Gopi Talav- Surat, India
Water storage systems were required in the early sixteenth century because of famine. Due to the topography of the city of Surat (Gujarat-India), a favourable location outside the inner-city wall was identified for the construction of a large reservoir- Gopi Talav (Lake) Named after Malik Gopi, merchant and governor of Surat, the lake was built in around 1510 CE. (Khurana)
The manmade lake had three canals that collected fresh water during the monsoon months. It not only supplied water for domestic use but also recharged the groundwater levels. It was an element of the conventional water management system.
Figure 1: "Gopi Talav," Surat, 2012, https://thedesignmatters.in/gopi-talao-surat/.
However, the Talav began to deteriorate as a result of the surrounding area's fast urbanization, which affected the Talav's natural catchments. It quickly turned into a dumping site, was considered a public nuisance, and posed a threat to the health and hygiene of city residents, causing public outrage. From its beginning as a socio-religious symbol of the city, it turned into a vast, abandoned open space in the heart of the city.
In 2012, the lake was renovated by Surat Municipal Corporation and its surrounding area was redeveloped as a recreational facility. This project is described as “An important urban recreational space, with religious significance.” (VY Maps). The concept was to retain the historic significance by using construction materials similar to the ones used in the past and creating an inclusive public space for the people of the city, at the same time enhancing the urban fabric of the immediate surroundings. (TNN)
The redevelopment was carried out in three stages-
Phase 1- Submersible platforms, ghats, amphitheatre and viewing jetty.
Phase 2- Inner and outer circulation roads along with the compound wall surrounding the site and development of the road leading to the site.
Phase 3- Evolution of various zones that included restoring an existing stepwell, development of pathways, the addition of food stalls and benches, gathering platforms and viewing decks.
(Sapana Jayeshkuma Shah) (Shah)The Core area of Surat City is usually characterised by the high concentration of wholesale and retail activities that define Surat’s central business district but this has changed over the past few years. This area now has dilapidated houses and infrastructure slums, and congested roads. And hence, Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) aimed to increase the area's significance by revitalizing the priceless heritage site "Gopi Talav" in order to revive the local economy and heritage value. The project's primary goal was to improve the quality of life for the current residents by providing contemporary infrastructure in terms of residential, commercial, health, education, and social infrastructure.
However, the attempt to increase the area's total value with the revitalization project failed since the physical impact on the adjacent areas is more negative. To explain this, I would like to divide this in two- the areas inside the boundary wall of the project (Gopi Talav), and the areas on the outskirts of the project. The spaces within, are well developed and thought of with dedicated areas for each activity (recreational, cafes/restaurants). Whereas the outskirts are haphazard, there is no systematic traffic movement and no dedicated parking spots making the area congested. This area is densely populated, and while this project was being made the first thing that should have been designed was vehicular movement leading to Gopi Talav.
No doubt, there was a positive impact of this project, it provided a space for people living in that area and city to come together and interact. The heritage was restored and gained importance once again reminding people the importance of culture and history. But since the number of people increased in this area, street hawkers encroached the roads leading to Gopi Talav to sell cheap food compared to the restaurants inside and this led to more and more traffic, noise and turned the space into an informal market. (Zeel Parmar) The area around
Gopi Talav is also a Muslim dominated area, this too can be a reason for the failure of this project. People that do not belong to the Muslim Community might not want to enter this area or cross it to visit Gopi Talav due to the old religious conflicts between Hindus and Muslims.
(Zeel Parmar)The project was supposed to help in bringing people together, helping them connect and for the people to have a recreational space, but all of this happens inside the walls of this project and just because it is kind of is successful, we cannot ignore the fact that the surrounding spaces are heavily impacted. This is probably a case of negative placemaking, while improvising one area, the outskirts of it were neglected. Thought this project provided a public space, the citizens do not have easy access to it, so maybe it is only partially successful.
There is a bubble around the project, everything within it looks successful and positive, but if you burst it, you will be able to see its negative impacts around it.
References
Khurana, Ashleshaa. TimesofIndia. 01 March 2014.
<https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/504-year-old-surats-lost-lake-gopitalav-set-to-regain-glory/articleshow/31186286.cms>.
Sapana Jayeshkuma Shah, Prof. Himanshu J, Padhya, Prof. Bhasker V. Bhatt. "RENEWAL OF BUILT HERITAGE: A CASE OF GOPITALAO, SURAT ." n.d.
Shah, Ar. Vishal. AanganArchitects. 2014. <https://aanganarchitects.org/portfolio/gopitalao/>.
TNN, Yagnesh Bharat Mehta/. TimesofIndia. 06 March 2019.
<https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/master-plan-chalked-out-to-restoregopi-talavs-original-glory/articleshow/68276950.cms>.
VYMaps. n.d.
Zeel Parmar, Jinal Bhavsar. "Gopi Talav- An Attempt to Gentrification ." 2021.