PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE URBANISM ISD5105 RAMKUMAR A0123482
‘CITY OF DAWN’ ‘EXPERIMENTAL CITY’ ‘ECO CITY’ ‘NEW URBANISM’
Envisioning of the Idea
Auroville An experimental eco city designed to hold 50,000 people by the year 2025 , which was the brain child of the MOTHER (Mirra Alfassa) wife of the mystical indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo.
They were two proposals of the master plan proposed to the Mother. First option was made with conventional grid planning and the second was circular plan which resembled Mother’s symbol.
Big vision The eco village was envisioned by the Mother in a Barren land in south east Asia, 10 km north of Pondicherry located at Coramandel coast. The distinctive aim of the eco village is promote sustainable development through holistic developmental strategy through ecological regeneration, alternative building methodology, different way of life style which promotes ‘Human Unity’ Overview of the planning principles * A living system in relation with nature as well as people * Providing the needs of the people right from the basics to physical, economic, social and spiritual growth. * Balance between the nature and people’s interdependency. * Constant focus on the environmental limits considering the natural resources of the earth are limited.
Planning Methodology
opt1 : conventional grid planning
opt2 : spiral planning
The spiral galaxy model got approved by the Mother as it resembled the ‘Galaxy’ with long curved sweeps, ascending and descending in places leading to the central sculpture the peace zone. This gives the impression of a centripetal and centrifugal force which radiates in and out which Roger calls it ‘line of force’. At the centre was the massive sculpture surrounded by water body and amphitheatre to accommodate 1000 people. The idea seemed to bring a spark and utopian at the 60 and 70s which attracted the younger generation, but it also proved like other dreams that it was very difficult to materialize. It also created unrest among the local villagers as they were intimidated by the new utopian ideas. This also made many of the villagers to give away their lands in Auroville in replacement to find a better land near Pondicherry.
The master plan of the city was proposed by the late Architect from France Roger Anger. The design is also evolved from the very basic sketches of the Mother which was later iterated to a spiral planning which lead to a central dome as the focus point of the planning which became the spiritual centre and all the other facilities surrounded following the line of axis.
The master plan has been divided into different zones namely a. Peace zone - which is in the centre containing the massive sculpture surrounded by water. b. Industrial zone which produces the materials required by the Auroville which is annex to the village to get the labour. c. International zone - holding the academic institutions d. Cultural zone - which was planned for the visitor centre, offices and admin e. Residential zone - holds the residential quarters of the aurovillians. These zones are connected by a crown road and the green belt on the outer fringes which becomes an invisible boundary for the whole city.
The Architect was asked to envisage the future and was given the opportunity to play and make mistakes and learn from it. Following the spirit of the ‘Human Unity’ rose the “City of Dawn’ profoundly called by many Aurovillians. SIte before the commencement of work. It was a barren land with scarce vegetation and water supply. The place was even not inhabited due to the nature of the site.
The master plan with the zoning
image source : www. laclefdesterroirs.com
Mother’s symbol
image source : www.auroville.org
The masterplan has been conceived for 50,000 people targeted for 2025 which is the peak density it can hold thereby maintaining the value and spirit of the community. Among the fellow Aurovillians there was a turmoil as they the masterplan was imposing and forced which does not relate the original spirit of the whole concept. One of the Architects expressed his criticism saying “i think almost everybody in Auroville would agree that the primary thing is not a ‘finished product’ but a certain inner process of consciousness, and the forms will evolve from that process”.
Sustainability as the guiding principle
However after many amendments to the original master plan, on March 6 1968, 127 nations came forward and soils from different all those countries were put in together and laid the foundation stone for Auroville at Matri mandir (the central dome structure).
The sustainable practice in Auroville was a vision of the Mother, where she wanted a novel community that will integrate environmental, personal and spiritual qualities in its growth. This consciousness of social well being in par with the environmental awareness sparked the ideal experimental community called Auroville. Among the various sustainable measures they followed Earth architecture, Waste water treatment and management in organic ways, organic farming, self sustainment of food, afforestation, urban farming, sustainable living campaigns, rain water harvesting and others. The sustainable practices were integrated in various levels right from the sector level, project level and overall city level.
After further discussion it was decided to either develop the city in more ‘piecemeal’ way or more ‘organic’ way still maintaining the initial concept and not building high dense structures. By 1970s 50% of the land was bought for Auroville from the local villagers. By that time auroville had 2000 residents and a proposal was sent for developing the infrastructure and purchase of the land to the Ministry of Human Resource Development which was then forwarded to the Planning Commission, Indian Government. By 1988, Roger came to back to Auroville and was ready to make amendments to the plan and clarified that the original ‘galaxy plan’ was just to give a “sense of completion”. The city then started developing in a more ‘organic growth’ maintaining the essence of what was planned in the concept. Finally by 1994, after the approval of the development by the Resident’s Assembly and the governing board it clearly states what is required and widely agreed upon at the current stage and giving more space for things unfolding. The current population of auroville is around
When Auroville was planned the generation was young and energetic, who got fed up of the monotonous life in the west and wanted to get things in action and not just talk about it.
Perspectives of Sustainability
image source : www.auroville.org
Physical & Environmental aspects It includes efficient usage of resources, rain water harvesting, organic waste water treatment, waste reduction, low carbon emissions, eco-friendly earth material for construction, usage of renewable energy Economic Aspects It promotes an organic healthy growth within the city which is endogenous in nature that opens its way to new market opportunities, lower the everyday expenditure by improving the efficiency and providing job opportunities and livelihood for the local community.
image source : archive.auroville.org
The current population of auroville is around 17500 which has a aurovillian population of people from all over the world. Estimated Age Groups of Aurovillians Year 2010
Year 2025
Age group
Total
MEN
WOMEN
Total
0-19
4000
2000
2000
17000
20-59
10000
6000
4000
28000
60+
1000
400
600
5000
All Age groups
15000
8400
6600
50000
source : www.auroville.info
A ‘sustainable environment’ was not just a current scenario requirement but it has been alarmed even three decades back. Many countries and nations just talked about this and doing such things in the past meant going out of the conventional process.
Social Aspects It includes all people regardless of caste, creed, religion, colour, sex and age groups. Provides better life quality, promoting local skills, impacts on the neighbouring communities are also taken into consideration. Green buildings & Sustainable development In general buildings require a lot of raw materials which directly depletes the natural resources that which proves antagonistic for a sustainable development. In all over the world, the common trend is not caring about the management of resources. But in Auroville on the contrary follows the opposite way by creating the building synonymous with earth and sustainable development thus providing a harmonious integration of architecture in the physical and social environment. The architects also use the local materials, very often soil from the site to make stabilised earth block which is produced by the local labour and it also suits the climatic conditions. Many of these architecture master pieces becomes an icon for the younger generation and gets inspired to make the architecture much sustainable and earthy.
Auroville’s Ecological Land Regenration The aftermath of the industrial revolution around the world led to extensive usage of natural resources thereby depleting the green cover of the world. On the contrary Auroville was one of the eco city which decided to afforest the whole place managing the water scarcity and the harsh weather. Arguably the measures taken by auroville were commendable and is one of the most sustainable way of reforestation in the region. By doing afforestation in the region they also managed to bring back the bio diversity of the place which paved way for different species to regenerate and thrive on that place. One of the key intervention in afforestation process is to integrate the tools and techniques to prevent soil erosion and increase the soil fertility. To make this happen Auroville planned for a large number of bunding system which can catch the water and retain in the low lying areas therby letting the water to percolate the soil and which recharges the ground water and increase the bio diversity in the area. The simple methods to make these bunds and scarcity of resources makes this process highly commendable and practice well within the community.
water catchment
Water retention Bund
Green Belt The Auroville also had the green belt surrounding the region which was planted with indigenous trees. They also acted as a bio reserve which brought in more bird species which helped pollination and spreading the seeds across the region. This also helped in by greening the entire Auroville various different ways it provided a variety of opportunities for the local villagers and the aurovillians to make a living out of these vegetation. The green belt zone also is a fertile area suitable for applied research in organic food production, waste management, eco forestry and water management.
Auroville’s Sustainable Design & Technology Renewable energies Technology plays a phenomenal role in shaping a sustainable environment. There are various institutes in Auroville which constantly works on efficient energy usage and water use by working on various methods and technologies. Auroville also became a platform for these researches to conduct their study and experiment on various aspects with sustainability as there primary concept. It provides them a great opportunity to try various ideas and experiments which has no barriers or deadlines. Due to this Auroville now has various new technologies innovated and adapted to its needs. the following strategies are discussed in detail which makes the city sustainable and self sufficient. a. Solar power b. Wind energy c. Waste water treatment d. Electric vehicles for mobility e. Earth Architecture Solar Power Solar energy is one of the major source of energy in Auroville. the energy derived from the solar power is used for water heating and pumping, street lights and energy generation in few cases. Some of the communities rely completely on the PV panels for their everyday usage. And the PV panels are customised and produced by the Aurovillians which is adapted to its own context. The excess energy produced during the summer days are stored in the battery or an inverter and the collected energy is used for Auroville during the rainy or cloudy weather conditions. At present there are 390 houses that fully runs with the energy generated from solar power. More than 82% of energy generated is used for pumping the water and heating for domestic purposes. Solar kitchen The solar kitchen in Auroville is one of its kind in the world due to the technology used in it. This is one of the unique community kitchen that supplies food for almost 250 aurovillians everyday. The food is cooked with the novel design of a semi spherical dome of about 15m in diameter which is cladded with mirrors on the inner that could reflect light to a heat receiver. The receiver has water pumped in through the pipes which gets converted to steam which helps to cook the food. This system is also combined with the diesel system component to replace
image source: https://dprbcn.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/auroville-experimental-township/7-19/
From an earlier report of the government it says that the region of Auroville is an ‘Adverse state of desertification’ Now it is astounding to know how the place had got transformed to what it is at present.
image source: www.auroville.org
After many restoration of these bunds the trees were planted alongside these dykes where the roots held the soil intact and and also provides shade. Slowly when the water was collected the humidity level increased and provided a better environment for the vegetation to grow and also provided enough water supply for the people in that region.
Followed by the planning principles of Auroville the focus is now on the sustainable parctices incorporated and how the same has been followed in different scales.
Wing Energy The prevailing wind conditions in Auroville is not so high due its geographical condition and not suitable for the generate high amount of energy. But still some of the windmills used here are effective enough to pump wate from a 100m bore well.
Waste water treatment The CSR (Centre for Scientific research) has integrated various ways to recycle the available waste water through different technologies to meet the needs in auroville. The treatment system are designed based on few major criteria’s such as affordability, simplicity and sustainability. To control on the inefficiency and phenomenal cost of the municipal waste water management the CSR has planned for various decentralizes waste water management systems. These systems works with an under ground container which involves centrifugal and centripetal force thereby filtrating and oxygenating the water.
The windmill at Aureka is one of the first Cretan mill in auroville made out of wood and cloth. At present, there are almost 30 different types of windmill of various designs.
Earth Architecture The architecture and design in auroville is highly experimental involving local materials, highly skilled local labours construction and in co-relation with the nature. By strategically planning the design which fits in the existing context the architect can use the natural lighting and ventilation, thereby reducing the active cooling systems and artificial lightings.
Cretan mill
Technology of Electric vehicles - Green Mobility
image source: auroville.aureka.com
In Auroville, the energy spent on transportation is very high because of the frequent movement of people goods and tourists from the nearby villages and cities. So to tackle this issue the carbon footprint generated is to be reduced and to provide a better and healthy environment. The city is planning to expand its electrical vehicles by increasing the shared electric motorcycles, electric shuttle buses and compact electric cars. There are multiple factors to successfully integrate the electrical vehicles in the community. a. This system becomes successful only when there are enough charging points within the city. Currently the electrical charging points are planted in the city zone area and in the green belt zone which can connect the core city to the outskirts. b. Also awareness programs and campaigns about the usage of electric vehicles and the benefits of it upon using the conventional fossil fuel based vehicles. This has led the idea of converting the existing vehicles into a smart electric vehicles. c. This is substantiated by providing an integrated transportation scheme that can optimize shared vehicle systems, bike loans and effective public transport.
image source: evfuture auroville
Converted electric bike
charging station with solar panel on roof
charge point with 220v
Architectural design follows few basic principles in auroville such as: a. Achieving he basic need of the user. b. Community and end user participation c. Building systems integrated d. Usage od sustainable building materials e. Design in harmony with nature and context Appropriate building materials and technologies Primary building materials used in construction in auroville is ferro cement, earth blocks and bamboo. The ferro cement and earth block was basically an experiment made in CSR and which proved as a right material for the construction. Ferro cement It is one of the sustainable material which uses less materials than a conventional construction method. It is also very flexible in construction process and lets the designer envision the ideas to its fullest. This material is widely used in auroville across schools, religious buildings and other institutional structures as these typologies involves minimal design intricacies. Earth Blocks These are made up of compound earth with sand and 5% of cement mixture. This eco-friendly material is widely used in auroville building construction as these blocks are produced locally with the soil and water from the nearby places of the site. This in turn keeps the embodied energy very low, which is 19% less than concrete solid blocks and 70% less than fired bricks. As the natural property of earth block is regulating the humidity, the maintenance cost of the building is reduced compared to a conventional cement plastered wall. Bamboo It is another predominantly used material for construction in auroville. Bamboo is basically a grass which can grow faster and easier to grow. This in combination with other materials such as mud, cement and concrete works stronger and long lasting construction material.
CONCLUSION
Everyday green practices The activities on everyday basis from the individual to the community level is centered around the green practices. These practices have a larger impact in a longer run. Some of them includes: a. Recycling and reuse waste on community level Some of them includes Auroville common ‘exchange shop’. One man’s waste is another man’s treasure. So all these wastes are collected and reused or recycled depending on the project. b. Garbage Separation: Based on the garbage disposed the bio-degradable waste are used for compost (for fertilizers and farming) or recycled. c. Eco-Sanitation: The organic sanitation waste is segregated and use of excreta for agricultural fertilizers. The final product produced is cheap and good for vegetation. Community gardens such as Sadhana forest currently follows such practice. d. Communal schedules and programs: Examples of these practices include similar tea time in the evening because the tea preparation is produced in bulk which consumes less energy. The idea behind these scheduled practices are rooted in the conviction to reduce energy consumption by the community.
As we all keep munching the same words that 70% of the world population will be urbanized and loss of vegetation and farming land, loss of food production and loss of livelihood and similar factors in relation to it. we concentrate more on the urban cities and the rural developmment is forgotten. As a result of this many government body and institutions aiming to make mega cities , smart cities and new metropolis. We are missing a major point here that however we make urbanism more efficient, sustainable and effective it will draw in more and more people until it gets choked and explodes. So we should also take into consideration the rural part of the earth which is a vital part of any country has to be developed in a sustainable way in correspondence with urbanisation. By doing this the rural part gets its livelihood and doesn’t give a situation to the people to move to urban areas. Auroville is one such example which follows these sustainable strategies which retains the people living in a rural villages to stay and work there, improve their livelihoods, innovating new and creative ideas. Auroville works a bridging gap between the PAST (rural) and the FUTURE (urban). It is a very strenuous task to make an urban city efficient and zero carbon emission but on the contrary it is very much possible to make a rural village more sustainable and Auroville is proved and done. This eco-city was built from scratch and on the land which was considered once as ‘adverse desertification’ has become a green adobe until today.
e. Awareness in discouraging and replacing plastic bags: As a known fact, plastic bags are non decomposable and unfriendly to the environment. Replacing these plastic bags with paper bags and promoting to use recycled bags reduces the litter accumulation and also saves money in the community. f. Green Agenda: Planting tree messages increases the environmental consciousness among the community. these messages are placed in strategic locations like the communal kitchen, markets, and other public spaces. image source: archive.auroville.org
Afforestation at Auroville
Bamboo furnitures made during the workshop
Bamboo workshop with one of the pioneers in Auroville
Mud workshop at CSR
image source: urbansplatter.com
adverse urbanisation
Auroville comes into an urban design principle called New Urbanism which makes the city a walkable neighbourhood with alloted density, mixity, containing jobs, workplace and housing in the closest neighbourhoods. It follows the vision of integral living, Human unity, enhancing livelihoods of the locals, sustainable ways of living, construction materials. The success of auroville is also because of integration of all sectors and all levels of planning and design aiming for a sustainable living. International communities promote technology and various steps to reduce the anthropogenic carbon footprint and conserves the energy. A thorough bottom up and top down approach is required to create a sustainable living which is successful in a developing country like India. Effective policies should involve economic support and incentivizing for greener technologies that are renewable, as the costs of these technologies are very high and will not be able to adapt in the rural areas. Decentralized community facilities such as waste water treatment, drinking water facilities are a better eco friendly solution. At present there are very few effective policies promoting sustainable growth in rural areas. The other effective bottom-up approach would be by giving awareness and education to the current generation to follow on sustainable living and practices and also adverse effects created by the
global warming and depletion of natural resources.
Reference:
From the many social experiments conducted, it has shown that primary education combined with strategic social and sensitive emotional campaigns proves successful and is one of the effective way to promote behavioural changes. As the call for global warming is alarming, rise of sea level , natural resources and wildlife becoming scarce and extinct, the rural communities and the rest of the developing world are the most vulnerable to the climate change associated.
Online source: Towards a township.html www.archive.auroville.org www.pvearth.org www.aurovillecommunity.org Books: Eco cities, Planning Methodology Auroville, the first six years Auropublications 1974 (oop) A Western Journalist on India Har-Anand Publications - 2001
An experimental city like Auroville has also become a place for many young professionals to come here and do there research funded by auroville and also more freedom to experiment and implement. Currently it has many different wings in research in Architecture, Music, Engineering, Bio-technology and many others. Once when the capitalism is extracted from the society it becomes much more easier for new technologies come from all sector and all type of people. Sustainable urban development must therefore keep rural unsustainable practices on top of the social agenda and failure to do so may result in adverse urbanisation, social unrest and civil conflicts, ultimately making way for an unsustainable community and practice.
Auroville in conjunction with Arcosanti Arcosanti at US Arizona is one such community developed by Italian-American Architect Paulo Soleri (1919-2013) It was also an experimental community and molten bronze casting community in Yavapai country, central Arizona The construction began in 1970 the same time when auroville was established. The main goals of Arcosanti is to combine the accessibility of an urban environment with sound environmental principles and enhance social interaction.
Arcosanti could not be as successful as Auroville due to its very basic ideologies and vision of the community. This community could not integrate the local community and develop a cohesion with the context. The model chosen for Arcosanti was more personality centric by a renowned architect and visionary. On the contrary Auroville had an organic growth with the galaxy model as the guideline and human unity as the final agenda.