes they can be used in many different ways. He uses the term use-value in relation to commodities’ quality. “The usefulness of a thing makes it a use-value.” (Marx) The use value of a commodity is an inherent property of the object, and is independent of the amount of labor needed to make the commodity useful. Delving into the inter relation within products it is concluded that it is the value that defines social dynamics. The social position of the producer-labour-commodity is decided by its value. The delusion of the power of value is due to the hidden rationale that it is not relative to each other but to each other’s labour. Yet it still remains difficult to value them since labour is not objective. It has no value other than in exchange of its product.

At this stage, it is important to differentiate between Commoditization and Commodification. “Commodification” refers to the way that market values can replace other social values, or the way a market can replace a communal system while “Commoditization” refers specifically to the way that goods that used to be distinguishable in terms of attributes end up becoming mere commodities in the eyes of the market or consumers.

(Rushkoff) Even though both phenomenon are true for the subject matter of the research, the paper deals explicitly with Commodification. Hence, Commodification is a process which begins at the assignment of a usevalue in a market and concludes at the assignment of an exchange-value.

The parallel is drawn between use-value to social value and exchange value to the market value. Graham Ward puts it best ‘commodification— the process of transforming things into objects for sale— has become a totalizing cultural force.’

The Commodification of housing is deep rooted and has had several effects. It starts off by creating the need to have a system which allocates resources according to possible returns. Governing decisions are taken and budgets are released with accordance to this system. The measure of plot sizes provides a great example. Since the returns of land allocated to EWS housing is low, amount of land allocated also falls. (Bhan, Commoditization of Housing, 2015) Plot sizes hence shrink. This further aggravates the situation as immediately there is a disparity between the Commodification of Housing | 123

demand and supply for housing in the city, creating an imbalance which is difficult to overcome. It also leads to political intentions of resettlement colonies as transitional camps and devoid of transformational potential.

The market value also ensures that the development of infrastructure valuates the land, increasing chances of pushing the commodity back into the market. These colonies become vulnerable to privatization and more often so is sold off to higher income groups , who agglomerate plots and again valuate land further up. Hence, the disparity increases. All these factors eventually lead to complete dissemination of social value and use- value. Hence, the commodity, space is rendered as just a monetary value.

Under the capitalist mode of production, value of land is exclusively monetary; it has a material reality in our lives. All classes look upon land from different perspectives. People who are endowed with productive resources like capital view land as a resource to be used for investment for making more money through the process of accumulation. People who own built environment such as a house on a piece of land see land as a resource to appropriate rent.

People who could be broadly classified as workers view land as a commodity to be consumed, for example, housing for the urban poor.

They do not view land as a resource for making more money, they view land and built environment as something which is necessary for their own reproduction, to put it simply for their own existence. Therefore land has different meanings for every social and economic class. Class differences apart, land is a vital commodity for the existence of the system in which we live (Harvey 2006).

The constant need of accumulation, investment and returns is the cornerstone of capitalist mode of production. Architecture under this mode also reflects on it by apathetic co-relations with production of low-return yielding spaces. Resettlements are a prime example. Since, its exchange value is low its use value has deteriorated. Hence, less capital is invested and the development of this sector is punctured. To counter act the pressure created by market forces to stream line capital away from this sector , one must add a value to such sector. This value system can neither be monetary nor political in nature. It must yield to a much more human and abstract value system (Bhan, 2015). This added value is called social value. Without it architecture stands at the risk of being commercialized and architects de-sensitized to the people they cater to.

124 | F5 Urbanity

This social value must reflect in the architectural thought of the age if it aims at sustaining and rationalizing the role of architects.

Land itself has undergone commodification. The process has been slow and started off post-colonially but picked up pace in the 90s. In the last decade, the dispossession of land has become unprecedentedly central to India’s political economy. While tens of millions of people were dispossessed of their land in the period of state-led development (Fernandes 2008), the scale of land dispossession has accelerated since liberalization. The primary cause has been the over run of the public sector by the private. Since 2005, land wars have decelerated this land dispossession by stalling private projects. Arguments have been made against these socially motivated movements that they are slowing down the economy.

In 2011 capital investments worth 3% of India’s GDP were stalled due to land acquisition problems (CMIE 2012). The recent economic slowdown has been attributed to this and overcoming these issues have become the major concern for the state. Dispossession in the current economic system is seen as a necessity for development. David Harvey (2003) argues that accumulation by dispossession has become another modality of capitalist accumulation. The valuation of land is governed by market forces and them alone. There is legitimately not much crawl space between disrupting the economy or contesting such accumulation.

Lower investment returns risks any project into oblivion.

This has been the legacy of Commodification, seeping into architecture by allowing for similar notions of high yielding globalized designs taking a highseat over the vernacular. The second modality that we look into is its political reflection in the 1990s. The New Economic Policy (NEP) was introduced in 1991. It represented the demands of capitalist forces and hegemonic fractions of the capitalist classes. A liberalized economy ensures that domestic and international corporate were given the benefit.

NEP expresses specific demands to create conditions where domestic and foreign capital can invest money to make a lot of money quickly, by using cheap natural resources of the country such as land and cheap skilled and unskilled labour, and via speculation and other non-productive means. All existing barriers to capitalist accumulation should be removed.

Specific demands of business politically expressed as NEP Commodification of Housing | 125

include: deregulation of private business; privatisation of government-owned businesses, trade liberalisation, allowing entry of foreign capital to own business in India; tax cuts and other incentives for business, and withdrawal or reduction of meagre government benefits for the poor. The NEP therefore is the neo-liberal program of the bourgeoisie first, and a government’s policy second. (Das, 2012) The idea of continued accumulation is a modality of Commodification which has led to the marginalization of communities like Savda Ghera.

Land valuation is controlled through investments and returns done in and around parcels of land. Where parcels of land yield high economic benefits, irrespective of its hedonist nature, valuation increases. When such a juncture occurs between a supposedly low monetary yielding land, dispossession implicitly or explicitly occurs furthering accumulation of dispossession. The architectural trends are seen to incline towards economically accepted function and form. The organic and the informal is lost.

This has in turn led to the inference drawn from the resettlement colonies, upward mobility of these communities are hindered through the continued accumulation gap between the haves and have-nots. As architects, design based decisions tend to incline themselves to form and function which can be commodified and can give monetary returns immediately. A serious change in the architect’s perception is required to change this before we aggravate the Commodification of parts of architecture in the city like housing land, and in metropolitan regions that lack any coordinated management and governance tradition. (Rossbach, 2012) Social Value The constant need of accumulation, investment and returns is the cornerstone of capitalist mode of production. Architecture under this mode also reflects on it by apathetic co-relations with production of low-return yielding spaces. Resettlements are a prime example. Since its exchange value is low, its use value has deteriorated. Hence, less capital is invested and the development of this sector is punctured. To counter act the pressure created by market forces to stream line capital away from this sector , one must add a value to such sector. This value system can neither be monetary nor political in nature. It must yield to a much

126 | F5 Urbanity

more human and abstract value system (Bhan, 2015). This added value is called social value. Without it architecture stands at the risk of being commercialized and architects de-sensitized to the people they cater to.

This social value must reflect in the architectural thought of the age if it aims at sustaining and rationalizing the role of architects.

De-sensitization of architects under the capitalist mode leads to a linear perception of time. Immediate returns become a major concern and take priority over sustenance and future prospects not in line with the current scenario. Addition of social value to the value system of a market has been a relatively new ideology in the 21st century.

The Brazillian City Statute 2002, formalized the 1988 constitution´s urban chapter into “The City Statute”. This law gives municipalities a series of urban and fiscal instrument to promote more inclusive urban land planning, and enabling the “right to the city” to all citizens, maintaining the right to dwelling locally for poor people.

The main instruments in the City Statute are: (i) social interest zoning, (ii) land regularization tools; (iii) progressive property taxes for underutilized land, (iii) selling of building rights certificates; (iv) integrated urban operations; (v) land value capture mechanisms This law is the basis of their current approach to planning cities and dealing with the tensions between real estate market expansion, economic growth and social inclusion in the complex context of overcrowded cities lacking serviced The result of such amendments has resulted in the balance of demand and supply of housing for poor in Brazil. It has also resulted in the rise of housing systems which are much more organic and reflective of the populous need. This has been so as there is an established requirement for addressing social needs and hence sensitizing of the architect. The clear relation between architecture and social value can be seen in this case as houses designed for the poor post 1988 have much better growth capabilities, ventilation, light, open space and overall quality of life than before. The impetus of social value has also enabled Brazil to take bold steps of re-assigning functions to high market value structure to accommodate socially valuable functions. As seen in the example of the football stadiums which have re-appropriated to accommodate modular housing. As seen in the examples, social value can change the quality of life for better as well as the architecture of a place. The concerns raised in terms of Savda Ghera can be resolved by Commodification of Housing | 127

Fig 12: Modular Housing Retro-fitted in Stadiums (1week1project.com)

introducing this social value into the planning and design of the city.

Social valuation would result in allotment of larger land parcels, better planned city centres and better typologies which would not restrict the upward mobilization of lower income groups without enforcing them to re locate themselves to a higher housing group.

Conclusion In an urban environment use and value are the determinants of all major discourse and conflicts. Conflicts of use of any commodity, whether it be land, space or architecture are mostly a debate of use value. To resolve these debates market value is necessary to compare and contrast.

In the absence of any other value system most of urban decisions are taken in light of monetary returns. While in the short run, this method returns greatly; it increases polarization of society creating disparity much like the one we see in the current housing market. The housing market is characterized by an influx of high income group housing and a supply lag of housing for the economically weaker section especially the informal housing sector. Hence, while the valuation of high income group housing falls due to higher supply than demand, the valuation for the bottom of the pyramid increases as supply is much lesser than demand. Eventually, this system ensures that the financial risks involved in sectors like rehabilitative housing enforces less and less capital and resources are spent in this sector. The sector remains undeveloped.

It is essential for architects to understand the longevity of impact that their design has and the extent to which it can reflect on the lives of people. The long term relation between an architect’s work and the user decides on the quality of life in the future and also aids in improving the status of these housing typologies to social assets in turn increasing their social value. This cyclical avenue ensures sustenance of this quality 128 | F5 Urbanity

of life and the upward mobilization of economically weaker section of societies. This ensures economic equity as well as democratic distribution of resources.

The transformation of the unit typologies both for Seelampur and Savda ghera arose from social, political and economic catalysts. A need for accommodation of home based economic activities led to the establishment of shops on the ground floor majorly at the front of the house. Further construction on top of the ground unit ensured larger families with more dwelling space as well as terraces for spill out activities. There was a serious lack of shared open spaces on the ground for such activities due to grid based row housing.

A dictated sense of privacy in Savda Ghera typology ignores individualism and any attempts at tailor making houses for different families. In addition to these issues lack of communication at the grass-root level, lack of public amenities (for Savda Ghera) and design based interventions has led to the need of illegal increment. The issue of illegality of such construction lies in the non-addressed needs and requirements of the inhabitants and dearth of allotted land to the social housing pool.

To re-visit the inferences on resettlement housing; firstly, the market value of land has taken precedence over its use value. Secondly, segregation of space has taken away control and individualism from the dwellers.

Thirdly, quality of architecture has been compromised to attain efficiency.

Finally, the upward mobility of these groups is not possible in-situ anymore. Some of these can be counteracted through direct architectural design and others which are part of larger economic and political schemes can be tackled through indirect architectural interventions. Either way it shows a growing lack of sensitivity towards design of these low marketvalued but socially invaluable sectors. The lack of sensitivity results in a blind spot towards future prospects which are not accounted for and no longer is necessary to address. This scenario can and has changed through the addition of social value to degrees in particular cases like that of Brazil. Social value sensitizes the architect and policy makers to adapt sectors yielding low monetary returns and redefines them as high social returns.

Commodification of Housing | 129

Bibliography BATRA, L. (2009) A Review of Urbanisation and Urban Policy in India. Working Paper Series.

BHAN, G. (2013) Urban Social Security in India?

BHAN, G. (2015, 09 06) Commoditization of Housing. (Author, Interviewer) BHAN, G. (n.d.) The Values Of Property.

CHITRA, S. (1991) Transformations in Resettlement COlony. New Delhi.

CMIE (Center for Monitoring Indian Economy). (2012) Sharp Increase in Projects Getting Shelved. Online] Available from: http://www.cmie.com/ kommon/bin/sr.php?kall=wclrdhtm.php&cmienvdt=20120704101759176 &pc=099000000000&type=INSIGHTS. [Accessed on 19th September 2015] DAS, R. (2012). The dirty picture of neoliberalism: India’s New Economic Policy. [Online] Available from: http:// links.org.au/node/2818, [Accessed on September 2015] FERNANDES, W. (2008) Sixty Years of Development-induced Displacement in India.

HARVEY, D. (2008) Right To The City KUMAR, A. (2011) Land in the Neoliberal Times: A Commodity or a. Indian Town Planing: India Journal.

MARX, K. Das Kapital.

MENDIRATTA, P. (1992) Evaluation of Resettlement Colonies and Policies.

(2011) Re-Thinking Re-Settlement Colonies. Mahila Housing SEWA Trust .

ROSSBACH, A. C. (2012) Brazilian Cities: planning for inclusion. [Online] Available from: http://blog.mipimworld. com/2012/09/brazilian-citiesplanning- for-inclusion/#.VfIGgRGqqko [Accessed on 19th September 2015] RUSHKOFF, D. (n.d.) Commodified vs. Commoditized. [Online] Available from: www.rushkoff.com. [Accessed on 12th August 2015] SHEIKH, S. (2014) Planning the Slum. Center for Policy Research.

130 | F5 Urbanity

INVESTIGATING BEHAVIOURS Reaction of Urban Crowding to Space Based on Edward Hall’s theory of proxemics, this study delves into the interdisciplinary sciences that link architecture with human psychology to look at how human behaviour, spatial configurations and prevalent urban condition of crowding affect each other.Recognizing the western base of the literature in hand, the present study appropriates Hall’s theory to suit the present day context of Delhi 2015. Taking transit systems of Delhi as a case in point, the study investigates how people perceive crowding and cope with it by appropriating the space around them. Furthermore, it challenges certain notions that have so far been considered prime for the design of public spaces and presses F5 to add a new dimension to them.

Karishma Sehgal | Nishita Mohta | Shamita Chaudhry | Tanvi Goel Guide : Manu Mahajan Chairperson : Riyaz Tayyibji 131

A

ll architecture is shelter, said the eminent architect Philip Johnson, but all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in space. As recognised by him and many other great architects and theoreticians, architecture must serve the purpose of benefiting the physical and mental being of the humans who occupy it. With a user-centric approach in mind, this paper explores the built environment through the lens of behavioural science.

The understanding of user behaviour can give an indication of what essential needs of the users might have been overlooked during design, thus revealing useful learnings for designers. This paper intends to be conducive to designers being more informed, intelligent and sensitive – not only to buildings and infrastructure but also the people who use them.

Since a variety of behaviour can be observed in the assortment of urban situations a person encounters on a daily basis, the present study seeks to understand the relationship between behaviour & spatial configuration under the condition of urban crowding, a situation that is extremely prevalent in Delhi 2015. For the purpose of this study, the scenario of crowding in public transit systems - the Delhi Metro & the DTC buses in Delhi, is being considered for better comprehension of theoretical knowledge and analysis of real life examples through primary case study.

The criteria for focussing on public transport is that it is an integral component of the everyday lives of the majority of citizens in Delhi.

These transport systems are a melting pot of the diversity that exists in the city, where people from contrasting backgrounds co-exist in close proximity because of the highly dense situations.

This exploratory research is structured in a manner that it first reviews relevant literature on the topic of human behavioural sciences and then moves on to the notion of crowding as perceived by humans. The

132 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 1: Crowding as a an Urban Reality in Delhi 2015 (Source: The Hindu)

foremost section focuses on conveying an understanding of human behaviour to the reader. It begins by briefly reflecting upon the scientific backing given to behavioural studies by neuroscience, establishing an unquestionable relation between behaviour and built space. The theory of proxemics is then explained, upon which the rest of the study is based.

The second section deliberates upon the relevance of studying crowding as a contemporary urban issue before proceeding to a finer acquaintance with the literature on crowding. This includes the perception of crowding and its impacts, both positive and negative, on the individual as well as at a group level. The ending of this leads the reader into the third section on how individuals and groups cope with crowding. These behavioural adaptations are either interactive or defensive, physically or mentally, in nature. The next section attempts to learn from examples of crowding where the masses are not in an uncomfortable situation and decipher the key characteristics of such crowds which lead to these favourable conditions. A cumulation of all this theoretical understanding and practical observations forms the concluding section which presents the key takeaways from the study to the reader and suggests future possibilities for research which could carry forward the present study.

Space and Human Behaviour Architecture, above all arts, is a culmination of artistic expression, technology and, very importantly, the fulfilment of human needs (Moore 1979). For this reason, the study of user behaviour becomes an Investigating Behaviours | 133

indispensable part of the spatial design process. However, Mallgrave (2013) is of the opinion that architectural education, and thus practice, overlooks the understanding of the real needs, dreams and desires of human beings.

Behavioural neuroscience and the built environment Human behaviour as a response to the surrounding environment has been scientifically explained by behavioural neuroscience, the study of brain mechanisms underlying behaviour.

Pallasma (2013) says: Neuroscience can give support to the mental objectives of design which are currently vulnerable to being dismissed because of their subjectivity.

The direct link between architecture and the brain has been a subject of study for decades. A seminal paper by Epstein et al. (1999) traced the perception of built environment to a place in the brain called the parahippocampal place area, which is the area that responds significantly more when viewing complex scenes such as furniture, landscapes, and city streets, rather than just faces or objects. Another component of the brain - mirror neurons, have been described by Mallgrave (2013) as those neurons that are causal in the behavioural reactions of humans.

That feeling of pain and empathy towards someone who just stubbed their toe, for example, is the work of mirror neurons. Mirror neurons are what allow a person to feel empathy towards animate as well as inanimate objects, in our case, buildings. Through these neurons, the brain mirrors the physical nature of ‘behaviour’ of the buildings.

“…how man unconsciously structures micro-space: the distance between men in the conduct of his daily transactions...”

Edward Hall 134 | F5 Urbanity

Proxemics With regard to the use of space, man falls under the category of the non-contact species. This means that man has an immediate sense of personal space whenever he shares space with another being. This personal space is based on the idea of territoriality that is inherent to every animal, including man, and is perceived through various sensory mechanisms in the body. Edward Hall (1969) coined the term ‘proxemics’ to study the way humans unconsciously use space and inter-personal

Fig 2: Proxemics (Source: Ambe 2014)

space as an elaboration of culture. This takes into account non-verbal behaviour and interaction between occupants of the same space.

The sense of territoriality that humans have gets divided in terms of radial distance and can be categorized as intimate distance, personal distance, social distance and public distance.

Intimate Distance The distance into which close family and friends are comfortably allowed is up to 1.5 feet from the individual. People other than these within your intimate space would lead to a feeling of hostility and aggression.

Personal Distance The normal spacing between non-contact species ranges from 1.5 feet to 3 feet. The distance here is enough that visual distortion of features is no longer apparent while facial features are discernible.

Social Distance The distance maintained between 2 people during an impersonal Investigating Behaviours | 135

interaction, varying from 4 to 12 feet depending on the degree of involvement.

Public Distance Well outside the circle of personal involvement at a distance of 12 to 25 feet, it is characterised by an exaggerated or amplified voice. Gestures and body stance play a major role here.

Thumb-rules for these distances defined by Hall (1969) vary based on cultural factors. M.S. Thirumalai (1987) suggests that the differentiation of these distances - from the public space into the social, personal and intimate, is perceived based on important sensory shifts that occur in the transition from one space to another. Body posture, gender identity, physical contact, visual code, voice loudness, body heat and olfaction are important sensory variables described by Hall (1959) as the extension of proxemics studies.

Proxemics across cultures Proxemics is inherently a part of culture and gets shaped by social norms and expectations. Hall strongly believed culture to be a form of silent communication (1959) and this formed a major factor of negation for the thumb rules of distances in his proxemics theory. It brings forward the need to further expand this theory to incorporate cultural variations for the determination of personal space.

One of the most significant things overlooked by Hall is the existence of 2 kinds of distances - physical distance and perceived distance. While the first depends on physical position associated to each person, the latter depends on proxemic behaviour based on culture and social rules (Manenti et al. 2011). Around the world, this perceived distance causes the existence of ‘contact’ and ‘non-contact’ cultures. While people of South America, the Middle East and Southern Europe with the Middle East are observed to have the maximum contact, people from Great Britain, United States, the Far East including India, China, Japan etc. come under the category of ‘non-contact’ cultures. A common observation in Indian cities for example is men holding ‘pinkies’. While this is a phenomena quite laughed upon by many people, it is the norm for several others, thus showing the variation in sub-culture proxemics within the same country.

136 | F5 Urbanity

Thirumalai (1987) discusses proxemics in the “Indian” context, specifically the Tamil rural context, where proxemics plays a role in organisation of high-class and low-class members of the society, of gender-specific spaces within the house and the patterns in geographic settlements as well.

The strong influence of caste and gender roles as cultural variables discussed in the Tamil context (Thirumalai 1987) are observed to be applicable in varying degrees to all of the diverse cultures in India, thus giving rise to the generic, though questionable, “Indian” context.

A significant observation of this study is how these generic traditional norms, despite being up for scrutiny when being analysed in detail, are in overall stark contrast with the urban situation which we witness today. Anonymity, which allows for such culturally ingrained social norms to be shed, is considered a defining attribute of urban living (Garber 2000). Anonymity should be understood for the liberation it provides to whoever wishes to take advantage of it – generally those who have been traditionally excluded communities such as women, members of “untouchable” communities and queers. This phenomenon has a direct impact on the study of proxemics because of the cultural shift while moving from a rural to urban area. Differences because of gender can not simply cease to exist but those based on profession, economic background and caste get dissolved.

The notion of personal space and inter-personal behaviour varies across cultures and is indicative of the different cultural and social norms that exist throughout the world. A comparative case study of London, Madrid and Paris cited by Green and Haddon (2009) explored public mobile phone behaviour specifically but gives results that give us a better understanding of these differences among cultures. The basis for generalising these results is the fact that mobile phone usage has become as mundane an activity as any other in our daily lives. The results of the case study show the differences between these three European cases.

The parameters in which significant differences were observed include concern regarding their conversation being overheard, change in location (for example, moving out onto the street or moving to a corner) while attending phone calls, censure of other occupants in the space and level of importance given to phone calls vis-a-vis co-present interactions. Within our own Indian context, in the city of Delhi, we can see norms that are further removed from these ones stated in the case studies.

Investigating Behaviours | 137

Behavioural response to shared space The entire proxemics theory is based on man’s sense of territoriality, a psychological and spatial phenomenon. While using senses to distinguish one space from another, the patterns of grouping and space usage that are formed concurrently bring groups of similar activity closer and isolate them from others (Thirumalai 1987). This reinforces usage-pattern formation and allows us to study the relationship between spatial configurations and human behaviour with greater clarity. Based on these usage pattern formations, the study of space with respect to its use by its occupants can be done through a framework where all spaces can be described as one of the three typologies identified by Hall (1959). These are fixed feature space, semi-fixed feature space and informal space.

Fixed feature spaces are those in which the nature is activity is fixed and an appropriate spatial configuration has been allotted for it.

Semi-fixed feature spaces can be used in several ways to communicate different meanings and have a lot of flexibility in the manner of usage, becoming either socio-petal or socio-fugal spaces. Sociopetal spaces refer to those where the spatial configuration promotes interaction amongst the occupants, vis-Ă -vis sociofugal spaces where behaviour is withdrawn and isolated.

Informal space refers to that which is individually maintained by each user while interacting with another.

When sharing space with other people, the categories of interpersonal distances, as described by Hall (1969), come into play and the space gets subdivided into a number of typologies, according to the appropriation of that space undertaken by various user groups or individuals occupying it. This means that within the general architectural framework of any given space, intermediary or sub-spaces tend to crop up which reduce and divide entire areas into usable zones. These typologies have been defined

by Toni Sachs Pfeiffer (1980) based on spatial grouping, communicative subsystems and the nature of use which dominates these groupings.

Spatial enclaves are identifiable zones formed in a large shared space, where the spatial configuration results in its appropriation in a particular manner by individuals or groups of people. (Figure 3) 138 | F5 Urbanity

PROTECTIVE CORNERS

SUPPORT POINTS

WITHDRAWAL ZONES

The general characteristics of spatial enclaves are overall visual control, protection from behind, separation from traffic flow, easy access to the traffic flow and are often connected with the possibility of sitting, leaning etc. When spatial enclaves are not inherent in the architectural space, they are often ‘improvised’. Types of spatial enclaves are:

SPHERES OF INFLUENCE

Fig 3: Spatial Enclaves: The analysis of a metro coach (Source: Authors)

Protective Corners - Sought out the most by individuals, they offer maximum spatial protection, tending to cover not only the back but to a certain extent the sides as well.

Spheres of influence around protective corners - 1.5 to 3 metres from the corner, when the protective corner has been claimed by other people. In this case these zones provide the same kind of protection that the corner provided.

Withdrawal zones - These are normally niches or recesses that have a direct relationship to traffic lanes or spheres of activity with which the user is trying to maintain visual contact.

Supportive Points - Elements such as pillars, posts, signs etc. which offer protection similar to that of the protective corner when the latter is not available.

Waiting pools - Not necessarily defined by an architectural framework, Investigating Behaviours | 139

Fig 4: Sub-zones in the DTC bus (above) & Metro (right) (Source: Authors)

these spaces are characterised by light/shadow, lack of wind etc. For example, the shadow cast by a tree might serve a comfortable waiting pool.

Sub-zones are perceivable, contained spaces that need not necessarily be physically defined as such but are perceived and dealt with as separate entities. (Figure 4) Each sub-zone seems to have its own personal communication subsystem for the regulation of behaviour within that sub-zone.

Permanent sub-zones - Traffic lanes, buffer zones and transitional areas fall under the category of permanent sub-zone. While traffic lanes are directional and largely conflict free due to goal oriented behaviour, buffer zones and transition zones are highly prone to conflict due to the transitory nature of the space. These permanently co-exist, upholding certain distancing regulations and hence communicative entities at all points of time.

Temporary sub-zones - these are formed between architectural elements that and are formed due to the nature of the space that allows random grouping behaviour to occur. For example, crowding of people around street performers.

Perceived usage zones are entirely created through the general architectural framework of each particular space. The spatial perception of these encourages as well as hinders all forms of activity in that space. These zones are different for every space we use. The presence of perceived usage zones accounts for the fact that patterns of transitional activities such as ‘through traffic’, ‘waiting’, ‘watching’ etc. when diagrammed according to actual usage, have an activity-oriented territorial aspect which is fundamental to the usage of each space in itself. (Figure 5)

140 | F5 Urbanity

THROUGH TRAFFIC WATCHING WAITING

Fig 5: Perceived Usage Zones on Metro platform (Source: Authors)

In the case of transit systems in Delhi, one finds that there are periods prone to extremely high density where from ‘sharing space’ one is faced with the situation of his/her ‘territory’ getting violated. The behavioural responses to these situations are quite different from simply sharing space where evasion of contact is not that difficult and/or social interaction might be a welcome change. The specific nature of spaces with the transit system has people either moving to reach the mode of transport, standing stationary either inside the tube/bus while in transit or waiting for the bus or metro to arrive. Any other primary concern at that time is just a means of engaging oneself during this static period.

The communication, if any, between people is mostly non-verbal. For each of these situations the experience of crowding is quite different and to understand how one must understand what crowding is.

Crowding “Cities are places where a certain energized crowding of people takes place.”

(Kostof 1991) This statement from architectural historian Spiro Kostof ’s essay ‘What is a City?’ defines what, according to him, is the primary condition for a place to qualify as a city. He provides statistics from history to support his point but underlines the fact that the important figure is not the total population or size of the city. Kostof (1991) gives priority to density.

However, this density which has been romanticised about in literature is an everyday reality of urban living which citizens often feel is more of a bane than boon. A high density mix of heterogeneous populations is directly conducive to the situation of crowding. Crowding is especially prominent in contemporary Delhi, the national capital of a country as diverse as India.

Investigating Behaviours | 141

Crowding as a group phenomenon Unlike other stressors in the environment, such as heat, noise, and air pollution,crowding is of necessity a group phenomenon, with spatial restriction being a very significant component and other occupants being the key causes of problems. Epstein (1981), while discussing crowding as a group phenomenon, highlights the role of group orientation and the concept of perceived control as a person level concept.

The experience of crowding is attributed to the problems experienced by the occupants due to the presence of others. He also speculates that since crowding is a social phenomenon, its consequences would also be social. For example, the people who are the cause of another’s frustration would also become the objects of his/her response to the frustration.

Epstein (1981) suggests that this would not be the case for noise, dust or pollution.

It was observed that while in transit, time is indirectly proportionate to a person’s perception of crowding. Apart from the environmental factors such as heat, humidity, light, ventilation, noise control, the duration of travel often determines the behavioural response of people to their crowded surroundings. While those who’ve been travelling for a longer duration are in a better position to find seats, the people travelling shorter durations often appear more flustered. This was also observed in an experiment by Lundberg (1976) where he studied adrenaline levels amongst commuters on a 72- minute train journey and found commuters that joined the train later to have higher levels of adrenaline. The study suggests that those who joined the train at the start had a greater choice of place to sit that increased their sense of control. Those who joined the train later were had relatively higher stress levels as they were forced to stand or sit wherever they had space.

The perception of crowding Freedman (1975) measures crowding in physical terms. He defines crowding as “….the amount of space per person”. The crowding level is considered to be indirectly proportional to the amount of space per person. We call this population density. Thus in most circumstances, crowding is equated with population density. However, the study of individual behaviours requires a more comprehensive approach to crowd142 | F5 Urbanity

ing and density. Density is seen as a measure of space per person, but there is no accounting for how that space itself is to be measured, as a person’s perception of density characteristics depends on factors like environmental conditions, previous experience and social organization.

Density should relate not only to the number of people in a given space but also the individual’s awareness of those people. Hence, crowding is as much a psychological phenomenon as it is a spatial phenomenon.

Being a psycho-spatial phenomena, there are two components to perceived density: physical and social. Therefore the extent of crowding should be determined by the examination of this perceived density against certain standards, such as desired levels of social interaction. (Freedman 1975) For crowding to be experienced, a shared environment must exist. A person cannot feel “crowded” being the only individual in the space, no matter how small the space may be. They would feel “cramped” in such a situation. (Epstein 1981) The ability of goal achievement is thus a key contributor to the perception of crowding. Occupants in every environment have goals, varying based on their setting, which they wish to accomplish. These goals may be unique for every individual, and even clash with those of other occupants of the space.

Higher the number of occupants, higher the number of potentially conflicting goals. This would present problems in coordination of the goals and even make it impossible for some to attain their goal. Reasons for these conflicts could be scarcity of resources, activities of one person becoming an interference for another, thus making unwanted interpersonal interaction unavoidable. (Epstein 1981) This is coherent with research

by Eroglu and Harrell (1986) who have described crowding as an environment which is dense to the extent of being dysfunctional. This suggests that a space may be dense in terms of number of people per unit space but still may not feel crowded till people are able to perform efficiently in that space.

Crowding could be understood as an individual’s perception of space which will vary depending on expectations, one’s tolerance level, time, pressure and activity being performed. Jain (cited in Ambe 2014) notes that crowding is an individual’s perception of space often influenced by certain stress component. Crowding may be associated with a feeling of reduced physical or psychological space, discomfort, negative perception of space, boredom, etc.

Investigating Behaviours | 143

Inside a coach, which is usually overcrowded, commuters end up entering each other’s intimate space. (Ambe 2014) They may be in close physical proximity, but being strangers, they are still psychologically or emotionally far away from each other. Travelling in this high density space becomes stressful due to this divergent physical and psychological proximity.

Impact of crowding on social groups Freedman (1975) suggests that crowding and a high density of people could intensify whatever social orientation exists amongst groups. This social orientation could depend on, among other factors, the compatibility of the group members. In a group of incompatible occupants, social interaction would further reduce in the situation of crowding. The converse is true for people with compatible personalities, where social interaction would indeed increase in high-density situations (Epstein 1981).

Among the negative effects of crowding were diffusion of responsibility leading to a decline in altruistic selfless behaviour (Latane and Darley 1968), poor psychological development, stress due to social overload (Baum and Valin 1977) and detrimental effects on the physical health of an individual such as increased blood pressure & increased secretion of stress hormones. Apart from that, an experiment by ethologist John B. Calhoun found that any behavioural process that collects animals together in unusually great numbers led to a phenomenon known as the Behavioural Sink. Overcrowding, while not pathologically harmful per se, was found to lead to disorder in the normal functioning of society (Hall 1969) On a positive note, it has been observed that occupants living in crowded situations could also demonstrate positive qualities.

According to Hall (1969) stress caused by social overload has been instrumental in evolution of species as it employs forces of intra-species competition rather than interspecies competition.

Coping with Crowding The personal space theory says that all animals including humans have a basic psychological need for space that goes beyond their immediate physical requirements (Hediger 1955). Sommer (1969) describes personal space from the perspective of protective behaviour, suggesting it is the personal “bubble� that surrounds a person, into which others may not 144 | F5 Urbanity

Fig. 6: Creating a mental buffer (Source: metrorailnews via Blogspot)

intrude. When individuals are not constrained, as they are in the confines of a public transport carriage or a busy market street, they ‘flee’ or maintain larger interpersonal distances (IPDs) to mitigate this discomfort (Felipe & Sommer 1966).

During rush hours in crowded public spaces, the notion of personal space and territory often gets relinquished. Accepting Hall’s definition of intimate, personal, social and public distance, these spheres indicate to others the extent of our trust in them and the degree to which we are willing to relinquish visual control over their actions and/or expose ourselves to their reactions (Pfeiffer 1980). While during one-on-one interpersonal communication, one has the freedom and control to break off the exchange in case we feel we are unable to manage it according to our needs, in a crowded public space, one is forced into a continued exchange where we have no control over interpersonal distance. The concept of overload from systems theory by Milgram (1973) and Harrell, Hutt & Anderson (1980) suggests that when the amount and rate of environmental input exceed the capacity to cope, an individual must enact behavioural adaptation strategies in order to function effectively in the environment.

Gaining a sense of greater control over their surroundings, people perform better under such situations. These behavioural adaptation techniques include defensive strategies and interactive strategies to overcome interpersonal discomfort.

Defensive Strategies Defensive strategies have been observed to be of two types - physical Investigating Behaviours | 145

defense and mental defense against inter-personal discomfort.

Physical defense is to physically remove oneself from the crowd and form what Pfeiffer (1980) has called ‘Spatial Enclaves’ as a response to crowding. As indicated in the various spatial typologies by Pfeiffer (1980), in such cases people tend to group, stand or sit in certain places that make them feel a certain degree of control over their surroundings which in turn reduces their perception of crowding.

Sammons used the study conducted by Sherrod (1974) where he studied students completing various tasks under crowded conditions. Half the students were given a button which if they pressed, would remove them from the situation. None of the participants actually used the button, but those who had those buttons actually performed better than those who didn’t. The button gave the participants a sense of control that lessened the impact of the crowding. Similar results were obtained by Lundberg’s study (1976) of adrenaline levels in people who just entered the metro versus those who’d been travelling for a longer time as has been mentioned above. Both these studies suggest that people who had some sort of control performed better in crowded situations than those who didn’t have any sense of control.

Studying the paths and behaviour of people in crowded shopping complexes, Harrell, Hutt & Anderson (1980) realised how people tend to adopt strategies in order to adapt to these unavoidable conditions. Relying on their past experience of such crowded spaces, aggressiveness of people, the time at which most people tend to shop and owing to their own personal lack of patience, consumers tend to employ tactics such as deviating from peak hours, sticking to buying trusted brands and not being explorative, avoiding social contact and being focused on the task, planning their purchases beforehand etc. This is common in the Metro where regular commuters develop a sense of which coach to board with respect to the convenience of its boarding and deboarding points on the platforms and their distance to the closest elevator, staircase or exit point.

Announcements at many stations also advise people on which coaches to board for easy transition at interchange stations like Rajiv Chowk.

When physical distancing is not possible, as is most of the time in public transport, individuals create a mental buffer as a means of defense against inter-personal discomfort. The digital world offers relief in such situations, as suggested by Green and Haddon (2009) and strengthened 146 | F5 Urbanity

Fig 7: Shrinking of personal space bubble as an acceptance in crowded cultures Above: Photograph from DTC, Right: Sketch illustrating the same.

(Source: Author)

by real-time observations by the authors of this current study. Non-verbal cues such as positioning of the body and direction of gaze have been identified as tactics adopted by individuals in a crowded environment to attain a certain level of personal space mentally, if not physically. Common activities relating to this creation of a digital personal space which were observed as part of the study of Delhi Metro and DTC buses are playing games on the phone, texting people (or pretending to do so!) and listening to music using earphones. Apart from this books, newspapers and other reading material were also found to do the same thing.

Interactive Strategies There are many cases of interactive strategies also being used by commuters to decrease the discomfort of a crowded situation. In circumstances where crowding is an accepted part of everyday life, notions of interpersonal distance dissolve to enable comfortable situations even in very congested situations (Haddon & Green 2009). This is witnessed in our culture, where the idea of “adjusting� is very commonly observed.

A common sight in the DTC bus is one or two women standing in the

Investigating Behaviours | 147

“excess” legroom that has been provided in the first row of the seats designated as the women’s seats. It is interesting to note that such a phenomenon is not observed on the other side of the bus, though the main reason of that could be the configuration of that leg-room space, which is not identical to that of the other side. Even in a relatively “sophisticated” environment such as the Metro, seats are shared when possible and adjustments are done to an extent where no major discomfort is caused to any of the parties involved.

The Mumbai local presents classic examples of interactive adaptation techniques where passengers have developed their own interesting ways of coping with the stress due to crowding. They socialise and interact with fellow passengers. After having befriended one another, the sense of crowd reduces as personal space becomes a part of social space. In the Mumbai Local as noted by Ambe (2014), people interacted by forming local train friend circle, bhajan mandali, shared food, celebrated festivals and achievements with one another. A crowded public space has thus become a social space. These people were often group of people who took the same local every day. When interviewed by Ambe and her team, they found that these groups even tried to catch the same train so that they could travel with the same familiar faces and not with strangers. Healthy social interaction thus, clearly neutralises stress.

Learning from happy crowds Numerous instances of crowding exist where all the above-mentioned discomfort is absent, despite the same levels of personal space violation and density as public transport, if not more. From religious pilgrimages to the places like Haji Ali, Mumbai and Vaishno Devi, Jammu to large gatherings at concerts and melas, no observed discomfort is present even in the most congested situations with almost the same diversity of population as is observed in public transport. The apparent reason for this seems to be the general ambience of the place created by the larger purpose of the journey or the space. These positive examples of crowd behaviour must not be dismissed prematurely as instances that have no significance in day-to-day city living. An analysis of these can provide crucial learnings applicable to urban public spaces in general.

The key quality common to all, apart from a festive atmosphere, is that of 148 | F5 Urbanity

a common spectacle and the interpersonal community relations that get forged amongst the strangers experiencing it together. An overall emotion of the space or process makes behave in ways different from usual.

It is this feeling that our public transit systems, and urban public spaces, seem to lack. In the absence of any feeling, emotion or overall experience, people have nothing to focus on other than the large heterogenous mass of strangers that they are a part of and the resulting discomfort being caused to them. Architect Archana Khanna, of First Principle design studio, elucidates this point for us as she talks about how a large chunk of the population is engaged in mundane, unexciting jobs throughout the day and how a stimulus as small as the laughter of a toddler catches their attention. This provides them with a distraction and for some time everyone forgets about their discomfort while smiling and acknowledging the child.

This is indicative of the fact that the much needed stimulus in the environment need not come from grand festivities, but from many possible diverse instances of dynamism. Music playing in the background, a visually active scene outside the window and elements of interest in the built environment are all examples of dynamism which draw one’s focus away from the crowding.

Conclusion and Future Direction It is crucial to accept that the prevalent urban condition of crowding is a ceaseless one with both benefits as well as disadvantages to society. While on one hand it causes a negative behavioural sink amongst the members of the crowd, the density is also conducive to an energised form of crowding that is essential for cities to thrive. Along with crowding, issues of resource scarcity and interpersonal discomfort amongst citizens is also here to stay. Thus, design of public spaces in the city needs to acknowledge these factors and then design in a user centric manner. The intention of design would then be to reduce discomfort caused by crowding so that users of the space can not only cope with it but perhaps even appreciate it the way many great public places are considered successful for the very reason of being crowded, and thus lively, at all times.

An important measure for doing this would be to gather learnings from observations made regarding the appropriation of space in the instances of crowding. The spatial enclaves formed at various locations give strong

Investigating Behaviours | 149

Fig. 8: Dynamic setting at the Amphitheatre at New York Highline 8(a) Urban solitude (Source: Andy Jarosz) 8(b) Interactive session (Source: Eddie C)

indicators about those architectural elements and configurations which encourage the formation of sociopetal as well as sociofugal spaces which accommodate all kinds of users of a space. Culturally determined proxemic studies can and must be incorporated into the design of public spaces.

The present study reveals that the most common behavioural reactions of people to crowding is to move away from it. Whether it is done by physically moving away or by mentally creating a personal space, this instinctive reaction is something that needs to be recognised by architects while designing for crowds. This observation leads to a question being raised on the popularly held notion that the ability of a space to generate social interaction amongst strangers is a measure of its success (Hall 1968). The argument thus raised is whether design should incorporate the possibility of solitude-finding in public spaces as well. In this “age of alienation� one lacks the kind of solitude that is necessary for us to regulate our life and recharge our energy.

Buchholz (1997) clarifies that solitude does not require one to be in a quiet meditative state but can actually be found in the company of other people, in a crowd, in sleep or in chosen isolation. It is not uncommon to notice individuals on the Metro reading a book or listening to music not as a mere tool to avoid social interaction, but perhaps to find this moment of solitude of themselves within the realm of their everyday lives.

It is in this sea of people that people can simply tune out. They can fade into the background and gain the anonymity they need to find solitude.

(Ganz 2005)

150 | F5 Urbanity

It is interesting to note that dynamic settings in the urban environment cater to those who seek simulation to break the monotony of daily life as well as those who find solace in watching the action from afar.

The amphitheatre in the New York Highline, meant as a window to the urban environment, and the example of the train-watching platforms in Tokyo’s transport hub Shinjuku District demonstrate how a dynamic surrounding can form the backdrop for social interaction as well as a moment of solitude. This instinctive human reaction to be drawn to dynamic surroundings should not only be respected but also incorporated into the design of public spaces. This intangible quality of being able to engage people is what essentially sets apart the crowding at a concert from the crowding in our trains and buses.

This paper holds the potential to be taken up in the fields of behavioural science, urban design and industrial design to look at topics such as body positioning in crowded situations, spatial forms such as plazas and streets which influence the perception of crowding and even the design of public transport vehicles. During the course of this paper’s research, it was also revealed that Metro and DTC systems in the city of Delhi hold great potential to be turned into a platform for mass communication and social outreach.

A notable paucity of literature in the Indian context presents an imminent need for future research in the field of behavioural sciences, including anthropology, psychology and sociology. This would be of great value not just to designers of spaces but others involved with the study of human behaviour. A thorough multidisciplinary approach to design would lead to production of more meaningful and humane spaces. These would then cater to the prime purpose of architecture, as expressed by Johnson, to design space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in space.

The authors would like to thank the people who contributed to the research and evolution of this paper.

Ar. Anjali Mittal, Faculty Coordinator, Seminar Series 2015 Ar. Archana Khanna, Principle Architect, First Principle, New Delhi Aritra Mukherjee, student, Faculty of Psychology, Delhi University Ar. Mayank Sharma, Managing Architect, DMRC, Delhi Dr. Nimesh Desai, Director, IHBAS (Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences), Delhi Ar. Rajiv Bhakat, Principle Architect, Studio Code, New Delhi Prof. Dr. Ranjana Mital, Faculty Coordinator, Seminar Series 2015 Investigating Behaviours | 151

BIBLIOGRAPHY AGNUS, O.M. (2012) Proxemics: the study of space. Indian Review of World Literature in English. [Online] 8(1). Available from: http://worldlitonline.net/proxemics-the-o. pdf. [Accessed: 21 September 2015] AMBE, S. (2014) Study of crowding and coping in ladies compartment in Mumbai local: an environmental psychology perspective. Tekton: a journal of architecture, urban design and planning. p. 48 BAUM, A & VALINS, S. (1977) Architecture and social behaviour: psychological studies of social density. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

BUCHHOLZ, E. (1997) The call of solitude. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc. COMS GROUP. (2011) Proxemics. [Online] Available from: http://coms-group-03. blogspot.in/2011/12/intercultural-communication-of.html [Accessed: 19 October 2015] DUKE, M. P. & NOWICKI, S. JR. (1972) A new measure and social learning model for interpersonal distance. Journal of Experimental Research in Personality 6, p. 119-132 EPSTEIN, Y.M. (1981) Crowding stress and human behaviour. Journal of Social Issues. [Online] Wiley Online Library. 37(1). p. 126-144. Available from: onlinelibrary. wiley,com/doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1981.tb01060.x. [Accessed: 4 September 2015].

EPSTEIN, R., HARRIS, A., STANLEY, D. and Kanwisher, N. (1999) The parahippocampal place area: recognition, navigation, or encoding?. Neuron.[Online] Cell Press 23. p. 115-125. Available from: http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0896627300807588/1-s2.0S0896627300807588-main.pdf?_tid=fd6bc930-6032-11e5-945b-00000aab0f27&acdnat=1442820962_49e8f151b9b580d1c5eb7036615f5c66.

EROGLU, S. A. & HARRELL, G.D. (1986) Retail crowding: Theoretical and strategic implications. Journal of Retailing. 62. p.347-363.

FREEDMAN, J.L. (1975) Crowding and behaviour. New York : The Viking Press.

GANZ, Y. (2005) Doing nothing: A different dimension. New York: Hamodia Publishing.

GARBER, J.A. (2000) Not named or identified: politics and the search for anonymity in the city. In MIRANNe, K.B. and YOUNG, A.H. (eds.). Gendering the city: women, boundaries and visions of urban life. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc GOFFMAN, E. (1963) Behaviour in public places: notes on social organisation of gathering. USA: The Free Press.

HADDON, L. and GREEN, N. (2009) Mobile communications: an introduction to new media. New York: Berg.

HALL, E.T. (1959) The silent language. New York : Garden City HALL, E.T. (1969) The hidden dimension. New York: Anchor Books.

HARRELL, G.D. , HUTT, M.D. & ANDERSON, J.C. (1980) Path Analysis of Buyer Behavior under Conditions of Crowding. Journal of Marketing Research. [Online] JSTOR Database 17( 1). Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3151115. [Accessed: 4 September 2015].

HECOCK, R. D. (1970) Recreation behaviour patterns as related to site characteristics of beaches. Journal of Leisure Research 2, p. 237-250 IWATA, O (1974) Factors in the perception of crowding. Japanese Psychological Research 1974 Vol.16 (2). p. 65-70 JAIN, U. (1987) The Psychological Consequences of Crowding. New Delhi: Sage Publications.

KOSTOF, S. (1991) ‘What is a city?’, Th­­e city shaped: urban patterns and meanings through history. Boston: Bulfinch Press.

KUYKENDALL, D & KEATING, J.P. (1984) Crowding and reactions to uncontrollable events. Population and Environment. JSTOR Database. [Online] 7( 4). p. 246-259.

Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27503036. [Accessed: 4 September

152 | F5 Urbanity

2015].

LOCKTON, D. (2013) Design with Intent. London: School of engineering and design, Brunel University.

MACHLEIT, K.S., KELLARIS, J.J. and EROGLU, S.A. (1994) Human Versus Spatial Dimensions Of Crowding Perceptions In Retail Environments: A Note On Their Measurement And Effect On Shopper Satisfaction. Marketing Letters. [Online] Springer 5(2). Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40216337. [Accessed: 4 September 2015] MALLGRAVE, H.F. (2010) The architect’s brain: neuroscience, creativity and architecture. United Kingdom: Wiley Blackwell publishers.

MALLGRAVE, H.F. (2013) Should architects care about neuroscience?. In TIDWELL, P. (ed.). Architecture and neuroscience. Finland : Tapio Wirkkala-Rut Bryk Foundation.

MANENTI, L., MANZONI, S., VIZZARI, G., OHTSUKA, K. and SHIMURA, K. (2011) An agent-based proxemic model for pedestrian and group dynamics: motivations and first experiments. MABS. [Online] Springer 7124. p.74–89 MILGRAM, S. (1970) The experience of living in cities. Science. p 1461-1468 MOORE, G.T. (1979) Architecture and human behaviour: the place of environment-behaviour studies in architecture. Wisconsin Architect. [Online]. Available from: http://sydney.edu.au/architecture/documents/staff/garymoore/28.pdf. [Accessed: 4 September 2015].

OSMOND, H. (1959) The relationship between architect and psychiatrist. In GOSHEN, C. (ed.). Psychiatric architecture. Washington DC : American Psychiatric Association.

PALLASMA, J. (2013) Towards a neuroscience of architecture. In Tidwell, P. (ed.).

Architecture and Neuroscience. Finland : Tapio Wirkkala-Rut Bryk Foundation.

PETRANIK, S. (2011) Editor’s note: finding solitude in a connected world. Hawaii Business. [Online]. Available from: http://www.hawaiibusiness.com/editors-note-finding-solitude-in-a-connected-world/. [Accessed: 6 September 2015].

SAMMONS, A. (no date) Effects Of Crowding [Online]. Available from: http://www. psychlotron.org.uk/resources/environmental/A2_OCR_env_crowdeffects.pdf. [Accessed: 4 September 2015].

SOLMAZ, B., MOORE, B.E. and SHAH, M. (2012) Identifying behaviors in crowd scenes using stability analysis for dynamical systems. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence. 34(10). p. 2064-2070.

THIRUMALAI, M.S. (1987) Proxemics. Silent talk: nonverbal communication (CIIL occasional monographs series). [Online] CIIL’s Electronic Book Site. Available from: http://www.ciil-ebooks.net/html/silent/ch2.htm. [Accessed: 22 September 2015].

THOMAS, J. (2009). The Social Environment of Public Transport. New Zealand: Victoria University of Wellington.

WILLIS, F. N. JR. (1966) Initial speaking distance as a function of the speaker’s relationship, Psychonomic Science (5). p. 221-222

Investigating Behaviours | 153

154 | F5 Urbanity

HOSTILE DILLI

Dil-walon ki Dilli ?

It is a common experience among people who pause occasionally, to sketch some guidelines for their patterns of thought and to discover that the principles they have so carefully defined and lived upon, are changing their meaning and definitions.

What characterizes every great city is not simply the way different architectural styles and forms of urbanism predominate, but also the way they coexist-both physically and ideologically. The seminar explores how hostile the city of Delhi has become in its pretence of disciplining its inhabitants and how far have we come in being defensive and how far are we willing to go. It also explores how diverse sensibilities of a city of migrants experience this emotion on all scales of built environment.

Ankita Bhati | Gunjan Aggarwal | S. Shankar | Ujjal Hafila Guide : Ms. Poonam Prakash Chairperson : Mr. S.K. Das 155

‘The subdivision of our social world and the spaces we inhabit into public and private spheres is one of the key features of how a society organizes itself. This affects individuals’ mental states and experiences, regulates their behaviour, and superimposes a long lasting structure onto human societies.’ (Madanipour 2003)

T

he urban environment is the locus of various forms of violence.

Cities are characterised by the convergence of diverse cultures, races and religions, as places where there is a constant struggle for scarce economic resources and political power. The heterogeneity of the urban environment reduces the fear of recognition, and hence promotes crime by attracting thieves, rapists, assassins, murderers, etc.

The heterogeneity of the urban environment reduces the fear of recognition, and hence promotes crime by attracting thieves, rapists, assassins, murderers, etc.

Public spaces are the physical embodiment of democracy, their very purpose being to foster debate- even conflict- among the various interests that are represented by the citizenry. As the shape of the city and the characteristics of urban life are influenced by the way public and private distinction is made, the role of urban designers becomes even more significant.

Hostility is seen as form of emotionally charged angry behaviour. It is more commonly used as a synonym for anger and aggression. Hostile is a negative evaluation of persons and things (Buss, 1961), often accompanied by a clear desire to do harm or to aggrade them (Kaufmann, 1970). Plutchik (1980) considered it as a negative attitude that mixes anger and disgust, and it is accompanied by feelings of indignation, contempt and resentment towards others; on some occasions it can even become bitterness and violence.

Hostile, defensive, disciplinary. Writers have been using those strong adjectives to describe some of the architecture that has been appearing in

156 | F5 Urbanity

cities across the globe. Hostile architecture is a controversial urban design trend in which public spaces are constructed or altered to discourage people from using them in a way not intended by the owner. This is a common pattern observed not only with the use of spikes, barriers, oddly angled benches, and even sprinklers, but also with local architectural practices.

Hostile architecture is revealing on a number of levels, because it is not the product of accident or thoughtlessness, but a thought process. It is a sort of unkindness that is considered, designed, approved, funded and made real with the explicit motive to exclude and harass.

Foucault’s (1975) conception of power is a common part of this subject.

Essentially, power is a relationship between people in which one affects another’s actions. Power differs from force or violence, which affect the body physically. It involves making a free subject do something that he would not have done otherwise: power therefore involves restricting or altering someone’s will. Power is present in all human relationships, and penetrates throughout society. The state does not have a monopoly over power, because power relations are deeply unstable and changeable.

The human sciences are able to control and exclude people because they make claims to both knowledge and power. To claim that a statement is true is also to make a claim to power because truth can only be produced by power. Human psychology thus becomes an important part of our analysis and understanding of how hostility works and impacts humans spatially.

Focusing on the most visually arresting examples of hostile architecture demonstrates the crafty ways mistrust and communal erosion have been built into our lives. While a bullet-proof enclosure might be a reassuring promise of safety for some, it teaches all who see it to be afraid, to expect bullets, to distrust. And, in the name of expanding this line of thinking even further: the economy is built, too — architected through laws, policies, and practices.

Who does it serve to include?

Who has the most trouble gaining access to basic public amenities?

How many communities lack access to open spaces, transportation, adequate healthcare, well-staffed and equipped facilities?

How are they directed and how are they distributed in our city?

Hostile Dilli | 157

And while all design is necessarily limiting in some ways, it’s possible to make places that encourage and enhance relationships between people and lead to greater collaboration and communication. The use of discipline versus the forced punishment to question the derivation of reduction of hostile behaviour amongst common public.

Tracing back some examples and analysing their existence in their specific location can help us build a theoretical explanation towards reducing this aggression. With an approach to behavioural theories which give insight into why individuals engage in aggressive and unfriendly activities; and urban design theories of fear and the reaction to fear, we can evaluate the reasons for hostility in and of an urban space.

Emotions In Architecture “Almost everyone except the psychologist knows what an emotion is.” (Young, P.T. 1973) Emotion is a person’s state of feeling in the sense of an affect. As per some theories, they are a state of feeling that results in physical and psychological changes that influence our behaviour. The psychology of emotion is closely linked to arousal of the nervous system with various states and strengths of arousal relating, apparently, to particular emotions.

There seems to be no universal solution to the debate on which manifestation is sufficient or necessary to define emotions. Behavioural reaction, however, is the most obvious reaction to emotion. It is the action or behaviour one engages in when experiencing an emotion. This means a certain kind of emotion forces you to act and respond in a specific manner. ”There was a time when I experienced architecture without thinking about it. I remember the sound of the gravel under my feet, the soft gleam of the waxed oak staircase, I can hear the heavy front door closing behind me as I walk along the dark corridor and enter the kitchen, the only really brightly lit room in the house. Memories like these contain the deepest architectural experience that I know. They are the reservoirs of the architectural atmospheres and images which I explore in my work as an architect.” (Zumthor, P. 2005, Thinking Architecture) 158 | F5 Urbanity

Every aspect of our everyday lives is full of products, systems and environments which use techniques-technological, physical or psychological-to shape, guide, control, and influence our behaviour. This power that these tools have over the user’s behaviour may be helpful to the user or it could be serving someone else against the user’s best interests. It could promote an action or deter a certain kind of behaviour.

The common factor to all of this is intent on the part of the designer/ engineer/planner or his or her corporate/political masters. This is a strategic design that’s intended to influence or result in certain user behaviour. There are several examples of buildings that are designed to affect a person’s emotions. Memorials and monuments make people nostalgic and reminiscent. Schools, hospitals, correctional facilities, and other institutions create atmospheres that promote learning and healing.

Libraries are conducive to quiet and research. While restaurants are relaxing, stores make people want to spend money. A sports stadium creates an incredible atmosphere for both the user groups: athletes and spectators. The close proximity of spectators, the large numbers, and the specific seating designs (often concave) creates a group atmosphere.

Collective group behaviour is different from individual behavioural patterns, for example: spectators in a sports stadium act as one massive, energetic (or depressed) organism. The performance of the athletes, in the presence of the energetic spectators, is enhanced. Cathedrals induce a certain level of fear along with awe. People feel that sense of awe accompanied by a nostalgia triggered by age of the space. A church, through high ceilings, natural overhead lighting, and large open volumes makes its user feel diminutive in the space. Every piece of architecture, that one inhabits every day, was designed to invoke a certain feeling.

The problem is understanding precisely how architecture affects emotions. The primary idea lies in the how this power, that is inherent to architecture, can determine, or influence, or be independent of its inhabitants’ behaviour. Architecture’s role in this context can be debated against other mental constructs of subjectivity, individualism, and experience. Architecture regulates behaviour. Its constraints are enforced through the physical power of a context rather than the will of the state or a community. Architectures may control behaviour by physically preventing or directing it or by regulating it through psychological effects.

Design can thus be used to influence users’ behaviour.

Hostile Dilli | 159

How we build our world thus reflects how we see ourselves and others?

Part of what makes this type of architecture so fascinating is that it illustrates our values so literally and concretely. It showcases how those in power envision the world and people’s places within it.

The Alchemy of an Unloved City Delhi is a vast medieval town of indisputable botanical beauty. Delhi is the city of power, inherited from the history of pioneers. It is a think tank, of men and women who seek disclosure, who debate and involve themselves in the system.

While in the ‘old city’ Shahjahanabad or in the ruins of Tughlaqabad, the tourist guide will force one to relive Delhi’s romantic appeal. However, the reality of India’s vast capital is at more diverse, more anarchic and at times more intriguing than the semi-mythical Delhi in the books.

The image of Delhi as a city characterized by fragmentation. Most works on the capital cannot resist reiterating the claim that Delhi cannot really be considered a city in the true sense owing to the heterogeneity of its urban fabric. And so a consensus has been perpetuated since medieval times in which Delhi is defined as a ‘city of cities’-an urban patchwork made up of various components, each of which is thought to bear the imprint of a distinct social, cultural and architectural identity.

The people of Delhi are so loud, superficial and flashy. There is a constant need for show casing and for limelight. They honk at pedestrians for crossing the roads, showering murderously high pollution. Delhi is becoming a stage for “high buildings, low cultural threshold” drama.

And, of which civility is the biggest casualty.

“It is not the climate or the infrastructure that keeps me off Delhi. It is the human factor. In office buildings, before people can come out of the lift, you see a group pushing to get in. This is symbolic of the Delhi ethos....” (Baskaran T) There is a void at the moral core of Delhi that is frightening. Even more than its fearful aspect, its brutalising effect is all-pervasive. There’s no such thing as “tehzeeb’’ left in Delhi anymore. Despite the new status it acquired as India’s capital in 1911-12 and the sweeping changes which have transformed the city since independence, Delhi has somehow got 160 | F5 Urbanity

stuck with an image based on stereotypes built as early as the fourteenth century and elaborated during the colonial era. Delhi’s emergence as a centre for business, arts, academia and culture acts as a magnet for the elite from other parts of the country to gravitate towards the city.

The migrants make to come to Delhi alone and take refuge on pavements and in night shelters can be better understood when one realizes the numerous pressures associated with even the most basic accommodation.

Not only is there the difficulty of finding a place to live within easy distance from the workplace, but also the problem of the illegal status of most of the more affordable options.

Fig A: People sleeping outside a night shelter under the Yamuna Bazaar flyover A sparsely occupied night shelter (rain basera) at Akshardham. Filth is a common complaint among people who take refuge in quarters for the homeless Source: Daily mail, Indian News

Delhi is an onion, peeling it, an act that leads to more peels and at the heart of it all, there is nothing. It is a void-delivery device.

Hostility is a multidimensional construct that is thought to have cognitive, affective, and behavioural components. The cognitive component is defined as negative beliefs about and attitudes toward others, including cynicism and mistrust. The affective component typically labelled as anger refers to an unpleasant emotion ranging from irritation to rage Hostile Dilli | 161

and can be assessed with regard to frequency, intensity, and target. The behavioural component is thought to result from the attitudinal and affective component and is an action intending to harm others, either verbally or physically.

In psychological terms, Kelly defined hostility as the wilful refusal to accept evidence that one’s perceptions of the world are wrong. Instead of reconsidering, the hostile person attempts to force or coerce the world to fit their view, even if this is a forlorn hope, and however harmful the cost. In this sense, hostility is a response which forms part of discounting of unwanted cognitive dissonance.

Hostile architecture, often referred to as defensive architecture, is the modification of buildings and public spaces, often too subtle to be noticed by the general public, designed to discourage certain groups of people from loitering. The design of buildings or public spaces in a way which discourages people from touching, climbing, accessing or watching them, with the intention of avoiding damage or use for a different purpose. The word- ‘defensive’, as Oxford dictionary describes it, means intended to resist an attack made on (someone or something) or to protect it from harm or danger, whereas hostile refers to ‘Showing or feeling opposition or dislike; unfriendly’. One word is an intent while other is the result.

Defensible space, as described by Newman (1978), “is a residential environment whose physical characteristics—building layout and site plan—function to allow inhabitants themselves to become key agents in ensuring their security.” His primary aim was to solve the problem of getting a person to and from his or her living quarters without the fear or occurrence of crime by studying the physical characteristics of the built spaces, to determine which of these might present an opening for hostile activity. Defensible space is achieved when residents can observe and control the activities taking place in their compound. The criminal, on the other hand, will perceive the space as being controlled by its residents, thus exposing him as an intruder who can easily be recognized and dealt with. The defensible space or environment extends into the street which surrounds the residence. (Newman, 1978) As designers, architects use these words interchangeably in the phrases‘defensive architecture’ or ‘hostile architecture’, to define spaces/ design elements which are intended to defend misuse and resulting in a feeling of hostility towards by certain users. In hostile architecture, aesthetics are 162 | F5 Urbanity

not the only motivating factor when making choices about the form and fabric of particular constructions. The expression hostile architecture has pejorative overtones, and is therefore mainly used by people who are sceptical about, if not completely opposed to, the idea. The expression hostile architecture is of course the sum of its parts, with the adjective hostile chosen because, to some people, this kind of architecture deliberately threatens and isolates certain members of society.

The origins of such exclusionary design—which scholars have called everything from disciplinary architecture to unpleasant design to interdictory space—are ostensibly well-intentioned: to preserve the public order and reduce the timeless fear of crime among city residents.

The validity of that reasoning can be debated, but what’s clear is that such design, by any name, typically targets poor minorities without a strong political voice.

This increasing control of urban public space is leading to a spatial exclusion and to a restricted “right to the city”. The dominant groups in society take various measures to privatise public space as a means of creating order, control, predictability, comfort, sameness, and security in public spaces in order to promote recreational, entertainment and shopping opportunities. From zero tolerance policing to anti-social conduct by-laws, from privatization to militarization, from gentrification to sanitization, from pervasive surveillance to exclusionary urban design, each can be considered as an example of this trend. Instead, analysing this relationship and the urban politics related to it becomes a central and urgent issue in the current context of the progressive control of urban public spaces.

The redevelopment spaces which have come up in the recent years, have successfully excluded the marginalised people whose neighbourhoods they have supplanted, and have simultaneously warded off the middle class with their hostility, the very people whose safety they sought to assure.

The primary goal of urban design in the recent years has been to attract exclusively the upscale public and exclude the masses. The responsibility for this complicated task has been handed over to the surveillance companies and the designers whose brief is to create monitored spaces which enforce ‘desirable’ behaviour. As Loukaitou-Sideris and Banerjee (1998) note, ‘the design characteristics commonly present in the new plazas- introversion, fragmentation, escapism, orderliness and rigidity– are consistent with the objectives of control, protection, social filtering, Hostile Dilli | 163

image packaging, and manipulative use of human behaviour.’ These manipulative, profit-driven spaces make up majority of new public spaces that are being built.

Contemporary public spaces increasingly serve a “homogeneous” public and promote “social filtering.” Unlike older public spaces, which bring various groups of people together and provide a common ground for all segments of the population, new public spaces have been seen as enhancing gentrification, social stratification, and fragmentation. The communities that are marginalised in the process are the urban poor and the homeless, often described as ‘the unfortunate victims of diverse kinds of physical and social crisis among urban societies.

As per the 2001 census, the total urban homeless population of India is 7,78,599 people, with Delhi comprising 3.1% of it. The Delhi government runs 14 night shelters with a maximum capacity of 2,937 people, which constitute only 3% of the homeless people in the city.

The majority of these homeless people live on pavements and sidewalks, with their lives endangered by the rash and drunken drivers on the streets.

Other areas preferred included bus stands, railway stations and courtyard of places of worship. The biggest threat faced by the homeless at night (according to the survey) was the police. In Delhi, police brutality for disturbing homeless people at night is highest at 32%. (Dupoint 2013) The relationship between the urban homeless and the state is one of mutual acrimony and distrust. This is especially seen in Delhi where police and civil officials believe that squatters give the city a bad name.

Most homeless in cities, are widely seen by the authorities as people with no rights, as the undeserving poor who choose to live on the streets even though jobs are widely available. In addition, they are widely perceived to be criminals. The laws that criminalize the urban homeless include laws against vagrancy and begging. The record of public services received by the homeless is dismal. There is no inclusive development strategy at the local level where the urban poor would be partners in the development process.

Discipline versus Punishment Discipline is the practice of regulating people’s behaviour to follow rules or a code of conduct. It means suppression of base desires, and is usually understood to be synonymous with restraint and self-control. Punishment 164 | F5 Urbanity

is the use of physical or psychological force or action that causes pain in an attempt of trying to keep undesirable conduct from repeating.

Punishment is a term used in operant conditioning to refer to any change that occurs after a behaviour that reduces the likelihood that the behaviour will occur again in the future. While positive and negative attributes are used to improve conduct, punishment is focused on reducing or eliminating unwanted behaviours.

Discipline, on the other hand, is focused on future, always pointing toward future acts. It has nothing to do with retribution and everything to do with redemption. Whereas the purpose of punishment is to inflict a penalty for an offense, the purpose of discipline is to train for correction and maturity.

While punishment can be effective in some cases, you can probably think of a few examples of when punishment does not reduce a behaviour.

Prison is one example. After being sent to jail for a crime, people often continue committing crimes once they are released from prison.

Researchers have found a number of factors that contribute to how effective punishment is in different situations. First, punishment is more likely to lead to a reduction in behaviour if it immediately follows the behaviour. Prison sentences often occur long after the crime has been committed, which may help explain why sending people to jail does not always lead to a reduction in criminal behaviour. Second, punishment achieves greater negative results when it is aggressively applied. This can result in a negative reaction and backfire the intention of punishment.

At this point, we could well move into how, what is characterised as ‘defensive architecture’ is in fact ‘disciplinary architecture’- it is ‘defending’ the general public against ‘undesirable’ behaviour by other members of the public. (Howell, 2001) This is only one step away from Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon and Michel Foucault’s argument (in Discipline and Punish) that by embedding disciplinary systems in architecture and institutions rather than meting out direct retribution publicly, the likelihood of adverse public reaction to the punishment is greatly reduced. Bentham laid down the principle that power should be visible and unverifiable. Visible: the inmate will constantly have before his eyes the tall outline of the central tower from which he is spied upon. Unverifiable: the inmate must never know Hostile Dilli | 165

whether he is being watched at any one moment; but he must be sure that he may always be so (Foucault, 1989).

Foucault also posited that modern prisons evolved to sequester torture practices from public view. Bentham and Foucault speculated that by embedding punishment systems in prison architecture and institutions rather than meting out punishment openly through public execution or floggings, the State was able to greatly reduce the likelihood of adverse public reaction to the punishment of criminals (Hirst, 1994).

Having established that we can argue if punishment in architecture is the best way to approach a solution. The punishment, as we have established, may not be the only way to regulate safety and maintenance in society.

It is clear that many of the objectives of Foucault’s “technologies of punishment” can be achieved, and even surpassed, through architectures of control—surpassed in the sense that people can be prevented from committing the crimes in the first place.

Public spaces undergo a makeover when the authorities and designers realise the need to move on from punishment to discipline, ‘from the fortress to a poetics of security.’ (Howell 2001) The logic of a Poetics of Security dictates that, ‘in order to be effective, a design must be proscriptive, but appear humanist.’ In Davis’s (1992) terms, a space cannot be transparently militaristic; it must indeed deploy even more refined uses of discipline. Anything that can be perceived as a forced punishment or action can directly result in hostility amongst the people questioning the validity of such an adverse action.

Architecturally, in most respects, the resulting design does succeed in being accessible yet defensible, cosy yet ‘surveillable.’ Defensive architecture thus aims to communicate subtly with a corner of the subconscious of the users, to make them realise who they are and where they are.

The ultimate goal of discipline is to have people responsible for their own actions. Punishment can lead to negative consequences like physical or psychologically demeaning. The experts argue about its use (Ucci, 1998; Schreiber, 1999), it can have negative effects such as embarrassment, anger, or confusion. More importantly, by itself it does not preach how to behave differently.

166 | F5 Urbanity

Fig B. A cycle of hostility is created in response to the behavioural response of punishment.

Source : Authors

A cycle of hostility is created in response to the behavioural response of punishment. It describes how humans react to spaces around them; if a spatial experience inflicts hostility then the result is an aggressive behaviour. This aggressive reflection is then carried forward to implicate hostile behaviour in another environment due to behavioural psychology of humans. A desire to instigate harm in the environment is generated and the space in turn becomes hostile. This vicious wheel continues till someone or the other feels the “aggression�.

Defence Mechanisms Decisions about infrastructure shape more than just the physical city; those decisions also provide a theoretical framework for analysis by focusing on the way that the built environment controls or regulates our behaviour. It examines the literature that discusses infrastructure placement and design as physical and symbolic contributors to economic and social inequality, exclusion, and isolation.

A number of specific exclusionary techniques have been used to keep people out including physical barriers to access, the siting of transit and transportation infrastructure, and the organization of residential neighbourhoods. While some of these designs expressly serve to exclude those who are unwanted, others have that effect indirectly. Its need/ validity may be appropriated by criminal behaviour, anti-social behaviour, commercial needs of the post industrial cities, or simply by the interaction of an art form with the public space.

The need to defend a public space by a certain user group against another can be experienced not only at every scale of the built environment, from planning of cities to the detail of a bench, but also through laws and policies that shape the city.

Hostile Dilli | 167

Regulation through architecture is just as powerful as law, but it is less explicit, less identifiable, and less familiar to courts, legislators, and the general public. Architectural regulation is powerful in part because it is unseen; it “allows government to shape our actions without our perceiving that our experience has been deliberately shaped.”

Planned To Be Hostile Policy and Law Traditional methods of exclusion use laws and policies to inflict socioeconomic exclusion towards certain parts of a given community through racially restrictive covenants, racial zoning, and exclusionary zoning, displacement and rehabilitation. These forms of exclusion are exercised by the authorities and policy makers towards the lower income groups who do not have a representation in decision making. These practices highlight the power structure that is inherent in a fragmented society.

Displacement and Resettlement: Behavioural resistance to change in environment fosters hostility. Therefore, resettlement does not necessarily ensure rehabilitation. If the altered context is not appropriated culturally, it becomes hostile. In fact, most communities that are displaced are not even resettled. These policies are drafted and executed with the aim of creating ‘a global metropolis and a world-class city’ at the cost of largescale slum demolitions.

Infrastructure projects and preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games played a significant role in the demolition of slums located on coveted urban land of Delhi. The international sporting event was preceded by a spate of ‘last-minute demolitions’ carried out without resettlement. A fact finding mission revealed that, in a sample of 19 sites in central areas of Delhi, of the 3000 families evicted by the government in 2009-2010 because of the Commonwealth Games, only 85 were resettled (HLRN-HIC 2011). The eight-lane express highway (NH-24) leading to the Games Village lead to the displacement of nearly 400,000 people from three large slum clusters – Yamuna Pushta, Nanglamachi and Bhatti Mines by 2009. (Singh 2015) These preparations, along with the construction of the metro railway—a flagship infrastructure project, are emblematic of the socio-spatial 168 | F5 Urbanity

Fig C. (left to right) Central Park, Connaught Place and Gated Community of Indirapuram.

restructuring and makeover that has changed Delhi and affected those living on its margins over the last dozen years. This world-class ambition showed how the drive for global competitiveness and its associated image-building translated into a ‘revanchist city’ (Dupoint 2013), treating the visible poor, especially slum dwellers and the homeless, as undesirable elements to be removed from city space. The poor serve the privileged only to be criminalized at the end of the day, belonging neither to their villages nor to the city.

Exclusionary Zoning: Some municipalities found ways to use zoning indirectly to keep out residents they viewed as undesirable. Exclusionary zoning is a method whereby municipalities’ zoning regulations require large lot sizes, square-footage minimums for buildings, or occupancy restrictions that make property unaffordable to or impractical for use by poor people or those who live with large or extended families.

Sometimes forms of exclusionary zoning are less well-known yet have the same effect—for example, prohibiting people from operating “lowerincome” home businesses such as barber shops and child-care facilities in residential homes but allowing uses such as in-home insurance practices.

Those supporting exclusionary zoning practices are often purportedly motivated by the desire to preserve property values. This form of exclusion can be seen in Greater Kailash in Delhi, where the capital values of independent homes have witnessed an escalation of 19% in the past one year and today cost an average of INR 42,300 per sqft.

Transit Communities also engage in architectural exclusion in the way they design and place public transit and transportation infrastructure. The siting of bus stops and subway stations changes the built environment. These

Hostile Dilli | 169

Fig E. Newspaper clipping highlighting the communal politics which were a resultant of people being shifted because of the Metro in Delhi.

Source : Hindustan Times

routing decisions and patterns have a dramatic impact on the mobility of individuals through, and the accessibility of, different areas of the community. Further, transit siting and infrastructure decisions are often implemented with the intention of making it more difficult for certain groups of people to access certain parts of the community. This section will provide examples of these exclusionary transportation design decisions.

Placement of Transit Stops: A present-day example of architectural exclusion comes in the form of decisions about where to place transit stops. In Delhi, many moderate- and high-income individuals travel in a private vehicles. In contrast, although people of all socioeconomic groups use public transit— buses, metro, etc.—in larger metropolitan areas, low-income people often rely more heavily on public transportation than people from other groups. Those individuals therefore have a hard time reaching areas that are under-served by transit. Because there are a number of benefits to living near a transit stop, it is expected that homeowners will readily lobby for them. However, many communities actively push their elected decision makers not to bring transit stops to their neighbourhoods. Research shows that the opposition to transit is

170 | F5 Urbanity

often motivated by the desire to block access by certain “undesirable” people who ride transit.

An event that highlights this factor in Delhi was the ‘Communal twist’ that delayed the construction of the Mukundpur-Shiv Vihar Metro corridor. As locals rued, the residents of some Hindu-dominated pockets in Trilokpuri have opposed the construction of flats for rehabilitation of 400 families which mostly comprises Muslim population. (Ranjan 2015) Infrastructure: Bridge exits and highway off-ramps are often located so as to filter traffic away from wealthy communities. The placement of highways so as to intentionally displace poor neighbourhoods is even more familiar. Policymakers “purposefully” decided to route highways through the city-centers, often with the intent “to destroy low-income neighbourhoods in an effort to reshape the physical and colonial landscapes of the city.” Although this work was undertaken in order to make places more accessible to cars, it was also done with an eye towards eliminating alleged slums and blight in city centers.

Fig F. The eight-lane express highway (NH-24) leading to the Games Village lead to the displacement of nearly 400,000 people from three large slum clusters – Yamuna Pushta, Nanglamachi and Bhatti Mines. (Singh 2015) This world-class ambition translated into a ‘revanchist city’ (Dupoint 2013), treating the visible poor as undesirable elements.

Source : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ india-today-state-of-thestates-2012-delhi-infrastructure-best-in-smallstate-category/1/227443. html

To some extent, the placement of highways through city centers is Hostile Dilli | 171

a legacy issue, meaning that it is an issue that remains in the present because of decisions made in the past. It was not illegal to tear apart poor neighbourhoods at the time that urban renewal was in full swing, and the resultant features of the built environment are now hard to change. An instance of this can be seen in Chandni Chowk, where the colonizers cleared up the area around the Red Fort as a sanitization drive, whereas the underlying hostile intentions were a manifestation of power and control.

Way-finding: Another method of exclusion involves the creation and use of one-way streets. These streets function to funnel traffic away from certain areas and into others. There are sometimes health- and safetybased reasons for the creation of one-way streets, including trafficcalming and pedestrian safety. But they also may serve to exclude by making it difficult to gain access by car into or out of certain parts of a community. In addition to making vehicular access difficult, one-way streets such as these are exclusionary in that they can confuse visitors, which might discourage their continued presence in a neighbourhood, or make it hard for them to find their way to or from a specific home.

This street layout also gives non-residents fewer reasons to enter the neighbourhood in the first place. Thus, unlike the traditional urban grid pattern, these neighbourhoods lack connectivity to other parts of the community, making them useless to those who want to cut through.

This planning method can be seen in most residential neighbourhoods in Delhi.

Residential Parking Permits: In some neighbourhoods, people can park on the street only if they live in the neighbourhood and have a residential parking permit or are given a guest permit by a resident. As a result, those who do not live in or have friends in the neighbourhood cannot drive in and park there. Moreover, these neighbourhoods are often not easily accessible via public transportation.

At Rajdhani Nikunj Cooperative Housing Society, Patparganj in east Delhi, which has designated space to accommodate cars owned by the 90-odd families that live there, the residents’ association started imposing surcharges on additional cars after the first one a few years ago.

172 | F5 Urbanity

Designed To Be Hostile Accessibility

Fig G. Various forms of physical barriers experienced in the city.

Source: Authors

A number of ways that states and municipalities—through actions by their residents, police force, planning staff, engineers, or local elected officials—have created infrastructure and designed their built environs to restrict passage through and access to other areas of the community.

Accessibility may be restricted physically or visually, both of which would lead to exclusive usage.

Physical Accessibility: Flusty (1994) describes physical restrictions to accessibility in two different forms: ‘Slippery’ and ‘Crusty’. Slippery space is space that ‘cannot be reached, due to contorted, protracted or missing paths of approach’. A common examples include atriums visible through building windows or plazas perched atop ledges—clear public areas without an obvious public entrance. An example of this type of space in Delhi is the Central Park at Connaught Place, which has only one point of entrance/exit along its extensive circumference.

Crusty space is space that ‘cannot be accessed due to obstructions such as walls, gates and check points.’ A common version of this phenomenon is one of the most obvious forms of architectural exclusion: the walls, gates, and guardhouses of gated communities. These architectural features serve to keep out those who are not expressly allowed in. Although these walls are generally put in place by private developers to keep out those whom they do not want to access their communities, local governments have the power to prohibit these barriers.

Although gated communities strongly evince a desire for protection and security, the form of the community varies widely. Bickford (2000) suggests Hostile Dilli | 173

three general types of gated communities. “Lifestyle” enclaves are primarily retirement communities, ones gated to ensure limited access to amenities like golf courses; “elite” communities are gated primarily for prestige and social distinction; and” security zone” communities are ones where” fear of crime and outsiders is the foremost motivation for defensive fortifications.” It is important to note that the latter type includes not simply expensive new developments (with manned gatehouses twenty-four-hour patrols, and video surveillance).

Barricades are also erected in already existing neighbourhoods to protect the property and property values.

The gentrification processes that purge neighbourhoods and exacerbate housing problems also create incentives to keep the streets feeling safe for middle-class residents and clear of “disturbances” that might deter suburbanites and tourists from frequenting the city’s cultural and commercial attractions.

Another form of crusty space, which is very common in Delhi, is the areas below flyovers and Metro lines, which have unutilised potential of providing shelter to the homeless and serving as open public spaces, due to fencing and lack of maintenance, creating a space that is both physically inaccessible and hostile.

Visual accessibility: Stealthy space (Flusty 1994), while ostensibly public, is tough to find. Visual accessibility is hindered by lack of clear signages, or maybe it’s just hidden from view. Privately owned public spaces (POPS) which are poorly marked or inaccessible by passing pedestrians, despite being designated as places for public use. In some cases, the public space is located beyond a security desk.

Pedestrian infrastructure: A municipality that lacks sufficient connections between different parts of the community is often exclusionary because residents are deterred from traveling. For example, sidewalks make walking easier and safer, in large part by reducing the risk of pedestrian and vehicle collisions. However, many communities lack sidewalks and crosswalks, making it difficult to cross the street or walk through a neighbourhood. Sometimes this is intentional. The lack of secure pedestrian infrastructure makes areas more difficult to access in a safe and easy manner. (Schindler 2015) Another tool that promotes exclusion is the road dividers, which in areas such as Saket (on the road dividing the Khirki Village and the Mall Complex) and

174 | F5 Urbanity

Fig H. The many ways in which people mark their territory in the city Source: Authors

Sarai Julena, are of inappropriate heights for comfortable pedestrian use, hence discouraging pedestrian movement. In the case of Saket, it is a subtle indicator of segregation between the elite crowd of the mall and the economically weaker sections of the urban village.

Territoriality Territoriality is a term associated with non-verbal communication about the ownership or area of influence of the inhabitants. Territoriality involves an individual’s perception of, and relationship with, the environment. A strong sense of territoriality encourages an individual to take control of his or her environment and defend it against attack.

A sense of territoriality is fostered by architecture that allows easy identification of certain areas as the exclusive domain of a particular individual or group.

This feeling is enhanced when the area involved is one the individual can relate to with a sense of pride and ownership. Territoriality involves physical space, possession, defence, exclusiveness of use, markers, personalization and identity.

How people behave outside the public realm may be explained through social, economic and political forces. The manner in which cities are planned, including the supply of public spaces in the city, defines how people interact with each other. When someone’s territory is intruded, security is compromised, leading to a feeling of insecurity which may cause hostile reactions.

A very common example of territoriality being expressed can be seen when home and shop owners place threatening no-parking signs and barriers on the street in front of their houses and shops. The moment one goes out of his house, whether in foot or car, needs to assume a defensive posture.

Why are streets inside residential colonies blocked with gates at night? Taxes are

Hostile Dilli | 175

used for the maintenance of these roads---they are public property. How can a public street become the property of a particular locality or RWA?’

Surveillance Jane Jacob’s (1961) theory of ‘eyes on the street’, based on natural surveillance, is derived from the concepts of density and diversity of city life. It refers to the positioning of fenestrations and the manipulation of building plan configuration, activities and people in such a way so as to maximize visibility and promote positive social interaction. The knowledge that constant observation is possible can reduce the fears of the residents and deter criminals. Though naturally occurring and free of cost, its effectiveness in crime prevention varies with the individual offender.

As people move around an area, they observe what is going on around them, provided the area is open and well lit. Supporting a diversity of uses within a public space is highly effective. Other ways to promote natural surveillance include low landscaping, street lights, street designs that encourage pedestrian use, removing potential hiding places, etc.

Good lighting is one of the most effective crime deterrents. When used properly, light discourages criminal activity, enhances natural surveillance opportunities, and reduces fear. The type and quantity of light required will depend on the function of the space and the time of day. Efficient lighting includes avoiding bright spots and shadows, illuminating vulnerable areas more brightly than areas designed for normal activity, etc. Lighting also plays a part in creating a feeling of territoriality. Lighting can influence an individual’s feelings about his environment from an aesthetic as well as a safety standpoint.

Artificial Surveillance: Flusty (1994) defines spaces that ‘cannot be utilised unobserved due to active monitoring by roving patrol and/or remote technologies feeding to security stations’ as jittery spaces. With the evolution of technologies and sociocultural norms, natural surveillance is being replaced by artificial surveillance. Security cameras are present in all public spaces, both open and enclosed.

Aesthetics Landscaping: As a symbolic barrier, landscaping can mark the transition 176 | F5 Urbanity

between zones. Features such as decorative fencing, flower beds, ground cover, and varied patterns in pavements can clearly show separation between zones.

From a surveillance standpoint, landscaping can be critical. Such factors as growth characteristics of plants and their placement in relation to potentially vulnerable areas are extremely important. Criminal experts and landscaping specialists believe that enhancing the appearance of a property or house using unique, attractive landscape elements and spatial design can discourage criminal behaviour and increase the sense of security among the law-abiding individuals.

Visual corridors are important in open, park-like areas as well as in densely planted areas. Visual surveillance corridors can be maintained by limiting shrubs to a maximum waist-level height and trees to a minimum height of an average person at the lowest branches. This approach ensures that visibility of any person from the ground will always be relatively unimpaired.

Image and Environment: Image and environment refer to the adoption of building forms and idioms that do not allow others to perceive the vulnerability and isolation of the inhabitants. If a building is seen to be vulnerable, the structure and its inhabitants can be easy prey to criminals.

In addition, if it is a government building, it often wears a characteristic identity of neglect. These negative images seem to attract undesirable elements, who further vandalize such buildings and their inhabitants.

Usability Termed as ‘Prickly’ spaces by Flusty (1994), these include spiked ledges and painful benches. The city’s parks are home to all kinds of benches designed to make it uncomfortable to sit down for long stretches: some slope forward to put pressure on the feet, others are made of stainless steel that simmers in summer and freezes in winter. The target is clearly homeless people; hence the partitions that make sleeping on these benches all but impossible. These benches can be observed all over the city: in public parks (with partitions), at bus stands, where the perforated stainless steel benches not only slope and simmer, but are also designed to be anthropologically inappropriate in terms of width to discourage sleeping.

Hostile Dilli | 177

Fig I. (From left to right) Footover bridge at ITO; Footover bridge at ISBT Anand Vihar Source: Authors

Architectural decisions are enduring and hard to change. While outdated laws are often overturned when the norms informing them have sufficiently evolved, our exclusionary built environment, which was created in the past, continues to regulate in the present. Judicial and legislative solutions could alleviate, at least in part, the continuing harmful effects of architectural exclusion.

Conclusion “Those who control and create the context in which a decision is made have influence over that decision because there is no such thing as a ‘neutral’ design.” (Schindler 2003).Policies and laws enforced by the policy makers, including representation from only the dominant sections of society, leads to aggressive hostility towards the poor and the homeless of the city who are marginalised, stereotyped, and criminalised.

This form of exclusion is illegitimate and hostile. Decisions taken by planners and communities while deciding the locations of transit stops, or while deciding to construct a highway to create a physical divide between two communities creates a form of social filtering which is permanent in nature and cannot be reversed even if the socio-cultural norms transform with changing political systems. These are forms of punishment which exclude certain sections of society by being hostile towards them. Punishment enforces a behavioural system, which in turn leads to a hostile reaction from the victim. This fuels the cycle of hostility and leads to an increased perception of threat within the city.

On the other hand, disciplinary architecture has the potential for social good. Exclusionary design, achieved through factors such as design detailing of public furniture, architectural aesthetics, controlled accessibility, etc. must be carefully structured and executed to prevent it from becoming hostile. The question of its degree of hostility is dependent on the

178 | F5 Urbanity

intent of the defender and the designer. The spaces which materialise through this phenomenon aim to discipline and appropriate social behaviour. This ‘appropriation of behaviour’ creates conflicts in beliefs and makes some people feel safer while creating discomfort for others. Since the primary intent of disciplinary architecture has been to deter criminal behaviour, it is accepted by the ‘society’ as appropriate for greater common good. The question faced by this argument is: who defines what is appropriate?

Is hostility so deeply rooted in the culture of the city that its inhabitants have stop noticing it? How degenerate as an average citizen of the city become? The vicious cycle of hostility is transforming Delhi into an unloved city. Unregulated competitive developments and aspirations to be globally included are creating a society that is locally excluding. In order to realise a new public realm, this moment demands an attack on the universal theorizing that reduces the complexities of daily life into the biased notion of absolute standards. There is a need to understand the multiplicity and the diverse sensibilities that constitute the city, rather than facilitating the survival of only the fittest.

How can we, as individuals and as designers, reduce this growing hostility?

Where do we draw the line between defensive and hostile architecture, and create spaces that are transformative rather than reactive?

Hostile Dilli | 179

Bibliography Agbola, T 1996, The Architecture of Fear, Institut français de recherche en Afrique IFRA-Nigeria, pg. 15-42 Akkar, Z 2005, ‘Questioning the Publicness of Public Spaces in Post-Industrial Cities’ Constructing Inequality: City Spaces and the Architecture of Citizenship Author(s): Susan Bickford Source: Political Theory, Vol. 28, No. 3 (Jun., 2000), pp. 355-376 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. Stable URL: http://www. jstor.org/stable/192210 Accessed: 03-07-2015 09:15 UTC Davis, M 1992, ‘Fortress Los Angeles: The Militarisation of Urban Space,’ Variations on a Theme Park: The New American City and the End of Public Space, Hill and Wang, New York DUPOINT, V 2000, DELHI-Urban Space and Human Destinies, AJ Software Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., Delhi DUPOINT, V 2013, South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal, Delhi’s Margins (SAMAJ-EASAS) Flusty, S 1994, Building Paranoia: The Proliferation of Interdictory Space and the Erosion of Spatial Justice, Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design in West Hollywood, CA Foucault , M (1975), Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison, New York: Random House Harvey, D 2008, The Political Economy of Public Space Harvey, D 2008, The Right to the City Howell, O 2001, ‘The Poetics of Security: Skateboarding, Urban Design, and the New Katyal, N 2002, Architecture as Crime Control, The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 111, No. 5 (Mar., 2002), pp. 1039-1139, 0307-2015 09:12 UTC, http://www.jstor.org/stable/797618 Madanipour, A 2003, Public and Private Spaces of the City, Routledge, London Mitchell, D 1997, The Annihilation of Space by Law: The roots and implications of Antihomeless laws in the United States Newman, O 1972, Defensible Space, The Macmillan Company, Ontario, October 15, 2015 Prices of independent homes in Greater Kailash go up by 19% http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/real-estate/ pricesindependent-homesgreater-kailash-goby-19_1400170.html Ranjan, R 2015, Communal twist delays longest Metro corridor in Delhi, <http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/delhi-metro-miss-deadline-longest-corridor-mukundpur-shiv-vihar/1/454723.html> Schindler, S 2015 ,Architectural Exclusion: Discrimination and Segregation Through Physical Design of the Built Environment, Singh, N 2015, The Nomads of Yamuna Pushta < http://www.newsgram.com/the-nomads-of-yamuna-pushta/> Ulrich, R. (2013). The New York Times. [Online] 11th January, pg. SR12 Whyte, W 1988, The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, The Municipal Arts Societyof New York, New York

180 | F5 Urbanity

Temporal rekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;kk

Exploring Temporal Urbanism This research investigates the importance of formally addressing temporality in the city of Delhi. The nature of temporality has been discussed, with emphasis on the socio-cultural and economic importance of temporal agents in the city. Rigid city planning and formalization of these agents and the city has led to spatial temporality not being addressed by both designers and policy makers. While the city continues to exist as a temporal entity, it is treated as a static object. This has adversely affected both the city and its people: empty streets at night, congested roads in the morning, large open spaces that remain inactive throughout the day and markets and vendors displaced to the fringes of the city are some of the problems that this has led to. Hence, this research also explores models for urban development and the architectural address of temporality in the public realm.

Anika Pahadia | Devansh Mahajan | Shivani Raina | Shubham Kesharwani Guide : Madhav Raman Chairperson : Arbind Singh 181

Is there an architecture that is materially liquid, that configures and is attentive not to stability but to change and is thus at one with the fluid and shifting nature of all reality? Is it possible to think an architecture that is more of time than of space? An architecture whose objective would be not the ordering of dimensional extension but movement and duration? (de Sola-Morales, 2002 as cited in Judson, 2011)

T

emporality as an urban phenomenon is not a new concept, and is an intrinsic component of cities worldwide. Chicago has seen all of the two hundred buildings from its 1983 White City come and go within a couple of years, while Copenhagen has been reclaiming public space for temporal functions since 1971. (Lepeska, 2012)While the phenomenon largely deals with the need to cure â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;urban boredomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Christiaanse, Oswalt, Misselwitz & Overmeyer, 2003) in developed nations, the case for temporality in Indian cities is a different story altogether.

The Indian city currently suffers from existing as a dual entityâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the ground reality of the city is a temporal space, however the city is perceived as a static object by those who design and build it. This clash between the two identities of the city results in urban spaces that are designed to disregard the phenomenon of city life that occurs on and around it.

As a result, congested streets with no space for vendors and markets; empty roads at night with not a soul in sight and large public open spaces without any activity happening in them are a couple of urban tableaux that the city has grown accustomed to. Disparity in built density, inactive tracts of land yet to be developed and the socio-economic segregation of the city are issues that are interlinked due to the problem of temporality not being addressed.

182 | F5 Urbanity

That said, Indian cities have a long forgotten history of temporal land use and architectural practice (Mital, 2015), which still manifests itself in the way the city functions beyond the rigidity of its architecture and planning.

While the Indian city’s static and temporal identities have informally worked in conjunction with each other for years, due to the increased spatial segregation of the social classes as a result of globalization in the recent years, a disparity has arisen. The need for formal architecture to address this disparity has become of utmost importance.

In such a context, an architecture or urbanism of equality in an increasingly inequitable economic condition requires a deeper exploration to find a wide range of places to mark and commemorate the cultures of those excluded from the spaces of global flows. These do not necessarily lie in the formal production of architecture; rather, they often challenge it.

Here the idea of a city is an elastic urban condition—not a grand vision, but a “grand adjustment.” (Mehrotra 2013) This elasticity of the urban condition, needs to be achieved by addressing these many worlds that overlap over each other and persist simultaneously in the Indian cityscape (Mehrotra 2013). This overlap comprises of varying uses of the same space realized at once, and the corresponding diversity of perceptions and physical forms coexisting.

This paper argues for the need for the formal address of urban temporality in Indian cities. It discusses (i) how temporality (in terms of agents that propagate it) contributes to the city, (ii) what threatens this phenomenon in the Indian context and (iii) models for recognizing and promoting urban temporality.

Havik et al. (as cited in Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012) argue that ‘contemporary uncertainty’ (in terms of space and function assigned) needs to be addressed by planners and architects and put to productive use, temporally. This balance between spaces assigned rigid use and spaces designed elastically, he claims, will then result in the formal address of the gaps that manifest in the traditional practice of urban development.

These gaps become breeding grounds for economic disparity, lack of safety and the overall dullness and congestion experienced in the city (Christiaanse, Oswalt, Misselwitz & Overmeyer, 2003).

When the static and the temporal identities of the city are negotiated Temporal

rek”kk

| 183

by designers and policy makers, it will lead to a powerful new trend, “temporal urbanism” (Bishop & Williams 2012). Lehtovuori & Ruoppila (2012) claim that such an urbanism ‘might be the greatest potential for urban development in our time’.

Defining Temporality The perception of time occurs through a diversity of experiences, which reflects the complexity of contemporary society. It is presented through a system comprised of fragments, juxtapositions and superimpositions instead of an illusion of continuity. It is through this diversity that our experience of reality is produced. This transforms our experience of architecture from a singular object into an event which complicates traditional distinctions between subjects and object. (Judson, 2011) The element of story-telling is present in spatial patterns through the attribute of time. Spaces are experienced as we move through them. These spatial stories are responsible for enhancing our architectural adventures.

The connections made though movement create a relationship that is sequential and simultaneous (Rendell, 2004).

Being dynamic entities in a dynamic world, means that our account of the social world is not restricted to the strict distinction between ‘Time’ and ‘Space’ (Laclau, 1990). Instead our experiences are based on the complex of ‘Time-Space’ (May & Thrift, 2001). The realm of time is understood as dynamic and progressive whereas the spatial is considered static. This dualism is challenged by those who perceive a more dynamic concept of space. However, even then the priority is given to space over time.

Instead of oscillating between this choice of space and time, there is a need to avoid this dichotomy and perceive them as an intricately woven system. This fundamental paradigm shift is the beginning of the struggle for temporality-sensitive architecture and urban design in India (May & Thrift, 2001).

The perception of architecture needs to evolve from being limited by a singular notion of space to it being a temporal phenomenon. The emphasis on space being permanent and conceptually stable does not allow for architecture to be experienced in its entirety. Space exists beyond that singular moment of time that it is experienced in. When the transformative ability of space is recognised and suitably responded to, then the architecture thus created is considered temporally sensitive.

184 | F5 Urbanity

The urban itself is not restricted to an all-or-nothing phenomenon either.

It is an articulation of facets which leave room for temporal rhythms and spatial divides (Brighenti, 2014). An investment in these facets of urbanity requires a discovery of these unexplored temporal patterns (Subramani, 2009). Even though the temporal is present around every nook and cranny of the city, it needs to be given due respect by academicians and designers. Recognizing and encouraging temporal use and its propagators in the city, is the first step towards temporal urbanism.

In this context, temporal use refers to any action that uses a place for other than its common use over a period of time. These activities can be transient, i.e take place once for a period of time; recurrent, i.e. repeating or migrant, i.e. the activities may change place from one location to another (Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012).

According to Christiaanse, Oswalt, Misselwitz & Overmeyer (2003), temporal uses do not emerge accidentally but are guided by different factors. They often occur when citizens claim vacant spaces for development of ideas with low financial risk. These ideas may fail sometimes but provide an impetus for a new set of activities. Each site offers a specific temporal use which follows a criteria of niche interests.

It is also noted that these temporal activities function through organised networks and clusters, and are distinguished by user profiles and share a synergy. Thus, initial temporal programs attract similar uses to the same site. These temporal uses are usually initiated by the typology of the associated built permanent, but in other cases may be a response to the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s structure on an urban level. For e.g., food vendors associated with office complexes and metro stations, vs. weekly and heritage bazaars that crop up in specific socio-cultural settings.

Temporal uses often manifest themselves, especially in the Indian context, within the clutches of the informal economy. They allow immigrant populations and other temporal users to be integrated into the urban context by taking refuge from established (exclusive) lifestyles in claimed spaces. Cost free spaces give financially weak sections of society space to grow in an urban environment. However, transitory uses have not been formally recognised by legal regulations or debate, beyond the need to protect the agents who propagate them. Within the framework of land use and planning rights, the topic of temporal limitation has not been addressed (Mehrotra, 2011 & Singh 2015).

Temporal

rekâ&#x20AC;?kk

| 185

Gurudwara road in the a. Morning b. Afternoon c. Late night The same static space is temporally dynamic.

Source: Author

Beyond the legal treatment of temporal use and agents, the public perception of the same varies from city to city. While European cities like Berlin have only recently allowed temporary niches to evolve through alternative movements and subcultures (Christiaanse, Oswalt, Misselwitz & Overmeyer, 2003), Indian cities have a long history of accepting temporal use (Mital 2015).

In fact, Indian cities are dependent on temporal social patterns and spatial use. The fragmentation of formal and informal sectors in the Indian context, has resulted in a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;bazaar like urbanismâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; which exists 186 | F5 Urbanity

through the interstices of the formal modern society. Mehrotra (2013) outlines the existence of a static and kinetic city within the typical Indian urban scenario. The static built comprises of permanent materials and is perceived as an entity. The kinetic city is temporal in nature and constantly modifies itself. It is measured in terms of spaces and experiences. It is an articulation of space which is temporal and expands the spatial limits to include unimagined uses in urban conditions. The processions, festivals, hawkers, street vendors and slum dwellers create a city scape which is in constant motion.

Traditions, myths and legends have illustrated a historical and cultural significance of bazaars, weekly markets, annual fairs and the lone salesman.

They tell of social systems intertwined with commercial ventures and depict an egalitarian urban-space sharing system under an autocratic government. (Mital 2015) A brief study of the history of Delhi, shows that the villages here have been present through its various civilisations, and despite constant political upheaval, have been closely associated with the traditional weekly market serving each village cluster. Compared to contemporary Delhi, residential zones in these areas boast of their own weekly markets established in the vicinity of an old village. Khirki next to Saket, Masud Pur near Sector C Vasant Kunj and Mohammadpur near Safdarjang Enclave are some of the examples (Hashmi, 2007).

Besides the rural significance, temporal markets have been present even in elite Indian society. An example if the ‘great royal square’ in front of Red Fort, which was used by the Hindu kings to set camp, by the royal cavalry to exercise horses and as a site for bazaar (Aggarwal, 2012). However with colonial rule came the belief that traditional economies dependent on these temporary commercial establishments were weak in comparison to the capitalist Western economy (Ray, 1995 as cited in Aggarwal, 2012).

This belief was supported by the perception of marketplaces to be dirty, chaotic and as centres of crime and dissent. This led to modern day town planning principals of sharp boundaries between functional zones. This centralization policy was against Delhi’s traditional mixed use practices and invested in the notion of cities being organised in neat grids. (Chaturvedi, 2010 as cited in Aggarwal, 2012) Despite the city being reorganized into neat grids, hints of its temporal past still manifest themselves in the form of cyclic bazaars, melas and Temporal

rek”kk

| 187

the omnipresent street vendor. The Street Vendors’ Act (2014) defines a street vendor as a ‘person who offers goods or services for sale to the public in a street without having a permanent built-up structure’ and has three categories for the same: stationary, peripatetic and mobile.

Though the system of vendors, and most other temporal agents, may be considered informal and unorganised by authority figures, vending is a sub culture with a structure of its own. Local politicians, policemen, NGOs and administrators are part of this structure. By using political leverage, a stable non-corporate economy sustains the livelihood of the urban poor.(Chatterjee, 2008 as cited in Mital, 2015) Temporal Agents The current urban scenario in New Delhi, comprises of an increasingly diverse and evolving population whose variety cannot be contained by any single master plan or scheme. The resilience, responsiveness and flexibility that is required, is offered by short term, experimental endeavours.

Along with long term planning, spontaneous urban development can be achieved by introducing short term actions to effect long term change.

(Arieff, 2011) In addition to this, a diminishing supply of natural resources indicates the need for investment in infrastructure which can be used to its maximum capacity. In order to accommodate this, it is imperative that the static nature of built be overlooked in favour of more temporary and multidimensional solutions. Temporality then becomes an important factor in solving urban issues and encouraging it should lead to it being a palpable solution in the future.

Consider the case of Red Fort grounds in Delhi. Every year, the Independence Day address by the Prime Minister transforms the place from a symbol of Mughal glory to an exhibition of patriotic devotion.

Consequently, the grounds transform yet again when the annual fair or mela is set up on occasion of Dussehra. The same space is hence used for multiple functions throughout the year, implying an optimum usage of the resource in question—land.

Besides this, the preservation of temporal agents becomes an important factor due to socio-economic and cultural reasons. Mehrotra (2013) expresses that temporal uses of the static in the city blurs the image to include the kinetic city, hence breaking barriers between seemingly 188 | F5 Urbanity

Vendors are chanced upon, and markets allow social mixing.

Source: Author

divided factions of the city. Economically, the kinetic and the static city are inextricably intertwined due to the interdependence of the formal and informal economy in India. The formal economy and its static structures are dependent on the informal economy and its kinetic structures to function. Most people in the formal sector use the services and products of the informal economy and its vendors on a regular basis (Mital 2015).

Besides being economically important, an important aspect of temporal agents and markets is their accessibility and visibility. They tend to originate and congregate around natural markets which are present at transport hubs, commercial areas and public spaces. The accessibility of these spaces implies that consumers don’t have to put extra effort into procuring everyday household items (Aggarwal, 2012). This means that a commuter can procure goods without disrupting their daily routine.

Furthermore, temporary markets may occur as weekly local markets and operate around the formal neighbourhood market. They provide an alternate choice of goods than the formal market, and create a space for recreation. Items which may not be available in the smaller local formal markets ranging from utensils to clothes may be sold in these markets thus catering to unfulfilled consumer needs. Such markets hence cater to multiple socio economic groups, and are a vital part of city life in New Delhi.

Through a common use of urban space and public utilities, temporal use allows for a more equitable social condition through ‘social events’ (Mital, 2015). Temporal use provides for both the underprivileged and privileged parts of society. The informal sector which thrives under these social events in the form of weekly markets and fairs, provides for the city in various forms. These markets attract the majority of the informal sector: casual workers, labourers, domestic help etc. They provide everyday goods

Temporal

rek”kk

| 189

at low-cost to the urban diaspora which controls the cost of living for the urban lifestyle. Thus one may observe a degree of social integration by allowing various social groups to intermix momentarily. Thus the market contributes to creating a sense of community in the city.

Temporal use activate otherwise unused or dead spaces. By occupying vacant spaces, they provide a sense of safety and security by providing ‘eyes on the street’. (Jane Jacobs, 1961 as cited in Goyal, 2014) For example, weekly markets are set up where existing infrastructure is not being used for the primary purpose during that time. These unutilised spaces are put to productive use, hence creating a level of security. In this way, it is beneficial to allow the marginalized of the city to reside and work on public space as long as they don’t contribute to the antisocial elements and instead work with the authorities to create a network of surveillance. The story of Loha Pul in Delhi near Kashmiri Gate is one such instance of the kinetic city making all of Delhi a safer place. The homeless who reside in the bridge, besides bringing the area to life at night, have over the years saved many a people from committing suicide from jumping off the bridge (Sen, 2015).

In addition to being socio culturally important to the city, temporal use becomes an economic asset to vacant plots. When citizens claim vacant spaces for development of ideas with low financial risk then these ideas, despite failing sometimes, provide an impetus for a new set of activities to proliferate. This then encourages further investment, providing the owner with monetary gain. Temporal use is essential in developing challenging locations where investment from regular real estate development may not be feasible. Temporal use allows for people’s enterprise to thrive. Since temporal agents (vendors) are more informed of what the user of a space wants, they can inform the decisions of development and investment.

This ‘bottom-up’ approach is necessary for understanding the nuances of designing in a given space and allow growth to take place.

Given this idea, it may be viable to test out development goals in temporal terms on the site to test the feasibility of the project. This is an example of instigating a bottom up approach in informing the developer about the area (Arieff, 2011). The Flower Market in Ghazipur, Delhi has a potential to fulfil these requirements. The flower market had been shifted from CP, Fatehpuri and Mehrauli to its current location along with a proposal for a built market next to it. The temporal market which exists can inform the design decisions and land use for the adjacent proposed building. The 190 | F5 Urbanity

flower traders who have set up shop can provide solutions on how the permanent should exist.

In locations where functions are defined along with practical and legal limitations, temporal use may provide additional income through multiplication of use and short term intensification. In places where land has been left vacant due to a lack of investment, temporary uses may provide the owner with some monetary gain which helps in maintenance and security. Subsequently the presence of non-commercial use may attract commercial use and lead to further investment for the land owner.

An example from the city of Delhi would be the Durga Puja pandals which are put up annually in various neighbourhoods’ temples and adjacent vacant plots. This cultural activity attracts commercial activities like vendors and hawkers selling snacks, toys, clothes etc.

Temporal projects may also provide solutions for urban development where the political and economic condition does not allow a rapid growth in infrastructure. In these cases, the temporary can be employed through legitimate means by the city administrators on a tight budget for projects and deal with vacant land. Cost effective strategies may be used for rapid economic results. (USA, Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, 2014) Urban Catalyst have demonstrated that temporary uses may facilitate capital oriented development where traditional planning methods may be inadequate. In case of economic stagnation, the use of temporary elements on vacant sites can generate activities. (Christiaanse, Oswalt, Misselwitz & Overmeyer, 2003) Bishop and Williams (2012) report that an interest in temporal use has been due to changes in economic activities. Temporal uses are adaptive strategies by city dwellers to cope with an economic development which produces vacancies and create a demand for alternative strategy.

The financial crisis has led to a decline in perpetual growth and slowed private development. The massive increase in population in cities in many developing countries due to population growth and migration from rural areas has resulted in a boom in the informal sector. The informal sector has provided a safety net in terms of employment for this population. This informal economy has manifested in terms of temporary establishments which exist in tandem in formal economies in the city. Painter and Young (1989) have termed the informal sector as a ‘safety valve’ for masses of migrants. In its most common form, informal temporal is present in cities as street vendors. It is one of the entry level occupations for migrants from rural areas and for the urban Temporal

rek”kk

| 191

There are 340, 000 street vendors, 30% of which are women.

Source: Author

poor. According to the ILO, 20 to 70 percent of urban employment is in the informal sector. The informal sector in the form of temporary use has the capacity to reduce the impact on the environment, absorb labour and provide women in labour force. (Painter & Young, 1989) As is evident, the temporal use of city space is incredibly important to the city both socio-culturally and economically. However, in the present Indian context these temporal agents are threatened by various forces at different levels.

Threats To Existing Temporality The Indian city is temporally informed by two key players: the formal city and the informal city. In the current context, both these players are threatened in one way or the other implying that they need to be protected by the designers and the policy makers of the city, if the temporality of our cities is to be retained and encouraged. The problems faced by urban temporal agents and the phenomenon itself, range from issues of legality to formal practices that are rigid and work against urban elasticity (Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012; Aggarwal, 2012; Christiaanse, Oswalt, Misselwitz & Overmeyer, 2003 & Mital, 2015) Temporal agents are either threatened by the process of formalization which robs them of their inherent temporality, or by the negative perception of these agents by the general public.

Problems faced by temporal agents depend heavily on whether the agent is located at the centre of the city or the periphery (Stevens & Ambler, 2012). The problems faced at the centre of the city usually involve practical and legal issues, making protecting existing temporal elements difficult and introducing them even more so. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;In marginal locations, the question is how to first invite users to unknown or vacant area or siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012).

192 | F5 Urbanity

Since formalization in Indian cities is equated with permanence, and because these markets tend to persist in prime locations within the city— when they are finally formalized, they are often moved to the outskirts of the city or they remain where they are and are converted into multi storeyed permanent structures. Both these formalization techniques, rob the vendors of accessibility and visibility, making them unsuccessful (Goyal, 2014). One can assume that these formalization techniques, rarely account for the needs of vendors and markets beyond their aspiration to become legitimized. Given that most vendors aspire to own a permanent shop one day, temporal structures still need to exist to serve as stepping stones between their aspirations and their current situation on the economic ladder.

A major problem with the periphery of the city for temporal activities, is that they need to be incentivized given the lack of accessibility. Most temporal activities are chanced upon while going to a place, instead of being destinations in themselves.

The periphery of the city becomes involved with temporal activities when (i) temporal agents from within the city are relocated to the outskirts, or (ii) there exist large tracts of land on the periphery which need an interim use (Hashmi, 2007). The popular phool mandis of Delhi, previously located at Mehrauli, Fatehpuri Masjid and Hanuman Masjid, were re-established at one location: the flower market in Ghazipur, on the outskirts of Delhi. This relocation of a temporal activity to the fringes of the city, shows the apathy of policymakers bent upon ‘beautifying’ the Indian city. (Chowdhury, 2011 as cited in Aggarwal 2012). On a smaller scale, even weekly neighbourhood markets have been discouraged by the city (Hashmi, 2007).

Multi storeyed buildings defeat the inherent organic quality of the circulation seen in natural markets. They not only hamper accessibility, but also affect visibility (Myat, 2014). Enclosing vendors within four walls is detrimental to their activity, since they depend on impulse buying which is largely dictated by immediate visibility and easy accessibility. These walls block the view of the vendor from the street, which critically affects their sales (Goyal, 2014). Stacking up vendors on top of each other in an attempt to be more efficient with space, ends up adversely affecting them by negatively affecting their accessibility from the street. Consumers do not want climb up multiple floors for vendor products: 55% of the respondents interviewed in Chennai said they wouldn’t climb up flights Temporal

rek”kk

| 193

Ghazipur flower mandi Source: Author

of stairs just to buy fruits and flowers (Transparent Chennai, 2012 as cited in Goyal, 2014). This is because consumers buy from vendors because of their accessibility. Their presence in streets, markets and near public transport hubs etc. makes it more convenient for people to buy from them than municipal markets (Bhowmik, 2012 and Transparent Chennai, 2012 as cited in Goyal, 2014).

Besides the rigid planning of the city by designers/planners, policymakers further tend to threaten the temporal activation of the city by putting in place strict laws and regulations, which discourages temporal agents from proliferating.

Temporary uses are generally not considered to be (a) part of normal cycles of urban development. Temporary uses are often associated with crisis, a lack of vision and chaos.

But, despite all preconceptions, examples like the vital scene of Berlinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nomadic clubs or temporary events proves that temporary uses can become an extremely successful, inclusive and innovative part of contemporary urban culture.

(Christiaanse,Oswalt,Misselwitz & Overmeyer, 2003)

194 | F5 Urbanity

Another threat to temporal agents in Indian cities, is the stance taken by policy makers and the public regarding their use of public spaces like pavements and plazas. The Supreme Court of India has said (Sudhir Madan & others versus MCD & others, 2006 as cited in Aggarwal, 2012): We have also to keep in mind the principle that the right to use the pathway, footpath etc. is that of the citizens.

No hawker can claim a right to defeat the rights of other citizens. The hawkers are large in number, but the population of citizens is many times more than that of hawkers and, therefore, the fundamental rights of the citizens cannot be put in jeopardy by permitting hawkers and squatters to block roads, footpaths, public parks, etc..

This perception of temporal agents in public spaces as a nuisance by policymakers, is further affirmed by city-beautification drives that happen periodically in an attempt to make the city look more ‘globalized’. These drives inevitably involve temporal agents like street vendors and informal markets getting removed from prime locations in the city, since they are judged to be too ‘shabby, downmarket and dispensable’ for a world class city. Jhabvala (2000, as cited in Mital, 2015) argues that in an attempt to make the city beautiful, a large number of temporal populations are done away with, instead of being upgraded. The entirety of the city’s fabric, the static along with the kinetic, is not made beautiful—instead only select parts are cultivated to create the image of the city. This disregard for the city’s weekly markets, bazaars and vendors was apparent during the Commonwealth Games (2010) when all of these entities were pushed to the background, in order to make New Delhi feel more ‘world class’.

(Chaturvedi, 2010 as cited in Aggarwal, 2012).

Sarnath Bannerjee (2011, as cited in Aggarwal, 2012) believes that these drives aim at displacing the urban poor, whose enterprising nature is the very thing the city is built on.

Amita Baviskar (Baviskar, 2010 as cited in Aggarwal, 2012) adds: ...City pushing back: masses of small entrepreneurs insinuating themselves into every open door of opportunity, dealing with politicians, policemen and municipality in order to defy a formal order that shuts them out Temporal

rek”kk

| 195

While the national vendors act is an attempt at protecting street vendors, policy makers continue to show disregard towards heritage markets and weekly bazaars quintessential to the Indian context. They have failed to recognize these temporal entities as a part of our unique heritage, and as place makers for the city (Mital, 2015). …It fails to see the markets as environmentally-friendly requiring the absolute minimum in infrastructure and energy.

It fails to hail this temporary, ephemeral quality of the markets as their most precious characteristic and warn cities against building them permanent structures by way of upgradation.

Above all it fails to hail these informal markets as a natural meeting-ground between the haves and have-nots. Indeed it needed to recognize that the city of the ‘haves’ had failed to provide this much-needed interface. It needed to recognize that there is a lot the haves with their wasteful habits could learn from here. (Mital, 2015) As a result of such policies, a number of heritage and weekly markets have dismantled or are in the process of being displaced.

The famous Mughal era Sunday Chor Bazaar or Kabaadi Bazaar of Old Delhi has been pulled down in favour of a landscaped green lawn in front of the Red Fort. It was relocated to Burari on the outskirts of Delhi, but this location was too far off to be convenient for regular customers or vendors. (Mukherjee, 2004 as cited in Aggarwal, 2012).

The almost 50 year old iconic Daryaganj Sunday book bazaar almost suffered a similar fate. The MCD was keen onshifting them out to near Rajghat, but the proposal was opposed by the vendors’ organization and loyal customers (Mahapatra, 2005 as cited in Aggarwal, 2012). Like Baviskar (2010, as cited in Aggarwal 2012) pointed out earlier, temporal agents in Indian cities fight an uphill battle against policymakers and their stringent regulations.

Any project’s viability majorly relies on its customers — i.e., the public.

A “pop-up” project must be able to offer a product that can generate enough popular appeal to a certain population — whether aimed at a broad and inclusive market, or a particular niche group— such that the temporary initiative generates enough “critical mass” to be sustainable, even if over only a short-time scale. (USA, Dept. of Housing and Urban 196 | F5 Urbanity

Daryaganj street section in contrast with street on the day of Sunday book market Source: Author

Development, 2014) In many cases temporary users are weak actors, for example new start-ups or small cultural groups with limited resources.

Public acceptance and support is needed to enable their diversifying role in development. (Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012 &Aggarwal, 2012) All in all, temporality in Indian cities is currently threatened by the stance taken by policy makers, the attempt to make Indian cities ‘global’, incorrect techniques of formalization, corruption, rigid land use planning and the perception of temporal agents by the general public.

Preservation of Existing Temporality Addressing temporality formally involves the architect working as an ‘advocate of change’ and not a ‘preservationist’, (Mehrotra 2013) allowing him to address the synergy between built permanence and unbuilt temporality For this synergy to be formally addressed, one needs to recognize the contemporary reality of our cities and develop architecture to shed symbolism and address the kinetic component of the city that currently lives at its threshold. ‘This understanding allows architecture and urban typologies to be transformed through intervention and placed

Temporal

rek”kk

| 197

Charles Correa’s proposal for roadside hawkers (Correa, 1989)

in the service of contemporary life, realities, and emerging aspirations.

Here, the static city embraces the Kinetic City and is informed and remade by its logic.’ (Mehrotra 2013) A variety of attempts for design to accommodate the urban temporality have been made.

Formalizing temporal agents such as markets and the vendors within them, needs to follow a flexible approach that allows the vendor to make as many choices as he can in terms of his location within the complex and the clustering that follows. Allocating specific stalls to vendors within an optimally designed market (designed as per holding capacity), requires a level of foresight impossible for any designer. Such markets are best left to their devices, with their rights protected and their design left largely undictated (Aggarwal, 2012 & Goyal, 2014). Overdesigning and strict regulation in terms of space pose as major threats to vendors and markets that are in the process of formalization.

Data from ten Indian cities shows that a majority of vendors live more than two km from their residence and can’t store their goods at the vending area (Goyal, 2014). Hence, while the formalization of vendors and markets not be lost—but basic amenities such as storage and sanitation still be provided.

It is observed that in Delhi, roads and sidewalks are underutilized by design. Only a few functions are formally recognized while designing them, hence leaving little space for temporal activities to activate the street.

Redesigning streets and roads efficiently would allow us to see potential for not only street markets on these roads, but also for other necessary amenities like sidewalks, parking space, street furniture etc. (Goyal 2014) This method increases the utility of existing infrastructure and the cost

198 | F5 Urbanity

incurred in redesigning it, is much less than building a new space from scratch for the vendors. ‘There is also a limited space for developing new markets in any city; redesigning existing spaces greatly increases the scope for street markets’. (Goyal, 2014)

Temporality in shared urban spaces, Bhogal, Source: Author

In his book The New Landscape (Correa, 1989 as cited in Aggarwal, 2012) architect Charles Correa elaborated on a solution for the issue of hawkers crowding the pavement and thus disrupting both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The sketches show the careful attention Correa gave to the temporal use of public spaces.

Another model that successfully addressed the problem of preserving and protecting temporality in the Indian context, was suggested for Kanpur markets by Netherlands-based company Felixx. Called the Felixx model, the strategy proposed was to categorize markets into three broad categories and to then give design proposals for each. The markets are categorized into: (i) Markets along the Street, (ii) Organised Vendors’ Markets, which have a separate, designated space for vendors to operate.

This space is taken to be off-street. And finally, (iii) Flexible Vending Zones which are used for different purposes at different times of the day.

Temporal

rek”kk

| 199

The vendors in the Felixx model are given an open space on elevated platforms to operate from. The elevation serves a two-fold purpose: rainwater can drain out without spoiling vendors’ wares and also, the vendors cannot extend and encroach on the pedestrian path. (Goyal, 2014).

This also improves the visibility of the vendors, which helps with sales.

Another idea proposed by this model, is the idea of multiple temporal agents sharing the same public space at different times of the day. (Goyal, 2014) For instance, a street may function as a carriageway in office hours and cordoned off to host vendors market at night and early morning.

‘Depending on factors like the space available, the traffic flow per unit time, availability of alternate routes for motorists, proximity and ease of connectivity to other vendor markets in the area, population density, pedestrian flow etc., the time-sharing market may be developed as Daily, Weekly or Festival markets.’ (Goyal, 2014) The difference between such time-sharing markets and standard markets, is that only temporary structure can be built.

It is also recommended that ‘incidental space’ in existing infrastructure be used for vending when the primary function of the infrastructure is not affected by the secondary function of vending. Examples of such incidental space would be flyovers, subways and skywalk, which could be used to create temporal markets, as has been done in the case of Mumbai (Goyal 2014).

The temporal can exist when the primary function of the static is not in use. An example of such a relationship in Delhi can be of the Daryaganj book market. The market in Daryaganj is a centre of commercial activities with heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic. However, on Sundays the formal market is closed and the pavement is occupied by vendors who sell books at subsidised prizes. This weekly book market thus exists in the interstices of the formal market and justifiably uses the infrastructure provided for the area. The entrepreneurship which exists in the temporary aspect ‘demonstrates the ability to fold the informal and formal into a symbiotic relationship’. (Mehrotra 2013) While the participation of policy makers is necessary for temporal urbanity to become a reality, one needs to ensure that policy makers do not end up exercising excessive intervention with respect to temporal activities.

200 | F5 Urbanity

Promoting Temporality Besides protecting temporal elements within the city, it is also necessary to create models and strategies for encouraging a temporal urban design of the city of Delhi. As mentioned earlier, the idea of temporality is not new to India (Aggarwal 2012). With colonial rule came the belief that traditional economies dependent on temporary commercial establishments were weak in comparison to the capitalist Western economy. This led to modern day town planning principles of sharp boundaries between functional zones. This centralization policy was against traditional Indian mixed use practices and invested in the notion of cities being organised in neat grids.

While the temporal Indian condition persisted over the years, it was alienated from the static built of the city and left unaddressed by those who build our cities (Mehrotra, 2013).

Modern day Indian cities need this gap between the static and the kinetic worlds to be dissolved to solve the many issues that this has resulted in. A balance between spaces assigned rigid use and spaces designed elastically will then result in the formal address of the gaps that manifest in the traditional practice of urban development (Mehrotra, 2013) Before we delve into how the urban structure of the city can be made more temporal, it is important look into why this is necessary The Indian context is characterized by temporal social patterns and spatial use. It is this kinetic drama that persists in the static fabric of the city which dominates the popular visual culture of Indian Cities (Mehrotra, 2013). Much of our built identity is derived from the temporal that live in its cracks and crevices. Encouraging a temporal urban structure is as much a step forward as it is an acknowledgment of the traditional Indian city. Hence, encouraging temporality to manifest itself architecturally and on an urban level in Delhi, will perhaps help the city embrace the entirety of its identity instead of being in conflict with it. In an increasingly globalized context where architecture is not defined by region any more, one needs to question what the identity of our cities will be.

Besides, dealing with socio-cultural identity, the formal urban acknowledgment and encouragement of temporality is of utmost importance to a city that is running out of space.

Temporal

rekâ&#x20AC;?kk

| 201

More and more rural land continues to be converted for urban use in Delhi. The total area of NCT of Delhi is 1483 Sq. Kms. as per ‘Population Census’ 1991, 2001 and 2011. However, its rural and urban composition has changed over the years due to urbanization. In 1991, the reported rural area was 797.66 sq. km, while the urban area was 685.34 sq. km. In 2001, an additional 239.34 sq. km of rural area in the NCT was converted for urban use. And finally, in 2011, another 188.97 sq. km of rural was converted (Census 2011).

Just as the city runs out of rural land to convert, the population density in New Delhi is higher than any other state. The overall population density of Delhi has increased from 9340 persons per sq.km in 2001 to 11297 persons per sq.km in 2011 which is higher when compared to all Indian states and union territories (Census 2011).

A time will come when there will be no land left to urbanize, and that coupled with an ever growing population, will force us to look at how underutilized the city’s urban space really is.

We simply cannot afford to design spaces that are used for one function at a specific time of the day only, anymore. We cannot afford city planning models that propose single use, either (Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012).

In cases where multiple uses are already realized in the city, law makers use the rigidity of the master plan as reason enough to abolish the same (Singh 2015). Very recently, on August 20th 2015, the Delhi High Court demanded that the Ram Leela function, which happened annually at the Parade Ground parking lot area in Chandni Chowk, be moved elsewhere.

A bench of judges issued an order stating that the use of these grounds is in violation of the Delhi Master Plan as the Ram Leela function would block the multilevel parking facilities there (Sharma 2015).

This example makes one wonder—why was the design of the multi-level parking provided not sensitive to a function that the same space had been carrying out for the past 57 years? Why could the Parade Grounds not be designed and planned to carry out multiple functions? And, finally—why is it so easy to dismiss temporal activities, in favour of what the rigidity of the master plan proposes?

The rigidity of the master plan has perhaps been the biggest reason for the temporality of the city being dismissed by formal agencies (Lehtovuori 202 | F5 Urbanity

Temporal landuse as experienced in Taimoor nagar (Gurudwara road) Source: Author

& Ruoppila, 2012). Most cities are captured by an idea of the final urban image, in the form of a rigid zoning plan and master plans. These static layouts for the city pose a problem to its urban growth and its temporal existence. Assigning singular functions to large tracts of land implies that the city depends on large scale financial investment from a single player.

Often times, these investments depend greatly on the economic climate of the city in question.

In booming economies, temporal uses tend to get supported by the local government, whereas in stagnating cities there is almost no financial support for temporary uses. This dependency on the general economic situation of the city has a negative effect on its temporal planning.

‘Stagnating low-pressure economies open up more spatial niches for temporary uses and alternative enterprises, but there is hardly any public financial support for these undertakings’(Christiaanse,Oswalt,Misselwitz & Overmeyer, 2003). What this implies is that rigid single-use land use plans do not support the economic climate of most cities, let alone their temporality.

Besides discouraging the temporal activation of the city, rigid city plans once realized soon become outdated and ask for revisions and further development. However, since all of this development tends to be written in stone, the cycle becomes never ending and perpetually problematic. The traditional process of drawing up master plans for the city, is incredibly slow and hence cannot respond to quick short term changes. So while these plans realize the city three dimensionally, the temporal aspect of the city is neglected. ‘Traditional formal planning addresses the question of what should be developed, while the question of how to develop is left unanswered’ (Christiaanse,Oswalt,Misselwitz & Overmeyer, 2003).

Temporal

rek”kk

| 203

Even within this rigid system of urban development, gaps get created before land is developed which need to be addressed temporally. When a plot of land is to be (re)developed or a building occupied, it is assumed that it will be built over and occupied immediately. This does not usually happen, and vacant urban spaces are created. While such gaps in the urban fabric can easily be fixed by planning the city temporally, with short term land use proposals—temporary use is not acceptable to government bodies (Christiaanse,Oswalt,Misselwitz & Overmeyer, 2003). As mentioned earlier, temporal planning and uses are considered to be a result of crisis to the government, instead of indigenous design solutions to the city’s problems.

Given these issues, one realizes that designing today is not a three dimensional process any more, but a four dimensional idea (Mehrotra 2013). Hence, planning the temporal becomes just as important as planning the physical.

Towards Temporal Urbanism So the question now becomes, how can one encourage a temporal urbanism for the city of Delhi?

The primary thing that governments can do to allow for temporal urbanism to become a reality is to leave areas loosely defined in planning terms.

Hence, an approach of ‘weak planning’ (Christiaanse, Oswalt, Misselwitz & Overmeyer, 2003) is encouraged, as opposed to rigid planning of cities that does not account for the temporal nature of the city. A weak planning system would allow the city to deal with changing situations and would allow the city’s response to time to be manifested formally. Since weak planning would involve short term uses of land, no large investments would be needed to activate spaces and instead a relationship would be created between a variety of temporal users and existing resources. Such a model would suit the city of Delhi regardless of its economic climate in the future.

In these contexts a series of urban tools need to be developed less as physical and build interventions, but more on the level of moderation, communication, networking etc. (Christiaanse, Oswalt, Misselwitz & Overmeyer, 2003)

204 | F5 Urbanity

Urban Pioneers (2012) emphasises the facilitating role of a local authority. This means that it “can improve the overall framework by adapting urban planning tools and models to meet temporary users specific requirements”. The local authority can instruct different agents to implement temporary use or simply tolerate a spontaneous development.

Bishop and Williams argue that in our times of less public resources available and weaker economic perspectives ahead, master planning should change towards “a loosely defined end vision, rather than a fixed state”, which would enable “phased development often as a range of temporary stages along a more flexible path”. (Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012) The Urban Catalyst Project (2003) carried out in Europe to investigate temporal use, looks at four different contexts in which temporal use may be manifested formally. In case of buildings that need to be assigned use during their period of vacancy, a framework can be created in which a basic analysis of the building is done to check whether it meets the basic infrastructural needs for temporary use to happen. In the case of large tracts of land that need to be temporally activated, before they are developed for future use, nascent, experimental and creative ideas may be allowed to manifest in the absence of competition. This could then become a platform for experimenting with new commercial typologies, etc. In areas where temporal use already exists, a framework needs to be provided which allows for communication between the involved temporal entities, policy makers, and all other stakeholders. While in the case of public land, urban designers and planners may serve as mediators between temporal agents and the government; in the case of land that is privately owned, the framework would involve a mediation between the private owner, temporal users and the government.

Assurances in a temporary use contract with the owner, while subletting the site to various user groups is a technique that be adopted for the temporal activation of privately owned land. This mediating role proved essential to build trust between the parties and provide conflict management in moments of disagreements (Christiaanse, Oswalt, Misselwitz & Overmeyer, 2003).

Temporal planning and activation of space could be a technique used to activate cities in decline. Rapid urbanization and movement away from Temporal

rek”kk

| 205

industrialization in major cities, leaves behind vast tracts of industrial land awaiting development. Temporal uses for the land in this interim period may be proposed by ‘soft land use plans’ (Christiaanse, Oswalt, Misselwitz & Overmeyer, 2003) that allow the same. In these cases, the temporal would dignify urban life, improve the quality of urban space and offer new (small-scale or low-profit) business opportunities. Such new uses have proven to be socially and culturally highly important, even though they may not have the power to overturn the negative demographic spiral. For example, in Groningen, the Netherlands, Spare Space transforms vacant shops and office buildings into mobile offices (Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012).

Ruoppila (2012) has pointed out that post-socialist cities have enormous possibilities for temporary uses in reasonably located former industrial areas, due to the presence of vacant land. Nicole Blumner and Lang Ho (as cited in Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012) note that some cities and private developers are trying to create interim uses for lots standing otherwise vacant. An example is the “Platoon Kunsthalle”, a migrant cultural space in Berlin (with sister projects also in Seoul and Gwangju in South Korea) which stays few years in each lot based on deals with the landowners (Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012).

In cases where additional land needs to be acquired for temporal use, a platform needs to be created for discourse between different temporal participants, government agencies and designers. In cases where there is a lack of direct investment resources, public authorities can initiate and mediate processes by, for example, assisting in locating sites, relaxing licensing procedures, relinquishing a site on favourable terms, or giving financial advice. (Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012) Besides, facilitating easy acquisition of land temporally, attention needs to be paid to the location and accessibility of the land selected for temporal development. Besides this, there needs to be a level of trust between the owner of the space and the temporal agents using it. (Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012) One problem is that the tenants are often individuals or small associations or companies, whereas the property owners are institutional. Under such conditions, trust can be supported by forming temporary use associations or alliances, or by establishing intermediary agencies. Among 206 | F5 Urbanity

simple things that cities can do to assist temporary uses, includes taking head leases to buildings or letting their own property for temporary uses, encouraging establishment of intermediary organisations, support networking, marketing and promotion, or provide databases of vacant properties.

However, the policy intervention should be moderate since temporary uses primarily require cheap spaces and freedom from constraints. (Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012) The Urban Catalyst project concluded in their study that besides playing a facilitating role, the government should make its own real estate available for temporal use in order to encourage other types of owners to do the same. In the case of Delhi, this would mean that more and more public land be allocated for temporal use.

Besides looking at temporal land use plans and mixed use FSI (which is the first step towards a temporal urbanism), the Delhi government should make more and more of its own real estate available for temporal use.

Such an arrangement, by setting an example, would also help encourage private owners of property to enter into mutually beneficial relationships with temporal agents. In this case, the municipality would have to serve as a mediator between the two parties involved, and offer incentives to private users for entering into such relationships.

As we came to these recommendations in our research, we realized that a major hurdle which would have to be overcome for temporal urbanism to become a reality is for people to accept it. The negative perception of temporal use, can only be changed by the implementation of these models on a smaller scale by urban designers and architects (Mehrotra 2013). A paradigm shift is required, with respect to the concepts of ownership and territoriality. One needs to rethink the idea of owning city space as opposed to occupying it, and what makes one a legitimate citizen.

Arguments that question the cost at which temporal use is initiated, are inevitably rooted in the idea that ‘not everyone’s time is equally important or valuable’ (Raman 2015).

Conclusion Temporality in the case of Delhi is a situation that both needs protection encouragement. The temporality of the city is threatened by rigid planning and the current method of formalization that equates formalization with Temporal

rek”kk

| 207

permanence. Given the rapid urbanization, growing population, density and the shortage of land experienced in our cities today, it is of utmost importance that multiple functions be carried out in the same space at an urban level. While formalization of temporal activities is necessary for legitimization and protection against harassment, it is important to remember that formalization does not mean becoming permanent.

More than design considerations, it is important for dialogue to be created between different bodies participating in the temporality of the city. Once dialogue has been created between law makers, the municipality, temporal agents themselves, designers and the public, the dream of a temporal urbanism might just become a reality.

Contemporary economic, social and cultural trends have increased interest in the temporal uses of properties and urban space(Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012). In the case of India, it is necessary that the temporality of the city first be perceived differently, and in its entirety.

The popular metaphorical reference to ‘making Bombay Shanghai’ is emblematic of the one-dimensional imagination that planners and politicians bring to bear on decisions about the city’s development. An obvious extension of the Shanghai metaphor is the notion of remaking the city in a singular image and using architecture as the spectacle to represent a global aspiration. The radical transformation of the city’s physical nature is seen as the most immediate method to make the city viable for integration in a global network of cities and economies. Such global implications also raise political questions that challenge the democratic processes of city governance. (Mehrotra 2013) It is this two dimensional view of the city, as experienced by designers and policy makers that necessitates an ideology shift in practised architecture and city planning. It is of utmost importance that the city be first seen as a temporal body, for its temporality to be formally addressed. This address of the city’s temporality, would result in a city structure that is socioeconomically inclusive and responsive (Lepeska, 2012 &Lehtovuori & Ruoppila, 2012).

Subramani (2009) states that our cities grow constantly change with their changing environment and natural landscape, and hence so urban designers and architects need to pioneer methods to integrate their 208 | F5 Urbanity

structures into the natural world rather than conflicting with it.

The idea that perhaps all buildings shouldn’t aspire to permanence represents a huge shift for architectural ideology. Without the burden of permanence, architects, designers, builders and developers can take advantage of and implement current technologies faster. Architecture could be reusable, recyclable and sustainable. Recast in this way, it could better solve seemingly unsolvable problems. And still succeed in creating a sense of place. (Arieff, 2011) Bishop (as cited in Lepeska, 2012) claims that it’s too soon to tell whether temporal urbanism is ‘a passing fad or a lasting paradigm shift within the field’ (Lepeska, 2012). He plans to watch two key measures to tell if it has worked, in the coming years: the extent to which major colleges and universities incorporate temporary concepts into their curriculum, and the uptake among municipal officials (Lepeska, 2012 & Subramani, 2009).

It is only when such concepts are discussed in academic discourse and considered by law making and enforcing authorities, that they become reality. Until that happens in the Indian context, ‘temporal urbanism’ will become a concept as fleeting as the urbanism it talks about.

Temporal

rek”kk |

209

Bibliography Aggarwal, B. (2011). Temporary Informal Markets in the Modern Indian city, taking the case of Delhi. New Delhi: Unpublished Dissertation , School of Planning and Architecture .

Arieff, A. (2011, December 19). It’s Time to Rethink ‘Temporary’. The New York Times .

Benjamin, S. (2010). The Nomadic City Appropraites the Street. www.cluster.eu.

Brighenti, A. M. (2014). Early Morning - A temporal interstice in urban life. Early morning – As the city wakes up , 15,16.

Broschart, M. The informal sector in developing countries. Hamburg: HacfenCity Universitatz.

Datta, B. (1988, February 20). The Great Black Hole. Economic and Political Weekly , pp. 360-362.

DeLuca, J. S. (2012). Street Vendors in the Global City: Exploring Genoa’s Informal Economy. The Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography .

Development, U. D. (2015, October 20). Temporary Urbanism: Alternative Approaches to Vacant Land. Evidence Matters .

Flora M. Painter, A. Y. (1989). The Informal Sector:Perspectives from the Literature. Arthur Young , Bureau for Private Enterprise U.S. Agency for International Development.

Goyal, A. (2014). Spatial Management of Vending Markets. Centre for Civil Society.

Kärrholm, M. (2014). The square of events- Rhythmanalysing the time-spaces of an urban public place. Early morning – As the city wakes up , 9.

Kees Christiaanse, P. O. (2003). Urban Catalyst. Berlin: Studio Urban Catalyst.

Lepeska, D. (2012, May 1). The Rise of the Temporary City. The CityLab .

Mehrotra, R. (2013). Kinetic City - Emerging Urbanism in India. Mumbai.

Mehrotra, R. (2008). Negotiating thr Static and Kinetic CIties. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

Mital, R. (2015). The Importance and Neccessity of the Informal Market as Public Place in Delhi. New Delhi: Department of Architecture, School of Planning and Architecture.

Myat, B. (2014, December 12). Rangoon Municipality Plan to Move Street Vendors into Multi-Storey Markets. The Irrawaddy .

Naik, A. (2013). Contextualizing Urban Livelihoods : Street Vending in India. New Delhi.

Rahul Mehrotra, F. V. (2014). The Ephemeral City: Research Seminar on Temporary Urbanism. Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Srivastava, P. (1992, October 10). Are Formal and Informal Credit Markets in India Interlinked? Economic and Political Weekly , pp. 2241-2245.

Subramani, P. (2009). The Evolving Temporality of Cities. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Tomsen, S. (2014). A dangerous proximity - The night-time economy and the city’s early morning city’s early morning. Early morning – As the city wakes up , 37,39.

210 | F5 Urbanity

In the Pink, in the Open, in Delhi?

Urban health concerns have evolved over the past few decades and hence the health considerations in architecture have followed suite. With the change in health concerns, public spaces are now more important than ever. Open public spaces, like parks, plazas and streets, form an integral part of the city and can have significant contribution in promoting the health of the inhabitants. However, these benefits are not always realized to their full potential due to many challenges that determine the extent of usage of a public space. This seminar tries to understand how these challenges manifest themselves in the design of the public realm.

Dhiraj Sharma | R. Thirth | S Lian | Vipasha Midha Guide : Prof. Manoj Mathur Chairperson : Dr. Prashant Mathur 211

D

elhi holds the crown for the greenest capital in the world whilst bearing the tag of the most polluted city in terms of air pollution.

The mere irony of the situation is indicative of the severity of health and environment related issues in the city. Not only in Delhi, but all over the world, urban health is now becoming an urgent concern. Human beings are faced with increasing environmental issues like pollution, climate change, energy crisis, depleting biodiversity, new disease epidemics, these being consequences of industrial production and consumerist lifestyle.

As a result we live in the constant fear of risk of diseases and contamination.

“Delhi holds the crown for the greenest capital in the world”

During the early industrialization, public health and urban planning found a common origin in the reformers’ efforts to undo negative aspects of urbanization on the health of enervated city residents. Proper sewage systems and building codes are some examples of such efforts.

However the two fields parted ways in the early 20th century when the focus of urban planning became the built environment and health professionals started focusing on biomedical causes of disease and disability (Northridge 2011). Today, more than a century later, health disparities in cities are widening worldwide despite targeted public health interventions. When too many people start facing the same problems, indiscipline alone cannot be the cause. Living environment must also contribute to it. Hence it would be prudent to say that as architects, we can no longer overlook health concerns. In this seminar, we are trying to look at how these health related issues manifest themselves in the public realm of the city. Public spaces form an important part of the city and their efficient functioning is essential for addressing the health issues of the city. As defined by WHO “A healthy city is one that is continually creating and improving

212 | F5 Urbanity

those physical and social environments and expanding those community resources which enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and developing to their maximum potential.”

In Delhi, more than 50% of the population lives in the unplanned areas with many lacking a decent shelter. Under such circumstances any permanent shelter is better than no shelter. For such situations, usable public spaces become even more important, as they provide the much needed relief from sub-standard living conditions. Social inequalities in any city have a major contribution to the health inequalities of the city.

Even though there is 22 sqm of green cover per capita, these numbers have little meaning because of the distribution disparity. While spaces like Lutyen’s Delhi have tremendous green cover that is not being used to its full potential, places like Seemapuri struggle for every inch of space.

Parks are a luxury in such areas, and kids grow up in garbage dumps. The situation calls for the need of improving existing public areas, as well as for new public dimension in the limited space available.

A public space is a shared resource accessible by the community that acts as a self-organising public service. It is a place where collective values and experiences are created. But what defines a public space? A public space is defined by the activities in as well as around the space. The type of neighbourhood, land use in the immediate surroundings, and connectivity of community spaces to their neighbourhood make each space unique, with a set of characteristics particular to that place. For the sake of this seminar, when we talk of public spaces, we refer to open public spaces, i.e. parks, plazas and streets. When one talks of open public spaces, parks and plazas come to mind. However, the street network is also a part of this public realm. Not only are streets important for connections and access to these spaces, but in themselves can act as public spaces for leisure as well as activity if designed well. This is where walkability of the city comes in. Currently cities with wide corridors and flyovers are designed to serve the vehicular traffic. It is also one of the biggest factors contributing to health deterioration. Inactivity (lack of physical exercise due to reduced scope of walking), deteriorating air quality because of exhaust fumes emitted from the vehicles, vehicle injuries and road accidents are some of its worst outcomes. People with low incomes, people with disabilities, the elderly and the minorities suffer the consequences more adversely. Communities with lower socio-economic status have limited access to quality housing facilities and neighbourhoods which limit their

“Rising need for a holistic approach and intersectoral collaboration”

In the Pink, In the Open, In Delhi?

| 213

movement and physical activity outdoors, as well as provide few healthy food options. In addition, these communities, designed for young adults, tend to become unnavigable for the elderly. The increase in chronic diseases like arthritis, asthma, obesity and diabetes, presents a paramount need for communities where elderly and disabled people can function and contribute effectively to the society without having to resolve to private transport vehicles (Jackson 2003).

In the face of complex urban environments, there is a rising need for a holistic approach and inter-sectoral collaboration to address these issues as they are well beyond the scope of any single authority. This paper tries to understand the complex relationship between public spaces and public health, by looking at the challenges that hinder the health benefits of public spaces, as well as some of the measures that have been taken around the world to deal with these challenges. Before we move on to the challenges though, it is imperative to understand the health problems existing in the city, and what are the urban factors that contribute to these issues.

Health Scenario in India India is a developing country, and on its path to growth faces many challenges. One of the most important challenges amongst these is that of public health. Not only is health a fundamental right but also imperative for effective economic growth of the country. However as we progress more towards development, the health concerns, along with other challenges, are also evolving into those of developed countries. We now find ourselves facing the twin challenge of feeding the poor population and at the same time fighting with the growing epidemic of obesity. Chronic non-communicable diseases like diabetes, asthma, obesity, heart diseases and depression are now increasing, especially in the cities . Presently, about 50% of deaths in India are due to chronic illnesses. According to a study conducted by WHO in 2010, the problem of chronic diseases is no longer limited to western countries, but has become a major cause for concern for the developing countries as well (Merten 2013). Krebs (2008) in his bulletin of the World Health Organisation points out that major killers like heart diseases and cancer are often associated with the so-called “lifestyle factors”. According to him, ‘here people often refer to “lifestyle choices”, but the notion of “choice” can be troublesome, as choices are often constrained by the actions of others, such as industry and government, and by socioeconomic, environmental and genetic fac214 | F5 Urbanity

tors.’ It is indisputable that environment plays a significant role in not only determining lifestyle choices but also as a contributor to individual and public health. In an urban environment, architects and planners act as principal designers of built environment, and therefore it is prudent for us to have a sensitive approach towards the issue. According to Worldwatch Institute (2015), ‘Diets high in fats and sugars and a lack of exercise—two lifestyle trends that increasingly afflict people in developing countries—are major factors behind the rise in certain chronic diseases.’

Incorporating exercise into daily life is a challenge for increasingly urbanised population. In megacities like Delhi, more and more people are now entering the formal workspace where lives tend to be more sedentary than the informal sector. A proactive approach is necessary to tackle the issue. However, it is not only the sedentary lifestyle of formal sector that is problematic. There is as much prevalence of chronic conditions amongst the urban poor. The decrease in physical activity is evident in urban poor and rural areas as well. According to Gowda et al. (2015), ‘While it remains contentious whether, in a strict epidemiological sense, the poor in India suffer greater burden from chronic conditions compared to rich, there seems to be consensus that they form a highly vulnerable group that needs urgent attention in terms of care and control of chronic conditions’.

“Presently, about 50% of deaths in India are due to chronic illnesses.”

Public spaces in a city form a key component of urban fabric. The availability and quality of public spaces in any neighbourhood play an important role in determining a person’s lifestyle. With the increasing burden of chronic diseases, the quality of community spaces is now more important, not only to increase the levels of physical activity in people, but also to provide quality social interaction and reduce stress and anxiety. Public spaces are key contributors to mental and social health of an individual, especially where residential conditions are sub-standard. For children, access to parks and playgrounds promotes their physical and mental development, and provide a much needed respite for the elderly and sick.

Hence, it is safe to say that public spaces impact all sectors of society and all age groups of people. Improving the quality of public spaces as well as their relation with the neighbourhood can not only promote healthy In the Pink, In the Open, In Delhi?

| 215

lifestyle but induce a sense of community in the neighbourhood promoting the overall community health. Through this seminar, we have tried to establish how public spaces can contribute towards individual and public health and what are the challenges to this effect. However before establishing the health benefits of public spaces, one must understand what ‘healthy’ means.

Changing concept of health

“Four basic pillars of health care – preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative”

With the concept of health changing over centuries, health is no longer associated with mere absence of illness. It has become associated with a personal general well being, including biological, physical, social, and cultural functioning. WHO defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” The definition that WHO provides has been debated upon a lot of times. Most health professionals would agree that this definition is insufficient to define the concept of health. However this definition provides us with three basic determinants of human health, i.e. physical, mental and social well being. While certain health issues like sanitation, fire codes, access for people with disabilities, workplace safety, and lead paints have been a concern for the designers for a long time, the concept of health has evolved. The present generation has its own set of health issues that can no longer be ignored. Not only the physical health issues have increased, but mental health problems are also on the rise. Mental and social health issues have largely been overlooked in the field of architecture, but with the change in health scenario, these too are becoming a concern.

Mental Health refers to mental and cognitive well being. According to Medical News Today (2015), a person who is free from mental illnesses and has the ability to cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community is a mentally healthy person. Social Health involves an individual’s ability to form satisfying interpersonal relationships, adapt comfortably to various social situations and act appropriately in a variety of settings (Koshuta n.a.).

Dr. Mathur, scientist from Indian Council of Medical Research, talks of four basic pillars of healthcare – preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative. While curative and rehabilitative healthcare require specially designed environments, preventive and promotive healthcare compo216 | F5 Urbanity

Physical Activities

De-Stress

nents can be included in everyday design considerations. Having said that, it is also important to note, that public spaces, by providing relaxing environments and facilitating social interaction, help speed up the process of recovery and rehabilitation of the patients.

Social Interaction Fig 1 : Factors for healthy living

Health Benefits of Public spaces Availability of quality spaces for recreation and social interaction bring out positive behavioural changes among individuals and reduce stress and anxiety levels. Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2014) points out the many benefits of public spaces. Being part of a busy street or plaza brings about a ‘feel good buzz’ while spending quiet time sitting in a park has therapeutic benefits. A community space provides opportunity for people to display their culture and identities and brings awareness of differences and diversity. It also provides opportunities for children and young adults to play, meet or simply ‘hang out’. All these have important benefits and help to create local attachments, which are at the heart of a sense of community.

Preventive Benefits Availability of community spaces acts as an incentive for the community to engage more in physical activities. Increased physical activity reduces the risk of obesity among children as well as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Physical exercise, as well as socialising are also effective stress reducing agents, and hence reduce the anxiety and depression tendencies.

Promotive Benefits Increased social interaction within the community helps in the social skill development, hence promoting the social health of the community. It imIn the Pink, In the Open, In Delhi?

| 217

Fig 2 : Garbage disposal in public spaces at the Shahadara Lake.

Fig 3 : Unclean spaces can be a cause for many infections.

proves communication skills and instils among individuals a sense of accountability and empathy for others. All these factors contribute towards boosting confidence and hence enhancing mental and emotional security.

Well designed community spaces not only promote healthy lifestyle but also counter the ill effects that unsatisfactory living conditions have on peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health to an extent. In sub-standard residential areas especially, community spaces play a crucial role by providing an alternative space for leisure and other activities that do not require use of private quarters.

Challenges to health benefits While the health benefits are plenty, they are not always realised. Due to many factors at play, public spaces often do not get used to their full potential. Also there is often a disparity in the availability of public spaces that creates an unfavourable situation for certain social and economic groups. Hence one can say that the relationship between a public space and its health effects is complex. Apart from directly affecting health, various indirect factors also determine the extent of these health benefits.

Moreover, if poorly designed and ill maintained, spaces end up creating health problems instead. For example, public areas are where people are

218 | F5 Urbanity

most likely to catch and transfer infections. Isolation of disease causing agents (like garbage dumps, and standing water where mosquitoes breed) is imperative to ensure a clean and healthy environment. Apart from the disease causing agent, preventing the spread of diseases is also important.

Thus, there are many challenges that reduce the social value and health benefits of a public space. To ensure that public spaces serve their purpose, it is imperative to consider these challenges while designing these spaces and the neighbourhood. Some of these challenges are as follows.

Sanitation Improper sanitation, garbage disposal and drainage not only make spaces unattractive, but also cause many health problems. Such conditions can be seen at places like railway stations, streets and even parks. Unclean spaces can be a cause for many infections. Improper drainage can lead to water logging, rendering the space unusable during monsoons. Open drains in the vicinity can cause bad odour in the space as well as become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, increasing the risk of diseases like malaria and dengue. The rising cases of dengue in Delhi this year is an example of such neglect. Frequently in the vicinity of public parks, one can find garbage dumps that not only form an unpleasant sight but also become the source for unpleasant smells that render the surrounding region unattractive. Industrial facilities in the neighbourhood might also result in toxic unpleasant fumes that can be potentially harmful as well as unattractive for the spaces in question.

Overcrowding Crowding is a perception and in this regard very different from high density. It refers to unwanted closeness of people resulting in too little space for the desired activity. It is subjective to situations and can induce significant psychological stress. Overcrowding in public spaces is due to lack of spatial availability and since Delhi has a severe lack of spatial availability, overcrowded markets and plazas are not an uncommon sight.

Consider Sadar Bazaar, for instance. With the festive season going on, a trip to Sadar Bazaar can have you at the end of your rope in no time. In the river of people flowing in both direction, one has no way but to fight their way through. According to Aicher (1998), women in particular are prone to it. A felt lack of privacy and dissatisfaction with the place result in perceiving high density as a threat, hence triggering a stress response.

In the Pink, In the Open, In Delhi?

| 219

Fig 4 : Overcrowding in Sadar Bazaar Fig 5 : Women are more prone to Overcroding in general.

Children too show tendencies for aggression and conflicts when confined to smaller playgrounds. However, people who are engaged in activities in a crowded environment feel less crowded. It is the quality of interaction and nature of separation that is more pathological than actual number of people in a space. In public spaces, overcrowding leads to high pressure on infrastructure and facilities, as well as lowered maintenance, thus rendering the places unattractive.

While designing residential areas and work spaces, care should be taken to provide ample community spaces to accommodate for all requirements.

Territorialisation of space also helps lower the perception of crowding, hence reducing the pathological effects of overcrowding.

Air Pollution In May 2014, WHO labelled Delhi as the most polluted city in the world when it comes to air quality (The Times of India 2014). Air pollution can give rise to diseases like stroke, heart ailments, lung cancer and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma. Because of high pollution levels in public spaces, these spaces might end up doing more harm than good to a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health.

220 | F5 Urbanity

According to a recent survey conducted by CSE outside Mother’s International School, the average PM 2.5 levels from 8 am to 9 am was 718 micrograms per cubic metre while the safety standard for a 24-hour average for PM 2.5 in India suggests about 60 micrograms per cubic metre.

The difference is frightening!

Fig 6 : TOI news article on air pollution in Delhi.

According to Centre for Science and Environment: “In the past five years, the city has done all it can to reduce pollution. It has advanced emission norms of vehicles; strengthened its ‘pollution under control’ system with new equipment; capped the number of its auto rickshaws; converted buses to CNG; made it mandatory for new light commercial vehicles to run on CNG; and restricted commercial vehicles from entering the city. But in spite of all these actions, pollution levels are on the rise. Delhi has more than four million registered vehicles. Currently, the city adds over 1,000 new personal vehicles each day on its roads.

This is almost double what was added in the city in pre-CNG days. And a considerable number of these vehicles run on

“The city adds over 1000 new personal vehicles each day on its roads. ”

In the Pink, In the Open, In Delhi?

| 221

Fig 7 : Green Facts about Delhi.

diesel. . . The most worrying trend is a decreasing ridership of Delhi’s buses – according to a 2008 study done by RITES, between 2001 to 2007-08, the bus’s share in the modal split has fallen from 60 per cent to 41 per cent.”

The dependence on private vehicles is a major cause of concern for the city, and calls for a need for more efficient public transport system. Walkability in the city is an urgent need of the hour.

Availability and distribution Delhi is the greenest capital of the world, with green cover upto 22 percent (The Economic Times 2013). The available space for usage, however, is very limited. Moreover, there is an evident disparity in the distribution of parks and plazas, especially in the low- income areas. Dedicated public spaces seem to be a luxury in these places. Since the burden of chronic diseases is higher in urban poor, the lack of public spaces is a serious concern. Although there is 22 sqm of green cover per capita, these numbers mean little because of the distribution disparity.

An evident example of distribution disparity in Delhi is the green patch along the ring-road starting from the Sarai Kale Khan to the Purana Qila junction in one huge landmass. This huge patch is primarily split into the Millennium Park, Humayun’s Tomb, Sundar Nagar Park, Delhi Zoological Park and the Purana Qila region. These individual spaces are, completely and at times partially, disconnected from each other. The potential of these spaces is tremendous considering the proximity of Yamuna River Front Project and its accessibility; however the absence of residential areas surrounding these green landmasses is critical in undermining the same. On the contrary, the areas surrounding the Old Delhi railway station look in desperate need of public/open interaction spaces.

222 | F5 Urbanity

Proximity of parks and recreation areas plays a major role in increasing the potential of its use. According to National Recreation and Park Association (n.a.), “Park visitation is much more frequent and physical activity levels are much higher for those who live within walking distance of a park.” Moreover, neighbourhoods with sufficient spatial availability for interaction will have a higher sense of community. Besides spatial availability, the facilities, and quality of the space also determine the usage of that place. Facilities such as trails and playgrounds in parks, or eating outlets and seating spaces in plazas encourage higher level of interaction with the space. Aesthetics, cleanliness and good maintenance also add to the quality of the space, hence attracting more crowds and encouraging more involvement with the space.

Fig 9 : Dark and gloomy subways ; unsafe for women

Accessibility While availability of space provides with a potential for use, its accessibility determines the extent of its use. Accessibility of a space and hence its usage can be significantly lowered by poor neighbourhood amenities.

Hazardous traffic patterns, fear of crime, and other safety concerns reduce walkability in a place, acting as a barrier for access to the space. In addition, neighbourhood land use might also deter walking. For example, Industrial facilities can be unsightly or generate toxic odours, noise and heavy truck traffic, and hence discourage walking and use of the space.

Vacant lots also result in lack of ‘eyes on the street’, hence posing safety concerns in and around the region.

In the Pink, In the Open, In Delhi?

| 223

Fig 8 : Parks are not for everyone.

Connectivity to the neighbourhood is another important factor in determining the use of the space. Availability of public transport and ease of access by private vehicles play a significant role in determining the usage of the space, especially by the elderly and disabled sections of the society.

Usage restrictions when put upon certain sections of people, bring down the credibility of spaces. Many parks in Delhi put restrictions for children to play. According to Akram (Times of India 2014) â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The three corporations together have more than 14,000 parks in the city. Believe it or not, only 126 of them are for children.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; However itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not only the government authorities, but elderly people and RWAs who also put restrictions on kids playing for the fear of glass shattering, injuries, or grass trampling. Spaces, thus, need to be designed keeping in mind the need and usage pattern of all age groups, so that they can co-exist in the space without becoming a discomfort for each other.

Safety Perceived and objective safety in a place and around it determine the usage as well access to the space. Perceived safety refers to how safe one feels at a place and objective safety refers to the definite safety of the person in that place. Safety in a place especially affects the usage of the place by women and children.

Usually people feel unsafe in spaces that are dark and poorly lit, are isolated, and not visible to others i.e. there is nobody watching over the place. Entrapment spots and no access to help also contribute to this effect. Entrapment spots are small confined spaces usually enclosed from 224 | F5 Urbanity

Graph 1 - Design Characteristics that contribute to women feeling Ăşnsafe

Graph 2 - Percentage of women who reported feeling afraid of Violence.

three sides where someone can hide. Trees and bushes are such examples.

Usually parents are comfortable letting children play in parks if they can keep an eye on them from balconies or streets. Hence visibility into a place from outside, especially in parks, is important for safety. Subways in Delhi are one example of such spaces. Although serving an important pedestrian connection, they are often rendered useless because of being dark and isolated.

Fig 10 : Visibility into a place from outside is important for safety.

Fig 11 : Safety in public places can change over the course of the day.

As is evident from the graphs, safety in public places can change over the course of the day. Some places might be active at certain times of the day and hence feel safe while deserted at night and become unsafe.

Every public space has different factors contributing to or hindering the safe environment. A local understanding of the problem is most likely to provide effective solutions.

Although safety is an issue in deserted or isolated spaces, overcrowded spaces are also perceived as unsafe, especially for women. Harassment in crowded spaces not only discourages women from using these spaces, but also induces stress response. In addition, fear of harassment discourages women to use public transport, or walking through either deserted or overcrowded streets. This in turn reduces the walkability and sociability of a place.

In the Pink, In the Open, In Delhi?

| 225

Comfort Fig 11: Urban Heat Island Effect.

Fig 12: Factors responsible for UHI effect.

Comfort in any space plays a significant role in determining the use of a space. Micro-climate of a place is one factor that decides comfort in a space. Thermal comfort, humidity, wind speed, and mutual shading factors affect the micro-climate of on open space in an urban environment.

Usually while designing open spaces, thermal comfort is overridden by other considerations. However it affects not only the usage of the space but also peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s behaviour in that space. High temperatures can cause heat stress, increasing the risk of vascular diseases such as stroke and myocardial infarction (Aicher 1998). Hostility and aggression in individuals also tends to rise with the rise in temperatures. As temperatures continue to rise however, aggression tends to be replaced by behaviour of withdrawal and escape from heat.

Comfort in open spaces is not only important for parks and plazas where people gather for recreation and relaxation, but also streets and routes that are used for commuting. In urban areas in tropical countries, urban heat island effect also affects thermal comfort. Due to UHI effect, temperatures in urban areas can rise over 10 degrees more than surrounding

226 | F5 Urbanity

areas. Concrete paved surfaces, high rise buildings and air pollution increase the heat absorption and retention capacity of the city. Carefully designed urban fabric, however, can reduce the effect significantly and provide comfortable outdoor spaces. Careful consideration of solar radiation pattern, wind direction, wind speed, and h/w ratio of open spaces can ensure comfort in open spaces. Greens in and around open spaces also increase thermal comfort in a space, as well as reduce wind velocity, affecting the overall micro-climate of the space.

Fig 13 (top) : Sound Shadow, Aicher.

Fig 14: Dark and Gloomy Spaces; Glare affected spaces.

Achieving thermal comfort in open spaces however can be a tricky job in tropical climates. Cities are faced with both extreme hot and cold situations, and spaces need to be designed keeping in mind all climatic variations. During summer months blocking out direct sunlight is imperative, while sunlight becomes an incentive in winter months. Using deciduous trees that bloom in the summer and shed leaves during winter months can provide one such solution to the problem.

Noise is yet another factor that decides comfort in a space. Excessive noise disrupts health in two ways: by damaging hearing and triggering stress response. According to Aicher (1998), In the Pink, In the Open, In Delhi?

| 227

Fig 15: Ways to reduce the impact of Noise perception.

‘Many studies have linked noise-induced stress responses to changes in gastrointestinal problems and mental problems’.

It also increases the risk of elevated blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases (Aicher 1998).

Noise from transportation systems, roads, railways and airports is a major source of discomfort and might disrupt psychological and social functioning of individuals. Noise disruption is particularly detrimental for the children’s learning ability.

In case of open public spaces, identifying the source of noise is important. For example, traffic is noisiest at traffic lights and intersections. Other localised noise sources include heat pumps, ventilation systems and air conditioners. However, more than the actual noise levels, perception of noise is more injurious to health. Having control on the noise, thus, reduces its ill effects. In open spaces, visual blockage to the source of noise (like traffic) also reduces the perception of noise and might provide psychological relief. To counter noise and achieve acoustic comfort in public spaces, it is imperative to create buffer zones between the source of noise and usable spaces. Physical barriers like earth berms, noise walls and dense vegetation absorb sound and provide desired effect. Creating sound shadows also cuts down the noise levels.

Not all sound is undesirable though. Some sounds such as flowing water and music have positive psychological effect and can even have therapeutic benefits in some cases. Providing fountains in open spaces can attract people as well as provide acoustic and thermal relief.

Another factor that decides comfort in a space is lighting. In public spaces, inadequate natural light can lead to dark and gloomy spaces that are

228 | F5 Urbanity

perceived as unsafe. Trees might be grown such that they block light from street lamps at night and cast long shadows, making streets and public plazas unsafe. Poor lighting also reduces the ability to discern details, hence increasing the risk of unintentional injuries, particularly among the elderly.

Fig 16: India Gate, New Delhi.

Glare is yet another concern in outdoor spaces. Excessive reflection from shiny surfaces (like glass building fabric) reduces visibility in spaces and produces uncomfortable sensations. This increases the risk of unintentional injuries and becomes particularly problematic with old age. Hence, the materials used for construction in and around the space should be taken care of as well.

Image The image of the space is another factor that decides the usage of that space. The identity and appeal of a space is defined by its image. A place with a positive image tends to attract more people, increasing the social value of the place. All the factors discussed above contribute to this image. A positive image attracts diverse crowd, as well as adds to the psychological satisfaction of being at a much admired place. A positive image, however, is only achieved when the place ensures comfort of the occupants, as well as achieves the desirable social quotient. Aesthetics, range of activities, tolerance for all age groups, a safe environment and comfort become important for this.

In the Pink, In the Open, In Delhi?

| 229

Maximising benefits of public spaces Fig 17 - 20 : (clockwise from top-left) Sunday Market, Daryaganj; Chandni Chowk terraces; Article in The Hindu on Foot Over Bridges; Raahgiri

Public spaces improve health by encouraging physical activity and providing a platform for social interaction. However, considering that one of the major challenges in the city is the poor availability of space, there is an evident need to explore alternative public dimensions as well as maximise the benefits of available spaces.

Uneven distribution of greens and opens in the greenest capital of the world has created an acute shortage of space in the residentially denser regions. The road network occupies 21% of Delhi. Most health issues are a result of the traffic problems of the city. However, these roads can be transformed to serve the need of the hour. They can serve as potential public spaces . The old culture of spilling out on to the abutting road can take a step forward in creating a completely pedestrian friendly public

230 | F5 Urbanity

space. Even if for a short period of time, these make shift public spaces can breathe some life and interaction to the otherwise jam-packed urban areas.

Raahgiri is one such pro-health initiative. Every Sunday, at certain locations in the city, the vehicular movement is restricted for a few hours, and the streets are turned into public plazas. Inspired from the idea of Cyclovia of Colombia, this interaction event turns a road into an outdoor theatre. Physical stages at various intervals host a variety of activity for different age groups. It provides citizens with the opportunity to reclaim their streets, connect with their community, celebrate their city and in the process reclaim their lives.

The activation of streets as public spaces involves the interaction of the built edge with the open street and the traffic (pedestrian or vehicular).

The activities at the built edge help in enhancing the relation of the urban fabric with the community. Bazaars are such places where this relationship is evident. Weekly markets are another such attempt. Turning streets into plazas, the weekly bazaars of Delhi utilize the local business needs and demands and successfully render them into public markets. The famous Sunday Book Market of Daryaganj, Friday Market at Jama Masjid are examples that stand out. Here the extension of public dimension to the vehicle infested streets is evident, however there are many more ways to explore an alternative public dimension. To find more such examples, we need not look farther than our very own Old Delhi. Although dedicated public spaces are a rarity in these areas, the public domain is by no means missing. The streets, and sometimes the roofs, take up the role of public spaces. Due to the close proximity and interconnectivity of the buildings, the roofs double up as public plazas on festive occasions like Independence Day and Diwali, enlivening the entire mohalla.

Although requirement for public spaces is not met in the city, only part of it is because of lack of space. Many public spaces are rendered unusable because of multiple reasons. Subways and foot over bridges across the city are some such examples. Many of the subways meant for pedestrian use lie dead and gloomy due to inactivity. This creates an unintended image of that space which further discourages its use. Inactivity often leads to poor maintenance, insinuating a drop in the hygiene levels as well.

In the Pink, In the Open, In Delhi?

| 231

Image

Fig x : Left to Right: Dimensions of Everyday Life; and Dimensions of Everyday Space

The High Line Project, New York Fig 21 - 25 : (clockwise from top-left) The High Line Project, New York; Chelsea market Passage; 10th Avenue Square; 10th Avenue Square (top view); Highline 2nd Phase

The High-Line project in New York, U.S.A. is an amazing example of resurrecting unused, dead spaces of a city to a prominent public interaction space. The High Line is a public park built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s West Side. This elevated pathway overlooks the cityscape and integrates various streets which previously lacked any invitation for public interaction. With its evolving pattern activities, market streets, sit-out areas and amphitheatre, the place caters to people from various social, economic, cultural and age groups.

Robert Hammond, co-founder of Friends of the Highline says,

232 | F5 Urbanity

“It’s all about being in the city. It’s not an escape from the city but an escape from your routine” (Friends of The High Line) The 14th Street Passage It is a semi-enclosed passage and serves as one of the primary spaces for public programs. High Line Channel 14 is an outdoor video program presented by High Line Art that screens art videos, historic works, new productions, and curated series (Friends of The High Line).

Chelsea Market Passage A semi-enclosed passage, between West 15th and West 16th Streets, it features art and public programs as well as food carts and an open-air cafe during the warmer months of the year (Friends of The High Line).

10th Avenue Square High Line crosses 10th Avenue creating an amphitheatre with views up 10th Avenue to the north and views of the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty to the south (Friends of The High Line). According to Architect Ricardio Scofidio, “People up here walk 20 blocks which they wouldn’t 30 feet below.”

Park 101, Los Angeles Park 101 is an initiative at connecting two sections of the city earlier split by a freeway. The city of L.A., known for its vibrant streets has a scar running through its center. Prior to the construction of the 101 Freeway, the civic and the cultural cores of L.A. were once connected with streets bustling with vehicular activity and a friendly pedestrian environment.

The development of freeway network increased automobile ownership, which forced Los Angeles to develop a car centric downtown core. The new park would cap the freeway and reconnect the two cores of the city.

The project would create 40 Acres of large public open spaces for the residents of Downtown which would increase social interaction.

The park, which is half a mile long can be used to host large festivals ,and also has soccer fields, basketball courts, dog parks and restaurants which again look to bring more and more people out into the public spaces.

These activities also render the pedestrian walkways along the street edges much more walkable than ever before, making the half mile stretch a In the Pink, In the Open, In Delhi?

| 233

Fig 26-28: (clockwise from top-right) Existing Freeway 101; Propsed masterplan of Park 101; Artist’s render of Park 101

healthier space. Issues such as accessibility and availability are dealt with by creating a new layer over the vehicular. The park on either side of the street are flooded with residential buildings which offer eyes on the street.

In a world where the necessity for urban public spaces is on the rise and the availability of land on decline, layering of a city is a way to answer these problems.

MG Road Boulevard, Bangalore When the purple line of Namma Metro was built in Bangalore, the famous MG Road Boulevard was demolished to facilitate the construction.

However, in 2012, the boulevard was returned to the city in a ‘new avatar’.

It starts off with a play area and a comic strip painted on the wall. The wall leads on to the wall of the Bangalore and the friendship wall. At a place where the pedestrian experience has to be enhanced the walls take up the role of public interaction concurrences. The boulevard stretches along the commercial street and is stitched with ample amount of greens, fountains, art galleries, an auditorium, children’s play area, an open market, and waterless urinals. The OAT induces life onto the street. Being a popular shopping street, MG Road is bustling with activity till late at night, providing a safe pedestrian route during late hours as well. Sureka,

234 | F5 Urbanity

the art curator of Bangalore Boulevard beams,

Fig 29: MG Road Boulevard, Bangalore.

“It is a creative spot where the general public and authentic culture may unite harmoniously. My goal is to create an interactive platform which is friendly, educative, informative and approachable for visitors” (Padavala 2013) Apart from the cultural activities, the boulevard has a walkway similar to Highline, at a raised level. This walk way takes a pedestrian through a park experience. This active pedestrian-public-interactive-open space sits right next to a metro station hence bringing the open public space into one’s daily routine or evening walk.

The Low Line Project Proposal, New York The proposal is to develop an underground park in a former trolley terminal. The terminal was open and functional about a century ago. The size of the space is equivalent to that of a football field. Such a vast expanse sits right under a crowded part of the city. The Delancey Street, on the Lower East side of Manhattan has a tenth of the green space in comparison to the rest of New York City, which has two-thirds of space as green. This project aims to provide a green public space underground, giving the pedestrian traveller a new and healthier alternative. This space would transform the walkability aspect of the street, and also create pockets of spaces for social interaction en route from one block to the other.

In the Pink, In the Open, In Delhi?

| 235

Fig 30 - 32 : (clockwise from bottom left) Existing condition of the trolley terminal; TOI article on Anand Rao Circle Flyover, Bangalore; Proposal for the Low Line Project in New York

Low line, similar to High line connects people from various blocks in one space without disrupting the vehicular flow of the city. With use of technology to bring in sunlight and heat, exploration of the city on new levels has resulted in open public spaces for the residents.

Anand Rao Circle Flyover, Bangalore This was an initiative undertaken by some students to recreate a plaza under the Anand Rao Circle Flyover in Bangalore. The idea was to allow people to slow down in life at such places. People who work around these areas could come here for lunch and parents taking their children to and from school could make use of the play areas. The intent was to divide and demarcate pedestrian and vehicular ways.

236 | F5 Urbanity

Conclusion Urban parks and plazas are created to provide a pause in the hectic schedule of daily life. However today, just the presence of spaces is not enough.

While on one hand, there is shortage of space, on the other hand, there are large pieces of land that do not live up to their potential. As is evident from the examples above, we need to look at the public realm of our cities in more than one inhabitable levels . However these spaces can only work if they offer enough incentive. Subways and foot-over bridges in Delhi fail for the same reason. Public spaces need to act as multi-use destinations to be able to contribute towards community development. At the same time it is essential to ensure a continuity in the public dimension to ensure these spaces are utilised to their maximum. Only by maintaining walkability can this be achieved. The car-machine-centric city design acts as a break in this public dimension, and ends up creating isolated public spaces that can only be accessed by vehicles. Connecting the far-off places via highways/ freeways without losing connection at a local level therefore becomes imperative. As pointed out by Architect Scofidio in the example above, public spaces or urban parks are not about escaping the city, but escaping the dull daily routine. Hence, it is important, for these places to provide a distraction while still being a part of the routine.

The need to identify new dimensions of open public spaces or simply locating open public interaction spaces is imperative for a healthy and sustainable city.

Bibliography Aicher J., 1998, Designing Healthy Cities, Kreiger Publishing Florida

Company, Malabar,

Akram M., 2014, Restore their right to play, don’t restrict, The Times of India, viewed 17 october 2015, <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Restore-their-right-toplay-dont-restrict/articleshow/33874008.cms> Friends of the High Line, viewed 17 October 2015, < http://www.thehighline.org/visit/#/features > Gowda at al, 2015, The rising burden of chronic conditions among urban poor: a three year followup survey in Bengaluru, India, Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru, viewed 15 October 2015, <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4537574/> Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2014, ‘The social value of Public spaces’, viewed 8 September 2015, <http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/2050-public-space-community. pdf> Koshuta J., n.a., ‘What is Social Heath?’, study.com, viewed 7 September 2015, <http:// study.com/academy/lesson/what%25ADis%25ADsocial%25ADhealth%25ADdefinition%25ADexamples.html > Merten M, 2013, ‘India: a ticking time bomb’, Pulitzer Center, viewed 15 October 2015,

In the Pink, In the Open, In Delhi?

| 237

<http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/asia-india-non-communicable-diseases-cardiovascular-western-cultures-developing-world> Padavala S., 2013, ‘A boulevard which is unlike any’, The New Indian Express, viewed 17 October 2015, <http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/A-boulevardwhich-is-unlike-any/2013/05/14/article1588825.ece> The Times of India, May 7, 2014 , Delhi has the worst air pollution in the world: WHO, viewed 17 October 2015 <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollution/Delhi-has-the-worst-air-pollution-in-the-world-WHO/articleshow/34791079. cms> Worldwatch Institute, 2005, ‘In India chronic diseases grow with consumption’, Worldwatch Institute, Washington DC, viewed 15 October 2015, < http:// ww.worldwatch.org/node/5398 >

238 | F5 Urbanity

THE â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;SKINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; OF CONTROVERSY Glass Citadels from the West The seminar is a study of office building typologies at Gurgaon, where the study aims at uncovering the factors responsible for these buildings to look like buildings designed for western countries, despite their vastly different cultural and climatic context. The seminar will look into economics and real estate as a key determinants of the building designs in these areas and how this has consequently impacted the character of urban fabric of the commercial office landscape. The impact of globalization driven economic growth is discussed in order to question the identity of these developments happening not only in Gurgaon but all over the country.

Anshuman Jena | Dixit Suman | Huzaifa JA | W. Dhanajit Singh Guide : Rajiv Bhakat Chairperson : Tanaji Chakravorty 239

I

n Delhi and NCR, (National Capital Region) a major chunk of the urban fabric is produced by non-architects. The image of the buildings they create is what defines the urban experience of the city in its vast majority. Hence it is important to understand how this segment of the population (many of them not sensitized to the construction industry) arrives at the image of the city. Even though a vast majority of the time to conceive architecture goes into spatial planning on basis of functional requirements and construction detailing based on economic capability, and only a fraction of the time is spent in the aesthetic value of the building (even by architects in-field).(Venturi, R. 1972) Modernism and regionalism came into the forefront of India’s pedagogy, when in 1962, B.V Doshi established Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology. Even today, modernism and regionalism are celebrated in Indian academia where prime focus is laid on the fact that buildings should appropriately respond to the context. As a result, there is much resistance towards ‘all glass’ buildings which have emerged all over the world but stand out as ‘“implants” eminently recognizable in the Indian Landscape…’(Mehrotra. R, 2011).

After the liberalization of the economy in the 1990s, the freeing up of the Indian market to global investors marked a transition from a primarily socialist state-driven market, to an open capitalist one bringing about drastic changes in many sectors with the real estate sector being one of the many beneficiaries. The impact of this transition will be discussed in order to develop an understanding of how architecture as a “financial model” has taken precedence over architecture as a “socio-cultural” model.

Dwelling further into the larger context, this market driven architecture has produced a new urban fabric which is in stark contrast with the exist-

240 | F5 Urbanity

ing landscape. The seminar will look into post-modern theory and as to how image & meaning have played a role in the creation of architecture and have helped define the urban fabric. There is a need to look at various elements of the exterior form of the buildings which are sometimes derived and sometimes blatantly reproduced across histories and cultures because they bring about a controlled-stereotypical image of the building in the minds of the community that uses it.

Architecture has always proliferated the culture of its time. The values of our society are intrinsically imprinted into our buildings. Today, rapid production and easy accessibility of information through various facets have bridged cultures across continents. Today, our definition of “local” is constantly challenged and redefined at an unprecedented scale. The entry of foreign players into Indian markets has brought their region specific policies and social protocols into the country as well. Indian call centres catering to the western countries have to be trained to adhere to western accents and jargons to appeal to their customers. Hence terms such as “aping of the west” are not uncommon. Never the less, the study will put to the test, whether these ideas apply to the field of architecture and the urban context of Gurgaon where glazed buildings are the norm for office building typologies.

Since the prime question is whether the glass building situates itself in its context, the study aims at critically looking at determinants that constitute a building to be termed as a vernacular. Once these determinants are identified, each constituent will be compared with the glass building from the place of our case study to understand if it conforms to the respective determinant. After compiling all the analysis from their respective determinant we will attempt to demonstrate the inferences which will help understand the phenomena of the glass building in Gurgaon.

The inferences once derived, will necessitate reinforcement through studies of existing literature and case studies to conclude to its soundness.

Studies of transmutation of meaning through of simulacra & simulation and postmodern theory will be at the core of this discourse.

We will present our findings to produce a conclusion towards how architecture is being produced in a scenario where market driven decisions along with greater awareness generated by the wide spread of media have influenced urbanites. This is done to understand the current trend of the image building of the city.

Skin of Controversy | 241

The Controversy The glass building is the topic of constant discussion amongst students and architects. The question of identity of the city emanated through architecture seems to be of prime importance to Architects and academicians. Economist Amartya Sen describes India’s architecture as “more and more like islands of California in a sea of sub-Saharan Africa…” (Brook.

D, 2014) on the other hand Hafeez contractor describes his as comparable to make-up on a woman’s face. “…You definitely like a woman with lipstick, rouge, eyelashes. So if you make your building more beautiful with some appliqués, there’s nothing wrong…”

Lately, a large majority of these buildings have been criticised for excessive use of glass, without putting much thoughts in design. As concerns over global warming have become more widespread, these glass structures have come under scrutiny. A part of this statement is true because a chunk of these new buildings also come from architects who have utilized curtain glazing in tropical contexts. The criticism here is largely focused on the energy issues associated with glass buildings which are well known to most of the people yet the use of glass in buildings seems to become inevitable even in buildings like malls where it absolutely not necessary to use. It is said that climatically it is not suitable for the tropical climate like India, especially in places like Gurgaon. Though there are advantages to the use of glass in buildings, the problems are not few in number. The glass traps the heat like greenhouse and the glare becomes the problem for the user. To cut down heat and glare many technologies have been devised like doubly glazed with air gap but not commonly utilized due to the added expenditure that the builder has to incur.

Moreover glass is not considered an environment-friendly material as it has high embodied energy compared to bricks (Glass-15.9 and 26.2 MJ/ kg; Bricks-1.06 MJ/kg). The embodied energy of glass increases considerably when used as double or triple glazing or when inert gases like argon replace the air gap to further improve performance. (Down to Earth, 2012) “We need to be much more responsible in terms of the way we shade our buildings and the way we thermally think about our buildings.” (Shuttleworth, 2006) However with the introduction of double glazing and low-E glass, these 242 | F5 Urbanity

issues can be dealt with. Thermal insulating glass for windows and facades, is known as “low-E” (for low-emissivity) glass, which usually forms the inner pane of an insulating glass unit. This glass allows solar heat to pass into a building and warm the interior. This is known as “passive solar heat gain”.

Recent regulations call for the use of energy-efficient products to cut CO2 emissions and protect the environment. Thermally insulating double glazing is a way to meet national government targets and cut domestic fuel bills. Recently different types of products, such as thermotropic glass which responds to the temperature of glazing or glass which responds to the state of sun, have also been introduced. The solar factor can be minimized to as little as 25% in these cases.

The question still remains – is it time to end the love affair with allglass buildings? A lot of proponents of high-performance, green design certainly think so, while other architects, including some leading green designers and energy experts, argue that all-glass can work well if done right. Though we have many notable works of architecture that wear the mantle of green with transparent façades, there is a bigger question amongst the community of architects on whether these glazed buildings and the images they portray are part of the Indian identity and whether it is acceptable for them to exist in the local context.

Before deciding the future of these buildings, the history of architecture needs to be looked upon in a manner to understand how buildings that once came up out of necessity have now become a trend.

India’s Global Shift The question of identity has been a constant pursuit and debate in India.

This struggle dates back from colonial era when the British Raj had imposed the classical style as a demonstration to the Indian inhabitants of the presence of British rule. The first consulting architect of the public works department in India James Ransome believed that “in India where ingenuity was required more than anything, we were forcing purity of style.” (Mehrotra .R, 2011).

By the time Sir Edwin Lutyen’s came into the picture, there emerged a evolution in architectural style which involved the reinterpretation of the existing Imperialistic style with Indian elements: the Indo-Saracenic style.

Skin of Controversy | 243

Fig I: Rastrapati Bhawan, A product of the In do-Saracenic style

However, the architecture was only a superficial attempt at synthesising local traditions and attitudes. Though the buildings were made to look Indian in appearance, they never addressed the broader concerns of spatial quality, technology and end usage. They were still essentially colonial buildings.

The year 1905, marked by the nationalist movement, sparked the first resilience towards the colonial identity. The newly formed Shantiniketan derived its influences from a folk sensitivity across the South Asian sub-continent and was not monumental (Mehrotra .R, 2011). It was the first prototype towards an anti-English identity. This led to the formation of the revivalist school of thought in the country.

India’s pedagogical venture in architecture emerged during this time, when the country was questioning the pan Indian identity. At that particular time, revivalism and the international style dominated architectural debate. Revivalists opposed the art deco and International style – styles which at that time were popular in the West. These were considered alien to them and “did not connect to the soul of the land.”(Mehrotra. R, 2011). The revivalists derived their inspiration from historic buildings dating back to the pre-colonial era.

But by the time India acquired independence, the country was divided primarily into two schools of thought – the revivalists and the modernists.

When Nehru chose Le Corbusier as the designer of Chandigarh the scales were tipped in the direction of modernism. The state at this time functioned primarily as a socialist government. Therefore all the major construction projects were carried out by the state. Private players, if any, 244 | F5 Urbanity

existed as far as the small industries sector. Hence, modernism became the defining style of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s architectural ventures. It served well in the current context as its philosophy emerged from a purely utilitarian context devoid of British imperialism and straying away from the precolonial effigies.

The quest for the Indian identity strengthened along the intellectual front when architect B.V Doshi established the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology in Ahmedabad. By the 1980s, architects found it difficult working with modernism because the new generation architects lost track of why modernism was taken up in India in the first place. There was a shift towards addressing a regional identity which played along with modernism as well as traditional vocabulary. This marked the emergence of regionalism in the sub-continent.

All throughout this era of post-independence, one thing that remained undeterred in the Indian psyche was that there was a strong opposition toward anything and everything that originated from the west. The international style, the art deco movement and even modernism were strongly opposed by Indian architects, perhaps from a romanticism to begin afresh from a pre-colonial era, a time travel, only this time negating any British insurgency. July, 1991 marked the liberalization of the Indian economy. The country shifted its gears from a socialist economy to a capitalist economy. Foreign investors were given incentives and import taxes were reduced. Many foreign companies based their offices and industries in India. The era of globalization began for India and brought a shift in life style and culture. Newer building typologies like the mall, medi-cities and cyber hubs emerged. As a result, architecture re-prioritized itself, from a socio-culturally determined process of design to a heavily market driven process.

Indian economy is considered to be concentrated in the metropolitan regions, the new global economy had created a process of dispersal i.e. from urban core to the urban periphery. Globalization and liberalization has further helped this process of urban peripheralisation. Thus these suburban townships become the new urban landscape representing the new economy and the middle class.

The Glass Citadel Gurgaon Gurgaon mostly benefited from its close proximity to Delhi, the NH8 Skin of Controversy | 245

Fig II: A typical skyline of Gurgaon office sector

Expressway and the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). Prior to the 1980s, it was primarily constituted of large agricultural lands. Restructurations in the globalization era intensified the congeries of crisis in the metropolitan spatiality in Indian cities. Liberalization initiative by the Haryana government had a role in establishments of MNC’s in Gurgaon which is enhanced by the enactment of SEZ Act by the Central Government in 2005. 1990’s saw the booming of real estate industry with pressure from MNC’s needing space to set up their offices in Gurgaon.

At an early stage, developers like DLF and Ansal foresaw the potential of Gurgaon as the new urban centre which was close to the capital city.

In the previous 20 years, Gurgaon has developed into one of India’s most important financial and global outsourcing centres, housing hundreds of international corporate workplaces. Gurgaon is dissimilar to India’s techno-polis urban communities like Pune, Bengaluru etc. It emerged as the first green field SEZ to gain momentum. Another peculiarity of Gurgaon was that a consolidated master plan was not developed at the time when private developer DLF acquired it. This eventually led to vast inequity between private realm and the public realm.

Legal and financial systems in Gurgaon favour the growth of the private sector at a huge cost to public resources. The SEZs allow developers and multi-national companies to build in completely tax-free areas, which comprise much of the city. Bribery and corruption behind the financing for these projects on well documented and is the subject of public controversy. The urban fringe continues to be developed with local government consent despite its lack of infrastructure in part because local government officials can expect personal windfall in return

246 | F5 Urbanity

for their cooperation. (Rich, N. 2013) The responsibility of planning development is undertaken by number of state and local level agencies which often have conflicting jurisdiction. Thus the urban development of Gurgaon has been crippled due to the multiplicity of the agencies and the institutional deficiencies.

Development of IT business parks, setting up of SEZ, posh apartment, shopping malls, hotels etc. in areas classified as rural and under the jurisdiction of local panchayats happened in the 90’s construction boom. It did not have any elected municipal body until 2008 when the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) was constituted. The planning responsibilities are handled by the Haryana Government’s department of town and country planning (DTP). In 2008 DTP launched the Gurgaon-Manesar Master Plan 2021 in which it has been mentioned that land has to be allocated for the globalised driven economic growth through public private partnership wherein neither environmental sustainability nor social equity has been mentioned (Chatterji, 2015). Gurgaon has very less key role in engaging with local government on civic issues which is in sharp contrast with place like Bangalore where the IT community has been the forefront in taking up urban issues through forums like BAFT and ABIDe. (Chatterji, 2015) In the 90s, through heavy marketing and financial incentives, DLF brought non technology driven tenant markets to Gurgaon. The shift began in 1994, with Corporate Park, the first international class office building in that area. Fortune 500 corporates quickly leased space, bringing with them a demand for a new lifestyle. Upscale residential complexes were built, many by DLF, to house this international middle class workforce.

All new buildings were wired for global communication, independent septic systems and electric generators. A strong global connection and a visceral disconnection from greater Delhi. Gurgaon was more plugged into the global network than it was to the Delhi’s local infrastructure.

(Rich, N. 2013) Gurgaon was given a SEZ or special economic zone which, through a series of legal exemptions allowed TNCs the freedom to establish taxfree, customs-free facilities for a range of functions, from manufacturing to housing. The success of the DLF Cyber city made Gurgaon a major peripheral business district of Delhi NCR, and triggered infrastructure developments such as Rapid Metro, widening of NH-8, Dwarka Expressway and Kundli Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway.

Skin of Controversy | 247

Since 2001, the population has increased by nearly 75% to 8,76,824 (Census 2011) and India’s third wealthiest by per capita income. A new type of urban condition has emerged in Gurgaon, an archipelago of private zones with little public fabric infrastructure them together, representing a nation that is increasingly reliant on private companies to provide public services. (Rich, N. 2013) Gurgaon has emerged as a place where office buildings everywhere were constructed using a concrete framed structure surrounded by a shell of reflective glass and Aluminium Composite Panel and composed along the surface to give an attractive façade to the building. Gurgaon emerged as a techno-polis with huge multi-storeyed fancy glass buildings so as to match with the international standards.

The street life characteristics of old cities of India is nearly absent from Gurgaon. The commerce of traditional cities have been harnessed in a new kind of space – malls, of which Gurgaon has 43, most built since 2007.

An interview with a resident of Gurgaon, she talks of what her expectations of the city were.

“Gurgaon caters to the young urban mobile couples … and also to young families with one or two children. They are progressive, moving, and modern. They have been exposed to the world. They expect the good things of life. That is what Gurgaon offers: clubs, infrastructure, commercial space, shopping areas, and malls. These are things we see when we are travelling. This is what we expect back in return when we come back to our country.” (I am Gurgaon, 2009).

So, the new gleaming city of Gurgaon is now a home to over 1.5 million people with over one hundred international corporate offices, more than half of which are US based companies. These buildings by private developers have been designed in a manner, such as to match the standard of their international counterparts. Therefore most of the important western corporate offices which have been associated with large floor plates glazed by glass facades, and hence the same elements have been interpreted and incorporated by developers for these buildings in Gurgaon.

248 | F5 Urbanity

What is Vernacular?

Architecture concerned with domestic and functional rather than public or monumental buildings. (The Oxford dictionary, 2015) The term ‘Vernacular’ has a lot of definitions and explanations that tend to focus primarily on the interests of the individual researcher. Wells divides the approaches to understanding vernacular architecture into two categories: how architecture is used & changes with time due to shifting functional needs and how architecture reinforces certain social constructs.

Vernacular architecture does not go through fashion cycles. It is nearly immutable, indeed un-improvable, since it serves its purpose to perfection.

(Rudofsky, B. 1964) Vernacular architecture generally refers to the traditional buildings that have been designed and built to match the local climate and culture by using locally available construction material. For example an Igloo in Canada or a Stilt house on water in Malaysia. At least originally, vernacular architecture did not use formally-educated planners or architects, but rather depended on the outline aptitudes and tradition of local builders. (Murakami, S. 2008) With function as a means of explanation, the forms vernacular architecture have taken are assumed to have direct correspondence to their natural and cultural environments. In regards to the natural environment, the gable roof can be used as an example. It is not a dominant feature where the need to deal with snow and heavy rains is not an issue in building design.

The cultural acceptance of and expectations on form also have an important effect on vernacular architecture. Culture, as Deetz (2002) defines it, “it’s a uniquely human system of habits and customs acquired by man through an extrasoteric process, carried by his society, and used as his primary means of adapting to his environment.”

The role materials play in vernacular design cannot be overstressed. The evolution of building technology can easily be linked to the availability of certain materials used for construction. As long as one favored, material is abundantly available, there is no need to substitute a different, foreign material. The actual construction of vernacular buildings was the result of traditional techniques and the availability of tools. As new territories Skin of Controversy | 249

were opened and settlers began moving westward, we begin to see a lack of complexity in building methods. This was due to several influences, or rather the lack of influences (Glassie & Kniffen, p 159, CP) Another approach to vernacular architecture studies has been an attempt to understand these structures in their geographic context. As Aldren Watson (2000) points out, at its most basic level, the geographic context can be viewed as the conditions related to the climate, topography, and the flora and fauna of a specific geographic location. The differences from one region to the next can be extreme and have an overwhelming influence on design, often giving rise to what becomes known as regional styles.

Hence summarizing what could be called as vernacular, we can say sum it up using the following key words: • • • • •

Local to the place Reflects the culture of the place Contextual Cheap Functional

Observations The glass building at Gurgaon is analysed from the lens of the determinants derived from the previous chapter so as to understand where it is placed.

Cultural Ethos The glass building in Gurgaon is the product of simulacra and simulation created by the replication of objects as symbols and how the original meaning of the symbol is lost by its exact replication and as a result a new meaning is created by the superposition of both these symbols which he calls hyper-reality.

The simulacra is the representation of the original but its implicit nature is that it adds a new layer of meaning which is unintentional but eventually incinerates the essence of the original and defines a new meaning to perceived reality. The death of the intended truth and the prevalence of a new reality, a hyper-reality that has encapsulated experience. We no longer live in a world in which reality is a direct mapping of the essential 250 | F5 Urbanity

REAL

HYPER-REAL

SIMULACRA

truth, in fact there never was one. Simulation of experience is responsible for the production of a hyper-reality and there is no more a distinction between the causality of experience of the real and the incumbency of consequential outcomes.

“Witness the cloister of Saint-Michel de Cuxa, which one will repatriate at great cost from the Cloisters in New York to reinstall it in “its original site.” And everyone is supposed to applaud this restitution (as they did “the experimental campaign to take back the sidewalks” on the Champs Elysees!). Well, if the exportation of the cornices was in effect an arbitrary act, if the Cloisters in New York are an artificial mosaic of all cultures (following a logic of the capitalist centralization of value), their reimportation to the original site is even more artificial: it is a total simulacrum that links up with “reality” through a complete circumvolution.

The cloister should have stayed in New York in its simulated environment, which at least fooled no one. Repatriating it is nothing but a supplementary subterfuge, acting as if nothing had happened and indulging in retrospective hallucination.”

(Baudrillard, 1994) Understanding from this, one can claim that the first glass building was a simulacra of a building somewhere else, a copy, not the original but something else. All others are simulations of this copy, not the original but a hyper real of the new originals in their context. To the foreigner, they look like a replica of the offices they see at home. But to the locals, the glass building has become something different, something more, a symbol of forwardness and economic development. Hence this imagery has become a part of the market driven Indian.

When a cross-cultural architectural typology is implemented into the existing context, a first order simulacra, by its juxtaposition with its alien Skin of Controversy | 251

Fig III: Figure ground demonstrating larger built foot prints in the commercial sectors of Gurgaon (Right) as compared to Delhiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Connaught Place (Left)

context, creates a new meaning and enters the hyper real. The typology, when it undergoes replication; a first order simulation of the building, soon defines the character of the urban fabric itself and becomes part of the image building mechanism of the city.

The architectural element, a simulacrum of symbolic meaning, as discussed earlier is a phenomena which is dependent on the source of the symbol and the relevance of the meaning of that symbol to the social context. These simulacra have been communicated between cultures at a slower pace in the past and as a result they have remained grounded to a context which is in harmony with its geography, socio-cultural values.

The Christian Churches or the temple style which evolved over centuries.

Never the less there have also been cases where there have been a drastic change, like the development of the Indo-Mughal style, an insurgency into the existing Hindu architectural style. The case of the glass facade of the buildings at Gurgaon where the insurgency has been an outcome of capitalism.

Localness Setting up of international glass manufacturing companies like ASAHI and Saint Gobain near Delhi & Gurgaon has led to the increase in the use of glass in the buildings as the cost of transportation of material is reduced. First plant of ASAHI set up in 1984. It set up two architectural processing facilities in 2006 at the Auto Glass plants at Chennai and Rewari significantly increasing architectural glass processing capacity. (www. moneycontrol.com, 2015) Saint Gobain started its venture in India in

252 | F5 Urbanity

1996 and later in 2000 set up its manufacturing unit near Chennai. Other Indian companies also started setting up like Sejal Glass Ltd. So with time, the extensive use of glass in the buildings increases with growing technology of production and installation. the raw materials was also obtained from Rajasthan which is not much far from the manufacturing plant thus the use of glass in the buildings is being encouraged.

Therefore we see that glass as a material has been artificially localized by means of establishing processing units in the near vicinity of Gurgaon.

Therefore one can say that the first glass building at Gurgaon was probably constructed with non-local glass. But as the usage of glass grew in recent times that followed, local factories setup by multi-national corporations have artificially made glass a local material by virtue of processing it from locally available raw materials.

Functionality As Delhi and its neighbouring areas witnessed enormous growth in recent times, many Multi-national companies wanted to set up their offices spaces here. The earliest office areas were around the central Delhi or Connaught place and Barakhamba road to be precise. But all the small plots available in these prime locations belonged to owners not willing to sell them. Hence the MNC’s had to deal with the problems of smaller floor plate area, and combining plots didn’t because of ownership by multiple owners. Adding to it were the high prices in this area. Hence the then-newly developed Gurgaon proved to be a better options for these buildings. Cheap land prices, large floor plate area available, flexibility in office spaces, lack of governance and easy material availability facilitated this shift of bigger office spaces from Delhi to Gurgaon.

Office buildings in Gurgaon now boast a large variety of commercial office spaces because of varied requirements of tenants. Though no formal standards exist for classifying a building. So they must be viewed in the context of their sub-market; i.e., a Class A building in one neighbourhood may not be a Class A building in another. Office buildings are generally classified into one of three categories: Class A, Class B, or Class C. However these standards vary by market, and each category is defined in relation to its counterparts. The Class ‘A’ buildings represent the newest and highest quality buildings in their market which are generally the best looking buildings with the best construction, and possess high-quality building infrastructure. These also are well located, have good access, and Skin of Controversy | 253

Fig IV: Class A building with bigger and higher efficient floor plates (Innov8, Cybercity, Gurgaon)

are professionally managed. As a result of this, they attract the highest quality tenants and also command the highest rents. Class ‘B’ buildings are generally a little older, but still have good quality management and tenants. Class ‘C’ buildings are the least desirable, and building infrastructure and technology is outdated. As a result, Class C buildings have the lowest rental rates, take the longest time to lease, and are often targeted as re-development opportunities. (Golden, T. 2014) Multi-tenant offices are the most popular building type, as they benefit both the developer and the tenant. The tenants, who requires small parcels of space can avail the services (like back up power etc.) only possible in large complexes. The developers benefit from optimal utilization of land and optimization of utilities within the complex. Built-to-suit offices can only be occupied by large corporations with requirement for large office areas, and the desire to create an iconic identity in the local market.

Cheapness Developers have become aware of the different techniques and different materials of construction which could get them better profit margin. The curtain glazing became a boon for them as they are able to optimise the space (and in turn cost) which otherwise would have been wasted by using brick wall. MNC’s started operating from leased space, rather than direct

254 | F5 Urbanity

property ownership, which provides them with operational flexibilities in scaling up and down their establishment sizes commensurate with the ebbs and flows of the global economy and also shelters from the messy dealings of land and property markets (Chatterji, 2015). The developers provide high quality built spaces matching western standards and much more flexibility to the spaces with higher efficiency so that any kind of offices can be accommodated in the spaces. Requirement of such criteria lead to the creation a type such criteria are fulfilled. But as Gurgaon became the destination and pressure came from tenants, developers started building quickly side-lining the aesthetics and even quality in some cases.

All these compel them to look for a material which has less construction time and less maintenance which finally landed them to use glass as the building materials.

Fig V: Cost of Living Index bar chart (Source: www.expatistan.com, 2015)

The prime expense that goes into any project is not the cost of material but it is the cost of land. Therefore the glass curtain works as the perfect device to give the client that extra space. For every ten storied glass building, the developer saves about “200 sqm” of saleable space because of curtain glazing. So the developer is able to avoid a loss of about 3.2 crore through sales. In this scenario, the main priority of the builder is to recover as much money invested in the purchase of land and the costs incurred due to construction comes secondary. Therefore the glass skin is a cheap solution towards making that recovery.

A cost-of-living index is a theoretical price index that measures relative cost of living over time or regions. It is an index that measures differences in the price of goods and services, and allows for substitutions with other items as prices vary. (www.expatistan.com, 2015) Some statistics are as below: • Current CPI for Delhi- 29.36 | Current CPI for Gurgaon- 31.88 • Rent prices in Delhi are 3.48% lower than in Gurgaon.

Skin of Controversy | 255

• Consumer prices in Delhi are 7.91% lower than in Gurgaon.

• Consumer prices including rent in Delhi are 6.90% lower than in Gurgaon.

On one hand smaller rent prices led the shifting of office spaces to Gurgaon and now after development when the rent prices have increased, more and more buildings are being constructed by developers and owners to cash in the hike in land prices. Over time Gurgaon has now become a more costly city to live in than Delhi.

Inferences & Findings from Gurgaon • Large, continuous floorplates are the norm for new developments. (along-with an increased dependence on mechanical systems for physical comfort) • There is an emphasis on verticality and the creation of easily noticeable, effortlessly identifiable, ‘iconic’ buildings with a monumental scale. The lack of sufficient detail on the facades at a human scale creates a rather obtrusive massing.

• Two distinct typologies appear- multi-tenant offices and built-to-suit offices. Multi-tenant offices are disposed towards the creation of monumental volumes, often exceeding fifteen storeys. A continuous floor plate may be partitioned into visually distinct volumes or blocks.

They are legible as megaliths constituted of geometric forms. (IQ, Innov8, Building 10, all Cybercity, Gurgaon) Built-to-suit offices are smaller, having smaller floorplates and are typically less than eight storeys. However, as they are occupied by a single firm, the focus is on creating iconic forms and innovative shapes. (Gateway, 7B, both Cybercity, Gurgaon) • Typically, they are of internationally identifiable style, catering to the perception of ‘world class’, and an abstraction of technology-dependent future.

• These buildings are clustered together in districts or enclaves (usually under an SEZ) however, there is little public fabric that exists between them, giving rise to a landscape of monoliths.

• Buildings enclosing larger volumes are sometimes directly linked with transport facilities (like the Metro), which is either directly placed outside the building as in the case of DLF Cyber City Gurgaon or integrated to the building itself as in the case of HUDA City Centre Gurgaon.

• Buildings that were built in second and third phases show a great de256 | F5 Urbanity

pendency on concrete, just as the buildings constructed in first phase are dependent on glass.

From these observations made in table-I, we can conclude that the glass building has, today, emerged as a ‘new-vernacular’ in Gurgaon. The buildings here exhibit all the characteristics which usually characterize vernacular architecture. Glass seems to have become a versatile material primarily due to its consumer demand for it.

The widespread use of this material throughout Gurgaon is also due to the outcome of corporate culture and the images that are often associated with it. The service sector contributes a major portion of India’s GDP with a 57 per cent share in GDP at factor cost (at current prices) in 2013-14. (The Hindu, NEW DELHI, July 9, 2014 viewed: 03:22 on 09th Nov 2015). This sector (along with its associated culture) must be acknowledged as part of the globalized Indian Identity and as a result the glass building has also become part of the Indian identity.

A Closer Analysis Academia professes the need for buildings to primarily respond to the climatic conditions and the built form must be an outcome of the latter and vernacular forms are often encouraged. However what primarily defines built forms in vernacular architecture are not climatological determinants.

Amos Rapoport argues the dominance of socio–culture over climatological factors to determine built form. In japan thatch is being replaced by sheet metal which is much impractical in terms of both heat and cold, drips condensation and rusts yet it is widely adopted because it is new.

Europeans, and some natives, in North Africa insist on living in European style dwellings; the courtyard house would be much more comfortable, but there are questions of status and modernity involved. One reason why westerners have been unable to use such court dwellings is the scale and arrangement of spaces, which are culturally unsuitable.

Rossi (1982) also rejects functionalism as a primary determinant of form because of its inability to explain the persistence of certain forms despite functional changes. Citing the Palazzo Della Ragione in Padua, Rossi states: “One is struck by the multiplicity of functions that a building of this type can contain over time and how these functions are entirely independent Skin of Controversy | 257

of the form”. (Rossi. A, 1982) One of Tierra Del Fuego use windbreaks as their dwelling even if the climate is almost arctic even if their ability to build is shown by the elaborate conical huts for ritual purposes. Hidatsa of Missouri valley were agriculturalists from April to November during which they live in a circular houses 30-40 feet in diameter and 5 foot high walls made of tree trunks and four central columns 14 feet high supporting rafter carrying the branch, earth and grass roofing. From December to March they hunt buffalos and tepees as dwelling. The two dwelling reflects their way of life and has economic base as opposed to the climatic pattern during that time.

Postmodernism When looking into postmodern studies by Robert Venturi, a similarity appears between the glass building and the with the buildings characterized as the ‘decorated shed’, where the building’s interior and exterior are not related to each other and the exterior only serves as a generator of a symbolical image of a building. The other building characterized as the ‘duck’ is seen only in one particular building at Gurgaon.

The concept of the Duck and the decorated shed can be understood simply as any building “where the architectural systems of space, structure, and program are submerged and distorted by an overall symbolic form” is termed a “duck” and a building where ornament is applied independently of structure and program is called a “decorated shed”. So while Duck is termed as an implicit connotation, decorated shed can be called as explicit denotation. The Duck although being ordinary, produces an image which is heroic and original like the ship building designed by Hafeez Contractor. The building doesn’t convey its meaning through its explicit form i.e. has no direct association with ships and neither do the users of the building. The Decorated shed here is a post-modern symbolist approach which involves ornament and is more or less dependent on explicit associations; it’s not only because of what it is but also because of what it reminds us.

The Gurgaon glass building conforms to the symbolism-space argument where the glass façade, which is so strikingly recognizable in its current context has, as earlier discussed, transformed into a symbol. Hence this conforms to the decorated shed classification that Venturi so clearly de-

258 | F5 Urbanity

Fig VI: The curtain glazing is both functional as well as a symbological device.

scribes as an ornamentation of symbols. Today, the design of the glass façade as a symbolic expression has become intentional but at the same time has been implemented to serve as a functional device. It is a device which allows for minimal space consumption and allows in plenty of daylight but at the same time serves to portray a global image. There are examples also, of corporate buildings transformed into a blank face, ready to be ornamented with other materials which are just as slim as glass, such as aluminium composite panels which are used to create a graphic composition.

Taking an example of Las Vegas in 1950â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, buildings can be seen as decorated sheds with big signage, however by 1960â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s there were hardly any buildings, it was all signs. The form of the buildings was still visible but remained secondary to the signs in visual impact and symbolic content.

This was followed by buildings where we see more literal attempt to express function via association. So eventually little buildings with big signs turned into buildings which were a sign themselves. This trend too is visible at Gurgaon but it has taken a different approach towards the end user of the signage. The signage again is a capitalist device, a revenue Skin of Controversy | 259

generator. Unlike the signage on buildings at Las Vegas which primarily promote themselves, the sign boards here are rented to parties who want to take advantage of the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s placement along major roads to advertise their brand.

Conclusions On Identity We have to come to an acceptance that the glass building has also become a part of the pan Indian identity. The glass building architecture has invaded India due to Capitalism just like Mughal Architecture invaded India due to Imperialism. We are readily willing to accept the Indo-Islamic identity but not the global one. Why is that?

The rapid acceleration of knowledge and its relative universal accessibility due to the advent of modern media has created a scenario where the possibility of a new insurgency is exponential. This insurgency, has been countered by old schools of architectural thought, in search of cultural identity which responds to its physical and cultural context. However, our cultural context is rapidly being defined and redefined by self- referential media. Hyper reality has seized us and as a result, new light needs to be shed upon the definition of context and what it can mean for architecture.

When looking at the global context, we are slowly moving towards a generic city model. Rem Koolhaas questions why we look at shaping cities with the past as a reference point rather than the future as a better one.

The generic city is a city which has forsaken its identity but is not constrained by its historicity as a result it is dynamically evolving itself to meet itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current and future needs. It marks the convergence of mankind as a single entity through urban development. It is a destination which is both hyper-global but at the same time hyper-local. The trend of glass buildings is gaining momentum is case of developments which have no significant built context i.e. a green-field development and Gurgaon is one such example.

On Education Our academia is often interested in the socio-cultural aspects of architecture without realizing the gravity of economics in the same field. We 260 | F5 Urbanity

think that they will have only a minimal impact on our design perhaps because we as the architect begin our process from an already awarded site, whose economic value is taken for granted. A vast discrepancy exists between practice and the profession and institutes expect their graduates to cope with this new playing field often called the “real world”. But real can begin from the pedagogical discourse as well.

Anomalies The corporate building is approaching a stage where it can emerge as an identifiable type for the context of Gurgaon, where a type is something that can act as a basis for the conception of works which bear no resemblance to one another. So it became like an origin or a primitive cause (Quincy, quoted in Rossi, 1982). Type is the idea or symbolic meaning that is embodied in an element, an object or thing. Thus’ type’ is abstract and conceptual rather than concrete and literal.

Glass being a versatile material has emerged a material which can be made artificially local by the means of manufacturing plants, an inducer of localness. It also has acquired a cultural status which has brought acceptance in the eyes of the end users and the public. Through advancements in technology, it is being perfected, being made feasible and local.

Glass is unique in its situation. In its raw form, it is the planet’s second most abundant material with 90% forming the earth’s crust. (Nave, R) This pattern points towards a potential where glass can be made a local product virtually anywhere on the planet. This artificial localization supplemented by economic factors has led us to better describe the glass building type as a pseudo-vernacular. A false one because it doesn’t conform to traditional examples of rudimentary construction techniques which are known by all the inhabitants of the settlement, rather here, the construction is specialised and its knowledge only know to those associated with this specialization. The built form is at a monumental scale, one which is completely different from that recorded in ordinary case studies of vernacular. The artificial or processed nature of glass also points towards an argument that the outcome of the glass building as a vernacular was induced rather than a natural outcome of the context. However, its essential determinants remain true to the definition of vernacular. In this case it is socio-economic determinants which stand out as the prime factors that help qualify it as a vernacular as well.

Skin of Controversy | 261

Culmination Hence we see how globalisation has helped in inter-connecting and shrinking of the world. With the easy access, the definition of what we call ‘vernacular’ and the criteria of defining the vernacular has also changed. As we saw in the case of Gurgaon, the city’s context is primarily driven by financial and socio-cultural parameters rather than geographical or climatological parameters.

Bibliography 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

262 | F5 Urbanity

Barthes, R., 1972. Mythologies. New York: The Noonday Press.

Baudrillard, J., 1994. Simulacra and Simulation. s.l.:Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press.

Mitchell, W. J., 1995. City of bits : space, place, and the infobahn. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

Rossi, A., 1982. The Architecture of the City. Paperback ed. s.l.:The MIT Press.

Rushkoff, D., 1996. Media Virus. New York: Ballantine Books.

Rushkoff, D., 2013. Present Shock. New York: Current.

Sundaram, R., 2010. Pirate Modernity. New York: Routledge.

Venturi, R., Brown, D. S. & Izenour, S., 1972. Learning Form Las Vegas- The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form. Revised Edition ed. s.l.:MIT Press.

OXFORD. (2015) Vernacular [Online]. Available from:http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/vernacular[Accessed: 18th October, 2015) RUDOFSKY, B. (1965) Architecture without Architects. 2nd Ed. Newyork: The Museum of Modern Art MURAKAMI, S. (2008) Environmental Assessment of Vernacular Architecture, Japan: Keio University Press GIBSON, M. (2000) Rediscovering the Vernacular. [Online]. Available from: http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-10092000-20210037/unrestricted/ Sec1.pdf [Accessed: 13th October 2015] BANERJEE, S (2002) Shifting Cities: Urban Restructuring in Mumbai. Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 121-128. Published by: Economic and Political Weekly Stable URL: http:// www.jstor.org/stable/4411593 (This reference carries the following citations) BERNER, E. and KORFF, R. (1995) Globalization and Local Resistance: The creation of localities in Manila and Bangkok. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol 19(2), pp. 202-219 BUREAUGARD, R. (1991) Capital Restructuring and New Built Environment of Global Cities. Newyork and Los Angeles: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol 15(1), pp. 99-105 KATZ, C. (2001) Hiding the Target: Social Reproduction in the Privatized Urban Environment. In Claudio Minca (ed.), Postmortem Geography, Basil Blackwell, pp. 93-112 RICH, NATHAN (2013) Globally integrated/locally fractured: The Extra-ordinary development of Gurgaon, India. Architecture and Capitalism: 1845 to the present, Peggy Deamer (ed.) London: Routledge, pp. 172-188 GOLDEN, TROY. (2013) Primer: Differentiating Class A, B, and C Office Space[Online] Available from: http://www.areadevelopment.com/AssetManagement/Directory2013/primer-differentiating-office-space-class-26281155. shtml[Accessed: 12th October 2015) Black Olive Ventures (2014) Gurgaon Real Estate StoryReal State of Estate, Vol 1.06, May 2014

MAGE OF THE CITY

Is virtuality the new reality?

The image of cities, in contemporary times, is increasingly being supplemented and layered by exposure to visual media, print media, the internet, social networking and virtual gaming, rather than by a direct sensory experience of the urban realm. These have played a major role in city imaging; ever so in the present times when technology is the most pressing and progressing element of city image building.

Multiple factors have risen to propagate the changing parameters of image making of the city. These have, in literal terms, conjured up series of virtual imagery of our city through visual images, dynamic imagery, critical personal accounts, navigation, mapping, etc.

As cities are further becoming more â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;computableâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, capable of manipulation through their digital content, large portions of city image is migrating to the web, becoming online so-to speak. We discuss the image of the city in light of this new technological evolution leading to virtual imagery, through the medium of internet.

Aditya Patil | Ruchir Kumar | Sakshi Aggarwal | Vishwajeet Singh Guide : Asst. Prof. Arpita Dayal Chairperson : Ruchi Bhatia 263

N

early fifty years have passed after the publishing of Kevin Lynch’s landmark volume ‘Image of the City’ (Lynch, 1960), yet urban designers still tackle with ways to develop “good city form” (Lynch, 1981) with the same benchmarks. This brings in a need to research how city image has changed, or evolved over time and which dimensions have been added to this spectrum. As Lynch puts it, every design principle should answer the question “What time is this Place?”

Delhi has a cached image, which hosts layers of people, time and place.

All the layers are complex to comprehend and may be independent entities, yet they affect other layers and in turn get affected. The most recent layer of technology and digital media results in the formation of a virtual aspect of city image, which is an inherent part of the contemporary perception of the city.

The paper continues by diagnosing the word image, which can have many meanings. City imaging, in this logic, is the process of constructing ‘visually based narratives about the potential of places’. It is increasingly being supplemented and constructed by exposure to visual media, rather than by a direct sensory experience of urban realms. On the threshold of the twenty-first century, technology affects every aspect of human life, yet it is not yet identified how these experiences are affecting our perception of the space, and thus imageability. Also, considering internet and social media as a dominant part of this technological revolution, we focus deeper into this.

Virtual city images, which are a direct outcome of the new Information Age, began as superficial digital representations of real cities. Virtual reality stemmed as a technology to simulate physical presence in real or imagined environment, bringing in tremendous implications in vari-

264 | F5 Urbanity

ous fields. This concept has both positives, like new technology which produces tools that help in detecting, presenting, analyzing and evaluating cognitive mapping or what inhabitants recall about their cities, allowing inhabitants to navigate easily through the city; and negatives, like telepresence gradually substituting for physical presence, and slowly but surely, the idea of virtuality taking over reality.

Fig A: Image of Connaught place, Delhi with the layers of time, space, people and technology in the realm of architecture [Source:http://www. corkewallis.com/syngal-corke-wallis. Viewed: 15/10/2015]

Case examples from various forays into Delhiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s virtual image and reality highlight media portrayals and urban development ventures, which each make judgments about the worth and potential of people and the places they inhabit. The new dimension of real-time locative technology fired up an avalanche of social media interactions. Technology gives rise to various interfaces which inform the city image, like Bollywood movies, television and popular television, computer based games offering alternating realities, etc.

All these digital, virtual, ubiquitous systems are altering our perception of time, space and mobility. In light of this, many questions arise such as; how would internet and social media change legibility of contemporary city? How do the inhabitants conceive the image of their new city with affordance of these technologies?

The City Image Like a piece of architecture, the city is a construction in space, but one of vast scale, a thing perceived only in the course of long spans of time. On different occasions and for different people, the sequences are reversed, interrupted, abandoned, cut across. It is seen in all lights and all weathers.

At every instant, there is more than the eye can see, more than the ear can hear, a setting or a view waiting to be explored. Nothing is experienced by itself, but always in relation to its surroundings, the sequences of events E-mage of the City | 265

leading up to it and the memory of past experiences. Every citizen has had long associations with some part of his city and his image is soaked in memories and meanings.

The dynamic potentials of the city, and in particular the people and their activities, are as important as the stationary physical parts. We are not simply observers of this spectacle, but are ourselves a part of it, on the stage with the other participants. Most often, our perception of the city is not sustained, but rather partial, fragmentary, mixed with other concerns.

Nearly every sense is in operation, and the image is the composite of them all. It is this inter-relationship of perceptive processes, social activities and formal attributes of the concept of image of city which makes it an important scope of study within the architectural discourse.

Not only is the city an object which is perceived (and perhaps enjoyed) by millions of people of widely diverse class and character, but it is the product of many builders who are constantly modifying the structure for reasons of their own. While it may be stable in general outlines for some time, it is ever changing in detail. Only partial control can be exercised over its growth and form. There is no final result, only a continuous succession of phases.

‘Image is a process and not a findable product.’

– Heideri and Mirzaii (2013).

Uunderstanding Images The concept of city images was first introduced by psychologists working on the procurement of spatial knowledge. This process was described as leading to the development of an internal representation of spaces, which is essential to allow interaction with the external world. The term ‘cognitive map’ or ‘mind’s eye’ (Tolman, 1948) was introduced to refer to this representation (Downs, 1973). Also aligned with the work of the above mentioned psychologists is the research of urban designers focusing on spatial orientation. Most influential is the work of Kevin Lynch, concerned with two major aspects: legibility of the physical environment, which focused on the wayfinding through easy visual experience; and imageability, which dealt with an object not only being seen, but being presented sharply and intensely to all of our senses (Lynch, 1960, p. 118).

The word image can have many meanings. An image can be a physical

266 | F5 Urbanity

representation, and it can be a mental depiction, or even a symbolic and metaphorical embodiment. Traditionally, image is the process of picturing the city we live in through a correlation between the physical representations of the city and the inhabitant that processes this image.

No doubt, media was present in Lynch’s time but communication was slow and wasn’t as cutting edge as today. So the traditional image relied on fewer perceptions based on some pictures we saw somewhere or through first-handed experiences. Imageability is another term used by Lynch which describes the quality of the physical parts of the city that increases their “probability of evoking a strong image” to the observer.

Great attention is given to imageability because it implicates physical form. In the broader scheme of imageability, he introduced a two way street between the observer and the observed. The observed, or the object, should have a potential to be remembered, and evoke a strong image in any observer. The observer, on the other hand, can be provided with symbolic representations and images, as long as he can fit reality within the whole diagram. This seminar will focus on the observer’s perspective of the observed.

Fig C: Delhi: Remarkable, Well-informed and Distinct Source: (Delhi Tourist Websites)

Kurtarir mentions that each city image has two types of values: Symbolic value and Use value (Kurtarir et al, 2006). The symbolic value deals with the nostalgia of the place and the use value deals with profit oriented mechanisms available in the city landscape.

The term imaging as it is comprehended here includes actors and actions involved with transforming all of these kinds of meanings. City imaging, in this logic, is the process of constructing “visually based narratives about the potential of places” and engages mostly with the use-value of the city images. Professionals involved in the building industry have, therefore, in their requisite interests to participate with the imageability

E-mage of the City | 267

of their products while they invest in the image-bank of the city. Lynch (1960) stated in his study of mental image that he chose legibility as the basic visual quality to focus on. Numerous researches have covered the concept of legibility in urban settings. They almost reach a consensus of definition of city legibility, which describes clarity of city parts that enable inhabitants to identify and organize themselves in an overall pattern (Lynch, 1960); (Herzog & Leverich, 2003); (Kelly & Kelly, 2003); (Koseoglu & Onder, 2011). Moreover, Mahshid (2003) specified that a more legible city is able to maintain “continuity between salient elements of the city; main integrators and visible fields of the landmarks, to form a coherent structure” (Mahshid, 2003). The importance of legibility persists more in complex, dense cityscape and further significant in the information age where time and mobility present the main challenge of daily urban life. Legibility has a strong effect on users understanding, experience and enjoyment of the city (Lynch, 1960).

Mental or cognitive mapping is the image formulated by our mind in order to understand the surrounding environment. This image could be of a street, city, country and continent or may be a place never visited.

It is affected by our perception but again it shapes how we see the world around us. A sophisticated subjective process differs from one person to another. Lynch (1960) in his study focused on environmental image, particularly on the image of the city. He was particularly interested in reaching a ‘public image’ of the city on which he could develop his urban design criteria. Due to the inexhaustible sources of study on this subject, we limit ourselves to the discipline of architecture, thereby focusing on the physical built form and its imaging. We consider providing opinions of this unbiased imaging to the city observers.

In the course of studying the image making aspects of the city images, we enlisted the components which lead to image formation. These components are: memory, heritage, urban edges, public spaces, skyline, etc. While the parameters, which are the tools in shaping these components are: adaptability, elasticity, density, policies, technology, etc.

Imageability can be simply defined as the image making ability of a city.

A highly imageable city, in this logic, would be remarkable, well-informed and distinct, and invite all of our senses to participate. Our brain perceives such images through cognition, experience, knowledge, mental mapping and memory. Over the past centuries, technologies have regularly come along, but completely changed how we look at cities. The internet, mass media, social media, print media, virtual gaming and locative media are all 268 | F5 Urbanity

FigD:Internet penetration in India: Mumbai tops Internet users list with 12 millions, Delhi next, Bangalore falls off map [Source: IAMAIIMRBI-Cube 2013 Findings. Viewed: 18/10/2015]

technologies that have affected how we look at city images. The evolution of technology in our age is challenging all previous development in the history of human settlements (Meshur, 2013). Since technology is the most accelerated parameter among the various parameters, we choose to view the changing image of cities through the advancing technological lens and thereby shed light on the perception of space.

Lynch and Now: Changing Images When Lynch (1960) wrote his masterwork “Image of the city”, he was concerned with a ‘legibility’ of the material physical environment and also with providing individuals with emotional safety while performing their daily tasks in the city. He described the experience of being lost in the city as ‘terrorizing’ and may affect ‘our sense of stability and wellbeing’ (Lynch, 1960, p.4). He probably would have solved his imminent fear of disorientation differently had he had the opportunity to use a Google map!

Our society’s modalities of communication and technology are rapidly changing. On an urban level, large screen displays and panels are being installed in many public and private spaces, ranging from open plazas to private houses. On a neighborhood level, the very space around us is being instrumented with sensors and displays, tending to reflect a diffused need to combine together the infoscape - the information landscape of

E-mage of the City | 269

Fig E: Average time spent by a person using internet per d ay in the global cities [Source:http://www. welingelichtekringen. nl/tech/412276/lees-hier-alles-over-internetgebruik-wereldwijd.html.

Viewed: 16/10/2015]

the Internet - with the urban setting of the city. Therefore; computing and information sensing are moving outwards from computers & devices to the environment itself.

On the governing level, the Independent Commission for Worldwide Telecommunications Development, recently, has accorded that use of information and communication technology has been exponentially increasing all over the world (Yamaguchi and Kawaguchi, 2006). As Mitchell intended in his trilogy, it is a whole new range of urban infrastructure, one that will change the image and perception of our cities as dramatically as railroads, highways, electric power supply, and telephone networks did in the past. “It’s an old script replayed with new actors. Silicon is the new steel, and the internet is the new railroad.”(Mitchell, 1999) There is a consensus among researchers that the new wave of technology is changing the denotation of ‘space, power, time and distance’ (Meshur, 2013), the distinction between public and private (Cuff, 2003) and the experience of living in cities (Lange M. D., 2009). With the arrival of such kinetic, fluid, responsive, data obsessed worlds of infoscape and its amalgamation with the urban landscape, architecture faces a drastic reshuffling of a number of its principal foundations. Consequently, many researchers proposed repetitively that these legacies of the industrial era, will require change – in our term evolution – in order to function efficiently in the future and its image making processes.

This media augmented image building process not only involves place and form-based visualizations, but also strategies for economic and environmental opportunity. Place promotion exceeds economically grounded 270 | F5 Urbanity

efforts to attract new investment, also being a clever strategy for reinforcing city image. Intrinsically, it is always relevant who builds these images, for which motives and for whom. Image building efforts embrace not only changes to the physical environment, but also encode broad conceptual orientations; image making is about finding new ways (and new technologies) to stand for and promote cleaner and safer environments, improved communities and socio-economic progress.

On the other hand, images may also serve to mask or disseminate existing inequalities. Images may be promoted in lieu of some broader ‘public good,’ but they are also vulnerable to extreme manipulation by market forces that struggle against any such wider efforts to plan. In the hyper-visual contemporary city (Boyer, 1996), where new technology is called as an extension of man (McLuhan, 1964) and with emergence of Bodynet (Mitchell, 2003), the whole question of city image and city imaging warrants renewed scrutiny.

Through a research conducted by the global web index in January twenty fifteen, the average number of hours spent using the internet per day in India is roughly 5.1hr through a laptop or a desktop, and 3.4hr through their mobile devices. Hence we focus on this aspect of internet and communication technology, and how it has layered, enhanced or colored our perception of city imaging.

Technology and Legibility On the threshold of the 21st century, a new dimension has emerged, with technology affecting every aspect of human life. “The unprecedented pervasive evolution of technology is changing our view of urban life” (Anttiroiko, 2013); (Meshur, 2013); (Cuff, 2003). The digital, virtual and omnipresent systems are altering our perception of space, mobility and time. In contemporary years, one can find a growing acceptance of ways in which ‘the media and the physical environment work together to shape and alter public perceptions of places’ (Vale, 1995). Also, urban sociologists have noted how community identity is socially constructed not only by its own residents, but also by a wide range of outsiders, including ‘newspaper reporters and editors’ (Janowitz, 1952), ‘civic boosters, developers, realtors’ (Suttles, 1972), ‘marketing firms, and city officials’ (Weiss, 1987). However, the effects of the new players such as internet, and more importantly, current social media, on Lynch’s elements are absent in most of current researches. While through his analysis of the constitutive eleE-mage of the City | 271

Table A: Some available software which serve as tools to enhance studying mental maping.

Source: Al-ghamdi & Al-harigi, 2015

ments of the image of the city, Lynch has not only transmitted a lesson to both urban designers and the virtual reality designers of our generation, such castings and depictions have a very different implication when tested against the scenario of today. How then do the inhabitants conceive the image of their new city with affordance of these technologies?

The digital revolution started in the 1980s with swift development in the information technologies. In this part, we review the latest technologies that have affected the image of the city directly or indirectly from two perspectives: the impact on the concept (these technologies as tool to

272 | F5 Urbanity

study and facilitate mental image) and the impact on the inhabitant (the technology effect on the observer). Mapping, navigation and mobile location services are linked with development of mobile global information systems (GIS) and mobile mapping location-based technologies (LBS) appeared in 1996 (Raper, 2009). These technologies have opened the door for unlimited applications and services in the field of mapping and communication. The introduction of (LBS) along with wireless network permitted the use of navigation and mapping systems to public with affordable prices and ease of use.

A. “Mental mapping”: Advancement in technologies and computation allowed researches to develop software and tools to help them studying cognitive or mental mapping. These tools are designed to collect, analyze, evaluate or represent data about mapping and legibility. Some of these softwares are listed in the table.

B. “Locative media”: is another GPS mapping technology which combines positioning, real-time and social interaction to explore notions of space-time and social organization (Locative net, 2003). It ‘includes a range of experimental uses of geo-technologies including location-based games, artistic critique of surveillance technologies, experiential mapping, and spatial annotation’ (Hamilton, 2009) There are almost 65.7 billion users of smart phones worldwide in 2014 (We Are Social, 2014).

This means that locative media services is available for 93 percent of the population. Location and navigation services such as Google maps and specific destination applications made moving and steering in the city effortlessly and unwinding. These mobile maps are supported with real time technologies that determine congestion rates at specific time and suggest alternate solutions. In fact, Townsend (2000) named these tangible information and tools as new “Lynchian elements”. Despite the efficiency of these tools and applications, they are only achievable through a wireless, without which legibility is achieved through physical layout and user sense of the city.

Nowadays it is enough to look at how people tagged one place on the map in any locative-media app to develop a preconceived idea about it even without visiting the place. A person with access to internet, through mobile phones, laptop or virtual devices needs little physical space in the real world to connect with the virtual world. The extent of their virtual world to reach out to the real world, though depending on their personality, is also affected by the popular internet culture. This virtual world E-mage of the City | 273

Fig F: a. Technology affecting the image of our city through various interfaces [Source : blog.contagiousagency.com.au.

Viewed: 18/10/2015] b. Different uses of smartphones replacing daily physical tasks via virtual interface [Source: Google’s ‘’Our Mobile Planet’’ report.

Viewed: 14/10/2015]

moves with the person wherever he goes; as if the cloud hovers overhead with no physical shape.

Internet and Virtual Images The idea of the computable image is something that expands back to a time when the merging of computers and communications first made an impact on the way cities operated. New forms of electronic interaction began to display themselves in the need for wired infrastructures to support everything from smart buildings to new kinds of information industry (Batty, 1997). The notion that the city image, through its physical hardware, might become ‘intelligent’ is something that has been with us since the nineteen-eighties. But over time a rather different prospect has arisen with the city image itself and its many components being condensed and articulated in non-physical terms, in virtual space rather than real space. At first, the impact of internet on imaging a city was chiefly in terms of cities advertising their facilities to ‘virtual tourists’ who browsed or shopped the web through simple inert browsing. The early web site Virtual Bologna represented the portal to urban services and information about the Italian town of Bologna which became the favorite example of early commentators on the power of the web (Batty, 1997).

This concept is still alive and well in the city itself as more and more computable devices emerge within our corporal environment. It is in terms of what is happening within the computer itself that now marks the cutting edge technology. The circle has turned completely: computers existed in cities, now cities are existing in computers. This notion of the ‘city inside the computer’ changes rather remarkably our vision of how one can build virtual cities, and hence their images. Rather than being based on one solitary actual place, they gradually embody a mix of virtuality and reality. The digital cities are linked together in a virtual

274 | F5 Urbanity

urban sprawl, forming part of the ‘metaverse’, eloquently anticipated by Stephenson and Gibson. It is that genre of science fiction writers that base their visions of the near future in ways in which the physical and virtual merge. Internet, through social media, has empowered our clouds to impart emotions and feelings while we are connected to several clouds.

We realize common problems, can discuss, settle, and protest for a solution, all online! On the other hand, we can see, read, get agitated and physically manifest our anger through demonstrations and protests.

Fig G: Dead-drop Technology [Source : www.deaddrop. com. Viewed: 18/10/2015]

The idea of virtuality can be extended to physical realities in designing urban spaces. For example, the concept of “dead drops”, that is, USB devices cemented into the walls of the public spaces. These are anonymous, offline, peer to peer file-sharing network in public space. Anyone can access a Dead Drop and everyone may install it anywhere in the city.

Dead Drops don’t need to be synced or connected to each other, they are singular in their existence. With all the vices of free data sharing in public spaces, if used as a design concept, cloud sharing has tremendous power to create, enliven and activate a public space. Imagine a dead drop wall in Nehru Place, Connaught Place or Firozhah Kotla for that matter! Share your cloud to an unknown, in the physical world.

E-mage of the City | 275

Virtual City Imagery Virtual city images were originally designed to facilitate the creation of environments by professionals such as architects and engineers, which could be speedily and efficiently communicated to others for purposes of architecture, planning, and a host of crucial tasks that defined what cities are, their virtual experiential quality, and how they might function better.

The first step on the road to creating a virtual city, a city where bricks and mortar, buildings and their materials are represented as polygons and textures, is digital data (Batty et.al., 2007)., but the geometry must be detached from its other more utilitarian attributes which might be both physical and social. Such data often represents itself as an infinite number of layers that can be placed into the cityscape, expressing the real and/or virtual icons of the world in question. Data thus drives the formation of virtual city images.

Therefore both the real and virtual images co-exist, supplementing and augmenting each other, with one not existing in the absence of the other. It is possible to characterize and categorize the range of city imaging efforts currently underway in many different ways. At the same time, understanding the dynamic of city imaging requires examination at many different scales, ranging from the powerful catalyst of a single highly imageable new building to attempts to re-conceptualize the metropolitan region as a whole. Before one can understand very much about the city imaging phenomenon, one must first explore the expanding range of methods and techniques that are available for visualizing and marketing places. Moreover, one must come to terms with the ways that the work of city designers and planners is embedded in a wider realm of urban policymaking and colored by the broader portrayal of cities, suburbs, and regions in the media.

Also, what benefit does, for example, a planner, architect, politician or â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;generalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; citizen gain from the created city model? In theory, all these potential users of city models could benefit from a model tailored to their specific demands. Nevertheless it must be regarded as a difficult task to provide with the right representation for the right kind of users of all the data stored inside a city model.

Virtual vs Reality: The Bright Side Virtual reality stemmed as a technology to simulate physical presence in

276 | F5 Urbanity

real or imagined environment, it brings in tremendous implications in various fields. According to Graham and Aurigi (1997) ‘virtual cities’ are intelligence based local initiatives, ‘electronic spaces’ accessed through computing equipment to: “market cities a nodes of global investment, to widen local participation in telematics, and to engineer the emergence of new ‘elected public spaces, to complement or replace the undermined physical public spaces of cities” (Graham & Aurigi, 1997). Virtual cities also describes simulations of certain urban spaces or entire cities developed to improve planning of real-world city. The emergence of these virtual places has always raised questions on how they will be affected by interactions, and perception of the real city. Lynch’ model aimed to study visual reality of the city, however, the emergence of virtual reality is more based on the research on how virtual reality may affect inhabitants’ image of the city. Billinghurst & Weghorst, (1995), conducted a study about cognitive mapping in virtual environment to understand how people form their imageability in a virtual space in order to develop virtual world design. They based it on Lynch’ model to perform the study, however, some difficulties appeared when they tried to measure users’ cognition of the virtual space, due to absence of most physical sensation like olfactory and kinetic (Billinghurst & Weghorst, 1995).

Fig H: Proposed model to understand image of the city in the information age.

Source: Al-ghamdi & Al-harigi, 2015

The effects of internet social media based technology on image of the city in both proposed perspectives are immense. New technology has produced tools that can help detecting, presenting, analyzing and evaluating cognitive mapping or what inhabitants recall about their cities. Similarly, the spread of mobile-Locative based technology whether in forms of devices, real-time maps, or locating applications, allows inhabitants to navigate easily through the city and increase their sense of legibility and clarity of cityscape. It also enhances their experience through stipulating future information such as, alternative routes, congested locations, estimated time and users’ reviews and experience of the space.

E-mage of the City | 277

Fig I: Interface between real and virtual world.

[Source: http://www.globalresearch.ca/screening-out-reality-electronic-happenings-in-the-real-world/5390169. Accessed: 16/10/2015].

Nevertheless, technology added new dimensions of legibility to the space.

These include meaning of place and virtual reality. Meaning of space, which involves experiences and perceptions of users, formed through virtual interactions in cyberspace and geographical context of media, is still an imprecise issue that needs meticulous scrutiny.

Virtual reality along with these cyber meanings and experiences has brought up concerns about legitimacy of the space an issue that alarmed many thinkers and researchers. Castell (2010) said (in The Rise of the Networking Society) “At the dawn of the information age, a crisis of legitimacy is voiding of meaning and function” (Castell, 2010,). Baudrillard (1981) also questioned legitimacy of our age. His concept of the simulacrum described how people replaced reality with symbols, signs, and traces of the real, a generated model of the city without reality (Baudrillard, 1981-1994). Many critics like Baudrillard (1981) and Castells (2010) have skeptical ideas about the effect of media and cyberspace on people’s perception of the real world. The massive amount of interactions between the virtual and the physical realm through means of technology is confusing human perceptions. With no vivid separation between truth and lies, real and fake, in the tremendous amount of data people receive every day, meanings and experiences may be distorted. Image of the city in the information age is threatened of its validity in that context. Beth and Piaget, (1966) stated that the process of human understanding of something can be learned through studying the something and the person (in the process of understanding it) (Strochecker, 1999). The inhabitants’ image of the city needs to focus more on the city and its users while they form and recall the image. The proposed model to understand Image of the city is discerned from Lynch’ beliefs that the process of legibility involves both the observer and the observed.

278 | F5 Urbanity

In the proposed model, technology has direct effect on image of the city within the two perspectives as addressed earlier, one on the concept per se: as a tool to study mental image (collect data, analyze, draw, and measure); the other on the inhabitants: through GIS and LBD (navigation, identify elements to context, communicate, enriching experience and perception thus the meaning of space). The benefits of the internet in facilitating city images are obvious and all around us – instant access, ability to engage with two senses through audio plus video, marketing pop culture, a heap of information, fast communication, educative, and an endless web of linked knowledge. In a city wide poll, people put the internet at the top of their list of daily essentials, ahead of a bath, a car, and the television.

Virtual vs Reality: The Flip Side One of the most robust parallels between the city and the virtual world is their enormous populations. But, all this migration of social, economic, and political, activity to cyberspace will force us to think traditional relationships between the civic and the urban. “Today, the ancient idea of community as a “body of people living in one place, district, or country is eroding; a community may now find its place in cyberspace. This new sort of site is not a seemly patch of earth, but a computer to which members may connect from wherever they happen to be. The founding ritual is not one of marking boundaries and making obeisance to the gods, but of allocating disk space and going online. And the new urban design task is not one of configuring buildings, streets and public spaces, but one of writing computer code and deploying software objects to create virtual places and electronic interconnections between them. Within these places, social contacts will be made, economic transactions will be carried out, cultural life will unfold, surveillance will be enacted, and power will be exerted” (Mitchell 1995).

In the early twentieth century, the quest was for assimilation of urban sub-cultures into the urban culture. In the early twenty-first century the challenge is the sharing of the city by irreversibly distinct cultures and identities. There is no more a dominant culture, because only global media have the power to send dominant messages, and the media have in fact adapted to their market, constructing a kaleidoscope of variable content depending on demand, thus reproducing culture and personal diversity rather than over-imposing a common set of values. The spread E-mage of the City | 279

Fig J: Some popular results of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Image of Delhiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; searches [Source: http://www. googleimages.com Accessed: 16/10/2015].

of horizontal communication via the internet accelerates the process of fragmentation and individualization of symbolic interaction. Thus, the fragmented metropolis and the individualization of the communication reinforce each other to produce an endless constellation of cultural subsets.

But though this immersion in the electronic bits will reduce our reliance on physical presence and material exchange, altering ways in which we use space and weakening linkages in large urban agglomerations, there is no proof of the fact that this will make us indifferent to our immediate sur-

280 | F5 Urbanity

roundings, which still form a large part of our perceived repertoire. “As the speed at which bits zip around a building approaches that at which they are moved inside todays computers, it will become meaningless to ask where the smart electronics end and the dumb construction begins; computers will burst out of their boxes, walls will be wired, and the architectural works of the bitsphere will be less structures with chips than robots with foundation.” (Mitchell, 1995) These risks and dangers are less obvious, and more subterranean. There are at least three we have identified.

First, we know too much but understand too little. The amount of information at our fingerprints is unimaginably large. Every single minute of the day Facebook users share two and a half million pieces of content, twitter users tweet three hundred thousand times, YouTube users upload seventy two hours of video, two hundred million emails are sent and apple users download fifty thousand apps. This much data is overwhelming and asphyxiating. To maneuver, we have to rely on search engines. But we forget that these search engines are mechanical and highly colored in their interpretations.

Secondly, we miss out on the common everyday subconscious: The scale is the comparative sizes of the buildings and the user’s relationship to them. The scale of the urban realm affects the user by making the space comfortable, divine, overwhelming or even unreal! For example, a person seeing Vikas Minar in person is overwhelmed, awed, and a little dwarfed by the building. But viewing the same building bound by the walls of technology, or at a not pedestrian point of view, may make it almost normal, which may not be the desired effect.

The organization of a city, say Lutyen’s Delhi, seems legible, almost regular on a Google Map existing on a virtual database. But experiencing it in its physical manifest makes a person realize the confusion and vagueness that he faces by the sameness of the streets.

Transition of spaces in various times throughout the day and night, in terms of activities, space modulation and architecture is lost when one is engaged only to the virtual aspect, or idea of it, wherein, a curated perception is intended. Virtuality is static entity, while reality is a dynamic process.

Sensory experience: Unlike real life experiences, which stimulate all five senses, virtuality only stimulates the two, namely, vision and sound. It thereby inherently reduces the capability of the presented architecture to E-mage of the City | 281

be imageable.

Vernaculars of the city: Apart from architecture, the city is well comprised of the cultures and traditions, which has no expression in the virtual image making process.

Thirdly, because the internet is often a source of reliable information, we exaggerate its accuracy, its importance, and its wisdom. Too many user inputs result in a confusing, bloated virtuality, which raises the question, ‘whose reality are we actually seeing?’ An image, shared on say Facebook, could be re shared, modified, colored, opinionated, and much more, so that when it actually reaches you, it is an ‘image of an image’, and not what it actually portrayed. Also, we have moved on from those times when the reality dictated the virtuality. Slowly but surely, virtuality has caught up, and even surpassed the physical reality, with images existing in cyberspace before being physically constructed. As Mitchell pointed out in his book City of Bits, the new urban design task is not one of configuring buildings, streets and public spaces, but one of writing computer codes to create virtual places and electronic interconnections between them. Virtual-scape is becoming omnipresent, with bits of reality being consumed in the process.

On city planning level, spaces and building footprints are based on the land use pattern, number of users, the context, etc. Today, with almost everything available online, urban planners are in the Catch-22 situation.

The addition of the layer of internet in the city planning has to imbibe, among the many things, the number of internet users in the catchment area of the space to be designed, the age groups and their respective internet using ability, the occupation and their online spending capacity, etc. These have direct implications on the design principles, questioning the need of large destination shopping spaces, libraries, movie halls, etc.

We simply do not need to go to these places, our clouds can sustain the physical efforts, thanks to internet.

Delhi’s Virtual Reality All cities, and the neighborhoods within them, are constructed and interpreted by many forces; we learn about places not only from the people who live in them but also from the built environment in which social life takes place and from the media environment (including the reportage of ‘pseudo-events’ that helps to edit and alter our perceptions. Media portrayals and urban development ventures each make judgments about the 282 | F5 Urbanity

Fig K: Delhi shown in movies, TV serials, video games etc which connects to real city in some ways but has its own perception for things around.

[Source : UTV movies, T-series movies, Filmi Beat, MTV Webbed, Ubisoft GaParadox Entertainment. Viewed: 17/10/2015]

worth and potential of people and the places they inhabit. For example, Bollywood producers and directors seek out distressed urban communities, like in the movie- drama of “2 States”, “Delhi 6”, “Delhi Belly”, “Fukrey”, to set their nightmarish portrayals of inner city life, images that often serve to confirm or extend negative stereotypes. On television, the situation seems similar, although exceptions such as Bindass’s “Beg Borrow Steal” seek out urban settings in various cities intended to forge the very definition of what’s cool and approachable about the urban culture.

Still, the most popular television dramas focus on inner city crime fighting or chronicle the ‘incoming wounded’ of urban emergency rooms, like that of “Crime Patrol”, “MTV Webbed”.

Other than the realms of film and television (not to mention older media forms); urban images are progressively conveyed through newer digital media. Participants are provided with the opportunity to direct the development of a metropolis, and encode numerous assumptions about how cities can be structured through popular computer based games such as “Splinter’s Cell”, “Far Cry 4”, “East India Company”, etc. Creation of new interactive social realms, using physical cities as metaphors, is alE-mage of the City | 283

lowed to those with computer access to experience urbanism-at-a-distance through other alternative cyberworlds.

Even as new communications technologies facilitate the experience of the city through the creation of parallel fictional worlds, city imaging efforts also continue to thrive in the built world of urban real estate development. Here, too, the old values of “location” that drive urban redevelopment initiatives have gained new media partners.

Increasingly, flagship development projects take on the trappings of staged ventures, in which image-building is at the head of the agenda.

In the effort to shift and lift public (or investor) confidence, places get named or renamed to convey future hopes as with the attempt to rename Delhi to “The Imperial City of New Delhi” or to convey a more upscale or pastoral image as with renaming “Aurangazeb Road” to “Dr. Abdul Kalam Azad Road”. This is not a new phenomenon, but it is one that seems to be diversifying and accelerating. Abandoned late 20th century industrial landscapes, like the notorious Union Carbide Factory in Bhopal, are in the process of being resuscitated by government agencies as centers of Heritage Importance, Historic Preservation, museums and convention centers. The structure and the essence of the Industrial Age is to be preserved while enhancing the image using technological advances, again with new identities and new names, not to mention new glossy brochures and promotional videos.

Twenty five years ago, Kevin Lynch called on designers and planners to help city officials and city dwellers develop a clearer sense of the passage of time in urban areas. Now, however, his intriguing question “What Time is This Place?” (Lynch, 1972) is being answered by calculated efforts to select and highlight certain past eras of the city’s culture and ambiance, while bypassing less marketableelements, periods (and persons) (Hayden, 1995). Everything from the streetscape and the architecture of new and renovated facilities to the typeface of tourist brochures and signage attempts to recapture a lost piece of heritage in a way intended to portend a new postindustrial economic viability. Redevelopers of the Lutyens Bungalow Zone, especially the Connaught Place, for example, seek to attract tourists and reinvestment capital by harkening back to the early 20th century days when the neighborhood marked the identifier of high society and served as a nexus for economically rich, foreign brands traders and tourist culture even though the neighborhood is now completely transformed from a residential cum commercial zone to entirely 284 | F5 Urbanity

trade and service hotspot.

Reimaging also occurs at the level of the city as a whole. Places such as Ranchi and Jamshedpur not long ago widely stereotyped as the epitome of industrial exploitation of natural reserves and technologically challenged, are now reinterpreted as the centers of technology renaissance, thanks to liberalization polies adopted by the State. To accomplish this image change, city leaders have long recognized that tangible evidence of economic growth is not sufficientÍž what matters is both high profile physical redevelopment and the skillful marketing of such efforts at visible change. Other cities, like Delhi, Pune and Bangalore, stage elaborate promotional campaigns in the attempt to attract national and international events such as major conventions. Closer home, Delhi hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2010, is an excellent example of putting every technological medium to reimage the city infrastructure.

Through the anti-corruption movement in Delhi, March 2012, Jantar mantar played a vital role as a place of resistance. Protesters from all over the country marched in the square to claim their right to clean and transparent governance. They inhabited the ground for almost 40 days.

Meaning of the square as a public space was utterly evolving. A battleground between protesters and government troops, a ground for political debate, a camping field, a mini market to sell Gandhi caps and flagsâ&#x20AC;Śetc. all these different activities took place in the Jantar Mantar adding a new dimension of how people experience and perceive the place. Perception process can be explained as the transformation of a sensory inputs to a meaningful experience (Sartain, North, & Strange, 1967). This sensory can be a visual, a certain smell, a distinguishing sound or something that can be touched to help deepen your experience in a certain time and space. The subjects are unconscious along with personal background will then define the perception of the place (Koseoglu & Onder, 2011). Protesters in the protest grounds have surely formed a profound experience about everything they felt and suffered, those mixed feeling and tense incidents will create a perpetual meaning for the Jantar Mantar especially for people who were involved in the revolution. Jantar Mantar has witnessed revolutions before, but not as profound and moving as the 28th July.

Despite the wide controversy, it is illogical to ignore the impact of social media in facilitating the revolution. The new dimension of real-time locative technology fired up social media interactions whether on FaceE-mage of the City | 285

book or twitter. People saturated the hyperspace with posts, texts, videos and images from the ground and posted all over the world. Social media proved their impact on the public in this political scene. However, there are no studied proof yet that social media had a direct impact on the meaning or perception of the space. The case of Jantar Mantar shed light on two important issues, one on how the overwhelming experience affected Delhiite’s imageability of the Jantar Mantar, and second on the amount of input of technology in forming and distributing meaning and perception of the space through various means delivered by locative media?

Towns (2000) said, “The cellular telephone…digital communications tools to come, will undoubtedly le fundamental transformations in individuals’ perceptions of self and the world” (Townsend, 2000). Jean Baudrillard stated that our society has substituted reality and meaning with symbols and signs referring to media and internet which turns our experience to a simulation of reality (Baudrillard, 1981-1994). Meaning of the space is important. It is what turns the abstract space into a place as Creswell asserted (Cresswell, 2004). Whether meaning is obtained through personal experience or affected by our virtual experiences, it is of great importance to understand how image of the city is formulated.

Lynch (1960) overlooked meaning in his model and preferred to let it develop by inhabitants on their own. a more upscale or pastoral image as with renaming “Aurangazeb Road” to “Dr. Abdul Kalam Azad Road”.

This is not a new phenomenon, but it is one that seems to be diversifying and accelerating. Abandoned late 20th century industrial landscapes, like the notorious Union Carbide Factory in Bhopal, are in the process of being resuscitated by government agencies as centers of Heritage Importance, Historic Preservation, museums and convention centers. The structure and the essence of the Industrial Age is to be preserved while enhancing the image using technological advances, again with new identities and new names, not to mention new glossy brochures and promotional videos.

Twenty five years ago, Kevin Lynch called on designers and planners to help city officials and city dwellers develop a clearer sense of the passage of time in urban areas. Now, however, his intriguing question “What Time is This Place?” (Lynch, 1972) is being answered by calculated efforts to select and highlight certain past eras of the city’s culture and ambiance, while bypassing less marketable elements, periods (& persons) (Hayden, 1995). Everything from the streetscape and the architecture of 286 | F5 Urbanity

new and renovated facilities to the typeface of tourist brochures and signage attempts to recapture a lost piece of heritage in a way intended to portend a new postindustrial economic viability. Redevelopers of the Lutyens Bungalow Zone, especially the Connaught Place, for example, seek to attract tourists and reinvestment capital by harkening back to the early 20th century days when the neighborhood marked the identifier of high society and served as a nexus for economically rich, foreign brands traders and tourist culture even though the neighborhood is now completely transformed from a residential cum commercial zone to entirely trade and service hotspot.

Fig L: Some graphic virtualities of Delhi [Source: http://www. googleimages.com Accessed: 16/10/2015].

Reimaging also occurs at the level of the city as a whole. Places such as Ranchi and Jamshedpur not long ago widely stereotyped as the epitome of industrial exploitation of natural reserves and technologically challenged, are now reinterpreted as the centers of technology renaissance, thanks to liberalization polies adopted by the State. To accomplish this image change, city leaders have long recognized that tangible evidence of economic growth is not sufficientÍž what matters is both high profile physical redevelopment and the skillful marketing of such efforts at visible change. Other cities, like Delhi, Pune and Bangalore, stage elaborate promotional campaigns in the attempt to attract national and internaE-mage of the City | 287

tional events such as major conventions. Closer home, Delhi hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2010, is an excellent example of putting every technological medium to reimage the city infrastructure.

Synthesis This study was conceptualized with the intention of understanding the image of the city in the new information age. This research consequently revealed the impact of information and communication technology on the concept of mental mapping and the inhabitantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; imageability of the city; a mode proposed to apprehend the process in which technology affects image of the city directly and indirectly. Virtual reality and meaning of the place are important dimensions arising from technology and require endless scrutiny. How does the future bring about new techniques to study users while they are forming their image? How far is the image-formation process affected by the massive meaning and egocentric allocated data available on the place through social media and communicative maps? These questions still remain open to debate.

The challenges presented with the advancing technology is the sharing of the city by irreversibly distinct cultures and identities. There is no more a dominant culture, because only global media have the power to send dominant messages, and the media has in fact adapted to their market, constructing a kaleidoscope of variable content depending on demand, thus reproducing culture and personal diversity rather than imposing a common set of values. The spread of horizontal communication via the internet accelerates the process of fragmentation and individualization of symbolic interaction. Thus, the fragmented metropolis and the individualization of the communication reinforce each other to produce an endless constellation of imageable subsets.

A virtual image hence becomes a crucial part of the city image. An important point to put forward as an assimilation of this study is the fact that the real world and the virtual image are coevolutionary. Both of these parts of a city image cannot exist without each other, and facilitate each other over time. But this layer of virtuality cloaking the physical fabric has both positives, like enhancing legibility throughout the city; and negatives, like the phenomena of an individual becoming disjointed from his reality, without a sense of experience or connection. Both of these should be kept in mind while enhancing and supplementing further layers upon the tapestry of the city image. Also, more importantly, this virtual 288 | F5 Urbanity

image has the vast potential of being used as a resource, with technology facilitating and giving rise to mediums such as social networking, press, media, the film industry, television, and so many more. This relinquishes great power to the hands of the facilitator of this image, which can both be used as a tool to enhance or diminish from the underlying city image.

The world has been continuously evolving, and will not stop doing so at any point in time. We as designers should take these changes and evolutions in our stride, and incorporate them within our practices in order to not be left behind. Each new era offers its own special infrastructures, or technologies that can be used to improve our cities appropriately if they are understood properly. It should not be surprising that architects who have been a decisive factor in creating the real world should also play an important role in facilitating the virtual world when their expertise relating to all kinds of spatial representation is taken into account. When it comes to aspects of visualization of buildings and cities, architects can call upon on an extended tradition â&#x20AC;&#x201C; much longer than the relatively short history of computers.

Somewhere between the boundaries of physical reality and the virtual city imagery lies the overall Image of the city in the information Age. The internet provides unrivaled challenges to our abilities to: interact deeply with the physical realm, keep our critical senses alive, stop thinking that the virtual is as good as real, and make discoveries that come when we are bored and let our minds lie fallow. We need to start to take active measures to educate the common man that the virtual world is add on the real world. Architects, should consider the advantages of the virtual information world as a tool and not replacement to the real life issues. In that sense, reliance on information based intelligence in the studio can never replace the opportunities from the constraints of actual site visits!

Our Building by-laws, NBC, etc. are designed as per our spatial needs according to the nature of the work. With internet allowing the user to sit, lie down or stand while doing the same job, it is the urgent need to rethink the significance of scale of our spaces, which consequently will affect our city image. Questions like, how will our cities be designed, or how should our future buildings look like, should incorporate the layer of technology in the design principles.

Also, we need to caution ourselves against the multiple informed opinions of the virtual world, not because virtuality is so bad, but precisely because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so very, very nice, in ways which may turn out to be deeply E-mage of the City | 289

detrimental to our ability to perceive and form city images.

Bibliography BARLEY, N. (2000) Breathing cities: the architecture of movement, Birkhauser.

CASTELLS, M., (2004) Space of Flows, Space of Places: Materials for a Theory of Urbanism in the Information Age. [Online] Available from: http://fields.eca.ac.uk/ disruptivetechnologies/wpcontent/uploads/2011/10/Castells-Manuel-The-Space-ofFlows.pdf. [Accessed: 11th October 2015].

DOKONAL, W., MARTENS, B., PLOSCH, R., (2004) Creating and Using Virtual Cities.

[Online] Available: http://cumincad.architexturez.net/system/files/pdf/2004_580. content.pdf. [Accessed: 12th October 2015].

DONATH, J. S. (1996) Inhabiting the virtual city: The city and the body. [Online] Available from: http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/Thesis/ThesisContents.html.

[Accessed: 7th October 2015] EADE, J., Mele, C., (2002) Understanding the City: Contemporary and Future Perspectives, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research FATTAHI, K., KOBAYASHI, H. (2009) New Era, New Criteria for City Imaging. [Online] Available from: http://www.um.ase.ro/No12/5.pdf. [Accessed: 10th October 2015].

FRIEDMANN, J, (2007) “Place and Place-Making in the Cities of China”. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. Volume 31.2, pp. 257–279 GHAMDI, S., HARIGI, F. (2015) Rethinking Image of the City in the Information Age. [Online] Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S1877050915028483. [Accessed: 12th October 2015].

HALL, S., (2012) City, Street and Citizen: The measure of the ordinary. Oxon, Routledge.

HARIHARAN, G (2014) Almost Home: Cities and other Places, HarperCollins Publishers, India LYNCH, K. (1960) The Image of the City. Cambridge Massachusettes: MIT Press LYNCH, K (1981) A Theory of Good City Form, MIT Press, London MEHTA, S., (2004) Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, Penguin Random House, Mumbai.

MITCHELL, W. J. (1995) City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn. Cambridge: MIT Press SMYTH, H., (1994) Marekting the City: The role of Flagship Developments in Urban Regeneration, E & FN Spon, London, UK. SMITH, A. H. et al. (2007) Virtual Cities: Digital Mirrors into a Recursive World. [Online] UCL Working paper series (paper 125/dec 07). Available from: http://discovery. ucl.ac.uk/15178/1/15178.pdf. [Accessed: 12th October 2015] SUNDARAM, R (2010) Pirate Modernity: Delhi’s Media Urbanism, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, London VALE, L., WARNER, S., BEAMISH, A., (1998) Imaging the City: The Place of Media in City Design and Development. [Online] Available from: http://web.mit.edu/imagingthecity/www/overview.html. [Accessed: 13th October 2015].

290 | F5 Urbanity

CITY-TECH-SPACE

Technology Infused Spaces

Cities of today rest on technological foundations that drive entire economies and socio-cultural systems. The traditional meanings of space have tremendously changed since the advent of technology. This paper amasses an ongoing discourse on media and technologies in society, linking it to space. We argue for the need of a technological perspective to the designer in order to find their relevance in a world riddled with Globalization and Capitalism.

Bhaswati Mukherjee | Jithin K Shamsu | Pulkit Mogha | Shijo Jose Guide : Sandip Kumar Chairperson : Radha Mahendru 291

T

his paper hopes to bring forth the ways in which technology is infused within the city & space. Technologically infused space, simply put, is one where machine or code is embedded within the built in ways that modify its nature spatially. The spaces themselves cannot be studied in isolation from the socio-economic context around which they are built. Therefore our pursuit towards understanding spaces of this nature concurs with the social construction of the spaces.

Technology has changed the way we go about our lives and the way we negotiate with space. This transformation is not just about spatial perception, but intersects with notions of city and user.

CITY “The spaces and rhythms of contemporary cities are radically different to those described in classic theories of urbanism” (Buck-Morss 1989). This section begins by talking about the contemporary city, and the experiential qualities that come associated with it, building on the argument that the uniqueness to this urban experience can largely be attributed to its technological bearings. Using Marx’s historical materialism to establish the significance of material productive forces i.e. Technology in its capability to influence society and cities, presents code and machine not just as neutral but political tools. The first section deals with the city and its users, and the economy central to its sustenance. It encapsulates the ‘urban’ experience and the economic reasons of it being the way it is. The urban experience is subtly seen as blended with technological references.

TECH The second section directly deals with these technological bearings, as a foreground to the urban experience. It is here that Delhi is tested in the mould of the contemporary city. Technology and its parameters are defined, limiting our scope to direct engagement with

292 | F5 Urbanity

spaces. The resultant is a larger picture, linking an economic process to its technological means.

The spatial experience is enabled and dictated by technological interventions and solutions. The aim of the City-Tech section is in encapsulating the experience of the contemporary city and establishing the innate technological roots of this experience. A zoomed-in spatial experience which is of relevance to the practitioners of space is the focus of the third section.

SPACE The third section delves into the realm of technology-infused spaces beginning with its definition and scope. The paper understands these spaces as varying shades of grey, and instead of classifying, builds a conceptual framework to arrive at a narrative to look at the ways in which technology-infused spaces are experienced within the city. Hence it explore spaces in their attributes of performance, interactivity, transience, code, virtual, etc in the context of Delhi.

Any discussions about Cities today are incomplete without including ideas of surveillance and privatization, Globalization and digitalization, cybernetics and biometrics, power and authority. The end is a full circle coming back to the city, and connect the dots between a globalizing world and technology. This section brushes on these ideas to put them together under the aegis of a technological perspective.

A section for Architects argues the need for practitioners of space to incorporate ideas of technology within the spatial discourse, and understand space from a technological lens rather than sleepwalk into technological initiation.

While the premise of this paper is to shed light on the spatial possibilities enabled by technology, it also establishes through the experience of the city, the irrevocable significance of technology in the world today. A systematic approach of looking at spaces through the possibilities of that space does justice to the subject of study, technology infused spaces, while condensing simultaneous connections to theoretical discourse (surveillance, privatization, globalization, cybernetics, etc), types of technologies (virtual, digital, assemblage), and spatial commentaries (phantasm, ethereal, transience) thus covering spaces alongside their politics.

City Tech Space | 293

City is experiential. The city is sensorium. The city is modern and chaos. Always envisioned as constantly moving forward, the contemporary city is now a dynamic entity, ever-changing, uncontained. To comprehend it, the city needs to be realized in psychological and spatial terms. The psyche of the city user is a response to the material forces at play around him. While the psychological can be explained by the socio-economic on all levels i.e. the city and the individual; the spatial aspect of the city becomes the crux of our study. Neither can be studied in isolation from the other. Before technology comes into the picture, what makes the city?

City and the Dweller - Psychological & Spatial experience Building from Marxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historical materialism, which perhaps seems to make more sense now than ever, society functions on the material productive forces that provide them with indispensable relations of production, which is the economic foundation of the city and society. The socio-cultural, political and legal substructure of society rests on this very foundation. And the ideas and collective consciousness of society depend on these very material conditions (Marx 1859). Simply put, the way man/woman is and thinks is determined by the way they produce for subsistence. The objective, economic-sociological factor is the determinant of the human condition of the time.

City is the center of commercial activity. Cities crumble when their economies do. Everything here is attached to a money-value and can be quantified. The city is supplied almost exclusively by production for the market where the producer and purchaser never interact directly (Simmel 1980). The economic exchange, an important social function becomes a rational impersonal exchange. Nothing is left ambiguous. Innovations like watches bring notions of precision and punctuality. Time is paced.

Everything is quantified. The city dwellerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mind as a result becomes a calculating rational tool. While emotional response is reserved for those close to us, most of our social exchanges employ a rational, calculating, quantifying mind.

There is heightened social plasticity within an atomized society. Lost amidst the crowd, the city dweller is in a constant struggle for individuality.

Conflictingly, distances have reduced, time has shortened and means have emerged that allows the city-dweller to foster a complex network 294 | F5 Urbanity

of social relationships of far bigger magnitudes than was possible before.

Mobility is a universal application, and not associated to distances alone.

Communication can now happen digitally over screens. Anonymity and pseudonymity engage with the virtually isolated, new kinds of social networks have emerged. Users of technologies are connected in real-time with users all over the world. A lot is happening within the city for the user. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The psychological foundation, upon which the metropolitan individuality is erected, is the intensification of emotional life due to the swift and continuous shift of external and internal stimuli.â&#x20AC;? (Simmel 1980).

The urban experience is one of shocks and constantly changing images.

The human sensorium has built resistance through impersonality to parry these shocks (R Subramaniam 2002). Attention spans have shortened; and distracted, fleeting responses to external and internal stimuli are pavlovian. The intensified emotional incidence of rapid stimuli of the city ran in tandem with technological means.

Digital media has informed spatial perception and usage (Verstegen 2001).

New electronic media has brought sensing and experiencing to the foreground of spatial experience (McLuhan M 1964).

Advertising and displays, global malls and arcades have brought the commercial center to profitable ends.

Virtual social media and mobiles have enabled social plasticity, and multiplicity in social relations.

Large transport infrastructures: metro, underground subway, monorail and airports have reduced a sense of distances and time.

For the purpose of this seminar, technology is to be understood as the drive for efficiency (as with machines), its active verb technique as an ensemble of means (Ellul 1964). However the technological process does not work in isolation from socio-political processes. And more often than not, technology can be used as a political tool. When entering the spatial realm, technology takes form in machines, code, networks and assemblage (Kitchin, Dodge 2011) that together with the built modify and creCity Tech Space | 295

ate new spaces. These spaces possess characteristics that are possible only because of the presence of these technologies. These characteristics of space, are referred to as the attributes of technological spaces.

This City, a Product of Technology The economic system of the city was facilitating and simultaneously facilitated by a technological drive. In the Indian context, the economic reform of 1991 enabled a neo liberal capitalism in its cities. Foreign exchange and investment steadily stabilized the nation salvaging itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economic state. A steadily growing tertiary sector of information workers became the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s majority dwellers. The Indian city was a land of opportunity, and witnessed unprecedented migration and an exponential growth in urban population. For a capitalist free market, the city dweller was a consuming mass. The market became the centerstage of city economy. So much so, that the market and consumer culture gradually consumed the public realm. Entire professional industries emerged, catering to strategize, manage, advertize and aid consumption.

Multi-national giants established stakes within markets which became global in themselves. A strong unplanned response to all this presented itself in interstices within the formal hegemony of policy and planning.

Slums emerged, so did pirate markets (Sundaram), resettlement colonies and urban villages.

English is the principal language for the business transactions in India.

India has the second largest and the fastest growing pool of technical manpower.

High availability of Computer literate, English speaking and educated customer care professionals.

India has the lowest manpower cost. Manpower cost is approximately one-tenth of what it is overseas. The annual cost per agent in USA is approximately $40,000 while in India it is around $5000.

The India Advantage Source: Call Centre Calling : Technology, network and location -Raqs Media Collective Original: http://www.delhicall.com/why-india.html

India today is an important global player, with immense economic potential. Its cities are teeming with information workers, dealing with abstraction, making for the majority of its middle class (a 70.95% GDP 296 | F5 Urbanity

contribution by the tertiary sector (Economic survey of Delhi, 2005-06) makes their voices heard over the urban poor). There are imprints of globalization, and efforts of the nation state to project a global image in a globalizing economy (like the Commonwealth Games). Large scale projects and events of global scales are also an effort to present Delhi (and India, as in the case of smart cities) as a node of investment, as the collective vision and future aspirations of all parties involved. Major Indian Cities have becomes centers of services and business through which capital and other resources flow in and out of their economies.

The neo-liberal capitalist Delhi demonstrates the urban experience of the contemporary city.

… the common, everyday objects of industrial culture have as much of value to teach us as that canon of cultural “treasures” which we have for so long been taught to revere.

Buck-Morss, Dielectics of Seeing Technologically infused architecture is one where machine or code is embedded within the built in ways that modify its nature spatially.

Technology-infused spaces are hence spaces owing their attributes to technologies, assemblage, technological artefacts, software and codes.

The placement of a telephone within a booth gives that space its function. The projection onto a screen is what facilitates the purpose of a cinema hall. It is these embedded technologies that allow spaces to perform in a certain way.

The notion of performance of space can stretch further from the traditional notions of neutrality, staticity and specificity of space. Space moves. Spaces changes temporally, transforms, flows into. How does technology enable these attributes of space?

On closer inspection one finds that some technologies function in deterministic ways in spaces. Most studies on software and technologies focus largely on how it affects social systems and how they are formed, organized and regulated only with relation to time and place with the space in which they exist being a mere coincidence. Hence, these accounts of the relationship of society and software are independent of the spatial component. However, society does not function aspatially, but rather forms an important component shaping social relations with the intricate formation of layers of context that hold people and things together. Kitchin and Dodge’s ‘Code/Space’ (2011) talks about the kind City Tech Space | 297

Attributes/possibilities of technology-infused space (Source: Author)

SURFACE | PERFORM | INTERACT

STRETCH | MORPH| EXTEND

NETWORK | CONNECT | FLOW

of space whose very spatiality depends on the existence of code to make that space function in a certain way, some of which we discuss in our framework. These spaces can simultaneously be both global and local where it is grounded in spatiality in the local context while can be accessed and controlled via network from anywhere in the world. One of the opportunities when designing spaces that have code infused in them is how a space can be made intelligent and how the sensors can be used by the user to match their own preferences. It is ultimately upto the designer to provide for these as code steadily become a part of the designed space.

There are a multitude of ways and degrees in which technology has manifested in all disciplines, including space. Any attempt to classify these spaces is but impossible because the technological process is constantly updating, moving forward, at the same time expanding epistemologically; with a plethora of interconnected manifestations that seem to overlap in a dense network of their material histories and social construction. So rather than attempt to divide on the basis of types of technologies, we chose to look at their spatial possibilities.

Imagining space to be a contained entity, a bubble, defined in its edges (as has been the purpose of walls in design); one can begin to observe this these edges are not as definite and that the space undergoes transformation. This transformation has broadly been structured into three kinds of transformation.

The first kind, ‘Interact’, is spaces that exist within their spatial extents, but within that boundary find ways to facilitate function or allow new spatial possibilies within that space.

The second, ‘Morph’ looks at spaces that stretch these spatial extents beyond four walls in their user experience into phantasmatic/virtual/simulated/cyber/digital space.

‘Network’ covers this extension to the next level where space becomes

298 | F5 Urbanity

capable of connecting to another allowing mutual exchange, becoming transient or part of a network.

This isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t an attempt to classify but explore the ways through which spaces transform, and build a narrative from there. (The image above is only but a conceptual marker for thinking about how spaces are experienced today, and not an attempt towards their classification.) More important than the narrative is the arrival to a collective realisation of innateness of a technological facet to spaces.

(clockwise from topright) Paharganj at night, Connaught Place arcades, Ghantaghar electronic market, Palika underground market Source: http://goo.gl/VShXhA, http://goo.gl/1OpJFx, http://goo.gl/GArQZs, http://goo.gl/gur1JH,

Interact There are ways in which spaces perform in immediacy to their surroundings and interact with their users. Surfaces are, with much success, used in the contemporary city to disperse ideas of consumption and popular culture. There are visual stimuli of rapidly changing imagery on streets, in public spaces, the metro, in malls and shops, as far as the eye can see. The eyes are attuned to Neon Displays and signboards, signage and graffiti; hybrid spatial ensembles that users interact with on a daily basis. The city experience is these sensations.

The Global typology of Shopping Mall is carefully designed to uses techniques and spatial planning to entice and immerse the consumer (Koolhas 1998). Much thought and investment goes into strategizing and designing spaces that promote consumption. Klein (2010) talks about how

City Tech Space | 299

(top to bottom) Privately engaging spheres in metro compartment, transforming workplace in a cafe.

(Source: Author)

culture has been surrendered to forces of marketing in which the media plays a big role. Successful corporations are highly focused on producing images which is a part of marketing for creating wealth and cultural influence. Commodity as social evaluation is a stereotype that exists now more than ever. To add it this, Consumer credit allows the shopper to make purchases beyond the extents of what physical cash used to provide before, has consumerism spawning more dangerously than ever. Advertising and ‘window shopping’ exist on the premise of using every inch of vertical surface to showcase material culture. McQuire(2008) looked at this very aspect of technology on the built calling it media architecture.

Media has pervaded the world in all forms and shapes and contemporary architecture has incorporated it significantly. The spaces of our daily life are invaded by economic space which is highly subjected to the insistent market, communication, advertisements and building meaning. (Carmona et al. 2003) Designers understand the effectiveness of these strategies in enabling consumption. The shopping mall, cultural centers like Dilli Haat, open avenues of Connaught place, or much simply even provisions of selling vertical surfaces as advertising space is a careful deliberation of how spaces can be used to promote and sell consumer lifestyles. Needless to say this is a heavily debated issue that revolves around the loss of ‘publicness’, privatization, corporatization and the ethics of people friendly-design, to the inevitability of capital systems.

Spaces transform. The use of a Wi-Fi router allows the consumer in a café to temporarily transform the cafe into their workspace. A person engrossed in their phone or tablet in the subway changes the space around him from public into a private one. These transformations happen within

300 | F5 Urbanity

the presence of technologies in that space, when some conditions are met. The cafe is a open to this transformation for the timings that it is running, and till the customer is consuming coffee while they work.

Spaces performing/interacting is best illustrated in Delhi by looking at the 100-acre cultural complex of Swaminarayan Akshardham, situated

Technological assemblage and informing screens Source: ViewSonic brochure.

(Original) http://www. firstpost.com/living/illustrations-delhi-metro-willmake-want-take-crazyride-2150303.html

near the bank of the river Yamuna. A cultural-political-economic icon, today, it showcases Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s traditions of art, architecture, wisdom and spirituality. Technologically powerful machinery and computer systems are put to use to keep the attractions running. Life size mannequins utilise a combination of robotics, fiber optics, light and sound to portray scenes from the life of the young Swaminarayan in the Hall of Values, an audio animatrix show. An IMAX theatre show called Neelkanth Darshan that charts his life from childhood to adulthood includes extensive use of aerial photography and even a computer generated shot of the Mansarovar Lake. The final attraction of the series is the Sanskruti Vihar boat ride. Long boats, with the fore and aft designed to make them look like swans, run on tracks that are concealed under water. The Yagnapurush Kund - musical fountains within a large step well echoes Vedic chants0656 with a light and sound show.

4D cinema halls, assembly lines, factories, recording studios, amusement parks, light and sound shows. Spaces amalgamated with high end technologies are designed with an expertise on the technology running that space. To the creation of these new infused spaces, the built becomes part of the machine. With dominant tech-spaces slowly becoming prevalent, the designer finds relevance by updating their knowledge to include these technologies.

The stimuli are not just visual but slowly responding to more than the one sense. Buildings and spaces are becoming more and more interactive to their users courtesy new technologies. Body scanners, heat detectors, City Tech Space | 301

automated systems that respond to occupancy, smart cards, biometrics, turnstiles are only but a few of the many implements that have changed the way we experience and negotiate with space. Sometimes a number of these technological objects work in tandem to facilitate a process. As users experiencing space we have become used to standard procedures of navigating through the city on a regular basis. The city experience is these procedures.

Getting into a bus from the back door, securing a ticket from the conductor, getting out from the front door. Getting in through a security check in, entering the metro at the platform. Listening to music or engaging in phone screens, exiting the metro, using the token to check out. Procuring Identity card at the front desk of the American Center, going through a security check, using the library, exit. What comes as second nature to us now, these procedures are taught over time, conditioned as a result of living in Delhi.

These procedures are systemic, assemblage of machines and code that create order to spatial usage. A simple example would be, the procedure to check into important public nodes within the city of Delhi, the Delhi metro, Dilli haat, Select City Mall (or any other mall for that instance), embassies, corporate offices, Palika market is a sequence of actions on the users part, and technologies that make this procedure possible.

Queue > All belongings through an X-ray machine > Pass through a scanner > Frisking with a metal detector > Secure Belongings > Use integrated circuit cards > Carry through...

Interactive technologies create impersonal systems with minimal manual intervention. While they ease the labor involved and make certain processes efficient, they are also responsible for creating hostile public environments, subject people to compromise with rights to their own bodies, choice and freedom. Users of space need to question the relevance of these systems challenge their relevance and dehumanized stature, as should practitioners of space. While the politics of these sys302 | F5 Urbanity

tems, bio-metrics, scanners are subject of academic discourse, their position in design practice is rarely questioned.

Among technology enabled surfaces, one innovation steals the show. The television screen is slowly slimming and growing as architectural surface,

Surfaces for advertisement in GIP mall, Noida.

Source: (original) http:// www.unitechgroup.com/ images/gip-noida-pic1. jpg

creeping in a big way into contemporary urbanism. These together with satellite networks and fibre optics that transcend regional or national boundaries have had a profound impact on the relation between media and public spaces. The integration of media in public spaces have served to revitalize these places as they had been on the decline when the society had withdrawn into the private sphere(Harvey, 2003). In the larger sense globalization is said to manifest when the notion of the world as an entity is performed by technology.

Vertical surfaces of wall and screens. Posters, billboards, digital signboards, advertisements, information displays and signage are ways in which vertical surfaces are carefully designed and invested in to disperse information among users within a space. These surfaces inform and direct popular culture as well as wayfinding in space, largely public. They mostly benefit commerce within the city. At the same time they also speeden up processes that would take much longer if they were manual, one canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t imagine getting into the metro without these systems that supposedly makes it all less hassle-free. Systems like biometrics create failsafe efficient solutions to make tracking people and information easy, but this information isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t safe from misuse either.

Within the defined space, functions change temporally when technology intervenes. Space performs because technologies enable their function.

Surfaces and screens inform spaces and what they are intended for.

Automated systems respond to users of space. These changes that occur within spaces are insufficiently accounted for within the realm of design City Tech Space | 303

Extension of space into projection screen, experience of a cinema hall Source: (original) NEUFERT, E. (2000).

Neufert Architects’ data.

Oxford, Blackwell Science

because of our ignorance towards these changes and their underlying politics.

Morph Some spaces are, because of machine or code, able to transform/change/ expand their spatial and functional possibilities. This extension is unique to these spaces in lieu of the ways in which space is extended. Unlike the third type, these kinds of spaces are still rooted to one physical space.

The extension is dependent on that physical space, and there is no channelling or exchange between spaces (like in the case of the third type).

Security/spy cameras coupled with screen are allowing a convenient way to keep an eye over spaces, at the same time dictating human behaviour and creating ‘power over’. Digital screen are phantasmatic projections of real spaces. Spaces are merging with virtual. There is cyberspace.

When we look at spaces whose boundaries are pushed by the use of technologies, rarely do we comprehend the power of everyday objects of technological nature in transforming or stretching spatial possibilities. A central computer database allows us to access books within a library much like a cashier’s counter in a supermarket, without which the functions of both spaces get reduced to a large storage hall. A projector grants an auditorium function. Screens of laptops and mobiles transform the space around the user into a private one.

304 | F5 Urbanity

CCTV surveillance allowing extended control over public space from the control room Source: http://www. mdpi.com/sensors/sensors-15-23341/article_deploy/html/images/sensors-15-23341-g001-1024. png

Performative screens are transcending the boundaries of the public realm and are creeping into the private homes. The television screen that acts as a portal to spaces far and beyond (Virilio, 1991) also pushes the extents of physical space into the screen. Imagine a possibility when the screen becomes so convincingly capable of augmenting an idea of spaciousness, where sitting in a small room one can forget the spatial limitations of the physical space, and experience it as a spacious combination of virtual and real space. Practitioners of space are experimenting with these possibilities where the screen becomes an extension of physical space.

The premise of a cinema hall is in its ability to transport the viewer from the confinement of the hall into an immersive (and momentarily spatial) experience. One sees an extension of space through the projected surface much like the television screen. Different from the visual informative screens and displays of the first type which donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t immerse but inform, these ones are able to transport the viewer into simulated space often by means of imitating or replicating physical spaces and storytelling.

Virtual spaces are spaces of computer programming, a condition possible because of technology. Unlike physical space that we are familiar with, virtual is unfinished, non-linear and non-dialectical. It is a dynamic collection of lists, interactive three dimensional worlds, databases, online archives and search engines.

The virtual space performs an escapist role. The virtual is seen in contrast to the real, offering a way out of the drab of everyday life. Users within the city spend a considerable amount of time engaging virtually. Lovink (2002) brings forward the constant comparison being made between the structuring of information and that of space using architectural principles, in an attempt to better understand the virtual environments that are in the process of being created. Despite their differences, one should not City Tech Space | 305

think of real and virtual as opposites to one another. They both have an open and multidisciplinary character. In fact, instead of attempting to make the virtual like the reality, there should be an effort to infuse the strengths of the virtual world into the physical reality. This is already happening in small ways in how architects, theorists and urban planners work in today’s age by the use of computers and software.

Designers need to take into account this phenomenon of augmentation of physical space into digital, virtual and cyberspace, a possibility which at the moment remains mostly untapped.

Any spatial discourse on technology is incomplete without mentioning surveillance. CCTV systems are technologies that allow an authority to monitor multiple spaces from one space. These systems have infiltrated not just in private residences and businesses but engulfed the public realm. As a result, spaces in the public realm observe surveillance networks that control behaviour and can take away the ‘publicness’ of a space when people are constantly monitored. In Delhi, one would usually not expect to feel that they are constantly being monitored via surveillance systems. It would be assumed to be confined to certain areas of high security. However, the high tech surveillance industry actually sees a very lucrative market in India with estimated growth of 25% which already has a turnover of 120 million dollars per annum (Sengupta, 2002).

Surveillance cameras have already made their way in most major traffic intersections in Delhi as well as in most apartments, offices, industries and shopping areas. This could have serious implications in how people perceive and behave in these spaces.

Most designers leave solving issues of safety and security to these surveillance systems without thinking of these implications. At the same time, more community engaging spaces and ideas of ‘eyes on the street’ are employed in some spaces to provide sensible alternative solutions to these problems.

In these spaces, the space challenges its notion of association to a physical space, and pushes out of it. This nature in spaces challenges the practice of designers to contain spaces within walls. It spreads out into adjacencies, into cyberspace, into ephemeral simulated spaces. New territories of space and new experiences of traversing through these uncontained spaces calls for a new approach to designing such spaces.

306 | F5 Urbanity

9h 40m buffer space between Delhi-London Sources: (original) https://img0.etsystatic. com/000/0/6175406/ il_570xN.319351488.jpg Author

Network Spaces and more so infrastructures are now finding themselves in a network of exchange and interactivity to another spaces and infrastructures via technology. Spaces of transience, of connectivity, of exchange, networked spaces are seen in cities and spaces.

These spaces are not understood independently and function in a technology enabled network. These include spaces that have grown and in turn accelerated globalization, or because of advanced systems (like mass transit, rapid rail, online banking, cybernetics, etc).

Global types that emerge as a response to globalization are infact spaces that respond to a wider urban fabric enabled by technology like a unified global organism. Examples of such spaces are large scale transit infrastructures, offshore banks, Multinational corporations, Airports. Zooming in, Bank branches, ATM, Call-centers, cyber-cafes, phone booths, platforms are part of this picture just as well. These network-infrastructures are responsible for creating channels of exchange where physical distances between spaces seem to become redundant. Direct manifestation of technology in this process is seen through the role of cyber channels and network signals. But that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean some very physical channels of shortened distance and time are not a result of technology.

In both cases, our understanding of spatial distances and exchange has changed considerably. Both are a consequence of technology in direct and indirect ways.

The advent of information technology with telecommunications and the internet has led to a restructuring of the cities with a completely new system of network and nodes due to simultaneous spatial concentration and decentralization that transcends the urban into national and international/global levels (Wheeler, 2000). The future implications of digital communication technology on spaces is profound where these are getting more and more integrated into the built, their â&#x20AC;&#x153;disappearanceâ&#x20AC;? (since systems now are virtual and networks wireless) proves to be a threat to City Tech Space | 307

the architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s usual design approach (Mitchell, 2002).

Earlier, there was a stronger link between activities that were in close proximity to each other while distant activities had weaker links. Even with vast networks of transportation systems, the distance remained a major separating factor. However electronic connection networks have finally managed to bridge the gap, there is a warp in space and time at the global scale because of increasingly stronger interconnectedness of various distant nodes. (Graham and Marvin, 2001) Although the dependence on space and time has been reduced, it does not necessarily imply that one can locate anything anywhere as long as there is internet connectivity. This means that the dependence has only been selectively loosened (Mitchell, 2002). Spaces still continue to be relevant, but in new ways. For instance one can buy music simply by downloading online, yet will have to still be physically present at a barberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to get a haircut. The demand for quality space is addressed in a manner where one need not live near (or commute to) a central workspace anymore. A consequence would be seen in the suburbanization and growing sizes of dwellings.

Some building types have been reconfigured and fragmented in parts and divisions. A prominent example used to illustrate this is the reduction in the importance of branch banks due to the presence of ATMs and internet transactions. Money has liquefied. This has given way to large scale back offices and call centres. Same can be said about book stores and other such retail which can be bought online and one only needs several centralized warehouses. This will not only change the demand for built types will also affect the transportation networks (Mitchell, 2002).

With these spaces, the idea of physical distance and adjacencies between spaces gets questioned. The ATM can be scattered around the city. The airport bridges the gap between point of travel and destination and the plane becomes the buffer space between the two. Spaces become channels; time and distance reduce to parameters. Designers are faced with transient spaces, buffer spaces, spaces linked across cities. Within the City certain spaces find themselves slowly becoming redundant while new spaces emerge as consequence. Some spaces simply find themselves in new roles to stay relevant.

Technology isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t inherently masculine or phallocentric or 308 | F5 Urbanity

Spaces/Technologies are visual

interactive systemic Technologies/Spaces are screens

virtual code-dependent code-infused Cities/Spaces are global

fragmented networked

ethnocentric, although certainly its modes of production and circulation are closely invested in power relations. But in spite of this, it holds a certain promise: it can be used in all sorts of ways with all sorts of aims or goals in mind. It is both the condition of power and a possibility for its subversion, depending on how it is used, by whom, and with what effects.

- Elizabeth Grosz, Architecture from the Outside The urban experience within the city can be encapsulated as that of shock and hypermobility and phantasm; the virtual is an extension of physical space. The spatial implications of technology are, although not explicitly mentioned, not hard to miss in our cities. Technologies (code and assemblage) have worked in tandem with larger realities of cities today to modify/mutilate/morph new spaces and spatial experiences. The fact that technology has come to negotiate with the spatial experience of a user is evident.

Technology was aimed at making processes efficient, providing solutions.

Today it has come to a point where it is looked up to as the premier means to solve issues of the individual, institution, economies, ecology, urban and so on. We jump and see surveillance as the solution to safety and security when we should be seeking socially viable solutions. Biometrics are used to control and limit access to facilities and spaces as much as to provide them. Notions of what is public have changed drastically to a point where we are used to see massive privatization in our public realm. This dependence can be both liberating and dangerous. Cities of

City Tech Space | 309

today are intensely technology based, and if technology extends to wider audiences, so does all attached politics. The politics of community and politics of technology are interwoven. Unarguably, certain technologies are changing social patterns and molding society.

Epilogue, for Architects The meanings and roles of architecture and urban design centered in older traditions of permanence are irrevocably destabilised in complex cities â&#x20AC;&#x201C; cities marked by digital networks, acceleration, massive infrastructures for connectivity and growing estrangement. Those older meanings do not disappear, they remain crucial. But they cannot comfortably address these newer meanings, which include the growing importance of such networks, interconnections, energy flows, subjective cartographies. Architects need to confront the enormity of the urban experience, the overwhelming presence of massive architectures and dense infrastructures in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cities, and the irresistible logic of utility that organises much of the investments in cities.

-Saskia Sassen In recent times, architectural practice has increasingly become technocratic. Although the top professionals are associated with terms such as visionaries and artists, most mainstream architects spend more time analyzing the flow of information which determines the entire array of complex technological built forms. In fact, in this area, an early 19th century architect would be much more similar to an architect of the Roman times than one belonging to the 20th or 21th century (Braham, 2007).

As practitioners of space, ours is the only discipline that will explore the relationship between technology and space. Technologies of code and artifacts have enabled new dimensions and possibilities when integrated to the built. All urban malaise finds instantly gratifying solutions in technology. Spaces as we knew before have transformed in their very nature.

Some have become redundant; while some have found new ways to exist in the urban realm. Some new kinds of spaces have emerged altogether.

Most people and architects still associate the word technology with the means and methods in which one can build physical spaces, yet, over the past few decades the term has gained added meanings at par with process310 | F5 Urbanity

es of Globalization and Digitalization. With this change in meaning, the need of the hour is to study the relation between space and technology.

Technology-infused spaces are a reality of living in Cities everywhere.

They are extremely experiential and surround our everyday living experience. In a consumerist era where technology is inevitable, architecture is on the brink of losing its cultural significance. Spaces are no seen as stable, static, rather are fluid and mobile. What does it mean to occupy space today when users can simultaneously manifest in multiple spaces via the internet? What is the point of adjacencies when rooms that were next to each other can now be worlds apart?

There is a vast potential in technology beyond its traditional modes of use that is largely untapped by designers of space. Some of these possibilities have been explored in the realm of art, particularly public art, digital installations, and media studies. One such example of adopting a technological perspective when dealing with spaces, was the 3x4 (by Professor Paul Sermon, Dr Claire McAndrew, Delhi-based architect Swati Janu and photographer Vivek Muthuramalingam) that merges two identical 3×4 metre room installations at Khoj International Artists Association, Delhi and Southbank Centre, London, to provide a playful, sensorial exploration of networked spaces as new mixed-reality hybrid environments. Similarly ‘Virtual walls’ designed by Bernardo Schorr, explores virtual reality with a small windowless room made liveable with the use of screens that take up different forms according to its intended function in different parts of the day. Here the screens become so convincingly capable of augmenting an idea of spaciousness, that sitting in a small room one can forget the spatial limitations of the physical space, and experience it as a spacious combination of virtual and real space. Another example is the future model of the New Delhi railway station by Arup group which takes infusion of technology to the next level with ticketless travel and virtual supermarket walls.

As architects it becomes relevant to engage with new technological spaces and to build a vocabulary to include ideas of the virtual, coded, ephemeral, dynamic in the design discourse. These spaces offer immense spatial possibilities and solutions, and make spaces dynamic at the same time as they become dependent on technologies to function. We live in hyper-real cities, richer in their spatial complexity and variety that traditional notions of space can no longer address. A standard notion about built is that the building is talked about as a static, fixed entity. Architecture has City Tech Space

| 311

moved past simply occupying space by means of its enclosure. Architects need to begin dealing with space directly than around it. A technological perspective enables the architect to talk of the built as an experience of spaces within it that move and change, even if the walls remain fixed.

One needs to build this technological perspective to find relevance in a rapidly Globalizing and Digitalizing city. For architects, this means breaking away from the traditional notions of space and embracing a vocabulary that embraces these new technological attributes of space, so that the architect becomes a relevant arbiter in a world where his relevance is questionable.

References BUCK-MORSS, S. (1989). The dialectics of seeing: Walter Benjamin and the Arcades project. Cambridge, Mass, MIT Press.

ELLUL, J. (1964). The technological society. New York, Knopf.

GRAHAM, S & MARVIN, S (2001). Splintering Urbanism: Networked Infrastructures, Technological Mobilities and the Urban Condition, Psycology Press.

GROSZ, E. A. (2001). Architecture from the outside essays on virtual and real space.

Cambridge, Mass, MIT Press.

KITCHIN, R., & DODGE, M. (2011). Code/space: software and everyday life. Cambridge, Mass, MIT Press.

KLEIN, A. (2010). A space for hate the white power movement’s adaptation into cyberspace. Duluth, Minn, Litwin Books.

KOOLHAAS, R. (1998). The Harvard guide to shopping. [Cambridge, Mass.], Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

LOVINK, G, 2002, ‘Virtual archtecture + digital urbanism’, The Cities of Everyday Life.

Delhi, Sarai : The New Media Initiative.

MCLUHAN, M. (1964). Understanding media: the extensions of man.

MCQUIRE, S. (2008). The media city media, architecture and urban space. London, UK, Sage.

SIMMEL, G. (1980). The metropolis and mental life. Urban Place and Process. 19-30.

TABASSUM, A et all (2002), ‘Cybermohalla diaries’, The Cities of Everyday Life. Delhi, Sarai : The New Media Initiative.

TUCKER, R. C., MARX, K., & ENGELS, F. (1978). The Marx-Engels reader. New York, Norton.

VASUDEVAN, RAVI S. 2002. The cities of everyday life. Delhi: Sarai [u.a.].

VERSTEGEN, T. (2001). Tropisms: metaphoric animation and architecture. Rotterdam, NAi Publishers.

WHEELER, NICHOLAS J (2000).Saving Strangers: Humanitarian Intervention in International Society, Oxford VIRILIO, P (1991) The Aesthetics of Disappearance Zone Books

Bibliography KARANDINOU, A. (2013). No matter: theories and practices of the ephemeral in architecture.

312 | F5 Urbanity

KOOLHAAS, R MAU, B & WERLEMANN, H (1995). S,M,L,XL - Small, Medium, Large, Extra-Large : O. M. A.-Office for Metropolitan Architecture. Rotterdam, 010 Publishers.

MAAS, W RIJS, J KOEK, R & M.V.R.D.V. (Firm) (1998). FARMAX: Excursions on density. Rotterdam, 010 Publishers.

MAFFESOLI, M (1996). The Time of the Tribes: The decline of individualism in mass society. London, Sage.

MCQUIRE, S. (2008). The media city media, architecture and urban space. London, UK, Sage. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10285205.

SASSEN, S (2013). The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo. Princeton University Press.

SASSEN, S (2011). Cities in a World Economy. SAGE Publications, 31 August, 2011.

SIMMEL, G. (1980). ‘The metropolis and mental life’, Urban Place and Process. 19-30.

SUNDARAM, R (2010). Pirate Modernity: Delhi’s Media Urbanism. Routledge.

TOFFLER, A (1981). The Third Wave. Pan Macmillan Limited.

CARMONA, M, HEATH, T, Oc, T & TIESDELL, S (2003). Public places urban space.

Massachusetts, Architectural Press.

City Tech Space

| 313

ABSTRACTS OF UNPUBLISHED PAPERS Dilli meri jaan kaun?

Akanksha Yadav , Aman Aggarwal, Gompa Pranathi, Amrit Tripathi

Delhi is undeniably a multi-vocal city, leading to multiple consumable identities which might not reflect the inherent nature of the city.

This seminar tries to delve into the theory of identities. It attempts to find the intrinsic quality of the city, that we believe, lies in the precincts of the city rather than its icons.

This has been carried out in Delhi by analyzing the landmark-precinct and precinct-precinct interaction that harbors all those singular identities resulting in formation of comprehensive yet diverse identities of Delhi. This seminar tries to explain the identities of Delhiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s multiple local precincts which eventually tie up to form the identity of Delhi as a whole. Therefore it is important for the current generation of designers to encourage sustainÂŹable evolution of the identity for the upward mobility of the society.

Densification- your call Pandurang Saghbor, Rajnikant, Dheeraj Aluri, Deepak Kumar

Delhi is an ever evolving city and ever growing one. A large number of population often migrate to the capital for various reasons and make it their home. This initially led to expansion of the city. But that is no more an option for Delhi now. Densification is the only way to handle the influx population. Various government bodies are in the process of densification of the city. So our seminar talks about how the densification should be site sensitive and not just follow the rules to achieve required statistics.

Bachayein toh kitna?

Abhishek Kumar, Arka Majhi, Bushetti Manikanta, Pradeepan Saha

In a country where the metropolitan cities are finding it hard to house more people owing to space cramp, the necessity of vivid redensification is starting to question the necessity of heritage regulations around the heritage structures. This report is driven by a need to justify the allowance of intrusion into the heritage bye-law regulated zones for actual conservation and sustenance of the ever inclusive society that the city houses.

Case specificity of heritage regulations seems like the most feasible solution. In order to do that we need to identify the parameters of the heritage precincts those affect the image of the city. The image should ideally remain unaffected by the implementation of a new set of heritage bye-laws.

314 | F5 Urbanity

Metro-politan Ashima Garg, Kosana Anil Kumar, Sangay Wangchuk, T.Aishwarya

We in particular are looking at the heterogeneity, differences and mixes that exist within the “homogeneous” metro infrastructure that has been laid across Delhi and NCR. Through our seminar we want to appreciate but also set our foot forth to seeing the infrastructure as a definite marker of cities new identity.

Delhi in-fragments-in Delhi Ashish Verma, Chanderkant Aggarwal, Gaurav Varyani, Sai Phani Nidamanuri

The cities of the global south are an agglomeration of fragments formed through the ages, in contrast to the idea of a single homogenous city as practiced in west. These fragments are a result of the history and present day conditions, based on the way a society is segregated. The urban society is based on economic segregation. Delhi, being an ancient & modern city, has various parts of the historic city, the colonial settlement and other planned and unplanned communities. Though, the unplanned informal settlements are excluded of city’s services, they still provide more opportunities than the rural settings by offering the flexibility to work live & play to its inhabitants. Moreover, the informal sector highly supports the urban economy. But the attempts to formalize these, to bring in the order with the city, to provide basic amenities, could take away its flexibility and be detrimental for the city and its inhabitants.

Delhi’s Empty Greens Abhimanyu Singhal, Archita Goyal, Depanshu Gola, Vishakha Sharma

The green open spaces are vital in a city. These are the spaces where the population of the city goes to unwind and to connect to the natural surroundings. Despite having a vast green cover, a large percentage of Delhi’s greens lack recreational activity and user engagement. What people do, and how people unwind are at the core of what makes such spaces work. The seminar aims to argue that there is a potential change needed in the conception, implementation and upkeep of the city’s greens. It looks at the trends in their design and planning, legibility, usability and its user friendliness.

Additional abstracts | 315

instreetutionalized Chinmay Agashe, Shivendra, Suram Hazarika, Shabeeb Raza

All streets have character. In Delhi, we notice that this is more prominent than ever.

While planners and architects in other countries theorize about how they can re-imagine a street as a place instead of just a transit route, in India, the case is just the opposite.

We may have the worst traffic in the world but no one can complain that our streets lack character. A desi street is unlike any other. A lot has been written about this particularly Indian phenomenon, the street, but this seminar addresses key issues with the recent development of the urban streetscape in the context of Delhi. The seminar looks at the morphology of the street as an institution and its social implications.

City after Dark Brajesh Kumar, Mudassar Iqbal, Rakshanda, Sundram

After midnight, almost all the areas are pretty much closed in the city. Urbanization, office hours till the evening, high temperature during the day are some of the reasons that force the urban community to socialize with family and friends after the working hours.

But there are very less public spaces in Delhi that are open till late at night. There is a need for some public spaces which can be active at night and has the potential to distinguish themselves as peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spaces. The seminar aims to study these spaces depending upon some parameters which encourage the space to be active.

This too shall pass Ashish Dwivedi, Rahul Grover, Shashank Jain,Sahil Gupta

Exploring the urban landscape of Delhi, where change permeates every thread of the fabric, tangible as well as intangible, the paper adopts the lens of impermanence to study the insidiously durable built environment, often acting as a contributor to obsolescence.

Questioning the unquestioned adherence to permanence all through second half of the 20th century, in midst of metabolism, a whole movement demonstrating the need for cities to anticipate the inevitable- change, an attempt has been made to debunk the practicality of practicing permanence in the architectural discourse. Understanding the current needs of the city, the paper concludes by exploring architectural approaches to build in, and for a city in constant flux. The authors discover policy, process, materiality and technology as the major devices at the architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disposal and test their viability in the context of Delhi.

316 | F5 Urbanity

Game of Surveillance Albert Rajkumar, Hatharki Brahma, Ravi Jorigay, VennaSri Harikanth

This seminar aims to look at surveillance in architectural spaces of Delhi through a socio-physical lens. This seminar is an articulation of the contemporary discussions on surveillance. Michel Foucault, Kalpana Vishwanath, Rashmi Sadana, Jane Jacobs, and other resource people discuss surveillance in its various facets, good and bad through a socio-physical lens. Additionally, the ethics, attitudes and values towards surveillance in Delhi and the world over are analysed. In conclusion, an attempt has been made to formulate a position for upcoming professionals on surveillance.

On Architectural Criticism Arkita, Devika Nayal, DB Sweta Sudha, Snehanjali Jena

Along with history of and theory on architecture and buildings, evaluation plays an important part in development and evolution of building styles and execution. Apart from these two, once brought about to the level of unbiased empirical inspection, a sound critique also helps in the evolution of design. Criticism thus plays a pivotal role in the design process: be it by the designer at the design stage, clients/professors at the presentation stage or by external evaluators. The seminar will look primarily at what goes into creating a sound critique. Considering that the readership and percentage of buildings designed by architect are distinct from the other countries, the seminar will first establish a need for a culture of criticism, how to achieve it (what agencies are involved) and finally address the issue of a constructive critique so the reader may understand and be able to deliver one by her/him self.

Additional abstracts | 317