Tactical Urbanism in India Alisha 1, Hafsa Rafi 2 1 Department 2 Department
of Architecture, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh-202001, India (Student, B. Arch V Year) of Architecture, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh-202001, India (Student, B. Arch III Year)
Abstract - The public spaces have been the heart and soul of Indian cities. The urban fabric of public spaces does consist of a welcoming infrastructure but the essence of any public space is its people. The quality of public spaces and placemaking have always been valued in Indian cities because they promoted social interaction between communities. However, these social values got lost in the hustle-bustle of the urbanization and modernization of cities. Thus, leading to deterioration of public spaces in India and loss of community spirit amongst people. It is necessary to rejuvenate these community spaces to bring back life into cities and it requires people’s participation which is achieved by tactical urbanism. This paper analyses the scope of tactical urbanism in India and its benefits due to its ephemeral character which employs a build-measure-learn technique. Tactical urbanism can help us achieve long term beneficial outcomes because it experiments the success of projects in a practical environment, at a small scale, in a cost - efficient way and learns from its failures. Considering the current political situation and the rigid legal framework in India, cost effective practice such as tactical urbanism which involves public participation has proved to be efficient for placemaking. It allows us to intelligently test the outcomes of the project in a practical environment before the major investments in time and capital are made. The paper also highlights live examples of Aligarh city showing tactical urbanism by community participation.
Keywords – Community, Ephemeral, Placemaking, Public Spaces Tactical urbanism
1. Introduction Successful city is like a fabulous party, people stay because they are having a good time there. (Burden, 2014) The idea about a city is our own experience with its public spaces. Quality time spent in a city is marked by the social venues and public spaces of the city. These spaces not only humanize the urban environment but also give an identity to the space. (Bhatia, 2015). Therefore, in one way or the other a city is always being assessed by its public places and so, public spaces are the heart and soul of any place. While describing India, the markets, the vendors, the parks and the people have always been a highlighted subject. The essence of public spaces here is its people. These spaces can only be brought to life by the activities of the people. Thus, the key element of urban fabric of these public spaces is not the infrastructure but the collaboration of the people. Placemaking of public spaces in India is therefore essential to maintain the dynamic character of Indian cities. Even in the older times, people of the neighborhood created good informal gathering places by organizing meetings on the chabutaras around their homes. These zones give a sense of collectiveness, safety and togetherness to them. The old city of Shahjahanabad (Chandni chowk) is one of the best examples of placemaking in older times. This place got its name from the crescent shaped informal public space which became popular as a hotspot for various pubic
activities. (Bhatia, 2015) As it gained popularity as an informal gathering place, various food stalls, restaurants and small shops were setup around this, resulting in the development of today’s Chandni Chowk. The place Chandni Chowk is a self-explanatory example to show how people create place from space.
2. The Issue In today’s times, the lively public spaces got lost in dust when megacities adopted urbanization and proceeded towards valuing economy- generating “modernization” of built structures over socially- engaging public spaces which used to be life of every region. The significance of social interactions in gatherings were overpowered by the importance of materialistic things of the fast life in cities. As a result of this, the public spaces gradually lost their proficiency in fabricating the socially active communities and neighborhood, thereby leading to degradation of public spaces. The public spaces in today’s times are either not being used to the potential they were designed for or have become completely inactive.
3. The origin of the Issue The planning of megacities became centered around generating built structures rather than creating welcoming public spaces. In this era of modernization, the architecture is
found to be heavily biased toward physical planning and very little attention is paid in creating life out of space. Thus, these places created now-a-days lacks identity. These places are built as whole to part and are disconnected to the surroundings and the neighborhood. In addition to this, the professionals and officials became more focused on generating economies and developing the infrastructure. This in turn led to the neglect of people’s preferences towards their neighborhood. Thus, the policies made by the government were majorly influenced by the economy and business rather than placemaking. This neglect of people’s stakeholder ship from the planning and policy making of their neighborhoods has led to a loss of sense of ownership from their community spaces. The people hold the prime knowledge about the neighborhood they live in as they face the everyday challenges. Disregard towards their opinions and experiences had led to the degradation of their neighborhoods.
4. Implications Degradation of public spaces is a problem for cities all over. Public spaces which are underutilized have immense possibility to turn into undesirables. Due to the loss of sense of ownership towards public spaces, people no longer participate or take responsibility for developing their neighborhoods. These places then fail to serve the purpose of healthy community gatherings. The places once designed for community good, turn into criminal hotspots when not used for prolonged periods. These shady spaces can also affect the security of nearby streets and areas also. Popular public spaces like Bryant Park in Manhattan, used to be a public place which was not only neglected by people but was actually avoided by them due to the criminal activities that took place in the park. The place became unsafe to the extent that the people rushed past if they ever came across it. The public space became undesirable and as it disturbed communal harmony and compromised safety of the neighborhood, the places around it became redundant. (Bhatia, 2015) To meliorate the current situation, activists Jane Jacobs and William H. Whyte came forward with proposals for placemaking which involved public participation. The lack of public involvement in the development process, has compromised the safety of neighborhood’s and also have led to the loss of community spirit and interaction between them. As a result, disparities among people continue to grow. Making it worse, when the people are neglected even further, they retaliate by molding the cities according to their usage and comfort in pertaining to extreme measures. This in turn results into vandalism and encroachment of public spaces. This is a major reason why public spaces fail in India. Some case studies have been quoted in order to show public resistance to the architecture around them.
5. Case Study 5.1 Aligarh Muslim University: The Tooti Boundary case 5.1.1. Vandalism: Respect existence or expect resistance This case highlights the adverse effects of architecture not being responsive to people’s needs. The boundary between Jamalpur and medical colony in AMU campus known as tooti boundary. This name has been assigned to boundary wall because people always raze the boundary to the ground as it is a hinderance to the easy connection between Jamalpur and medical colony in AMU campus. In order to attain an easy access to Jamalpur, people immediately break down the boundary every time it is constructed. People in this case have challenged their own municipality. The resistance shown in this case was a form of vandalism. Thus, not including people’s opinion in building spaces around them has resulted in their collective resistance to their neighborhood. 5.2. Baba Kharak Sing Marg, Connaught Place, New Delhi 5.2.1. Encroachment Baba Kharak Singh Marg, a part of Ring road, is known for its series of emporiums surrounded by plazas and open spaces. These plazas and open spaces were vibrant and lively community spaces but only during the season of festivals. During the normal days, these spaces were left vacant and eventually got converted into taxi stands. A complete encroachment of the designed public space has discouraged any kind of public interaction and utilization of the leftover space in the plaza. Thus, in this way, utilization of public spaces for personal benefits reduces the potential of the public space. (Bhatia, 2015) 5.3. University Canteen, Aligarh Muslim University
5.3.1. Neglection The location of University canteen of Aligarh Muslim University is the major reason for the ignorance of that public space. The location of the University Canteen is behind Mathematics department, near boys’ hostel in AMU campus. There are various reasons for the failure of the University Canteen mainly, due to its location. The location effected the popularity of the space. Accessibility of college canteen is easier as compared to the University canteen. As a result, people prefer to spend time at college canteen rather going to University Canteen. Although better facilities of food and infrastructure are provided at university canteen but due to its failure in accessibility it fell short for its objective of becoming a public space. In addition
to its poor accessibility, the canteen is also located in front of boys’ hostel which further discouraged girls to spend time there. Thus, the disconnection of people from their surroundings has resulted in the non-utilization of the public space.
6. Learning: why public spaces in India are losing their Potential? It has been found that the public spaces are designed only to be looked at and not touched. They are designed to be neat, hygienic, healthy and empty as if these are not created for the people. Thus, depicting the idea of “no people, no problem”. Thus, the abandonment of these public spaces clearly shows that there is something wrong with the design or the management or both. (Thesis pg32) The following are the reasons why public spaces are losing their potential in India: 6.1. Loss of sense of ownership: The spaces designed by the architects and planners now-adays emphasize mainly on the aesthetic quality of the design not the social one. This is the reason why people don’t feel connected to the place. A good designed place has an attribute of enhancing interacting activities in the space. Furthermore, it should give a reason for people to visit that place. This attribute is absent in the present day design of the spaces. The sense of ownership is missing from the space. This disconnection of people from the space has resulted in no participation, no maintenance and further vandalized spaces. 6.2. Hospitability of a place In India it has been found that the metropolitan cities are not hospitable. Most important is that no one took the responsibility of user - friendly experience in the cities neither the planners, architects nor the municipal authorities of the areas. As for the politicians the public space is only a setting for the political action. (Bhatia, 2015) The disinterest of authorities to develop efficient and sufficient recreational public spaces along with the buildings has resulted in poor accessibility and hospitability of places. 6.3. Negligence As people have lost context with their surroundings, they have ignored visiting the places. Thus, leading to diminishing social values of life outside streets. Also, resistance and vandalism in neighborhoods took place due to dissatisfaction among people regarding the inefficient planning of their spaces due to which they incur a different challenging situation every day. In order to design well the public spaces, the opinions of the people, the need of the people and the interest of the public need to be well considered, the attribute which is missing in the design context of Indian buildings in many places.
6.4. Unawareness of people People of India underestimate the social value of good public spaces. They consider public spaces as only green breathing spaces meant only for recreational activities. People are unaware of the unclaimed experience of the better public spaces. They are unaware of their right to have a hospitable city. (Bhatia, 2015) Only good public spaces create the stage for community life by promoting interactions, communications and activities. These spaces act as an open living room for the people.
7. Need of Tactical Urbanism To make the neighborhoods safe and prevent the community spaces from turning into shady places we need to inculcate/rejuvenate public interaction and activities in those lifeless spaces. This would not only enrich the quality of the space but also reduce the undesirable use of the space. Tactical Urbanism is the most suitable approach to be used for promoting public participation for community welfare. As an effective tool, it proposes ephemeral solutions by the people to bring a permanent change in the society. Placemaking is not only about beautifying a space, or adding captivating artefacts, or converting it into an interesting space for a variety of activities and neither is tactical urbanism. But its major concern is to make the place safe for people visiting it, making it welcoming so that people enjoy the experience of the space and connect to their surroundings.
8. Case Study : Anandrao flyover, Bangalore The space beneath the flyovers in Bangalore constitute a large area of derelict spaces which now serve the as dumping grounds. These spaces had the potential to be converted into positive surroundings for community gatherings. With the initiative to transform the public spaces into green spaces, a group of students from SUI Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia, New York approached the Commissioner, BBMP to develop these unused spaces. (Students Create Designer Urban Spaces, 2014) Their proposal suggested techniques to bring back green public spaces in the city. (Students Create Designer Urban Spaces, 2014) Instead of a power point presentation, the commissioner asked for a demonstration of the idea in the area beneath the Anandrao flyover in Bangalore. (Students Create Designer Urban Spaces, 2014) The idea behind demonstration was to analyze the effects and the reactions of people towards a new practice in the city before sanctioning a complete project for modifying all the public places of the same type. The students from SUI along with the students from Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, along with an
NGO decided to redesign the space from waste materials and scraps. The idea was inspired from Folly for a flyover project in Slovakia which is an amphitheater, built from recycled materials, under a flyover. (Swamy, 2014) (Bhatia, 2015) They used recyclable wood, plastic bottles processed in the form of bales, bamboo, metal scrap etc. Scraps from billboards were used to assemble metal frames, sitting spaces were made from discarded pavers and gravel and the walls were scraped of advertising pamphlets and colored in bright colors with a neutral abstract pattern. (Swamy, 2014) (Bhatia, 2015) The once dumping ground was transformed into a captivating urban spot in ten days by a team of students. People responded positively to the space redesign. The demonstration was used by a wide section of the population. It offered a lively space to have lunch, to office workers who worked nearby, a recreational area for kids, an attraction for people passing by, a safe area for pedestrians, sitting spaces for parents who picked up kids from the bus, a waiting area for people waiting for the transport. In addition to this, it led to the reclamation of an unused space and utilized it for a better purpose. Due to the development of the place, the damage of structures by pasting advertisement came to an end. The people started valuing the place and anyone who attempted to depreciate the place was viewed as an offender by the general public. advertisement pasting on the walls of these spaces led to negative publicity of the company along with crucial criticism. In terms of social aspect, it encouraged the spirit of community participation, enhanced social interactions and helped in community building. Moreover, it gave a space to the citizens to slow the pace of things in life and enjoy the beauty of the surroundings. What was once a tactical move to modify surroundings temporarily, became a BBMP sanctioned project to redesign all the spaces below flyovers and improve junctions and roundabouts in the same creative way. Later, people engaged themselves in placemaking activities such as painting the flyover pillars, walls etc. hence, along with the positive impact at one place, a spirit of public participation was developed among many in the city of Bangalore.
9. Methodology of Performing Tactical Urbanism General methodology of performing tactical urbanism in a place might follow the following framework: Tactical urbanism even though is practiced at a small scale and at one place at a time, it requires planning and consultation from people who live in the neighborhood. 9.1. Identification of a space. For implementing a technique of tactical urbanism, the issue and the space are first identified. The identification of site includes assessing it for its potential to serve the community and analyzing its current state. 9.2. Devising a strategy for implementation After the site has been chosen and assessed, it is classified on the basis of its future prospects-whether it has to serve as a short-term objective of the society and later be discarded or it needs to solve a persisting problem and require a far-sighted approach. The latter considers the possible outcomes and challenges that they might incur in due course of its working. 9.3 Laying out a proposal to the community for approval and active participation The proposal is formed and presented to the people of the neighbourhood by the group of individuals who came forward with the initiative. After the proposal gets the community’s acceptance, an informal group of people is formed who’d carry out the execution of the process. 9.4. Distribution of work and procurement of resources Method/ process/stages of execution of the project/work/ practice is discussed and work is distributed amongst people and resources required are procured. The final execution begins after this.
10. Learning from Methodology 8. Learning The people developed a sense of ownership over their neighborhood and took responsibility for transforming it from a “space to a place”. Here, Tactical urbanism gave an identity to a city. It helped a city to develop in terms of social aspect and generated a sense of ownership in its residents, making them responsible for the smooth functioning of their city. It added life to a city’s monotonously arranged built structures.
The techniques which come under tactical urbanism are in beta stage of execution and are modified according to the strategy of build-measure-learn. The learning is derived during its execution and modified accordingly. At different stages of execution, changes are made to the strategy. That is the benefit of tactical urbanism. The practice is modified according to the changes in society to a point after which it becomes capable to serve as an efficient tool of placemaking in the society- beautifying public spaces, mitigating the undesirables.
11. Why Tactical Urbanism? Tactical urbanism in India is adopted due to the following reasons: 11.1 Highlighting the issue to the government for easy sanction Due to the cumbersome legal framework of taking permission for performing measures to solve the problem, the citizens take the responsibility to make temporary changes in neighborhood to solve problems at a small scale. Hence, they took to tactical urbanism to modify these spaces, due to its low cost, temporary characteristic. 11.2. Reclamation of unused spaces for community benefit Tactical urbanism is taken by people to modify the unused areas in a city such as space beneath flyovers, cross road junctions, empty parking lots, shut down industrial areas. These spaces, which in the existing circumstances, serve as dumping grounds, barren lands and deserted areas, hold immense potential to serve as urban spots of community interest.
12. Conclusion Considering the current political situation and the rigid legal framework in India, it is difficult to bring about small changes in neighborhood for placemaking. Therefore, a short term, cost effective practice such as tactical urbanism which involves public participation has proved to be an efficient tool for providing ephemeral solutions to bring permanent change. This practice further acts as an experimental tool for any project. It allows us to intelligently test the outcomes of the project in a practical environment before the major investments in time and capital are made. Thus, tactical urbanism is a calculated and strategic practice as the failure in tactical urbanism actually becomes its learning. Thus, it leads to a more reformed efficient practice.
REFERENCES [1] Bhatia, A. (2015). Placemaking: Creating a Place of Sense and a Sense of Place. issuu.com. [2] Burden, A. (2014, April 7). How Public Spaces make City Work. [3] Students Create Designer Urban Spaces. (2014, January 18). The times of India, Bangalore.
[4] Swamy, C. (2014). Fun Aesthetic Combo in Space below Ananadrao Flyover. Bangalore Mirror.