MULTIFUNCTIONAL AND MULTILAYER DIMENSIONS OF
EVOLVING CITIES FOR A SUSTAINABLE LIVING
- Dr. N. Sai Bhaskar Reddy
CEO, Geoecology Energy Organisation (GEO)
Keywords: Multifunctional, Multilayer, Cities, Sustainability, Evolution, life, livelihoods, living
ABSTRACT
Cities are growing at a rapid phase, due to exponential growth of populations all over the world. The world
population might stabilize by 2070 after reaching the peak population levels of about 9 billion. Already the urban
population, living mostly in cities has reached 50% of the world population. Cities in the last few centuries have
evolved coping with changes in social, economic, cultural, aesthetics, utility, historical, political, natural and
environmental factors. There is always an interface between the interests of old and new generations of people
sharing the same space. The buildings have more life than the people living in them. Each building is at least able
to provide space for at least two generations. The comfort levels of one generation and the next are different in
same space. There are often changes brought with time in any building. Similarly the infrastructure is also
changing at a rapid phase as the transportation means and systems are changing. The access to power, drinking
water, and open spaces for cultural and social events, educational institutions, markets, etc. also impacts the
living space. The security and basic amenities are the main factors of consideration for not moving away from the
congested cities. There is always an overlap of old and new adaptation factors, creating resilience for coexistence.
The remembrance of a space and events in once own life time impact the people, and they love to continue in
similar space. There is a kind of energy that one gets, while returning to the same space, it is often seen that the
old people prefer living in the space they are used to and they often live longer too. There are emotions too acting
up on the life of the people. Considering all the above factors, each city can be considered a single organism,
having its own identity and also there are various diverse spaces within it. It is like a human body single living
things, but various parts of the human body function for the happiness of the whole. There is a need to understand
multifunctional and multilayer dimensions of the cities, for making a sustainable living in the cities.

INTRODUCTION
For the first time in history, the majority of the people on our planet live in cities. In 1800 only 3% of
the world's population lived in cities. Each city is a living and ever evolving entity, supporting human
beings and their livelihoods, these human beings are having experiential sensitivity and emotions in a
given space and time. The multifunctional and multilayer dimensions of the cities are ever increasing
and evolving. Multifunctional aspects serve a purpose, whereas multilayer encompasses the functional
dimensions of a city. This paper explores the possibilities of understanding multifunctional and multilayer
dimensions of the cities, for making a sustainable living in the ever evolving and dynamic cities.
BACKGROUND
The biggest growth of cities is taking place in the majority world: every week 1 million Africans and
Asians settle in cities. Cities are growing at a rapid phase, due to exponential growth of populations all
over the world. The world population might stabilize by 2070 after reaching the peak population levels
of about 9 billion. When people talk about the needs of the majority world, they talk about basic needs
in terms of logistics, hygiene, employment, housing. In this context there are concerns regarding the
cities expansion and sustainability. In its 2007 report, the United Nations called on policy makers to
start making the right decisions now to use the inevitable growth of cities for the benefit of residents,
instead of prevent people from leaving rural livelihoods. The modern city is a place of ‘flows and
nodules’. The main function of streets and road ways is to allow the swift passage of traffic bringing
people and goods together so we can fulfil our new identity as consumers. The urban population is
dependant and highly insecure as knowledge and wealth alone does not help to live.
OBJECTIVES
To understand the multifunctional and multilayer dimensions of evolving cities for a sustainable living.
METHODOLOGY
This paper is based on the secondary information collected from various sources and from the sharing of
experiences by the the people living in cities.

EVOLUTION OF HUMANS FROM HUNTER TO URBANITE
Human beings living on this earth historically have evolved diverse characteristics in space and time.
The following are the characteristics of hunter (primitive), farmer and urban way of living.
Historically from about 500 - 1500 AD during the MIDDLE AGES there was dominance of agrarian
and feudal society. Towns acted a centers for religions, political and military purposes. Later the
Industrial revolution has accelerated the urbanization. Former agrarian population relocated in industrial
towns as laborers. Resulted in overcrowding, unsanitary and unhealthy living conditions.
Currently, massive rural – urban shift is occurring in developing countries. Some of the features are
average family size is reduced, drop in birth rate and shift to alternative life styles in smaller
communities.
THE EVOLUTION OF CITIES
Many have an expectation of the feeling acquired within culturally significant historic or ancient cities,
those with amazing architecture, vast cultural activities, diversity, art, beauty – and, those elements that
make a city somewhere one wants to live or be enfolded, welcomed, because it reinforces our own sense
of identity. Kevin Lynch describes this attribute as “a sense of place.” Sense of place can also be
achieved culturally, where even a few physical elements along with recognition of history, events,
stories and spirituality, can lead to the creation of ‘place.’ ‘Place’ can be described as a knowing, a
familiarity or comfort, sometimes outright aversion to a space (a place of execution, battle, violence or
death). A ‘sense of place’ is “congruent with local identity.”Lynch specifically describes how to achieve
a sense of place regardless of the purpose of structures. Cities, often in their beginning, create little if

any fabric of feeling. Therefore, cities disappoint and countenance monotony, or a lack of feeling, even
cohesiveness.
Cities are not what we expect them to be due to many influences. Referring to towns and cities, from
ancient to modern, along with technologies to document their development. Various influences are also
reviewed, such as: historic rulers, architects and landscape architects, society elites, rebellions and wars,
and even population and immigration.
Historically, cities develop in the landscape because of location. For instance, if import and export of
goods is required, cities may tend to locate where adequate coastal dockage can occur; and, they are
created for that purpose and sub-purposes such as fishing, boat building and travel. Where fertile ground
is necessary, farm towns are formed to serve the needs of that community, and so on. These are also the
place where people move for employment, which impacts and changes conditions in the cities left
behind. City size is also an influence on what is perceived to be a perfect city – town, urban city or
metropolis.
Organizationally, cities are commonly founded around commerce and then government. All of this
direct need for a specific activity is supported by naturally found ecologies and the activity creates the
actual necessities of a community first and foremost. Secondary, or even tertiary needs, include the
establishment of cultural activities and social remediation or issues for a city. Culturally, religion is the
principal feature of new cities. Health benefits, including open space, living conditions and protection
from disease as well as building practices is often an after-thought, as action in this regard occurs only
after disasters where cities burn to the ground or the populace is struck by, often rampaging, preventable
illness such as Cholera. This isn’t to say other issues do not affect the physical norm of a city – for
instance, some cities were created by the Spanish based upon a conformity or norm of what the central
city would encompass. The Spanish offered cities a courtyard theme where a central green occurred,
surrounded by a government structure, town hall, and a church laid on a grid system with some use and
form regulations. Cities also change due to the influence of wealthy patrons and governments.
Immigration has a vast influence on cities as population growth can out pace the city’s ability to handle
the quantity of people. Explosions in population create chaos and uncontrolled growth, even more.
In the latter part of the 19th century, the industrial revolution had one of the largest physical and social
impacts on cities to date due to new urban technologies. One of the biggest of these is lightweight
structural steel, allowing the vertical scale of structures to be extended. The elevator also allowed the
vertical development of buildings to be practically built and used. Other inventions created major
changes in interactions, such as the telephone, railroad, electric lights and cable cars, allowing
development to spread away from the city center. The way business was conducted was drastically

changed and expansion was able to occur more easily. Building technologies today allow for buildings
which have projected life spans of 20 to 40 years use and are easily bulldozed. And, our cities are still
searching for ‘a sense of place.’ No one seems to know what it is that they want and practice destructive
methods and built lifestyles in the interim.
DISTINCTION OF MULTIFUNCTIONAL AND MULTILAYERS OF A CITY
MULTIFUNCTIONAL AND MULTILAYER DIMENSIONS OF A CITY
An effort has been made to distinguish the multifunctional and multilayer dimensions of cities. The list
captures some of the aspects and it may not be complete. Each city is unique and the intensity and
number of the dimensions and intensity varies in time and space. The classification is debatable and
further refined. See the representative model incorporating multifunctional and multilayer dimensions
of a city:
MULTIFUNCTIONAL MULTILAYER

MULTIFUNTIONAL DIMENSIONS

MULTILAYER DIMENSIONS
MULTIFUNTIONAL / MULTILAYER DIMENSIONS
CASE STUDY 1
Culture of Hyderabad
The historic factors, among others, contributed to Hyderabad developing into a multi
cultural society that is peculiar and unique. Not only does it have an amalgamation of
different cultures, Hyderabad boasts of a rich cultural heritage too. Being ruled by the Asaf
Jahi dynasty, it came to be known as the "city of Nizams". As this dynasty crumpled, the
Mughals took over and brought about sea change in the cultural outlook of the people.
Today Hyderabad flourishes in its rich cultural history. The contemporary world sees this
city as a blend of unique cultures with a touch of modern lifestyle. In general, Hyderabadi
people are regarded as very friendly and hospitable. As a matter of fact, generosity is the
other name of the Hyderabadis. They take immense pleasure and pride in conversing in their
local, characteristic and vibrant Hyderabadi language, a mix of Urdu, Hindi, Marathi,
Telugu, and some words from Persian, Turkish, and Arabic. The end result is that the dialect
sounds different from the usual Urdu spoken in India and Pakistan and is unique only to
Hyderabad. The Hyderabadi Urdu is more like city's vernacular of Hindi language. It thrives
in a world of its own. It is a blend of tradition and modernity. Despite a predominantly
Muslim population, Hyderabad is a city where there is an exemplary amalgamation of Hindu
and Muslim cultures. Present day Hyderabad is a healthy mixture of diverse religions,
castes, and creeds, which has a noticeable history of communal harmony, a claim that not
many cities can boast of.
CITY AS AN ORGANISM
A city should be considered an ever changing organism instead of something static. Charles Darwin’s
famous quote “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It
is the one that is the most adaptable to change” contains an important principle that also applies to cities.

In the last few years it has been argued by many city planners that city problems have assumed such
proportions and complexity that these can only be tackled if the territories involved and problems
entailed are made larger still and can therefore be attacked more -‘broadly'. The argument, though valid
in the context of the rapid progress in the field of transport and communications and the resulting
mobility of goods, people and thoughts; the modalities adopted for its elaboration raise doubts about its
validity.
The modem city is a complex organism. "It is a great human enterprise serving the material and spiritual
needs of man. It is a segment of land on which the people have selected their places to live and to work,
to learn and to trade, to play and to pray. it is a mosaic of homes and shops, factories and offices,
schools and libraries, theaters and hospitals, parks and playgrounds, meeting places and government
centers, fire stations and post offices. These are woven together by a net-work of streets and
transportation routes, water, sanitation and communication channels".
To facilitate and manage the growth of all these properly' as the city develops is the function of a
Development Plan. The city is a sensitive organism. A change in one part affects other parts of this
structure. For example, new homes mean more traffic on the streets, more customers that encourage new
shopping, more children in the school, more water for the people, more revenue in taxes. Yet, growth
does not always mean strength and prosperity for the community. It depends upon the standards a
community prescribes to maintain and manage the balance of urban lands and resources.
CITIES AND INNOVATIONS
It was found that city growth driven by wealth creation increases at a rate that is faster than exponential.
The only way to avoid collapse as a population outstrips the finite resources available to it is through
constant cycles of innovation, which re-engineer the initial conditions of growth. But the greater the
absolute population, the smaller the relative return on each such investment, so innovation must come
ever faster. Thus, the bigger the city, the faster life is; but the rate at which life gets faster must itself
accelerate to maintain the city as a growing concern so much so that to maintain growth, major
innovations must now occur on time-scales that are significantly shorter than a human lifespan.
Humanity has just crossed a major landmark in its history with the majority of people now living in
cities. Cities have long been known to be society's predominant engine of innovation and wealth
creation, yet they are also its main source of crime, pollution, and disease.

CONCLUSION
Already the urban population, living mostly in cities has reached greater than 50% of the world
population. The inexorable trend toward urbanization worldwide presents an urgent challenge for
developing a predictive, quantitative theory of urban organization and sustainable development. The
processes relating urbanization to economic development and knowledge creation are very general,
being shared by all cities belonging to the same urban system and sustained across different nations and
times. Cities in the last few centuries have evolved coping with changes in social, economic, cultural,
aesthetics, utility, historical, political, natural and environmental factors. Coping in the long run have
become adaptation strategies, leading to sustainability of the cities. There is always an interface between
the interests of old and new generations of people sharing the same space. The old buildings have more
life and each building is at least able to provide space for at least two generations to live, as compared to
new buildings, which last just 20 to 40 years. The comfort levels of one generation and the next are
different in same space. There are often changes brought with time in any building. Similarly the
infrastructure is also changing at a rapid phase as the transportation means and systems are changing.
The access to power, drinking water, and open spaces for cultural and social events, educational
institutions, markets, etc. are also impacting the living space. The security and basic amenities are the
main factors of consideration of people for not moving away from the congested cities. There is always
an overlap of old and new adaptation factors, creating resilience for coexistence. The remembrance of a
space and events occurring in a city in once own life time impact the people, and they love to continue
in similar space. There is a kind of energy that one gets, while returning to the same space, it is often
seen that the old people prefer living in the space they are used to and they often live longer too. There
are emotions too acting up on the life of the people. Considering all the above factors, each city can be
considered a single organism, having its own identity and highly adaptive. There are various diverse
spaces within a city for everyone to make a living. It is like a human body as a single living thing, but
various parts of the human body function and perform for the happiness of the whole. There is a need to
understand these multifunctional and multilayer dimensions of the cities, for making a sustainable living
within the cities.
REFERENCES :
1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-504354/White-Britons-minority-dozen-towns-30-
years.html

2. http://www.inspiringcities.org/index.php?id=18225&type=article
3. http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/06/is-the-human-ci.html
4. United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision (2007).
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_A._Lynch
6. Delhi 6 - http://dilli6.in/ Movie
7. http://www.brookings.edu/favicon.ico
8. http://www.pnas.org/content/104/17/7301.full
9. http://urbanshifts.wordpress.com/xmlrpc.php
10. https://popupcity.net
Dr. N. Sai Bhaskar Reddy is a Geographer, Geologist and Environmentalist, presently working on
climate change, environment and development aspects. He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of
Geoecology Energy Organisation [GEO] http://e-geo.org