JULY 2016 `200
Special Feature
Lead Story
Is India Smart City Ready?
Changing Face of Architecture
Design Tales
Hafeez Contractor
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lead story
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Smart ideaS for Smarter citieS
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he government’s most ambitious plan of building 100 smart cities in India looks promising which aims to provide world-class infrastructure, high tech communications and quality public transport. Furthermore, the plan not only aims to raise the standard of living, but also promises to be an engine for job creation, economic growth and for accommodating the urban population which is urbanising at an unprecedented rate and according to the McKinsey and Company study, the urban population is estimated to grow nearly by 600 million by 2030. With so much of hype and excitement building around the most ambitious project, which is being developed on Public-Private-Partnership (PPP basis), the nation builders point out some serious challenges and ground realities that need to be catered before turning ‘Indian cities into smart cities.’
Concept
There is no universally accepted definition for the concept of ideal Smart City, which varies from city-to-city and countryto-country, depending on the level of development, willingness to change and reform, resources and aspirations of the residents. On the other hand, the government’s vision for smart city is a bit broader which aspires to be both userfriendly and an investor-friendly model. On the other hand the architects idea of smart city lays more emphasis on effective planning of cities and making it more user centric by upgrading the existing infrastructure and making cities well equipped with amenities like quality transport, water supply, effective spatial planning, sanitation and waste management along with proper telecom and power supply and encouraging smart practices like rainwater harvesting, use of sewage treatment plants and use of solar panels. Ar. Arjun Malik, Principal Architect, Malik Architecture and Ar. Sanjay Puri, Director of Sanjay Puri Architects had a common view point on the concept of an ideal city – a city that encourages good
Top guns of the architectural fraternity talk about the ambitious smart city project of the government, the challenges and the solutions, reports Nisha shukla juLY 2016
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lead story quality of life, has sense of neighbourhood and community, gives access to good infrastructure and transport, public spaces, provides forums for discussions and dissemination of information, and affordable housing. Besides, proper segregation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic and less travel time between homes, offices and schools. Adding further on integration of these facilities with technology, both Malik and Puri laid more emphasis on strengthening physical connectivity rather than virtual connectivity. According to Ar. Reza Kabul, Director, ARK Reza Kabul Architects, the concept of a smart city refers to the development of an entire urban eco-system based on institutional, physical, social and economic infrastructure, which does not rely on technological advancements. Adding further he said that it is essential that a smart city should also consider that all the aspects are well monitored and connected, there is zero wastage of resources and the transport facility is selfsustainable. Stressing on the need for smart thinking for planning cities, Ar. Kalhan Mattoo, Director, Planet 3 Studios said, “A city that provides with good infrastructure, services, proper governance and quality of life will only emerge through smart thinking.” Adding further he said that a city will turn smart only if it is designed as per the economic,
Wayside Facility at Salamabad by Planet 3 Studios is an energy efficient and eco-friendly building featuring solar powered LED for street lighting and power plant for electricity generation, bio-toilets and eco-friendly sewerage
Kalhan Mattoo
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demographic, social and cultural quotient of a particular place backed by ideas that work locally.
Challenges
There are number of challenges surrounding the government’s flagship project. The country is already struggling with a number of challenges like water crisis, inefficient roads, unorganised drainage and waste management system, congested public transport system, space-crunch, slum re-development and corruption. Adding to the list is the recent blow from the World Bank which has dropped the developing tag and has categorised India to lower-middle-incomeeconomy which has raised questions about whether India is smart city ready or not? Along with the problems stated above, the architects have pointed out some serious eye-opening ground realities about the profession and education system which is affecting the representation of architects in Indian infrastructure projects like smart citywhere International architects and firms are being considered for designing instead of local minds who have better know-how of the cities and its contexts. Commenting about the various hurdles to be faced by the government while developing smart city, Ar. Krupa Zubin, Principal Architect, ZZ Architects said that, “Creating smart city is a complex
It is essential that we should clearly define phases and timelines to ensure that the project is undertaken in a systematic manner with a lot of emphasis on improving quality of life of the citizens
Raunak City by ARK Reza Kabul Architects for Raunak Group Kalyan has been designed as a self-sufficient mini township
Reza Kabul
undertaking, and with the amount of buzz and excitement surrounding around the project, it is essential that we should clearly define phases and timelines to ensure that things are undertaken in a systematic manner with a lot of emphasis on improving quality of life of the citizens.� Talking about government’s fascination with foreign architects and firms to design smart city, Krupa Zubin agreed on the fact that the foreign architectural firms have more experience of building quality cities. But she also emphasised on the
fact that just aping the west is not going to be effective as it could cause a lot of confusion regarding self-identity. Besides, she said that the Indian architects have a clear understanding of the ground realities that will definitely help in developing effective smart cities. Giving his view on promoting contextual design, Puri said that it is more important to have designs which are contextual to India’s climate and social factors, rather than stressing on whether they are from Indian or foreign architects. Adding further he says that if the designs
A city will turn smart only if it is designed as per the economic, demographic, social and cultural quotient of a particular place backed by ideas that work locally
KRupa zubin
Effective waste management, water efficiency, rain water harvesting and green zones are key features of M One project designed by ZZ Architects for Lokaa Developers Chennai in Madhavaram juLY 2016
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The software park at the Global City, Virar, Mumbai designed by Sanjay Puri Architects will help in creating employment oppotunities
Sanjay puRi
selected are not contextual, then the Indian cities will become just like the new Chinese or Dubai cities which have no character. Highlighting the lack of representation of architects in government bodies, Kabul said that today the lowest bidder gets the contract and design’s sustainability, strength and drawbacks are not considered. He added that India needs qualified architects to be in the position of power where they can have a say in development of cities and its infrastructure and the one who has the knowledge to analyse the design and then value it for the price point that it is offered at. Today most of the development plans are reviewed by the government and predominantly by politicians and not by town planners and architects. Addressing the problem of selection criteria for architects in Indian projects Mattoo said, the terms of reference for design Request for Proposals (RFPs ) in government projects rarely give genuine talent a real shot at securing a project. Scale takes precedence over quality, and turnover, number of people employed, square feet of built projects etc. are hardly any measure of the real capability of a practice to deliver on promise. He also said that being regulatory body, Council of Architecture has done next to nothing in advocating the profession and 18
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has only limited itself in sending notices to practices. Besides, the local architects who are capable of handling big projects are losing opportunities to hone their skills and build world class projects, as the ordinary foreign firms are considered over them. Malik had a different take on subject when he said that our practical education system and infrastructure system does not put on the same footing as the international firm. The international architectural firms are more advanced than us in terms of experience, their systems, their delivery of drawings and quality of detailing which is lacking in Indian designs. “In terms of designs we are far behind from international firm and today none of the Indian architects are qualified to design a city on the basis of great ideas, concepts, sociology, culture, climate and the practical issues of city,” stated Malik. He also expressed the need for promoting quality education in architectural schools. He stated that there are about 400 architecture schools in India, but not all are providing substantive knowledge. “Today majority of students pursuing architecture are not very well aware of what architecture is all about and are lacking practical knowledge, and as a result there is lack of quality professionals in the industry,” he said expressing concern.
There is an urgent need to design cities with more open and public spaces and also on the basis of land use and demographics
Suggestions
The government’s version of smart city aims to be both user-friendly and investor-friendly which not only claims to have an ability to absorb population, but also aims to drive economic growth, job creation and innovation
In order to deal with number of problems surrounding the infrastructure, selection of architects for projects and education system, the architects pointed out some interesting suggestions that need to be included for making India smart city ready. With a view of transforming existing cities into smart cities, Kabul stressed on incorporation of basic sustainable practices by architects in projects which includes use of sewage treatment plant, solar panels for water heating and lighting public areas, and a rainwater harvesting system which will help lift part of the load on the public infrastructure. Besides, for existing cities he suggested implementation of convenience services such as a unified transport ticketing system across trains, buses, and metros; providing constant traffic monitoring updates. For a coastal city like Mumbai, he suggested to leverage its existing
waterways to commute instead of further burdening the existing infrastructure. For other cities he pointed out the use of modes of alternative energies to meet their requirements; provide access to walking and cycling paths across the arterial parts of the city. On government’s selection procedure for architects, Krupa Zubin suggested a need for smart selection method rather than judging Indian or foreign architectural companies on basis of tenders and turnovers. She further stressed on the need for identifying the basic bottlenecks that plague a city from making it more effective and active participation of all citizens and civic bodies as a whole to make sure that the changes are meaningful and not superficial. In order to deal with current problems affecting the profession and education system, Malik stressed on the need for quality education, encourage communication between parties and interaction to combat the problems surrounding the practice. Besides, he also laid importance on need for designing cities on basis of land use and demographics and the need for designing open and public spaces for people.
The Way Ahead aRjun MaliK
Effective spatial planning gives a sense of community at Adhiraj Samyama, Navi Mumbai designed by Malik Architecture
Foreseeing the present and future scenario of India, the government’s version of smart city aims to be both user-friendly and investor-friendly which not only claims to have an ability to absorb population, but also aims to drive economic growth, job creation and innovation. On the other hand, the architects stress on the need for a sustainable and self-sufficient smart city, which encourages smart practices like sewage treatment plant, use of solar panels to generate electricity and rainwater harvesting. However, with growing population and emerging need to upgrade the current infrastructure system, the development of smart city looks like a good solution to all the problems, but apart from infrastructure upgrade, there is equally an urgent need to cater to the lapses in the education system and the practice. Besides, the profession also needs some serious representation at the government level and also needs to give some power to its regulatory bodies like COA and IIA, in order to encourage fair practices in the country which will help to position India as a professional service hub in design space too. juLY 2016
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