Volume 7 | Issue 2| December 2021
CITY OBSERVER A BIANNUAL JOURNAL ON CITIES PUBLISHED BY URBAN DESIGN COLLECTIVE
INSIDE
ONE CITY, TWO NAMES, MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES
A STORY BENEATH OUR FEET
PROJECT LARI
CITY OBSERVER
Volume 7 | Issue 2 | December 2021 Free Publication City Observer is a biannual journal which aims to create a conversation on cities and to collaboratively interrogate our urban world. City Observer is published by the Urban Design Collective. Urban Design Collective (UDC) is a collaborative platform for architects, urban designers and planners to create livable cities through participatory planning. www.urbandesigncollective.org info@urbandesigncollective.org
EDITORIAL TEAM Neha Krishnan Shruti Shankar Sunjana Thirumala Sridhar Vidhya Mohankumar
COVER ILLUSTRATION Bhavya Trivedi
LAYOUT DESIGN Vidhya Venkatesan Vidhya Mohankumar
Copyrights of images lie with the person/party mentioned in the image caption. The opinions expressed in this journal are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of UDC or its members. This magazine cannot be republished or reproduced without the permission of the publisher.
TO CITIES AND PEOPLE
CONTENTS 08 10
Editorial Vidhya Mohankumar
Feature Article DELHI'S CONCEALED URBAN VILLAGES: A CASE OF HAUZ RANI VILLAGE Sophiya Islam
18 32
Feature Article BEYOND BROTHELS: MORE THAN JUST A CAGED SHOWPIECE Jayashree Chandrasekaran
Mobility and the city REPAIRING HISTORIC MISTAKES: A FIGHT FOR SPACE TO BRING BACK THE GREEN AND BLUE INTO OUR CITIES Camila Herrero Rodriguez
40 50
City Trails ONE CITY, TWO NAMES, MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES Ashmitha Athreya
Learning from cities 10 URBAN DESIGN LESSONS FROM MUMBAI Dipti Bhaindarkar
Feature Article PLAYSPACE AFFORDANCES: AN ENQUIRY IN AHMEDABAD Purvi Bhatt
Motion Captured OBJECTS IN MY NEIGHBOURHOOD: BERLIN, NEUKÖLLN Zahra Chhapra
Art in the city A STORY BENEATH OUR FEET Brahmani Tripuraneni
On location VISION FOR BOULEVARD ANSPACH- PEDESTRIANIZATION AND BEYOND - BRUSSELS,
72 84 94 108
Sheeba Amir
Community Engagement PROJECT LARI Chaal Chaal Agency
Teaching Urban Design HOW DO YOU LEARN ABOUT CITIES? Nandini Ramakuru
Closing scene Ateka Nulwala, Gouthaman Ekambaram and Kulsum Nafisa
120 134 144
CITY OBSERVER
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EDITORIAL
Not too long ago, we fell into the throes of a
the pandemic exposed cracks with regard
post-truth era. It was 2016’s Oxford English
to access to services and quality built
Dictionary Word of the Year, in fact. Facts were
environments especially in the case of low
debased. Moralities were defied. Governance
income settlements. The latter half of 2021
had become overridden by a politics of delusion.
was consumed with frenzied debates over the
Five years on, not much has changed. While
lip service that was COP 26. That the response
disinformation continues to amplify an alternate reality, some of us ironically still await an alternative to the forces driving our lives now. Clearly it’s time we accept that the world is broken. And then ofcourse, as if to confirm this, the pandemic hit us. A single defining aspect of the last two years is that we went through a crash course in working through dysfunctionality and overworking ourselves through it.
to a grave crisis is a sign-off on a watered down target doesn’t reinforce hope that we are moving in the right direction. On the other hand, there appears to be a heightened shift in thinking about cities as service providers measured through quantitative metrics derived from various global and local indicators. As an urban designer, it worries me that in the ‘clinical’ pursuit of inclusivity, sustainability and hyper efficiency, we lose sight of ways to design spaces for joy and celebration… spaces
Cities were forced to rethink priorities in terms
that speak to nature… spaces that respond to
of spending - health infrastructure dominated
the genius loci of a site. And whether these are
agendas and minor systemic changes ensured
not worthy ideals to pursue anymore. Can a
that learning did not stop. The shift from
post-pandemic urbanism not be one that seeks
infrastructure based spending to spending for
to restore things that we lost – connections to
social and community wellbeing was forced but
nature and people? I hope so.
long overdue. In this light, vanity projects which would have otherwise escaped criticism got called out. In all this though, municipal/ local government resources – human and financial-
Signing off with hope once again. Happy 2022!
have been severely strained. This rung of governance is precious for a democracy and it is
Vidhya Mohankumar
imperative to find ways to alleviate the stresses
On behalf of the Editorial Team
and strains faced by them. P.S.: The Oxford English Dictionary Word of The discourse on inclusivity or the lack of
the Year for 2021 is Vax. On that note, please
it peaked in the first half of this year when
vaccinate and stay safe.
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
This is weird... It says Happy New year!!
Are you fucking kidding me? That’s what they said last year too.
Artwork on still from ‘Don’t Look Up’. Directed by Adam McKay; Produced by Adam McKay, Kevin Messick; 2021
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FEATURE ARTICLE
DELHI’S CONCEALED URBAN VILLAGES: A CASE OF HAUZ RANI VILLAGE SOPHIYA ISLAM
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
One of the longest-serving capitals and among the oldest inhabited cities in the world, Delhi continues to transform as it strives to maintain its position among the top ten global cities. The Master Plan of Delhi 2021 records around 135 urban villages in the city that house approximately 8 lakh people. These villages, surrounded by the city and often in close proximity to prominent high- and middle-income neighbourhoods, tend to act as satellite towns. They provide labour to the city and affordable housing to the urban poor, migrant workers, and low-income families. However, the poor quality of life and the subsequent lack of a sense of belonging in these urban villages displayed itself in the exodus of the migrant labour returning back to their rural home towns during the national lockdown in the prevailing pandemic. This brings to fore the need to discuss the transformation of Delhi’s urban villages and its impact on the residents’ quality of life.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
Historically, only a small portion of village land was used for inhabitation, leaving the remainder for agricultural purposes. It was under the British Raj that this inhabited land (then called abadi), collectively owned by the village community, was delineated from agricultural land on maps with red ink and identified as Lal Dora, primarily for the purposes of tax realisation. However, after independence and in the early 1990s with the advent of globalisation and liberalisation, as the city expanded and reached the peripheries of these villages, the Government acquired agricultural land outside the Lal Dora area and absorbed it into the city for development. At this time some of the Lal Dora villages were identified as urban villages and included in the city. These urban villages were surrounded by a peripheral road to curb lateral expansion and simultaneously exempt from development norms applicable to other city areas, under the pretext of maintaining their rural character and collective land ownership.
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Agricultural land around Abadi area absorbed by the city.
Thus in the absence of regulations and shortage of land resources to accommodate the growing population, people started haphazard construction, transforming the urban villages into a dense fabric without any proper arrangement for lighting and ventilation. The Master Plan of Delhi 2021 developed a specialised set of norms for these urban villages, aiming to legalise chajjas, redevelop plots through amalgamation, and commercialise streets - but the quality of life of residents remained a
remote concern. Even today, the villages
domestic and foreign. Residents benefit
are demarcated by a single khasra
from the peripheral commercial hubs
number on the master plan and the land
that bring new economic opportunities
remains under community ownership;
to the village, however, their right to the
residents do not have individual property
city and their right to a good quality of life
rights. This lack of integration with the
remains unaddressed.
surrounding City has transformed Delhi’s urban villages in a peculiar and unique manner. The urban villages have become somewhat isolated as a consolidated single entity, detached from the ‘planned’ city. While the village interiors resonate the struggle for basic amenities, the village peripheries have transformed into hubs of buzzing commercial activity, utilising the potential of their location and the prevalent job centres to mark their presence in the City. For example, Shahpur Jat is transformed into a hub of fashion outlets, Hauz Khas and Saidul-Ajaib have transformed into a hub of cafes. These transformed urban villages have started gaining identity as the new go-to places in the city for tourists, both
Champa Gali in Said-ul-Ajaib Village.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
CASE OF HAUZ RANI VILLAGE Hauz Rani Village is located in the South Delhi district along the Press Enclave Road (PER), which is a collector street connecting Delhi to Gurgaon. It came to be inhabited in the 12th century in proximity to the Hauz-i-Rani Reservoir, the site of which lies across the PER. With the development of nearby Khirki Mosque in the 14th century, Muslims began settling in and around Khirki village and subsequently became the dominant population in Hauz Rani Village
Small businesses near Choti Masjid in Hauz Rani Village. CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
as well. In 1908, the village was given the Lal Dora status wherein development was allowed without any regulations, and it was later recognised as an urban village. Over the years, the village has transformed to occupy an area of 36 acres, housing approximately 5000 people in a dense fabric with about 80% ground coverage. There are four mosques in the village, indicating a Muslim-dominated community. There is also a gurudwara and a temple within the village, which indicate a mix of communities, both in ownership and the influx of migrants. This mix of communities has led to the fragmentation of the village into several precincts as each community takes control of their precinct. Each precinct has its own small public open spaces, where the terms of usage are determined by the dominant castes and religious customs. This has developed an antagonistic relationship between the precincts as well as with the city, leading to an introverted nature and a hostile environment. However, the village peripheries have transformed into small commercial
centres similar to other urban villages in Delhi. The transformation of the village periphery in response to surrounding uses is representative of the dynamic character of the village periphery. There are pharmacies for hospitals located across the PER, eateries and retail stores across Select CityWalk Mall and
DLF Mall, cycle repair shops, gyms, eateries, small grocery stores across two residential colonies, Malviya Nagar and Saket. Pottery has been an ancestral craft in the village for over 60 years now and small pottery businesses are prominent along the periphery and are a major attraction to people from the City.
Grocery shop in the congested internal lanes of Hauz Rani Village.
Despite its introverted nature, the peripheral transformation of Hauz Rani Village is helping it evolve into a city-level public place. There are thus two major issues within the Village – spatial, due to the dense urban fabric, and sociological, due to the structure of community and its traditions. Both seem to somewhat resolve along the peripheral commercial hub of the village. Whether this model of peripheral transformation can be
used as a strategy to transform the village interiors into a more liveable and inclusive environment for the residents has to be explored. This strategy can also explore the potential of the location and history of the village to create more entrepreneurial opportunities for the residents and further to grow into a citylevel public place, creating a symbiotic relationship with the city.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
Pottery shops along the peripheral edge of Hauz Rani Village.
UPGRADATION STRATEGY IDEA Their inability to claim the basic right to a good quality of life makes urban villages a misfit in society, thereby secluding them from our cities. Given the huge demand-supply gap in housing, upgradation of existing informal settlements is the way forward. If upgradation efforts are initiated with a focus on improving public life within the village, they can help inculcate a sense of belonging and generate an identity
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
for the community. Improved public life in the neighbourhood can act as a trigger to upgrade the private domain, as social and economic benefits become evident. This approach becomes unique in its methodology, where the process of transformation remains locally grounded and residents become the changemakers. The transformation of urban villages, therefore, must come from a concern for quality of life of its residents, and further to explore their potential to grow into city-level public places.
Probable transformed scenario of Hauz Rani Village.
REFERENCES 1. Alhuwalia, Isher Judge. Planning for Urban Development in India. ICRIER, n.d. 2. Govinda, Radhika. “‘First our fields, now our women’: Gender Politics in Delhi’s Urban Villages in transition.” South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (2013). 3. Mehra, A. K. “Urban Villages of Delhi.” Urbanisation and Governance in India (n.d.).
4. Kumar, Sunil. The Present in Delhi’s Past. n.d. 5. Harvey, David. The Right to the City. n.d. 6. Shilpa Phadke, Sameera Khan, Shilpa Ranade. Why Loiter? n.d. 7. Commission, Delhi Urban. “Malviya Nagar, Hauz Rani and Khirki Extension.” n.d. All image courtesy the author.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sophiya Islam is an architect and urban designer with six years of professional and teaching experience. She holds an undergraduate degree in Architecture from Aligarh Muslim University and a Master of Planning (Urban Design) degree from CEPT University. Since her graduation, she has been engaged in teaching at CEPT University. In 2020, she co-founded Design Dot Story, a platform that fosters a dialogue about design ideas that have had a positive impact on the lives of people.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
BEYOND BROTHELS: MORE THAN JUST A CAGED SHOWPIECE JAYASHREE CHANDRASEKARAN
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Prostitution is often referred to as “the world’s oldest profession,” and it plays a fundamental role in our societies and in the spatial organization and dynamics of cities. The denial of the city towards sex workers begins with apprehensions about their very existence as informal workers and stigma associated with the occupation. Sex workers are a beleaguered and marginalized group who earn their livelihood through sex work within which they encounter marginalization, sexism and exploitation. Whether by choice or by force, they are women striving for an identity and respect in this modern society that treats them as nothing more than beautiful display pieces showcased behind cages. This results in commercialization and commodification of women in the eyes of the state, community and society. Most of these women turn to prostitution to raise money for their families while others are either tricked or forced into the profession with false promises of a job in the city.
Caged into brothels. Image credit: Sarah Bahl
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FEATURE ARTICLE
Of an estimated 20 million commercial prostitutes in India, 16 million women and girls are victims of sex trafficking. They fall prey to the this within the frame of urbanization and power gradually losing their control over their life and becoming slaves to their destiny. Prostitution has a tremendous negative effect, both on women and society.
Stigmatization occurs in all aspects of their life—from clients, the general public, healthcare and other service providers, and the police. This results in reduced access to basic services causing increased stress, mental health problems and feelings of isolation contributing to social exclusion.
Young girls falling prey to human domestication. Image credit: Mary Ellen mark studio and library
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
PROSTITUTION AND SPATIAL SEGREGATION IN THE CITIES Prostitution is at the borderline of modern society and therefore has ended up occupying segregated spaces in the cities. Often termed as red light districts, these areas are mostly transitional neighborhoods, obsolete, lost spaces, areas with low real estate value and devoid of basic facilities. They are meant to be located at the periphery of the city to satisfy the social stigma of separating the impure from pure. Several examples across the globe have shown the appearance of clubs and brothels in areas surrounding ports or commercial centers usually in narrow alleys with lack of basic sanitation and facilities. In São Paulo, for example, according to the city’s zoning laws, motels are restricted to predominantly industrial areas, highways, and riverside expressways, which perpetuates the segregation and isolation of sexual activities from the formal city. The devaluation of these areas leads to degradation of their urban fabric creating opportunity for urban redevelopment. This leads to real estate speculation
and projects that take advantage of this vulnerability to displace the sex workers in the name of their “sinful” activities, to create new gentrified urban districts. For example, the Red Light District in the Netherlands, are subject to new urban redevelopment projects seeking to change the type of public visiting the area. CASE OF KAMATHIPURA, MUMBAI Mumbai has always been distinguished as the city of dreams that has created a unique ageless blend of flavorful and culturally rich neighborhoods with its eventful history. The perfect blend of culture, customs and lifestyles that the city offers has admirers across all the generations. Yet the city means different things to different people who decide to call it their home. Kamathipura is a neighborhood in south Mumbai, which originated as a red light area during the British era for the refreshment of their troops. It was later taken over by Indian sex workers. It is today Asia’s largest red light district with a network of streets, divided according to regional and linguistic backgrounds of the sex workers.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
DETERIORATING URBAN FABRIC AND
that are home to approximately 5000 sex
POOR LIVING CONDITIONS
workers trafficked as minors from rural
Kamathipura is one of the oldest
parts of India or from Bangladesh and
neighborhoods of Mumbai. The
Nepal. It is a network of 14 dingy alleys
neighborhood gets its identity from the
with low-rise deteriorating structures
150-year-old colonial structures that
on either side. Visitors of the streets
infuse a rich culture and history to the
are welcomed by curious eyes peering
place. It majorly comprises of brothels
from the balconies. Living conditions
Street level cages to attract potential customers walking down the busy street. Image credit: Mary Ellen mark studio and library CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
in Kamathipura are deplorable for sex
cramped alleys narrate the painful
workers who have little access to basic
stories of the women residing in them.
needs, such as food, housing, clothing,
The brothels have tiny rooms, separated
hygiene, and health care. Each lane
from one another by thin curtains,
is crowded with small huts, tea stalls,
which are rented out to sex workers on
shops, lodges, pawnshops, eating
an hourly basis. More than 40% of sex
joints, and brothels. The lanes seem
workers in Kamathipura are homeless
like a regular, crowded area in Mumbai
(Menen, 2007). They live on the streets,
during the day, but as it gets dark, these
on the footpaths and pavements.
“I have a lot of dream but i know they will never happen” a sex worker of Kamathipura. Image credit: Mary Ellen mark studio and library
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FEATURE ARTICLE
Deteriorating condition of the urban fabric of the neighbourhood. Image credit: Mary Ellen mark studio and library Facing page: Trapped in claustrophobic dingy rooms. Image credit: The Economic times
TRAPPED IN CLAUSTROPHOBIC DINGY
as the women beckoned and lifted their
ROOMS
skirts, then decided which one to pick as
The facade of the streets creates an imagery of “the cages” where women are displayed in windows of 4-by-6-foot pinjara (which means ‘cage’). The young and pretty girls are displayed in these
if they were shopping for a product. The dingy rooms and drawn curtains gave the area a sense of place, resembling the women in them — somber, helpless and debilitated.” - Mary Ellen Mark in her book Falkland Road: Prostitutes of
openings to grab the attention of the
Bombay brought light to the injustices of
customers. “Men young and old watched
young women in Kamathipura.
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
“This is hell This is a swirling vortex This is an ugly agony This is pain wearing a dancer’s anklets…” From Namdeo Dhasal’s poem ‘Kamathipura’ 24 25
FEATURE ARTICLE
“I am sex worker but my daughter won’t become one”. Image credit: Aakansha, People’s Archive of rural India
Every person and every lane in Kamathipura has a story to tell. Children who fall prey to child trafficking and are forcefully brought to this area get locked in dark boxes for several days till they lose the will to fight and become slaves
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
to the occupation. With the rise in child tracking, sex workers are struggling to give their children a life with dignity while protecting them from getting sexual exploited.
Alleys of broken dreams. Image credit: For purnataorg, by Diana Elsnr
SEX WORKERS AND THEIR LIVELIHOOD DURING LOCKDOWN The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying lockdowns highlighted the perils of those whose livelihoods are directly dependent on their day’s work. The streets, usually buzzing with activity and a booming business, were now as deserted as a graveyard. Restrictions on movement led to loss of customers and thus, loss of livelihoods. The most visible and severe impact of the pandemic has been on basic necessities like food security and good nutrition. While the government identified several categories of marginalized groups such as transgender people, persons with disabilities, informal sector workers
and migrants for immediate relief, sex workers were left out of all relief packages. After consistant efforts, in July 2020, the Government of Maharashtra, recognized sex work as work and a special category requiring assistance during the pandemic. A further step in the acknowledgement of sex workers was recognition by the National Human Rights Commission issued in October 2020, on the rights of women during the pandemic, stating that sex workers must be “recognized as workers and be registered so that they are able to get worker benefits.”
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FEATURE ARTICLE
Sex workers in Mumbai went penniless during lockdown. Image source: https://news.trust.org/item/20141024123727-uvids/
NEED FOR CHANGE As soon as the word “prostitution” comes into mind, people automatically create a stereotypical image of sex workers and red light districts that is largely informed by popular cultural and media representations. Indian society is strongly stigmatizing and criminalising sex work without understanding the large number of traditional and untraditional reasons that might precede that decision. It is important to understand that it is the economic necessity of a group of
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
people that drives them into this and worse still, some are tricked into the business. And yet, women in sex work have always faced difficult situations while earning their livelihood. Their marginalization results in their having to struggle at all levels, including access to health, education and social justice. The existing laws continue to criminalise aspects of sex work including soliciting, brothels and living off the earnings of sex work. But they need a lot more than legal recognition. A social safety net for
Booming real estate market leading to transformation of the area. Image credit: The Mumbai highlights
the marginalized and invisible sectors as well as rehabilitation programs and alternative livelihood programs for inclusion is the need of the hour. Day care centres to protect the children from being forced into this work and access to education is extremely crucial. While the steps taken during the pandemic are slowly favouring sex workers, there is still a long journey to transform social perception and accept sex workers as equal citizens and an integral part of our society.
Today, the deteriorating condition of the urban fabric in Kamathipura and the stigma associated with sex workers is fuelling Mumbai’s booming real estate market to swallow brothels and churn out offices and flats. It aims to transform Kamathipura by creating a stark contrast to the existing identity of the neighbourhood. This greatly threatens the livelihoods of sex workers who have been residing in this area for years and whose livelihoods depend upon its location. The gradual increase in
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FEATURE ARTICLE
market prices is slowly forcing out brothel owners thereby decreasing the number of sex workers in the area. This trend ought to raise questions such as ‘Does Kamathipura belong to the sex workers who have been long time residents of this place? Will the redevelopment of the neighbourhood ensure that the future of the marginalized community is not jeopardized?’ Favourable answers are awaited. REFERENCES • Devajana C. Nanjunda, Pulamaghatta N. Venugopal (2020). Boundaries of Contagion: The Unheard Plight of Sex Workers in Karnataka. Research Article https://doi. org/10.1177/2277436X20927254 • Lindsay Gezinski & Sharvari Karandikar (2013), Exploring Needs of Sex Workers from the Kamathipura Red-Light Area of Mumbai, India Journal of Social Service Research, 39:4, 552-561, DOI: 10.1080/01488376.2013.794758. • Mumbai’s red-light area Kamathipura sees prostitution at an all time low, https://www. mid-day.com/sunday-mid-day/article/Mumbai-s-red-light-area-Kamathipura-sees-prostitution-at-an-all-time-low-17305188 • Kamathipura: Area’s 150-yr-old heritage shrouded by its present, https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/kamathi-
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
pura-areas-150-yr-old-heritage-shrouded-byits-present-mumbai-by-night-4763044/ • Life of sex workers inside Mumbai’s Kamathipura during the coronavirus lockdown | Mumbai Live, https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=Zk2M8MugyNc • Beaten, Locked In A Box, Fed Steroids: The Shocking Lives Of Mumbai’s Young Sex Workers, https://www.youthkiawaaz. com/2016/03/sex-workers-of-kamathipura/ • https://www.thebetterindia.com/215561/ mumbai-red-light-area-sonapur-kamathipura-sex-worker-longreads-jov30/ • Masks, sanitization, and no kissing: Sex workers have new rules for clients, https:// en.gaonconnection.com/masks-santisationand-no-kissing-availing-services-of-sex-workers-have-new-rules/ • Documentary depicts how over 7,000 sex workers in Mumbai went penniless during lockdown, Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/national/documentary-depicts-how-over-7000-sex-workers-in-mumbaiwent-penniless-during-lockdown-1040178. html • The problem of prostitution: An Indian perspective, https://www.legalserviceindia. com/article/l269-Prostitution-in-India.html • The Audacity of Tolerance: A Critical Analysis of Legalized Prostitution in Amsterdam’s Red Light District https://www.humanityinaction. org/knowledge_detail/the-audacity-of-tolerance-a-critical-analysis-of-legalized-prostitution-in-amsterdams-red-light-district
• Mary Ellen Mark and The Caged Prostitutes of Mumbai, https://www.npr.org/sections/ goatsandsoda/2015/05/30/410521364/ mary-ellen-mark-and-the-caged-prostitutesof-mumbai • A Reflection on Prostitution and Spatial Segregation in the Cities, https://www.archdaily. com/968630/a-reflection-on-prostitutionand-spatial-segregation-in-the-cities • Hoping against hope in Kamathipura, https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/ hoping-against-hope-in-kamathipura/
prostitutes, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ybgnSEx_-SA • 16. Locked Down: Sex Workers and Their Livelihoods, https://www.epw.in/ engage/article/locked-down-sex-workers-and-their-livelihoods?0=ip_login_ no_cache%3D0b974085b44be603cbc7233a419c56db • 17. Kamathipura poem, https://www. poetryinternational.org/pi/poem/10554/ auto/0/0/Namdeo-Dhasal/Kamatipura/en/ tile
• 15. Caged until ‘broken’: life for Mumbai’s
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jayashree Chandrasekaran is an avid and voracious urban designer and architect. She has completed her masters in Urban design from School of planning and architecture, Bhopal. Her specialisation has provided her with an edge and ability to work across different scales and analyse spaces within the cities through various lenses. She is passionate about finding innovative and sustainable solutions to issues plaguing contemporary cities. Her interest lies towards designing inclusive, resilient and sustainable spaces engaging with its natural setting. She treasures the influential ability of designers in creating better living environments that are sensitized to human needs. She believes in the power of storytelling as a mode of understanding people and places. In the past, she has worked with Mumbai port trust, where her role involved developing a vision and masterplan for the Mumbai port trust land putting the underutilized spaces to better use as part of the team and work with different departments involved in the project. She is currently working as part of the Urban Design Collective (UDC) team. She has been actively involved in CITIIS projects - Hoara riverfront development, Agartala and Unkal Nala rejuvenation, Hubballi - Dharwad where she made her contributions through intensive research towards participatory planning, strategies for stakeholder engagement and outreach, developing indicators for measuring the success of public spaces, design of surveys, urban mapping, knowledge capitalisation, working towards spreading awareness about inclusive spaces etc. Furthermore, she has been an active part of various projects undertaken by UDC, which has strengthened her skills towards stakeholder engagement and capacity building.
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MOBILITY AND THE CITY
REPAIRING HISTORIC MISTAKES: A FIGHT FOR SPACE TO BRING BACK THE GREEN AND BLUE INTO OUR CITIES CAMILA HERRERO RODRÍGUEZ CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
After more than 20 years of planning, the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands removed a 12-lane motorway built in 1983 to restore a historic canal. In Mexico City, during the spring of 2021, the Ministry of Mobility finished the construction of a 6-lane bridge for automobiles along 1.7km, on top of 2 hectares of the natural protected and world heritage wetlands in the south of the city. This article seeks to argue how problematic it is, that in times of climate emergency and global pandemic, worldwide stakeholders have not yet come to a shared understanding of the urgency to address the socioenvironmental crisis by creating human, and not car-oriented cities.
Image Credit: Derk Visser
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MOBILITY AND THE CITY
During the 1980s, the 900-year-old moat of the city of Utrecht began to fade in front of its citizens’ very eyes. The era of the automobile had arrived and the Dutch government initiated a process in which the traditional outer-city canal was removed, to accommodate a 12-lane motorway allowing cars better access to Utrecht’s shopping district.
Nonetheless, with the boom and challenges of the new millennium, those car-oriented policies lost popularity in the Netherlands, and in 2002 residents voted in a referendum for a city-center master plan in which water would replace roads (Boffey). The final restoration of the canal didn’t come until spring last year, but what could come more striking for those of us who are passionate about city planning is that this rehabilitation has been appreciated by Utrechters as an amendment of a historic mistake. Furthermore, this historic adjustment also comes along with a series of measures taken by Dutch authorities to redevelop the surroundings of the city’s central train station. An example is an inauguration in 2019 of the world’s largest bicycle parking with a capacity to fit at least 12,500 fiets (bikes),
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
underneath the station main platform. Denoting this Dutch case becomes relevant in many ways, but particularly because it contradicts the popular knowledge about the Netherlands being the country of bikes and not of cars. The fact that this case’s resolution is posed in the Dutch media by stakeholders as a “historic mistake” (Bicycle Dutch), can only but stress that cities can be changed and in fact, are continuously changing. Yet, beyond celebrating this case and some others similar examples around the world, such as the spectacular recovery of the Cheonggyecheon canal in the capital of South Korea, the questions still are: how can this sort of urban metamorphosis be accelerated in pace to keep up with the efforts to mitigate the socio-ecological collapse that we are currently living. Even more important, how can cities worldwide take one step forward without taking two steps back? This necessarily means that canal recoveries need to happen systematically around the world, with an urban and environmental common vision for a common future. Unfortunately, and although Utrecht or Seul’s transformations are amusing, they are not enough in a globalized world at
Cheonggyechen Canal - Seoul. Image credit: Jacques Beaulieu
risk of having its temperature increased by 2 degrees in the following decade, and they are not enough when other parts of the world are betting time and money on the exact opposite direction. The case of the brand new 6-lane bridge in Mexico City is a perfect fit to illustrate this. In 2018 a new mayor was elected for Mexico City, she was not only the first woman who would govern this city but also an academic and physicist who had contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, with studies on energy and transport. This profile was not only a
promise for the organized civil society pushing forward the environmental and sustainable urban mobility agenda in the city but also a promise from the left-wing political parties to “correct the bunch of policies from the neoliberal era”. But the longing promise for a radical urban and environmental city transformation soon decayed. After 3 years of administration and various infrastructure project implementations, there is a scent of disappointment among civil society. The situation became significantly evident with the arrival of what was exposed 34 35
MOBILITY AND THE CITY
Mexico city’s Xochimilo Wetlands. Image credit: Regeneration International300
Mexico city’s Xochimilo Wetlands. Image credit: Kin Enriquez
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
by the Ministry of Mobility, as a project
Thus far, if contrasted with the colorful
that would lessen the hours in traffic for
and appealing Dutch case, the problem
inhabitants of the southern and least
of this one may seem evident for some:
urbanized part of the city. This narrative
Why are cities building more roads for cars and not for people?
was certainly opposed by experts and civilians with rather convincing arguments and even a joint claim requesting the cancellation of the project with a plea at the Court.
From a technical urban perspective, it is well known that building space for cars can only but increase motorization by inducing the demand. But the project was also non-viable because only 29.5% of people in the South- East area of the city use the car
But this case is not only about investing in more concrete for cars, in fact, this administration has also built other two bridges, summing up almost 30,000 m2 of rolling surface for cars (SOBSE). The problem seems to be the political narrative and the consequent actions, for which creating a car-oriented city is not seen as a historic mistake but the opposite, as something that cities should be striving for no matter the consequences. The consequences of this bridge have been major and were perceived by some as a dilemma because this infrastructure came also at the expense of a natural protected area. While in Utrecht the municipality
on their daily trips. This means that
had restored the old canal, in Mexico
a project worth 680 million pesos is
City, the authorities intervened in an area
dedicated to approximately 30% of the
of 44% of Xochimilco Protected Natural
population (INEGI; SOBSE).
Area, affecting approximately 2 hectares
36 37
MOBILITY AND THE CITY
of the already fragmented wetland (Miguel). Eroding what remains from the lake that actually was this city before the Spanish Conquest is unacceptable in times of climate emergency. Authorities argued that this part of the wetland was already disconnected and damaged by the Periférico avenue. The question is: why eradicate this area of the wetland instead of restoring it and reconnecting it to the overall ecosystem?
It is crucial to confront politicians when they try to win votes at the cost of our future, at the cost of livable cities, and the cost of our planet. It is important to celebrate beautiful achievements such as canal recoveries, and as the socio-ecological crisis evolves, local initiatives and local transformations are more than relevant, because people
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
actually inhabit at the local scale and people actually die from car pollution every year. But it would be inadmissible to lose the global scale perspective, that one that just materialized at the COP26 this past November. An event in which Mexico was awarded 2nd place of the Fossil of the Day Award by the Climate Action Network (Climate Network). An event in which the fossil industry lobbies for more refineries to fuel cars and build concrete roads. The challenge, it seems, is to agree on the common future we need and want, and how is that future historically different from building roads at the cost of the green and blue in our cities. REFERENCES • Bicycle Dutch. “Utrecht Corrects a Historic Urban Design Mistake.” Bicycle Dutch, 15 Mar. 2021, www.bicycledutch.wordpress. com/2020/09/16/utrecht-corrects-ahistoric-urban-design-mistake. • Boffey, Daniel. “Utrecht Restores Historic Canal Made into Motorway in 1970s.” The Guardian, 15 Sept. 2020, www.theguardian. com/world/2020/sep/14/utrecht-restoreshistoric-canal-made-into-motorway-in-1970s.
• Climate Network. “Fossil of the Day 08 November 2021 – UK & Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and the Czech Republic.” CAN, 9 Nov. 2021, https:// climatenetwork.org/resource/fossil-of-the-day-08-november-2021/. • Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. “Encuesta Origen Destino En Hogares de La Zona Metropolitana Del Valle de México (EOD) 2017.” INEGI, 2017, www.inegi.org.mx/programas/eod/2017. • Miguel, Teresa de. “La obra que amenaza Xochimilco, el último humedal de Ciudad de México.” El País México, 15 July 2020, www. elpais.com/mexico/2020-07-15/la-obra-que-amenaza-xochimilco-elultimo-humedal-de-ciudad-de-mexico.html. • Secretaría de Obras y Servicios de la Ciudad de México. “Obras de Infraestructura.” Secretaría de Obras y Servicios de La Ciudad de México, 11 Sept. 2019, www.obras.cdmx.gob.mx/storage/app/ media/%20OBRAS%20DE%20INFRAESTRUCTURA%20VIAL%20.pdf.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Camila Herrero studied International Relations in Mexico and has a research master’s degree in Urban and Economic Geography from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. She participated in the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change in Mexico and with the University of Utrecht, researching the case of informal transport in Mexico City. She collaborated with the Dutch Cycling Embassy structuring the International City Cycling Assessment. She worked with the government of Mexico City, coordinating and implementing green infrastructure and energy transition projects. Camila currently works at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy and as an independent consultant for climate change, green infrastructure, and urban mobility projects.
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CITY TRAILS
ONE CITY, TWO NAMES, MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES
ASHMITHA ATHREYA
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
“I’m in Chennai for a day. What should I see?” Living in Chennai, this is a constant question. The answer varies depending on the responders’ perception of and experience with the city. Few responses, however, remain repetitive - Go see the beach! Eat idli, dosa! Visit the temple(s)! As limiting as this sounds, this is the image of Chennai that is wellregistered - A quaint little city popular for its beaches and temples. At times, it is quite daunting when you realise how this image has penetrated and is here to stay. It makes me wonder - is that all my city is about? This is the first of the many questions that I ask myself, and probably you, as I navigate through the process of unlearning and relearning about this dear city that I call home.
A heritage photo walk in Purasawalkam. Image credit: Madras Inherited
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CITY TRAILS
A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE
the original town, doesn’t even get an
What do I know about Chennai? A
honorary mention and was largely lost in
few years earlier, this question would
the ‘city’ people’s minds.
have received a brief reply from me, possibly trying to pander to the general
As clichéd as it might sound, going out of
assumption/ image of the city. Our
the city and living away from everything
education and work tend to limit the
I knew of and found comfort in pushed
spectrum of localities that we visit on an
me to put on a different lens and look
everyday basis, and the same happened
at the place that was now thousands
for me; a large part of the city was
of kilometres away. As I went around
overlooked. As a result, I was stuck with
the new city I was living in and excitedly
preconceived and largely popular notions
took in everything that the capital of
of the city - Mylapore and Triplicane are
the country had to offer, there would
known for their temples, T Nagar is where
be a constant doubt hanging around
you go when you want to shop, Anna
in the back of my head. Have I ever
Nagar is the ‘modern’ part of the city; the
done this in my own city? Granted, I’d
list keeps going. Sadly, North Madras,
visited other places and always looked
Mylapore from the other side. Image credit: Ashmitha Athreya
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
The old and new T Nagar side-by-side. Image credit: Ashmitha Athreya
for understated and lesser-known facts and places, but I’d never ‘explored’ Chennai. I’d never looked for spots that are seemingly unimportant or places that remain unseen to the naive eye. I’d never ‘experienced’ Chennai in its truest sense. When I came back to the city, I was determined to prove to myself (and others) that there’s more to Chennai than the limited and largely touristy image of the city that is out there. Chennai is more than its beaches and temples, I would soon come to realise.
This, in a large part, I owe to the work we do at Madras Inherited. It was upon becoming a part of the organisation that a whole new side to me was kindled; a side that began to appreciate even a trivia piece of information about the city, a side that looked at the city with multiple lenses, each different from the other, a side that chances upon the slightest opening to talk in length about an unknown aspect of the city, and a side that enjoyed ‘walking’ through the streets of her own city and discovering new faces to it. 42 43
CITY TRAILS
Mount Road sans the traffic. Image credit: Ashmitha Athreya
Gems of George Town. Image credit: Ashmitha Athreya CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
BUT WHAT IS THE OUTSIDER’S PERSPECTIVE How does one know a city? If you are from the place, then it is through personal experiences of growing up, attending schools and colleges, weekend outings with friends and family. But, imagine you’re visiting Chennai for the first time. You would look up places to visit, restaurants to eat at and local spots to discover. So, when the team got its new member, Priyani, from Bangalore, I was curious to hear her thoughts. “To outsiders, a certain image of Chennai comes to mind; Madras with Marina, its temples and colonial buildings. I would say the identity of any place is by virtue of its culture, politics, socio-economic lifestyle, and geography and that holds true for Madras. Chennai is a city that has developed an identity for itself, yet continues to establish itself over and over again”, she shares. EXPLORING A CITY A drive in an auto, riding the local bus or train, or walking – these are the usual options that one finds in front of them when they wish to tour a place. We at Madras Inherited chose the last option. If one observes, walking as an activity remains restricted to exercise. Hence,
the necessity was to add a layer to the walk that would make it interesting and encourage people to wake up early in the morning, the time of the day when the city is free from her pollutants and is in her best and interactive self. A Heritage Walk, therefore, brought together diverse aspects – walking, history and touring – and created a package that aimed at sensitising the residents of the city about their roots and the valuable heritage that the city is home to. Heritage walks were somewhat alien to me. I’ve been to one, or at maximum two, in Delhi. My second-favourite city after Chennai, I’m yet to revel in its complete marvellousness, but what these walks opened my eyes to was the fact that, in the present, we fail to pause. We fail to pause to look at what’s going on around us, we fail to pause and understand what was going on in the past, and we fail to understand that the past has been influencing the present and the future in more ways than we can imagine. And what better way to pause than take a walk and stop as and when you come across anything remotely fascinating? The heritage walks by Madras Inherited were consciously curated to achieve exactly this. 44 45
CITY TRAILS
St Peter’s Church in Royapuram. Image credit: Ashmitha Athreya
WALKS THROUGH MADRAS AND CHENNAI Initially, the walks were designed along routes well-known to the people of the city. The stops on the walk would be a combination of the expected and the unexpected. Mylapore has a walk around its Mada Streets, but CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
the topic of discussion would be its age-old residences and the exquisite craftsmanship and skill that it holds, the climate-responsive and inherently sustainable planning and the stories of its decades-old residents that bring a smile to everyone’s faces. A walk through the streets of T Nagar, the heart
Signboards of Madras. Image credit: Ashmitha Athreya
of commerce and shopping, discusses the origins of the Justice Party and its impact and influence on the Dravidian politics of Tamil Nadu and the beginnings of the social justice and equity reform movements that has shaped the state. And, North Madras. Was I in for a surprise! George Town is a place that
every resident of the city needs to walk through (and drive through, if you’re looking for practising driving in dire situations). A cornucopia of history, heritage, architecture and spectacular stories, each and every street is home to a treasure trove of information. Every time we go to George Town, we come 46 47
CITY TRAILS
back with something special. But, here too the axe of development has struck and left the place in chaos. Walks through the localities of this part of Madras focus on the imbalance and the lack of attention that this section has been subject to, but also celebrates the rich culture and the people that have made this area and this city what it is. A conscious effort is made to identify what is unique about an area and what has long been ignored and not spoken about enough. These are presented to the participants in a package that is open to further individual exploration and understanding. Priyani says, “As a fairly new resident, these heritage walks have been a good segue into making sense of the unique layers to Madras. These walks
are also helping me make sense of the crossroads cities planned in the past stand on: striving to advance into the modern age while clinging to the vestiges of colonialism.” This is quite heartwarming to hear, as this is exactly what the heritage walks set out to achieve. “Areas like Mylapore and T Nagar are peppered with these colonial buildings, but the other visual reminders are the vanishing enamel signs, wooden letters and wrought iron plaques present on shop hoardings or narrow alleys. It is distinct and memorable against the flashy neon signs of the 21st century shopping experience. Some structures survive as a memory of a place that brought quality to the Indian folk. The oldworld charm has not vanished, and yet the identity of these areas is not colonial any more”, she concludes.
Exploring George Town. Image credit: Ashmitha Athreya
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
A heritage walk in Mount Road. Image credit: Sujith Kumar
The last sentence more or less captures the essence of this city. In Chennai, you would find Madras, splendid vestiges of a past that is slowly being forgotten in the race of modernity. You would find a city that has been a pioneer in multiple fields, one that demands better representation and comprehension,
one that offers extreme spectrums in anything and everything, and one that is home to beautiful people that welcome you with warmth. To experience Chennai, all it takes are walks. Long walks where you keep your eyes above the road and take in everything that this glorious place has to offer.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ashmitha Athreya is a formally trained architect with a postgraduate degree in Heritage Studies from INTACH, New Delhi. She currently heads the operations at Madras Inherited, where her work varies from developing and leading bilingual heritage walks to conceptualising and designing the area of heritage education and research, apart from actively handling other areas of work. Born and raised in Chennai, she strongly believes that the cultural and historical heritage of a city plays a vital role in guiding the society towards holistic development. She is inspired by all things old - books, music, movies, buildings, people, and Madras
48 49
LEARNING FROM CITIES
10 URBAN DESIGN LESSONS FROM MUMBAI DIPTI BHAINDARKAR
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
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LEARNING FROM CITIES
Mumbai, the global city in the making, is constantly in flux. It is registering a historically unprecedented phenomenon of increasing density of the human populace, complexity of city infrastructures and development, and the mobility of capital, information, and people. Mumbai’s rapid densification over the past few decades resulted from several infrastructure projects and the monetisation of land and property to increase living densities accommodating migrants as well. However, these city-building tools missed the human element, when they should be planned for the survival, growth, health, and general well-being of this human element. COVID 19 and the subsequent lockdown 2020 brought People - the city’s human element with all its social, physical, cultural, economic, and emotional needs to the forefront. It also allowed for a pause to reflect, revisit, & reinvent strategies of placemaking and development patterns, the nature of public and private places, spaces for people and their well-being, and access to social-cultural & health infrastructure. The city gets shaped by its people, their practices, their socio-cultural engagements, and interactions. Future goals for the city can be outlined as agility and adaptability of development, transformation of neighbourhoods, comfort of people and goods, and empathy towards people-place and empowering citizens. This article will further annotate ten sketch notes which tie both humane & administrative structured attempts of city building from Mumbai, which define the close-knit people-place relationship.
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
1
BOTTOM UP - TOP DOWN APPROACH: FROM PEOPLE TO POLICY TO PEOPLE
Cities are about coexistence. The coexistence of people and place, place and policies, people and policies; it is a dense network of interdependencies. These interdependencies need to be identified and acknowledged to make the city liveable. Boardrooms do not satisfy people’s needs and aspirations and lead to dead cities. Thus, thinking about the people-topolicy scale is proposed as a better approach that would tie both bottomup and top-down initiatives. Mumbai has seen many local citizen groups taking an initiative towards making the city better, developing proposals and projects for the city. Advanced Locality
Management holds discussions with local authorities to appraise them of grass-root requirements, develop proposals suitable for their needs and get them implemented. When scaled up and developed at policy levels, these initiatives will hold the human aspect of the city as a close-knit network. Looking closely at the current administrative structure of the wards in Mumbai, Corporator wards can be identified as the smallest unit of development represented by the Corporator, a people’s representative. This framework calls for informed and action-oriented citizens and administrators who know and are aware about their city.
People Representation Network Diagram. Image credit: Author
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LEARNING FROM CITIES
2
OWNERSHIP: PEOPLE LED INITIATIVES
City spaces are often left unattended due to ownership boundaries and jurisdictions. These boundaries, physical & psychological, makes one turn one’s back to city spaces, their cleanliness, and maintenance. It will be possible to keep the city clean and thriving when every citizen starts taking ownership of the city. Citizens often feel that their responsibility for the upkeep of the city ends by just paying taxes and that it is the responsibility of local bodies to maintain a clean city; imposing rules and collecting fines have no real impact. We clean our own house and maintain it because of a sense of ownership. It is this sense of belonging which should expand towards the entire city. A young couple from Mahim set an example by
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
initiating a beach clean-up on Mahim Reti Bunder. Garbage disposed in the Mithi River gets deposited on this beach due to sea currents. Once the cleaning drive started, many citizens realised its worth and joined in, followed by Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). Subsequently, the beachfront was revamped into a garden and outdoor gym, and the adjoining Mahim fort area is also being taken up for restoration. Further, many citizen groups across Mumbai neighbourhoods joined hands to clean up areas near Versova, Dadar, and Bandra. A small initiative by this young couple has made a big difference for the locality, promoting the ideas of ownership, initiative, care, & participation.
Conjectured Illustration for Mahim Beach Water Edge on the left and Plastic Free Beach edge on the right. Image source: Author
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LEARNING FROM CITIES
3
KNOWING THE CITY - AWARENESS OF CITY’S PAST & PRESENT
To own the city, one needs to be aware, informed and alert about the city’s past and present. The City of Mumbai has a rich history, many cultural traditions, heritage, architectural styles, and landmarks. The older part of South Mumbai contains trading and wholesale markets as well as the older fort precinct, full of historical treasures. This area houses higher densities in tight plots of land and holds delicate cultures with its intensities of life. Historical monuments, temple precincts, plaques, stone pillars, remnants of fort walls, and stambhs span the city. This rich history and geography
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
of the city are being introduced to tourists and younger generations by many organisations. The city is being introduced in multiple dimensions: from nature trails to flamingo walks, from heritage precinct fort city to market city, from Kanheri caves to older temples at Mandapeshwar, from water edge to fishing villages, and dense networks and thriving production units at Dharavi. Administrative authorities are inviting people to be a part of city building activities by hosting meetings at ward level, making them aware of the city’s past and present concerns.
City of History, Claims, Appropriation & Negotiations. Image credit: Author and Ronak Soni
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LEARNING FROM CITIES
4
AGILE, ADAPTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE & BUILT FORM
In March 2020 during the first wave of the COVID 19 pandemic, Mumbai saw a surge of cases putting great pressure on existing health infrastructure. The hospital witnessed horror scenes with patients sleeping in the corridors, waiting halls, outside the hospital in the parking lobby due to a shortage in hospital beds. The MCGM decided overnight to convert the social and cultural infrastructure in the city into COVID care centres, quarantine units, and extension units for hospitals. The Bandra Kurla Complex Exhibition ground, Goregaon Exhibition centres, National Sports Club of India
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
(NSCI) along with Richardson & Cruddas Factory, Mulund’s Octroi Naka, and even Marriage Halls were converted to COVID care units. The hotel industry offered rooms to doctors and frontline workers near their workplaces. The social and cultural infrastructure of the city absorbed the stresses of the health infrastructure during the crisis. The city’s adaptive and agile nature allowed the city to transform socio-cultural-tourist infrastructures into healthcare support units, accommodating and absorbing the stress of a pandemic within a short span of time.
TabakFabrik building façade in the New Objectivity style. Image credit: Author
Agile & Adaptive Infrastructure. Image credit: Author and Ronak Soni
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LEARNING FROM CITIES
5
INTER ‘ACT’ : COURTYARDS - CORRIDORS - BALCONIES
Housing typologies in the city of Mumbai have allowed for unique possibilities of interaction and connections. Most of the types such as chawls, housing societies with courtyards, bungalows and row houses with verandahs allow for the incremental grading of spaces from public to private, thus outlining various interactions as one inhabits them. The low-rise nature of buildings allowed for a connection to the street. Many such connections are now being lost as the city is flooded with highrise towers and podium parking, with near zero connection to the street. During
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
the COVID 19 lockdown, as people confined to their homes looked for a breather, the courtyards, corridors, and terraces of older housing typologies and podium floors in newer typologies provided respite. Highrise apartments and double-loaded circulation patterns do not provide for much-needed pause spaces. The peculiar older prototypes of housing proved their worth during the testing times of lockdown as the visual connection to the street and people around provided mental relief. This calls for the retrospection of current planning strategies.
Relief Spaces in Housing Typology. Image credit: Author and Somesh Nadkarni
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LEARNING FROM CITIES
6
BREATHING POCKETS: REDUNDANT SPACE UPCYCLING
Mumbai contains many defunct spaces
neighbourhood kids, young adults for
that perish after their original function ceases to exist, and are overtaken by wilderness. These spaces are rich resources for the city if upcycled to hold much-needed amenities and programme spaces. A thriving example is Pramod Mahajan Garden (Kala Park) which was conceived on a defunct land of sewage treatment plants. The plot had been unused since 1999, but in 2014
jogging and walking, and senior citizens for socializing, reading newspapers and evening walks. With the city and its density rapidly growing, identifying and creating local green pockets in underutilized land parcels will provide the city with much-needed pause spaces for relaxation, rejuvenation and sociocultural interactions. These defunct spaces can be upcycled to increase
was converted into a public park with a variety of flora and frequented by many species of birds. It is frequented by
practically negligible public space amenities for the city’s population.
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Pramod Mahajan Kala Park construct on a Defunct Sewage Treatment Plant at Dadar. Image credit: Author
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LEARNING FROM CITIES
7
URBAN FOREST : BIODIVERSITY NETWORKS AND FLOWS
Tree cover in Mumbai is being depleting
Colaba Woods garden. The concept is
at an alarming rate due to cutting for
based on the work of Japanese botanist
construction activity, the concreting of
Mr. Akira Miyawaki and allows for the
roads and tiling of open spaces around
closer spacing of trees, a faster rate of
buildings that results in dropping ground
growth, less maintenance costs, and
water levels, and a low budgetary
a maintenance time of just two years,
allocation to garden department by
after which natural processes take
MCGM. Many trees are uprooted during
over. Medicinal trees were planted in
strong winds or stormy weather due to
Mumbai in several locations and since
poor root structure. In the year 2020,
initial results were satisfying, this model
the Miyawaki concept was adopted at
is to be replicated all over Maharashtra.
several locations in Mumbai including
Urban forest pockets thus facilitate
Bhakti Park in Chembur, LTT terminus
thriving biodiversity networks and
on the Central Railway, in Malad, and
enhance local ecosystems.
Miyawaki Concept at Bhakti Park, Wadala, Mumbai. Image credit: Author, CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
8
SEE, ENGAGE & REFLECT: GENDER EQUALITY
As we move through the city, traffic junctions display red and green male figures to signal movement. The commodification of the female body is widespread in advertising; however, important signage across the city always had male figures. With almost fifty percent of the population being female, they have never had equal status in signage except on toilet blocks. In life too, there are great differences in the
way men and women are treated. In order to promote gender equality, MCGM changed the male stick figures with women figurines at 160 traffic junctions. Far from being just a gesture promoting gender equality, it allows us to reflect on own conditioned thinking in our own lives. Let us hope that it does not just remain a gesture promoting gender equality but sensitizes the city towards half its population.
Starting with G - North Ward, Mumbai installs women icons at traffic signals. Image credit: Author.
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LEARNING FROM CITIES
9
SHOPPING ECONOMY: STREET MARKETS
Mumbai has unique markets that have evolved over the years at specific locations, with shops, stalls, hawkers and vendors adding to the overall spacemaking. These areas work 24 hours a day with different purposes - in the early morning, they are vegetable markets, in the afternoon, they sell clothes and accessories, and in the late evening, food carts and stalls pop up. Many of these streets have become khau gallis (literally, ‘food alleys’) over the years. Some streets hold farmer markets once/ twice a week. Festivals like Raksha Bandhan, Ganapati, Navratri and Diwali also give rise to pop-up markets. Movement
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
corridors support this informal economy. The high demand of city life forces most working people to pick up their daily essentials on the way back from work. Markets outside transport hubs, railway stations, metro stations, bus stands are essential - they hold something for each individual, including fresh produce, clothing, daily food essentials, and everyday items. Despite several attempts at disciplining these markets, they keep re-emerging and thriving with their energy. These agile ecosystems of the market economy have their basis in the neighbourhood concept.
Street Markets outside Dadar Western Railway Station. Image credit: Author
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LEARNING FROM CITIES
10
POP UP CULTURE: STREET EVENTS
Roads and streets have specific functions - transporting people & goods. Besides this official use roads are used for parking, and footpaths are used for hawking and other commerce. The Kala Ghoda festival was a pioneering event to display art and conduct events on the street once a year. This pioneering project gave an impetus to the city to reclaim its streets. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and a group of citizens introduced the concept
of Equal Streets where on Sunday mornings, specific streets in the city are pedestrianized. Citizens come out to occupy these streets by cycling, skating, dancing, playing games, performing yoga practices, walking, and painting. These pop-up energies allow the city to thrive, for people to bond, relax, and reenergize. This movement allowed people to reclaim the streets of the city from the vehicles and the everyday chaos of cars, bikes, and heavy vehicles.
Facing page: Conjectured Illustration for Street Transformations. Image credit: Author
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
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LEARNING FROM CITIES
Ten of the above notes sketch the city of Mumbai as a dynamic, changing, agile and adaptive persona. The mercantile nature of the city holds through several layers of transactions, negotiations, appropriations, identities, and aspirations. The city holds its past and present, and prepares for the future by empowering its citizens to locate their concerns, own their city, and initiate corrective approaches through networks of local, state, and central agencies. It holds itself through dense inter-dependencies that support locals and migrants in their varied complexities, agencies and economic-socio-cultural transactions. It questions the myth that it is possible to construct and curate the city only through top-down policy frameworks. We will reflect on this statement in the further three inferences drawn from the above examples. First, the pop-up culture – wherein citizen-initiated action plans and the capacity to accommodate and transform in times of crisis informs us that people’s ability to appropriate and own spaces is an essential agency in addition to city planning tools. Thus, city planning has to develop a mechanism to accommodate people and their appropriations. CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Second, boundaries established for land records, revenue, and corporator wards are only for administrative purposes and should not become barriers for upkeep and curation of the city. The city constructs itself through the agencies of people, their ethics, strategies and methods of negotiating claims. Third, with almost half of the population in the city being female, it is time for us to reimagine and design spaces for women in the future plans for the city. REFERENCE • Bhaindarkar, Dipti. “Citiness : An approach to reinforce the development guidelines based on place-based characteristics and everyday urbanism of the city. Case : Dadar - Corporator Ward 184”. Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies, Mumbai. India. 2014. • Baliga, Linah. “How Mumbai made a beach out of nowhere.” The Times of India, Mumbai. India. October 29, 2020. • https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ mumbai/how-mumbai-made-a-beach-out-ofnowhere/articleshow/78926957.cms • Jadav, Deven. “Pramod Mahajan Garden Dadar – A Kala Park in Mumbai. August 1, 2018. https://www.mumbai77.com/ city/3988/gardens-parks/pramod-mahajankala-park/.
• Chatterjee, Badri. “ Indian Navy develops Mumbai’s largest Miyawaki Urban Forest.” Hindustan Times, Mumbai. September 17, 2020. https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/ indian-navy-develops-mumbai-s-largest-miyawaki-urban-forest/storyGy70kJ0bDToRRVMkBqVWNO.html • Mrityunjay Bose, “Lady in red: Mumbai gets female figure signage at traffic signals.” Deccan Herald. August 02, 2020. https:// www.deccanherald.com/national/west/lady-in-red-mumbai-getsfemale-figure-signage-at-traffic-signals-868630.htmlhttps://www. deccanherald.com/national/west/lady-in-red-mumbai-gets-femalefigure-signage-at-traffic-signals-868630.html • Deshpande, Swati. “Mumbai: Equal Streets in Bandra turns Sunday into a funday for almost 20000.” The Times of India, Mumbai.India. April 30, 2018. • http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/63961257. cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_ campaign=cpps
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dipti Bhaindarkar is an architect, urban designer & academician, she is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the School of Environment and Architecture, Borivali, Mumbai. She is a qualified Indian Green Building Council Accredited Professional. With a keen interest in technological, urban and environmental studies, she is actively working on a research project on South Asian Architecture and Urbanism with a research team under SEA-Centre for Spatial Studies. She continues to learn through her engagement in teaching - learning at the school. Apart from teaching, she has a keen interest in academic administration and is working on developing an administrative framework for her school. Ongoing with these activities she continues her Art Practice in Miniatures.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
PLAYSPACE AFFORDANCES: AN ENQUIRY IN AHMEDABAD PURVI BHATT
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
A 2021 Harvard Business Review study highlights multiple sources of evidence that children worldwide are spending less time indulging in outdoor play than ever and the impact this has on their mental, physical and social health. As a society we have failed to recognize this as a serious issue. It is critical to address and seek innovative solutions for it. Children living in congested cities are at an added disadvantage due to the inherent urban living conditions. Our cities expand and develop without providing adequate play spaces for children; spaces which are vital for them to become active and independent, both physically and socially. A study was conducted by the author in Ahmedabad to understand what ‘play’ means to the children and parents in the city. Are the play spaces located in the city’s neighbourhoods safe, accessible, imaginative, exploratory, well equipped, well maintained, sustainable and do they meet the aspirations of the children were the queries central to the inquiry. As per the parameters recognized by UNICEF. the exploratory city study conducted showed that it is far from a ‘Child-Friendly city’. The results of the study are presented here to illustrate the gap between the supply and demand of ‘aspired’ play space through children.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
BACKDROP India is home to 472 million children, under the age of 18. This is close to 40% of the total population of the country. In spite of forming a significant percentage of the population, it is the most neglected group when it comes to planning our cities. World over, a billion children growing up in the cities, face the challenges of modern living due to the imbalance between ever increasing demands and limited resources. Their urban childhoods reflect the broad disparities that cities contain: rich beside poor, opportunity beside struggle for survival. (UNICEF, Children in an urban world). Children are most powerful
IMPORTANCE OF ACTIVE OUTDOOR PLAY Play is not just an activity but has vital value in the development of a child. Even before a formal system of schooling was established in our society, play assumed the role of spontaneous and value-added education. Outdoor play establishes connect with the social and natural environment. Children acquire an array of physical and intellectual capacities through play but most importantly, hone the ability to communicate with individuals from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds. (UNESCO) In today’s context this can be duly considered a pre-eminent skill.
insignia of the times to come, an index for human development. This symbolism
As per our early child development
is built in our definition of sustainable
expert, Kinjal Bhatt, although ‘a child
development that ‘meets the needs of
in the city has better opportunities and
the present without compromising the
resources for education and overall
ability of future generations to meet
development, he or she do not have
their needs.’ However, the frequent
equal opportunity when compared to
narratives of environmental policies
adults. The facilities for children are
or implementation seldom include
much less, most of them are amidst
provisions for our children. Our crowded
adult oriented entertainment areas such
cities have long been unaware of
as small play areas in large shopping
children’s needs let alone their rights in
malls.’ Hence, early on in a child’s life,
planning and design of the environment,
an association begins between play and
creating inefficient and over controlled
leisure with shopping, eating and other
play spaces.
commodified recreation activities.
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Comical representation of SDG #11 stating that everyone must be engaged in planning for improvement of cities. Image credit: unicef.org
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FEATURE ARTICLE
A simple way to improve the overall well-being of a child is to spend more time engaging in active outdoor play. Cognitive functions for which outdoor time is crucial are ‘the skills that help us plan, prioritize, troubleshoot, negotiate and multitask.’ (McCarthy) Research suggests that children playing outdoors, and establishing relationships with other children in their community also has a positive effect on community cohesion. The more social networks children have in a neighbourhood, the greater the confidence parents have in the safety of that area. Parents also establish their own networks through their children,
meaning that play also supports community cohesion amongst adults. (DCSF) CHALLENGES TO PLAY IN THE CITY 1. Lack of Accessibility: Parcels reserved as public open spaces were found to be largely unused and converted into garbage collection sites. The location of these reserved areas was planned in a manner that they lay on the tertiary streets, within residential neighbourhood. However, these streets are inhabited by cars, both parked and fast moving, which does not allow the children freedom
Children have started to associate play and leisure with shopping, eating and other commodifyed recreation and spectacle. Image credit: Author
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of mobility to these informal play spaces. Large parks are surrounded by primary roads with very heavy traffic throughout the day. This acts as a hindrance for children to use and access the park, particularly without supervision. A compelling fact to consider in recent development trends is that - some private land parcels are large as a result of which private housing projects have provided for play areas within the development. This ‘doorstep facility’ is highly used, easy to access and allows independent mobility.
2. Lack of Flexibility: On visiting the play spaces, it was found that they were spatially segregated from the rest of the activities in the park. Under the pretext of design, the open spaces were subdivided into inert zones that restrict the use and decreases optimization of land. Local streets, corner pockets, wider pavements or such incidentally occurring public space nearer to residences does not offer any chance for play. Here, another important observation is that many plots reserved for parks are contiguous with schools. This proximity is a positive attribute because the space is developed and maintained by the school.
Top left: Parcel reserved for park sold for private tennis court, Top right: Parcel reserved as open space used for municipal yard. Image credit: Author
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FEATURE ARTICLE
3. Importance of Green Infrastructure: Sense of care for the environment is conditioned in childhood through prolonged, repeated interaction with the natural world. (Palmer) This implies an impregnable association between casual disclosure of nature and built environment instinctively found in children. Presence of trees reduces the ambient noise and attracts birds, therefore stimulating sense of sound and smell and enlivening the experience of play. During our interaction with children, they preferred play spaces with trees over paved areas and stated clear preferences for wooden logs, water features and rocks over man-made features. Children were fond of playing with fallen leaves, twigs, sand and pebbles more than any equipment installed in play spaces. The drawings made by children for their aspired play spaces invariably had trees and flowers.
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4. Low Play value: Play value is the term employed for assessment of toys, games, equipment and play spaces. On the basis of our findings, children prefer their play to be exploratory and imaginative rather than structured and restrictive. In traditionally designed play areas, most of the equipment offers limited opportunity for ‘free play.’ It was disheartening to see many neighbourhood parks in the city have removed play equipment which are signals that invite children and replaced them with pay and use rides or even worse, with parking or garbage collection areas. Successful play spaces offer children challenges and activities that test the limits of their capabilities, including sports and games and opportunities to climb. (Hughes) 5. No Participation: Our ‘play workers’ asked the children to express their expectations of aspired play space through words (semi-structured interviews), play (games) and
Trees, swing and sand; all you need for play! Drawing of aspired playspace made by 6 year old during participatory activities. Image credit: Author
A professionally designed and executed riverfront park in Ahmedabad which offers flexibility for using various green areas during different times of the day. Image credit: Author
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FEATURE ARTICLE
“The presence of children in public spaces reclaims them for everyone. When public areas are busy with children and families enjoying cultural activities, there is less drug dealing and littering. Public space becomes cleaner and more secure.” - Nayana Brettas, Founder of CriaCidade drawings. We found that the children could clearly and independently express their ideas of what they would like and where. However, very few parents and children were aware about local authority’s responsibility or about policies for participation. None of the users have been approached for contributing to the nature of environment they use by any agency or authority. The challenge is that each kind of playspace design will require a tailor-made approach owing to difference in contexts for which the user perception becomes a prerequisite. Our participatory activities demonstrated that children above the age of 6 are able to respond to maps and models with reasoning. They could easily indicate
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liked and disliked spaces, preferred play equipment and issues with existing infrastructure. CONCLUSION The city boasts of having over 200 parks covering about 203 hectares out of 748 hectares of area under the municipal corporation but most of these are only ‘reserved for open spaces’ and have not been developed as public parks. Spatially, this account to only 1.33 sqmt of open space per person compared to 1.1sqmt in Mumbai, 31.64 sqmt in London and 26.4 sqmt in New York against 9 sqmt specified by WHO. The city lacks the green infrastructure compared to other Smart Infrastructure that it is striving to achieve.
Participatory activities involving children at Vastrapur lake park where children indicated liked and disliked spaces, preferred play equipment and issues with existing infrastructure Image credit: Author
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FEATURE ARTICLE
Finally, we would like to call out to all parents and say ‘do what our parents did: send your children outside. Even better, go with them. And do everything you can to be sure that every child can do the same.’ (McCarthy). But the short narrative in the study clearly identifies that this is easier said than done. However, as design professionals we need to be better equipped to device the aspired play spaces that children today require in the midst of all the challenges. To learn about the aspirations, we must engage with the children not only as end users but also as equal citizens of our society. The key aspect to take into account for any city is the children’s citizenship as this is an incremental process through which they develop values to impact resolutions at local and national levels. Let us then conclude with the question central to all our endeavours ‘what a sustainable, successful, healthy city looks like. The answer? It looks like a child-friendly city.’ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I appreciate the efforts of my ‘play workers’ Nitya, Hariyali and Akshat for their enduring work on collecting data
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from the field and conducting interviews with children and parents. I thank our Early Child development experts Kinjal Bhatt (Principal at NaICE School, Bhavnagar), Nihali Jain (Director at Vidhyashram Public Scool, Jodhpur) and Disha Chhadva (Clinical psychologist) whose valuable insights were critical for developing the entire framework of the study. REFERENCES • Affairs, National Institute of Urban. Compendium of Best Practices of Child Friendly Cities. New Delhi, India: National Institute of Urban Affairs, 2017. • Aileen Shackell, Nicola Butler, Phil Doyle and David Ball. Design for Play: A guide to creating successful play spaces. UK: CABE, 2015. • Anushree, Sonali. Exploring the potential of Green Infrastructureof Indian cities-A case in Ahmedabad city. Ahmedabad, India, 2013. • ARUP. Cities alive: designing for urban childhoods. London, UK: ARUP, 2017. • City Council, Ballart. City of Ballarat: Playspace planning framework. Ballart, Australia, n.d. • DCSF. Departmental Report . Runcorn, UK, 2008. • HabitatIII, UN. Children’s assembly: Children’s Charter. Quito: UN, 2016.
• Hughes, Claire. “Control of Action and thought: Normal Development and Dysfunction in Autism: A research note.” Journal of Child Psychology and psychiatry (1996). • McCarthy, Claire. “6 reasons children need to play outside.” Harvard Health Blog (2018). • Palmer, J. Environmental Education in the 21st Century: Theory, practice, progress and promise. Routledge, 1998. • Thompson, Gillian Thomas and Guy. A Child’s Place: Why environment matters to children. London, UK: DEMOS, 2004. • UN. “UN Convention on rights of the child.” 1989. • UNESCO. “The Child and play: Theoretical approaches and teaching application.” EDUCATIONAL STUDIES AND DOCUMENTS 1980: 14. • UNICEF. Advocacy Toolkit: A guide to influencing decisions that improve children’s life. NY, USA: UNICEF, 2010. • —. CFCI handbook. NY, USA, 2018. • —. Children in an urban world. NY, USA: UNICEF, 2012.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Purvi Bhatt has over 21 years of professional experience as an architect, urban designer and educator. Presently partner at young practice in Ahmedabad, AVN architecture & urbanism, she has professional experience in designing institutes, housing and various urban and master planning projects. After receiving a post graduate degree in Urban Design from CEPT, she has pursued professional courses on sustainability development. Since 2007, she has been teaching UG and PG programs and presently co-ordinates the graduate program in Urban Design at CEPT. She has been involved in training and capacity building programs within academia through her association with a number of universities as visiting faculty and guest critic. She advocates sustainable urban practices through the programs she teaches at various institutes and has been an instructor at workshops on Contemporary Urban Design in Historic cities at University of Ferrara, Italy and Design for play: exploring Aldo Van Eyck’s Amsterdam at University of Amsterdam. Her research interests are pertaining to the shared spaces in housing communities and the current study revolves around ‘Child in the city’ aligned with the UN initiative of Child friendly cities and communities. The current article is based on the pilot study to qualify the play spaces and test children participation in different neighbourhoods in Ahmedabad.
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MOTION CAPTURED
OBJECTS IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD: BERLIN, NEUKÖLLN
ZAHRA CHHAPRA
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
View of the Böhmischer Platz in Berlin-Neukölln.
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MOTION CAPTURED
The photo series “Objects in my neighbourhood” stems from curiosity and amazement towards the many actors that adorn the streets of Berlin and particularly Berlin’s Neukölln neighbourhood. Life is busy and heterogeneous in Neukölln. If observed carefully and noted, the actors multiply. ‘Tree seats’, water pumps, drinking water fountains, garbage bags hanging from the fence of the canal or on traffic poles, age old candy dispensers, white cylinders for advertisements, ping pong tables at the many platz, flags supporting equal rights and river side activism are just a few examples of the many objects that run the streets of Berlin. These objects interact with the multi ethnic humans on a daily basis, giving the city a sense of collective authorship.
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Flags supporting equality and an end to discrimination and exclusion. 86 87
MOTION CAPTURED
Activism by the canal.
The text in image on the facing page reads reads NO MAN IS FORGOTTEN, RACISM KILLS in German followed by the names of people who died in far right extremist attacks in Germany.
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Candy dispensers
Garbage bags on poles
MOTION CAPTURED
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
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Tree Bench
MOTION CAPTURED
Water Pumps
Beer holders on lamp posts
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Objects of the playground
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER Zahra Chhapra is an architect, researcher from Mumbai, India and a keen observer of cities. Zahra completed her masters in Design Research (M.Sc) from the Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany and has worked with renowned architects in India and Europe. Her interests lie in the spatial and political agency of architectural and urban actors in the everyday life of a city. The photo series “Objects in my neighbourhood” was put together during her stay in Berlin in the summer of 2020.
92 93
ART IN THE CITY
A STORY BENEATH OUR FEET BRAHMANI TRIPURANENI
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Kyoto Gardens - a typical example of preserved Japanese Gardens (left) and manhole cover art (right). Image credit: Author
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ART IN THE CITY
‘SHARED EXPERIENCES’ – THE GROUND TO A SENSE OF BELONGING When visiting in Japan, one has to say ‘Kawai Na?’ (isnt’ it cute?) at every sight but when one lives in Japan, there is an organic growing sense of pride about the place. Every country is rich in its tradition and culture. Within a country, every prefecture/province has a unique story about itself. In the race for economic exchange with other countries, Japan is one of the few countries in the world holding onto its cultural roots strongly. One of the things that sets it apart is it’s attention to seeking out opportunities for public art.
The glorious history of artistic gardens or the Manga literature or Yakimono (pottery) in Japan have hidden inspirations from nature – a story to convey to the observer. The beautiful gardens of Kyoto or the Cherry blossom in spring or the Morino food sample at every restaurant blow away our mind with their focus on detail. Not to forget the ethnic wear, the beautiful Kimonos, which have depictions of beautiful sceneries. Japanese traditional and cultural values worship the raw essence of nature.
Morino Food exhibit Art - a typical example of Japanese expressive art. Image credit: Author
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
During my work-stay in Osaka, I have observed that it is not only the government that is enforcing heritage laws and cultural activities but there is a sense of responsibility and compassion in the city. Despite their hectic schedule, my homestay family contributes to the street festival preparation, community garbage disposal, and annual road marking practice as if it were their
family routine. This is quite prevalent amongst many households. Their living room discussions were occasionally around how to make the gardens in the neighbourhood better. My learning and reflection during my stay of 45 days came a full circle when I understood the dynamics of local art, people’s sense of connectedness, sense of belonging, and responsibility to the urban environment.
October Street Festival in Fujidera, Osaka; Image credit: Author
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ART IN THE CITY
UTILIZING ‘PUBLIC UTILITY’ TO MONUMENTALIZE THE CONTEX
symbolic. A manhole in the city of Beppu
Art prevails in this country in many
character for “be”, the first sound of the
promising ways, demonstrating their love for documentation or in simple words – love for etching memories. If this weren’t enough to keep you delighted, then just wait. Just look down as you are standing on a road in a Japanese city. Your feet could be touching ornate, artistic manholes. Every manhole has minute details, etching, and engravings of different material compositions with bright colors. Yes, everything on a manhole. Take a closer look at the manhole. It has a story to tell you about the city you are standing in.
in Oita prefecture featured the phonetic city’s name. Every city in Japan has its unique identity in history. Their common way of etching this in everyone’s heart in their day-to-day life is the manhole on street drains. According to Jon Schladweiler, the chief engineer and deputy director of Arizona’s Pima County Wastewater Management for 40 years, manhole covers date to the days of Mohenjo-Daro, a settlement in southern Pakistan built around 2500 BCE (Schladweiler). This utilitarian hunk of metal has not been seen as an opportunity for art in everyday life as
Art on this manhole will neither be like
much except in Japan and a few other
the one in another city nor to another
countries. As per some sources in the
manhole in the same city. While the
Osaka Prefecture Government, in the
motif on a manhole in Osaka depicts the
1980’s the Ministry of Construction
Castle or the rich landscape, and the
wanted to make the sewage industry
one in Kyoto depicts the city of beautiful
more appealing to the citizens and
gardens or the old capital itself, the one
advised the manholes to be designed
in Hokkaido proudly depicts its squid
with more meaning to its context and
delicacies. You could find a tile piece
culture. This has been the connotation
etched with a four-hundred-year-old pine
of every design above the running sewer
tree on a manhole in Saga Prefecture
lines (Wullur, WAttention). The following
famous for the sea, pine trees, and
illustrations show how context and
Yakinmono (pottery). Japanese literature
culture documentation created social
is an art by itself. Most of their letters are
value and placemaking.
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Osaka recognition to Firefighters. Image credit: Ishika Alim
Manhole in Awaji Island depicting its unique landscape. Image credit: Ishika Alim
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ART IN THE CITY
Manholes in Kyoto. Image credit: Ishika Alim
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Manholes in Osaka. Image credit: Ishika Alim
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ART IN THE CITY
CONTEXT’: THE CONTINUING THEME THROUGH EVERY GENERATION Documenting Heritage The colored Osaka Castle manhole cover in Osaka commemorates the 100th anniversary of the city’s sewer system. The several layers in this representation
together frame the city’s identity into one spot on the road. It depicts the majestic castle’s architectural features, the beautiful Sakura landscape, and the generous water bodies. The city is uniquely adorned by 12 water bridges each with its own story.
Manhole in Osaka depicting Osaka Castle and features of Osaka. Image credit: Ishika Alim
Documenting Incidents, Emotions, and Values Our assumption would be wrong if we thought that the manhole art in Japan is restricted to glorifying monuments. Hachiko, the worldwide famous dog is held with deep sentiments in Japan. His life has been not only been extensively researched, made appearances in CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
children’s books and movies but also depicted in a life-size bronze statue at the Shibuya station. These citations are metaphorical to the Japanese value system. Japanese manhole art went one step ahead and created patterns of Hachiko on the metal cover. An embodiment of respect to loyalty and fidelity repeats itself in art at one of the world’s busiest crossings in Shibuya.
One of the World’s busiest crossings - Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo. Image credit: Author
Hachiko motif manhole at Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo. Image credit: Melissa Wullur
Documenting the Present Lifestyle for Future Who could have guessed that fictional creatures created by a media franchise that are taking the world by a storm could sustain a place in Urban Arts? These bright-colored Pokemon-themed covers will be a recall of our lifestyle for the future. Monuments and events together with lifestyle create a place.
All of this together is a hive to creating contextual identity. Japan’s urban art has marked Manga, Ninja, Pokemon, and many likewise down the generations to be quintessential to their culture. Quoting Anni Albers that “Art is something that makes you breathe with a different kind of happiness”, this is the much-needed pause moment one can experience at Serigaya Park in Machida and parts of Tokyo. 102 103
ART IN THE CITY
Recent Pokemon themed manholes in Serigaya Park, Machinda. Image credit: Youka Nagase
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ART IN THE CITY
WEAVING ‘SENSE OF BELONGING’ THROUGH PUBLIC ART The above examples are a manifestation of the contextual character with unique art styles. Quoting Alvar Alto, “Architecture belongs to culture and Integrity is the essence of everything successful” these manholes have intangibly created a ‘Place’ enhancing its context. This process of creating a sense of place through Art neurologically images a connection to place through perceptual memory as inferred by neuroscientist Charles Limb (Deanne and Gute). As Frederic Julien reported in Municipal World magazine, seventy-seven percent of Canadians strongly agreed that art experiences help people feel part of the local community (Julien). This art is shaping the idiosyncrasies of the city and its habitants mutually as theoretically remarked by Jan Gehl. Mapping this Public Art to a necessity; research paper entitled ‘Social Isolation and its Relationship to Multidimensional Poverty’, identifies that a sense of belonging is a basic need for humans just like food or shelter (Samuel, Alkire
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and Hammock). As per Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by United Nations this connected feeling plays a critical role in community building and a path to achieving SDGs (Jennifer and Assoufi). Now stop a citizen passing by and ask him (don’t do that literally to a busy person in Japan) what this manhole means, and yes you will see a piece of pride.
One would almost forget that it is the sewage running beneath this beautiful art piece. This art piece did not require huge funds or large surface areas or a hunt for stories. An important element of the city’s infrastructure doesn’t just stand as an item to be operated by the respective technicians and ignored by the citizens. Rather, effortlessly it has gained importance through art as an identity to the local citizens and a delight to the new passer-by.
REFERENCES • Deanne and Gary Gute. How Creativity Works in the Brain. Editorial Publication. Washington DC: National Endowment for the Arts, 2015. Document. • Jennifer, Corriero and Adrian Assoufi. Huffpost. 6 December 2017. Article. • Julien, Frederic. Municipal World. Canada’s Municipal Magazine, 2017. Magazine. • Nagase, Youka. Timeout. 25 August 2020. • Samuel, Kim, et al. “Social Isolation and its Relationship to Multidimensional Poverty.” Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (2014). • Schladweiler, Jon. This life of travel. 16 April 2019. Article. • Wullur, Melissa. WAttention. 3 April 2018. Article. • —. WAttention. 2 April 2018. Article.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Brahmani Tripuraneni is Architect, Urban Designer and Management Professional currently based in Auckland, New Zealand. With profound interest in urban design, she has pursued research on urban fringes. Coupling her keen interest in Management and passion for Urban Design, she is working in the Project Management Office at Auckland Transport. Delivering her services to Urban Growth gives her a sense of satisfaction. Furthermore, observing people and their behaviour in the urban environment motivates her to write and discuss about them. Ishika Alim is an architect and an urban practitioner currently based in Stuttgart, Germany. She specializes in the area of urban research, design development and implementation of sustainable transformation processes in cities. Her research and design interest include ecological enhancement, co-production of urban spaces, socially just and inclusive design practices.
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ON LOCATION
VISION FOR BOULEVARD ANSPACHPEDESTRIANISATION AND BEYOND BRUSSELS, SHEEBA AMIR
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Located at the centre of Brussels, boulevard Anspach is spread between Place Fontainas and Place De Brouckère, a stretch of approximately 1 km. The boulevard has recently (2014-2021) been transformed from a congested urban motorway into a vibrant streetscape by prioritizing pedestrianization, cycling, public transport, public spaces, and an urban streetscape. The project called ‘le Piétionnier’ offers an integrated vision for mobility, socio-economic, cultural, and environmental revival of the city centre. It utilizes pedestrianization as a development tool for urban regeneration in European cities.
A café with historical façade at Place De Brouckère, July 2021. Image credit: Author
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ON LOCATION
I have experienced the boulevard’s
Union. The central boulevards include
evolution through numerous visits before
Maurice Lemonnier Boulevard, Anspach
and after pedestrianization. I write this
Boulevard, Adolphe Max Boulevard and
article as a visitor and as a researcher,
Emile Jacqmain Boulevard, and were
briefly involved in the studies of such
developed in the 1860s and 1870s by
urban environs.
covering the Senne river. The river is the
THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT
city’s main waterway, and was subject to frequent flooding. Over time it became polluted and was a health hazard to the
Brussels is a historic city in Belgium.
City. The city mayor of the time - Jules
It is a centre for international politics
Anspach, made the radical decision
and the capital of the European
of covering the river to create grand
Brussels City Centre and Central boulevards with respect to Brussels Metropolitan Area. Image credit: Adapted by Author using Open Database from OpenStreetMap
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central boulevards. Architecturally rich buildings were also constructed along the boulevard to revitalize the centre. The central districts of the city include densely populated, and socially and culturally diverse neighbourhoods. Many of these neighbourhoods are home to and an arrival point for the migrant population of Belgium. Similar to its European counterparts, deindustrialization led to a socioeconomic and urban decline in the historic core of Brussels. The boulevards, which were once imagined as gathering places for the citizens, transformed into unwelcoming urban motorways. Narrow walkways were the only space left for pedestrians, which were further crowded with café terraces, street furniture and served as access points to the underground metro stations. The centre was in desperate need of revival. BOULEVARD ANSPACH AND PEDESTRIANIZATION As early as 1995, the pedestrianization of boulevards was envisioned, with a larger aim to revitalize the historic core. In 2014 the city of Brussels initiated the transformation of the boulevard Anspach
from a ‘major traffic artery’ to a ‘comfort zone’ through project ‘le Piétionnier’. The redevelopment was preceded by long term research regarding the overall mobility and development of the city. Citizen movements like ‘PicNic the streets’ (2012) and ‘Parc Anspach Park’ (2013) were also crucial in reclaiming the city centre from the burden of overwhelming vehicular traffic, and create more liveable spaces for the wellbeing of its citizens. Boulevard Anspach, originally called Central Boulevard, connects various neighbourhoods of the city centre, each housing a diverse population in terms of ethnicity, socio-cultural identities and cultural appropriation. Three public squares of the boulevard- Place Fontainas, Place de la Bourse, and the Place De Brouckère, offer varied experiences reflective of the cultural practices of its residents. Thus, the boulevard has multiple identities; it is a tourist destination, a leisure and entertainment zone, and a socio-cultural centre. Place Fontainas, the southernmost square of the boulevard, has a transitional/hybrid nature. On its west 110 111
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Boulevard Anspach, its three squares and surrounding important public buildings. Image credit: Adapted by Author using Open Database from OpenStreetMap CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
side is the Anneessens neighbourhood with a predominantly Arab population and on its east is Rue du March au Charbon with ‘new urban middle class’ as its occupants.
building called ‘the Bourse’ and historic leisure and entertainment buildings like department stores, hotels, cafes, bars, cinemas and theatres. The Bourse is currently under renovation and will open in 2023 as a cultural venue for the city.
The square represents an urban-social transition, visible in the substantial presence of certain genders, class and ethnicity from the two neighbourhoods.
Historically Place De Brouckère was a prestigious square surrounded by important public buildings with an atmosphere of an Agora. The presence of important theatres like Cinema des
In the boulevard redevelopment, the square is designed to have an ‘open green’ character, with large pockets of planting defining the shape of the square. The atmosphere at Place de la Bourse or Marked Exchange Square (in English) is visioned as an ‘intimate urban space’ with a broader category of visitors, influenced by its location near touristic attractions like ‘Grand Place’ and ‘Manneken Pis’. The square houses the historic Brussels Stock Exchange
Princes (now UGC Cinema), National Theatre and large illuminating signboards gave the square an appearance similar to ‘the Broadway’. Other important buildings on the square are heritage luxury Hotel Metropole and Hotel Continental. The square also has modern architecture buildings from the 1960s–1970s like Philips Tower and Monnaie Tower; both are undergoing urban redevelopment. The in-between stretches of the boulevard include café-restaurant terraces, pockets of new greens, street furniture, street lighting, digital signages and drinking fountains. On a sunny weekend, we can see visitors of all ages and gender at the boulevard enjoying regular walks, catching a conversation on a bench, rendezvous on the café terraces, or simply shopping. The 112 113
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Children playing in a water fountain on a hot summer day at Place de la Bourse, surrounded by buildings with historical façades, housing cafes, bars and retail stores, July 2021. Image credit: Author CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Panoramic view of Place de la Bourse on a summer weekend in July 2021. Image credit: Author
Tourists enjoy riding horse drawn carriages at Place de la Bourse, with the historical building of Bourse (Stock Exchange building) in the background, July 2021. Image credit: Author
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Historical facades and cafes aligned to the edge of Place De Brouckère, July 2021. Image credit: Author
boulevard with its green parcels can be seen as ‘roof gardens’ stretched over underground metro tunnels. The water and landscape components in the new design are aimed at alleviating urban heat issues. In terms of mobility, the pedestrianization project is integrated with the Regional Mobility plan 2020-2023 called ‘the good move’, which aims for a walkable city. The entrances to the metro station have been well integrated within the boulevard design. New pockets for bike parking have been created with a capacity of 1500 bikes. There are bus stops at regular intervals to provide smooth accessibility, while CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
the intermediate cross streets have controlled vehicular movement to allow for emergency vehicles, delivery-service vehicles and residents movement. Post-pedestrianization, the boulevard saw an increase in visitors from outside the centre and residents. The carfree approach encourages visitors to use public transport for an overall shift towards more sustainable travel behaviour. The citizens’ anticipating a more liveable and sustainable space appreciate the project; however, there are apprehensions about its possible impacts on the economy and gentrification in the area.
Café terraces along Boulevard Anspach, with historical building facades in the background, July 2021. Image credit: Author
Green parcels are spread across the boulevard to manage urban heat and local biodiversity, July 2021. Image credit: Author
CONCLUSION Europe has the most urbanized areas in the world. Since the early 1960’s European cities are working towards reducing car traffic. A majority of the citizens in these cities are also
pushing towards environment-sensitive mobility choices to achieve better living conditions, less pollution and more pedestrian safety. ‘First-generation pedestrianization’ projects were planned in mainly commercial and touristic 116 117
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boulevards, e.g. Car-free Stroget, Copenhagen (1962). The ‘80s-’90s witnessed the trend of ‘reconquering the public place’, ‘right to the street’ with projects focussed on a shared space defined by slow mobility and public activities, e.g. Plan de Circulation,
Strasbourg, France (1992), Las Ramblas, Barcelona. The aim is to use the existing road space more efficiently and provide inviting public spaces to the citizens. Pedestrianization is crucial for a shift from fossil fuels to sustainable mobility
Public rental bikes parked on Boulevard Anspach, Villo, the bike rental programme is operated by the city of Brussels and private company JCDecaux, July 2021 Image credit: Author
A city bus passing by a cyclist on boulevard Anspach, July 2021 Image credit: Author
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options. Reducing overall car space provides an opportunity for greener and biodiversity-rich urban areas, beneficial for reducing the carbon footprint and bringing down the temperatures. The new public spaces prompt community interactions, crucial for social cohesion. While the spatial/tangible aspects can be defined in a project, ‘the atmosphere’ will only be generated by intangible aspects like appropriation of spaces by users, thus highlighting the role of ‘coproduction’. The quality of pedestrianized city centres can be assessed by commercial/ economic value and socio-political value. The busy cafes, restaurants and shopping area and presence of tourists at boulevard Anspach reflect the commercial success brought by the redevelopment. However, the
socio-political quality can only be assessed by the freedom it shall offer to its inhabitants and visitors to express themselves. REFERENCES 1. Kębłowski, Wojciech, Mathieu Van Criekingen, and David Bassens. “Moving past the sustainable perspectives on transport: An attempt to mobilise critical urban transport studies with the right to the city.” Transport Policy, vol. 81, 2019, pp. 2434. 2. Vanin, Fabio, et al. “A common vision for the Brussels Metropolitan city centre beyond the Pentagon.” Towards a Metropolitan City Centre for Brussels. Brussels: EUB et VUBPress, 2020. 3. Vermeulen, Sofie, et al. “The pedestrian zone as a driver for a sustainable and liveable city centre for Brussels!.” Portfolio# 2: Zoom in: 2nd report of the Brussels Centre of Observatory at the Brussels Studies Institute (BSI-BCO), 2018.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sheeba Amir is an architect and urbanist, based in Belgium. She is presently a research scholar at the International Center of Urbanism, KU Leuven. In 2014 She was awarded Erasmus Mundus scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in Urbanism & strategic planning at KU Leuven. At the academic and professional level, she has been involved in various initiatives in the field of the built environment, including projects in India, Nepal, Indonesia and Belgium. Along with her design and research consultancy ‘Ekatra’, she is also a regular contributor and part of the international editorial team at ‘My Liveable City’ magazine.
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PROJECT LARI
CHAAL CHAAL AGENCY
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As is well known by now, the COVID-19 pandemic surfaced and intensified long-standing structural inequalities in our cities. And even though its economic hardship deeply affected us all, its effects have been particularly overwhelming to an already disenfranchised portion of our society - the informal sector of India. By informal sector, we mean the economic, spatial, and technological processes that exist in the regulatory margins of the state, which respond to fundamental, widespread, and uncatered necessities through citizen-led initiatives. As a point of departure, we proposed to understand this societal faction neither as victimized and subservient populations that require saving, nor as unlawful and obsolete symptoms of underdevelopment, but rather as a promising cultural and economic force with enormous potential that can be geared into alternative models of development.
Facing page: Project Lari competition launch poster.
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This is because informality cannot be understood as an opposite to the formal constitution of institutions in India. Rather, it needs to be understood as an extension of these, given that the dynamics of planning and governance that exist in the Indian context consist of procedures of normative suspension, which implicitly encourage the emergence of informal systems. In that manner, if we recognize the contingent yet inevitable nature of informality while reframing it, not necessarily as a ground for illegality but as a space for opportunity and flexibility, we can start speculating on context sensitive models of value production that are more accessible, equitable, and independent of growth determinations. This is precisely the context where we situated our proposed competition PROJECT LARI - as a way to probe into all this by agency of design. Therefore, the competition aimed for the development of responsible experimentations of public interest, within the context of informality as a vector capable of triggering substantial transformations for under-served communities. It focused on empathy and solidarity as fundamental
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tools of design in circumstances of economic hardship, while being similarly capable of incorporating wider knowledge systems into the construction of dignified environments. In a nutshell, PROJECT LARI was an international design competition that took place in 2020 and sought innovative proposals for movable urban devices in the Indian context. The pursuit was to reimagine street carts/ laris, keeping in mind women as a target user group and explore the potentials of informal commerce as a legitimate economic resource, while re-evaluating the possibilities it offers in the construction of public space. As a collaboration with Urbz and the Self-Employed Women’s Association Federation (SEWA), the objective of the competition was to find an outstanding proposal in order to detail, construct, and implement it in collaboration with Chaal.Chaal.Agency. The word lari is a Gujarati term that denotes a common street cart that populates many urban and rural environments in India. Even though it usually consists of a wooden plank
supported by a standardized metallic structure and four bicycle wheels, there are infinite variations that accommodate dissimilar usages and contexts. Nevertheless, it always serves the same typological purpose: the exchange of goods or services through an easy-toconstruct, movable, accessible, and poly-functional platform, and one which demarcates congregation spots in the public realm. Now, despite the diversity these devices manifest, we considered the potentials of revising these from an urban design and architectural perspective. In this process, we wanted to keep in mind not only the qualities of the object per se but also the inbuilt capacities it possesses to trigger positive public space practices - the conformation of gathering spaces and the enabling of community relationships; the assurance of ‘eyes on the street’ and a selfregulated sense of security and so on. The chosen site context for this exploration was the Behrampura quarters in the city of Ahmedabad. Behrampura is a neighbourhood located in the south-eastern part of the city which accommodates a Valmiki community that
coexists with many of the infrastructural complexities that are common to lowincome settlements in India - highly dense; haphazard planning layout; limited access to primary resources; and absence of the state. However, similar to many other self-managed communities, the Valmiki community has been very proactive through several initiatives oriented towards the empowerment of the underprivileged in collaboration with allied organizations. Leadership has been fundamental to such endeavours. One such leader is Pushpaben, a longterm resident of Behrampura and the main recipient of the design proposal developed through the competition.
Pushpa ben, Community leader, Valmiki.
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Winning entry by Deepanshu Arneja, Surbhi Singhal and Niroopa Subrahmanyam.
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She has initiated diverse activities with other women and children in the neighbourhood, mainly centred around education with assistance from NGOs like the Centre for Development. However, as was the case with many community leaders, Pushpaben struggled to maintain her family amidst the economic distress of the pandemic, while also championing the projects with her community. The objective of the competition was therefore to support both the cultural and pedagogic projects of this community leader, while providing a platform to encourage entrepreneurship from the perspective of self-employment in the public realm. As a design-build competition, it was structured in six stages: announcement, development, judgement, construction, implementation, and post-occupancy evaluation. With a jury panel incorporated into the process by the third stage, a proposal which successfully articulated the different expectations set in the competition brief was selected and endorsed by Pushpaben. Titled ‘Madam
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Narangi’, the selected entry proposed a transformable device that not only anticipated diverse spatial configurations that reinterpreted behavioural values of Indian urbanity, but successfully integrated a complex system of elements in a frugal yet playful way. One of the strengths of the proposal was the clever identification of the multiple social roles of these devices - they serve domestic purposes, can be rented out for events, or be utilized in the context of open-air markets. In that manner, the designers demonstrated a reading of the relation between domesticity and the street in the Indian context with sensitivity by capitalizing on the ambiguous threshold between the private and the public as well as the socio-economic implications that abide to the potentials of the thresholds and the in-betweens. The winning team -composed of the Delhi-based architects Deepanshu Arneja, Surbhi Singhal, and Niroopa Subrahmanyam- further developed the constructive project under the tutelage of Chaal.Chaal.Agency through
Designed to be multi-functional to accommodate the dynamic nature of the lari.
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Illustrating the potential usages of the lari.
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Prototyping Madam Narangi after a series of discussions with various experts and mentors.
physical models and scaled prototypes for continued corroboration with manufacturers and Pushpaben herself. Once the project was completed, the device was taken to the community where Pushpaben appropriated it and
began using it with no reservations. The project in its current stage is engaged in the continuous evaluation of its successes and failures based on the daily usage of the device.
Skeleton of Madam Narangi being prepared at the metal workshop in Ahmedabad.
Madam Narangi from workshop to Behrampura.
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Pushpaben testing the mobility of the lari at Behrampura, Ahmedabad.
Pushpa ben the micro entrepreneur who can now take her buisness from her home to the street.
Understanding the deployable components of the lari.
Interactions with customers made easy.
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The lari adapting to Pushpa ben’s needs of display and business.
LEARNINGS FROM THE PROJECT The key takeaway from the overall process is precisely how to utilize conventional intra-disciplinary tools in order to organize, finance, and execute socially driven initiatives. It is an agenda that begins in the design and consolidation of an object but is focused on setting environmental conditions that are more inclusive and can be exponentially scaled up to assure structural and widespread impact. The subsequent plan of Project Lari towards this agenda is to utilize this object as a way to negotiate its applicability, presence, and legitimacy with formal institutions in order to construct more equitable futures starting from the small to the big. From the lari, to the city. 130 131
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The future of laris used to create larger urban spaces in our cities. CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Furthering the potentials of our dynamic public spaces. All images courtesy the author.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Chaal Chaal Agency (CCA) is a design-research collaborative project that works between Ahmedabad (India) and Bogotá (Colombia), specializing in experimental infrastructures, transformative design, and transdisciplinary pedagogy, locating their area of investigation in the intersection between politics and space. They have been involved in projects that range from the proposition of public-generative devices and light infrastructures, to a dynamic pedagogical practice that intertwines with academic research. Working between India and Colombia has allowed them to enquire into particular issues and potentialities of the Global South, in the prospect of triggering larger transformations through evolving micro-operations that involve students, NGO’s, and proactive communities. In that manner, CCA projects itself as a support agency for initiatives that seek more self-sufficient, equitable, and cohesive environments.
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TEACHING URBAN DESIGN
HOW DO YOU LEARN ABOUT CITIES? NANDINI RAMAKURU
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As a designer who is learning and as an educator, I am always curious about the different ways in which people learn about different things. And I have come to realise that each individual has a dynamic learning rhythm which is uniquely theirs. However, in tandem with this uniqueness, there are some common ways in which everyone makes sense of their world and interacts with it, which can broadly be seen as a universal human experience. Every learning moment is a blend of these two aspects.
Teaching residents of a low income settlement in Ranchi how to map their neighbourhood. Image credit: Vidhya Mohankumar
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This thought nudged my attention to cities, and the built and unbuilt environment that surrounds human beings. How do people absorb, make sense of, interact with, navigate, and finally design their cities? How do you teach urban design? What would a learning experience based on both, the universal human learning tendency, and the individual idiosyncrasies, look like? Before letting my imagination run wild, it makes sense to first look at how Urban Design is formally taught today. The generic format for professional programs in Urban Design is centred
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on design studios where learners are expected to engage with different urban challenges like urban regeneration, new neighbourhoods, and urban sprawl. The design studio is supplemented with units covering various topics like Urban Design Methodologies, Site Planning, Infrastructure and Transportation Planning, and many more. During the course of my Bachelor of Architecture, the semester on Urban Design did follow a similar format as well. However, now in hindsight, I see some concerns in this teaching approach that can impact the learning of students.
Firstly this learning approach can lead to a sense of disconnectedness among learners, as it does not take into account their lived experiences. Before being designers and problem solvers of cities, we are city dwellers first. We all engage with the contours of our physical environment as users, and we all have our own tinted understanding built on years of gathered sensory perceptions, layered emotions, and countless memories. Disregarding these can lead to a jarring learning experience in the
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Secondly, this approach inclines towards an instructional mode of knowledge transfer, where pre-decided theoretical concepts, tools, and best practices are doled out to learners to analyse. This leaves little room for curiosity driven self-discovery, thus resulting in a non-dynamic learning experience.
Thirdly, the projects conceptualized as a result of this approach, rarely culminate in real-time on-ground execution. While the problem scenario is relevant and pertinent and allows learners to explore a whole range of solutions, the learners don’t always get to test their ideas out for real owing to practical limitations. For example a problem scenario involving urban sprawl or urban redevelopment would be difficult to implement for the sake of learning lessons. But feedback followed by reflection is perhaps the most important step to close the learning loop. This is amiss.
Stepping away from the current formal learning structure, I wonder how else an urban design learning experience can be shaped. And one of the best ways to imagine an alternate possibility is by tapping into the learner in me and drawing out what my learning needs would perhaps be. Thus, in the spirit of speculation and wonder, I have put together a learning experience that flows in the following manner.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE The starting point of the learning module could be the learner’s preconceived notions and experiences in a city. That is, using their lived experience to raise their awareness in order to analyse and critique the different features of a built space. Some questions to nudge them could be - What is your favourite spot? Is it
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a cozy lane, a promenade, or a public square? Why do you like it? What are its different components? How do other people engage with the spot? What are some problems that you have faced while engaging with your favourite spot? What could be the possible root? Who else, in your observation, faces the same problem? So on and so forth. This method becomes an easy first step, because the learners simply need to tap into their experiences to find answers. It also serves as an important first step, enabling self-empathy, which over time expands to empathy towards other stakeholders.
CONTEXTUAL LEARNING The natural next step after tapping into the learner’s lived experience is to locate their context and build their learning from there. This means helping them pick a problem scenario that greatly affects them personally. Perhaps after much pondering a learner picks the haphazard garbage disposal of their neighbourhood as a problem, or the absence of a cycling track right outside their home, or a visually unappealing stretch of a street. The point here is the learner picks a scenario that they are deeply familiar with, connect with, and understand well. From here their learning is like osmosis where they naturally move towards equipping themselves with the
Brookdale Park in Montclair, NJ, is a favourite local landmark for walking dogs, cycling and exercise. Image credit: Neha Krishnan
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knowledge, theories and tools to solve a problem they truly care about. A TINY REAL PROBLEM Urban Design involves multi-layered complex problem solving. Thus to equip learners to process the multi-faceted complexity that is urban design, it would make sense to give them a bite sized problem as a stepping stone. For example, a bench at a public square. As they develop sensitivity to the bench, added layers can help them zoom out and look at it in a larger context. The idea is to help the learners develop sensitivity towards their built environment and ability to chew on larger urban challenges in a gradual manner.
RAPID ITERATION AND TESTING The learning experience is incomplete without testing the design solution. Collecting feedback and reflecting on it helps learners re-adjust their lens and stay closer to ground reality. Iterating a prototype solution and testing it with real users encourages learners to seek feedback beyond faculty. Instead of solely relying on the experience and expertise of the faculty, learners also form their own opinion as they gauge the feedback they receive from users and stakeholders. This is a great way to help them tune into people’s needs right from the beginning.
Open manholes and drains such as this one in Navi Mumbai pose a threat to local health and safety. This is a daily hazard for local pedestrians, and is a problem scenario that affects them personally. Image credit: Neha Krishnan
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MAKING LEARNING WHOLE Instead of having separate units that segregate the learning into isolated pieces, such as, design studio, history of urban form, planning tools, and so on, it would make better sense to introduce all these pieces at necessary junctures while the learner works through their given project. This will help them see urban design and their learning experience not as floating fragments, but
This also means flipping the learning from top down to a bottom up approach, where theories or concepts like nuclear city or Radial city are not simply shared without context, but are integrated as a part of the critical research exercise while working on their mini problem scenario. This could also mean that every learner engages with different concepts at staggered stages of their project.
important parts grounded in their context based project.
A bench need not just be a bench, as proved by British designer Paul Cocksedge’s large scale public sculpture which invited people in Finsbury Avenue Square in London to sit, lie and relax in a public space. Image courtesy London Design Festival. Image source: londondesignfestival.com CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Studio One Eleven conducted a tactical bike lane and crosswalk demonstration to solicit community input in Culver City, California. The improvements have now been built. Image credit: Studio One Eleven
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AUTONOMY AND OWNERSHIP Enabling autonomy in a learner’s journey brings a great shift in their involvement. It allows them to become the driver of their own learning without the need for external push. And with the freedom to choose topics and problems that they relate to, comes a sense of ownership, and a yearning to apply oneself to the learning. COMMUNICATION Engaging with urban challenges is not done in isolation. Apart from collaborating with teammates it also involves active conversations with people and stakeholders. Thus being able to communicate appropriately and listen carefully becomes an important ability
to cultivate as a practitioner of urban design. Equipping the learners with design communication tools, therefore, would make their learning more holistic. CONTRIBUTION Instead of separating learners from the larger community, can the learning be integrated within the community? While learners are being trained in their practice, through this module they will be contributing with solutions to real-time problems, albeit at a very small scale. The process of making incremental contributions to the city’s development can slowly help improve the city, and let learners feel satisfied for adding value through their individual contributions.
Students from the Observe program discussing the important of urban wetlands. Image credit: Bhavya Trivedi
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
Students from the Observe program interviewing residents of Kannagi Nagar on the safety of their street Image credit: Bhavya Trivedi
CONCLUSION Designing a learning experience for Urban Design can be as complicated as the practice itself. The larger idea of this learning design is to move away from the knowledge transfer approach, and instead focus on the thinking and learning habits cultivated in the learners that will help them become more resilient designers of the future. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nandini Ramakuru is an architect, graphic designer, closet artist and urban enthusiast. She is fascinated by design in all shapes, sizes and forms. Apart from design, she is also drawn to brightly coloured walls, books read by strangers next to her, postcards, husky voices, ant trails and discarded cardboard pieces.
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CLOSING SCENE
#UDCturns10 #citiesforplay. Photo credits: Gouthaman Ekambaram
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#UDCturns10 #citiesforplay. Photo credits: Kulsum Nafisa
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#UDCturns10 #urbanpausepoints. Photo credits: Ateka Nulwala
CITY OBSERVER | December 2021
#UDCturns10 #urbanpausepoints. Photo credits: Ateka Nulwala
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