Cities are being named and renamed, for demanding/commanding new culture, pattern of growth for overcoming prevailing urban ills. Their journey includes moving from planned cities, to becoming garden cities, linear cities, vertical cities, smart cities, compact cities to smart cities. Cities, as integral part of human history and as most complex creation of humanity, are always evolving and devolving, on the move and never finite. Cities distinguished by agglomeration/ concentration of human beings/activities, remain embodiment of dichotomy and contradictions. Cities represent disorder and chaos; where poverty/prosperity rub shoulders; where beauty/ugliness dot the urban canvas; where planned / unplanned development competes and where skyscrapers/slums/shanties rub shoulders. Known as creators of wealth and generators of waste, promoter of global economic growth and productivity, cities have also emerged as breeding grounds of poverty, exclusion, pollution and environmental degradation. Considering the prevailing contradictions, and critical role/importance; cities need to be made Humane and harmonious. Processes and principles that could be leverage for making cities harmonious need to include identifying issues and roadblocks largely responsible for making urban growth both unplanned, haphazard, irrational and sub-standard besides evolving strategies and options for making the urban growth rational for ushering a new ersa of Harmonious urbanization in India
this ppt is made by shrikrishna kesharwani , final year student of manit Bhopal, in this ppt I have given information about the sustainable metropolitan development scheme in detail.
Welcome to Urban Plus, where dreams become careers! At Urban plus, we don’t just build extraordinary spaces; we also nurture and empower exceptional talent.
https://www.urbanplus.co.in/
this ppt is made by shrikrishna kesharwani , final year student of manit Bhopal, in this ppt I have given information about the sustainable metropolitan development scheme in detail.
Welcome to Urban Plus, where dreams become careers! At Urban plus, we don’t just build extraordinary spaces; we also nurture and empower exceptional talent.
https://www.urbanplus.co.in/
Strategies for Promoting Urban SustainabilityJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Presentation looks at the options of making urban areas more liveable, productive and sustainable. It includes the reduction of energy consumption through green buildings and green transport
Promoting Sustainable cities- Suggestive Approach for Evolving Energy Efficie...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Paper attempts to look at energy implications of the cities and tries to suggest measures to make them low energy settlements and zero carbon footprints
Here is a PPT on Eco Green Cities. The fonts will change if u have only fonts of your pc. You can download.. If you have any queries send it to guthijp.reddy@gmail.com
Role and Relevance of Architects and architecture in SustainabilityJIT KUMAR GUPTA
This brief text on Role, Relevance and importance of Architects and profession of Architecture in making this world and human settlements more livable, climate responsive and sustainable has been prepared as commitment of the professionals and profession of Architects on this World Environment Day ; June 5th , 2024 , with the hope that profession would be understood, valued ,appreciated and empowered in the right context for enabling it play its designated role in making built environment qualitative, cost-effective, energy-efficient, eco-friendly, safe and sustainable.
Bridging gap between resources and responsibilities at Local level.JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Text refers to need, role, relevance and importance of empowering urban local bodies by bridging gap between resources available and responsibilities bestowed, for enabling ULBs to operate and function as institutions of local governance more effectively and efficiently.
Strategies for Promoting Urban SustainabilityJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Presentation looks at the options of making urban areas more liveable, productive and sustainable. It includes the reduction of energy consumption through green buildings and green transport
Promoting Sustainable cities- Suggestive Approach for Evolving Energy Efficie...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Paper attempts to look at energy implications of the cities and tries to suggest measures to make them low energy settlements and zero carbon footprints
Here is a PPT on Eco Green Cities. The fonts will change if u have only fonts of your pc. You can download.. If you have any queries send it to guthijp.reddy@gmail.com
Role and Relevance of Architects and architecture in SustainabilityJIT KUMAR GUPTA
This brief text on Role, Relevance and importance of Architects and profession of Architecture in making this world and human settlements more livable, climate responsive and sustainable has been prepared as commitment of the professionals and profession of Architects on this World Environment Day ; June 5th , 2024 , with the hope that profession would be understood, valued ,appreciated and empowered in the right context for enabling it play its designated role in making built environment qualitative, cost-effective, energy-efficient, eco-friendly, safe and sustainable.
Bridging gap between resources and responsibilities at Local level.JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Text refers to need, role, relevance and importance of empowering urban local bodies by bridging gap between resources available and responsibilities bestowed, for enabling ULBs to operate and function as institutions of local governance more effectively and efficiently.
Construction Industry Through Artificial Intelligence -.docxJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Considering the role, relevance and importance of construction sector in promoting economy, generating employment and creating wealth besides providing infrastructures and amenities, there is need to make the sector more effective, efficient, productive and sustainable. Driven manually, construction sector remains in the slow lane of creating quality built environment which are cost-effective, energy efficient, least consumers of resources and generators of waste. Artificial intelligence can help and empower the construction to make it more valuable, productive and qualitative besides supportive of environment and ecology. However, construction sector must be ready to co-operate and collaborate with IT industry to look for options and opportunities to make construction sector more qualitative and productive. Majority of urban ills and climate related issues can be resolved if Artificial intelligence can be embedded as integral part of the construction industry right prom planning, designing, construction, operation and management of the built environment and infrastructures. Communities and nations will save lot of valuable non-renewable resources if the construction sector is transformed from human led to technology led by the induction of Artificial intelligence. However, Construction industry has to search the areas where Artificial intelligence can be used effectively and intelligently.
Making Urban India a Role Model of Planned Urban Growth a.docxJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Known for productivity, promoting economy, employment and innovations cities, when properly planned, rationally developed and professionally managed, have been labelled and recognized as engines of economic growth. Prosperity and urbanisation are known to have positive co-relation with rational urbanisation, leveraging growth and development of any community, city, state and region. In majority of developing countries, where urbanisation remains unregulated, forced largely by rural push and less by urban pull, cities invariably remain in crisis, crisis of population, crisis of poverty, crisis of development and management. Cities need to be cared ,incentivized, empowered and made more productive, effective, efficient and humane.
Redefining Globalization, urbanisation and LocalisationJIT KUMAR GUPTA
If cities are to made more livable, humane and productive, it is time that intent, contents and scope of globalization must be revisited and reviewed, both critically and objectively. Globalisation would need redefinition for promoting universality and inclusiveness among people and nations to have basic amenities and quality of life for all its residents , including poorest of the poor to lead a dignified life. Failure to redefine globalization, rationalise urbanisation, restore localization empowering poor and promoting universalisation and inclusivity; will invariably lead to making SDGs merely a paper exercise. In addition, making the world, cities and communities sustainable, livable, safe and inclusive, would remain merely a dream and a mirage, for future generations and communities, making planet earth as their preferred place of residence.
Knowing, Understanding and Planning Cities- Role and Relevance Physical Plan...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Cities are known for its complexities and operational inefficiencies. cities remain dynamic ,ever evolving, ever devolving, never static and never finite.
All cities remain different, distinct, unique and universal. No two cities are similar. Each city has its own strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Accordingly, problem faced by any city cannot be viewed, dissected, analyzed and enumerated, while sitting within the four walls of the air-conditioned rooms and by the so called intellectual sitting in the so called offices determining the future of cities and towns. Neither the cities can be made more rational by limited knowledge agencies providing consultancy to cities , states and nations.
For realistically and rationally understanding, analyzing the cities and having simple, cost-effective and quality solutions to the problems and challenges faced , Cities have to be walked through and concerns of the various communities have to be properly understood and appreciated.
Prime reason for inability and lack of capacity on the part of majority of physical planners, engaged in the art and science of planning, designing and developing the cities, to address the issues and challenges faced by cities , realistically and rationally, has genesis in the lack of understanding of the origin, growth and development of cities.
Lack of capacity in majority of town planners, has roots in the quality of education imparted and seriousness and commitment on the part of both teachers and taught involved. As it stands today, majority of institutions involved in imparting education in planning are being run on an ad-hoc manner and by proxy. Only few institutions have regular teachers and regular students. Majority of planning institutions are being run on proxy with proxy students and proxy teachers. Education system including curricula used for teaching, needs, review, revision and redefinition to make it more relevant to rational for addressing the issues and challenges faced by the cities and towns.
Land as a Resource for urban finanace- 24-1-23.pptJIT KUMAR GUPTA
PPt tries to brief Land, as a gift of nature, is being grossly misused, abused , manipulated Land is globally used for providing platform for all human driven activities, based on living, working, culture of body/ mind and travel.
Limited availability, coupled with large number of human beings trying to source land, has invariably created large demand for land resource for human consumption. Land, in urban context, is required for meeting the specific needs of urban dwellers for residential, commercial, institutional, recreational, travel& traffic purposes besides providing space for infrastructures , amenities, services, trade and commerce etc. Land in urban context remains under large demand and command high price due to concentration of large population in small physical area, with stakeholders making competing claims.Rapid and uncontrolled growth in population experienced by urban areas has adversely impacted and generated considerable pressure on land resource in cities and towns , leading to large scale conversion, sub-division and illegal occupation of urban land. Unregulated and regulated pressure on land has largely been met by means of both formal/informal sub-division and development of land. Growth of the urban settlements and entire mechanism of urban planning and development remains land based/ land focused. In order to make optimum use of land resource on 24x7x365; making city planning, growth, development and management ,both rational. realistic, orderly and promoter of quality living, it will be critical and essential, that all ULBs are made to focus on eliminating culture and practices promoting un-authorized/ illegal sub-division of land for ushering an environment and era of planned urban development in the cities. Land needs to be effectively leveraged to generate resources for ULBs to make cities vibrant.
COST-EFFETIVE and Energy Efficient BUILDINGS ptxJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Built environment is known for its capacity, capability, role, relevance and importance to change the quality of life of the occupants and communities. Presentation focuses on options which need to be leveraged to make buildings sustainable, cost-effective, energy efficient, resource efficient, qualitative over its entire life-cycle through designing, construction, operation. It calls for making buildings green and sustainable.
Making Buildings cost-effective , Energy Efficient ptxJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Presentation focuses on options which need to be leveraged to make buildings sustainable, cost-effective, energy efficient, resource efficient, qualitative over its entire life-cycle
Ppt briefs about role, relevance, importance of the rating systems applicable in India, criteria used in assessing
greeness, weightage allocated, , brief of how these rating systems are applied, parameters involved; weightage granted, levels of rating granted , incentives given by states for green rated buildings and brief of suggestions, how to make rating system more effective, efficient, objective and transparent.
The phenomenon of global warming remains more pronounced in the urban areas, for the reason cities house large concentration of people and activities in a small/compact urban space.Densely-built downtown areas tend to be warmer than suburban residential areas or rural areas.. UHI not only raises urban temperatures but also increases ozone concentrations because ozone is a greenhouse gas whose formation will accelerate with the temperature. Tokyo, an example of an urban heat island. Normal temperatures of Tokyo go up higher than those of the surrounding area. However, it needs to be understood and appreciated that climate change is not the cause of urban heat islands but it is causing more frequent and more intense heat waves which in turn amplify the urban heat island effect in cities. Major reasons for ever growing global warming and climate change can be attributed to the; Nature and natural; Human-Driven; population; Rapid Urbanisation; Irrational Urban planning; High Density; Inefficient Transportation ;Large generation/consumption of fossil fuel based Energy; Unsustainable Buildings; Polluting Industry & Manufacturing; Unsustainable Agriculture; Irrational Development; Large scale Deforestation; Lack of open spaces and individual life-choices;
Making and Unmaking of Chandigarh - A City of Two Plans2-4-24.pptJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Presentation is a narrative of a
capital city- known for its innovative planning, designing, construction and management of a new capital . It briefs about the principles used in the planning and designing of city -by the first team of planners led by Albert Mayer and Mathew Nowicki-- followed by the second team led by Le- Corbusier, P Jenerette, Jane B Drew , Maxwell Fry. It also details about the various aspects of the city planning, planning of the sector as a neighbourhood, typologies of
various developmental controls used for regulating the construction of buildings. Innovations used for regulating the growth and development of periphery; redensification of city in case city exceeds its planned population of half a million, creating a narrative of city and periphery, innovative landscaping, defining an edict for the city to educate the future citizens of the capital city to safeguard the future growth and development besides lessons learnt from planning and designing the new cities.
Planning and Designing Green buildings-.issues, options and strategiesJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Affordability and sustainable development are considered anti-thesis across the world. Generally there exists conflict between the approach to sustainable built environment and affordable buildings. Sustainable development is considered more expensive. According to Middleton, ‘Sustainability and affordability aren’t mutually exclusive goals. It’s not about adding extra, but thinking more carefully about the design of buildings and incorporating technologies that can offset the rising costs of energy, water and other services. Affordability and sustainability are known to fit together perfectly’.
Through excellent design, buildings can be made more sustainable and affordable. Smaller the footprint of buildings, lower will be the upfront costs and embodied energy and lower shall be the running costs of buildings. Looking at the entire context of health, rising cost of amenities/services; Sustainable/Green designs are now being increasingly adopted, to make built environment more cost-effective and affordable. Considering the enormous amount of built environment to be created, India will have no option but to tread the path of sustainability and sustainable development in the built environment. Sustainable built environment would also help in and go a long way in achieving the majority of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the reason, built environment is known to be the largest consumer of energy, avoid wasteful use of resources and minimise generation of waste. Global sustainability will be largely contingent upon how effectively and efficiently we can make our buildings sustainable and qualitative through innovative/green design solutions based on local climate and culture, valuing site planning, embedding orientation, cross ventilation, using renewable/waste materials and involving state of the art building technologies.
_Neighborhood Planning in Capital City of Chandigarh- An Appraisal (2) - Copy...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Neighborhood as an idea, concept, option and strategy has been extensively used locally and globally by the Urban Planners to plan and decentralize cities, create cities within cities, promote self-contained communities and to make cities more humane, safe and socially vibrant. Neighborhood has also been used recently to define the city in terms of travel time - making 10/15 minutes city
Accordingly, large typologies of NH ,in terms of planning and designing , with varying shapes, sizes and contents have emerged in the urban context. Americans have used superblock and French using Sector for defining the neighborhood. Despite distinct advantages, holding high degree of relevance in urban and local area planning , NH planning has not been able to deliver the envisioned objectives of safety and social vibrancy. Cities in the process have been socially, economically and physically fragmented, leading to clear division of cities into different communities with little economical and social connectivity. Variance of planning and designing norms followed at NH and sub-neighborhood levels have promoted more dichotomy and contradictions with varying quality of life inducted at local level. Differential population and infrastructures have divided the city into the categories of high/low end NH units. Fabric and morphology of cities, in large cases, has been distorted with urban settlement emerging as a distinct social map of communities graded economically and socially,on the basis of area/location . In the process, the way NH planning concept has been used, neighborhood planning has emerged as an instrument of social and economic segregation/division. In fact in number of cases, concept has been used, misused, abused in intent and content to divide the cities into distinct social and economic layers. Instead of unifying , concept has led to division of cities.
Genesis of modern application of NH can be found in the planning and designing of Chandigarh where entire city fabric of capital city was woven around Sector as the basic unit of planning, concptulasied as self-contained and self-sustaining unit at the local level. However, the way sectors have been planned, it has led to dividing the cities into different and distinct communities. Individual status in Chandigarh can be judged from his/her residence. Concept of Sector has done more damage than good to the fabric of the city. Chandigarh is likely to face considerable problem in making city socially and economically cohesive/vibrant,. Sectors in Chandigarh remain anti-thesis to the basic concept of NH planning of safety, involving walkability, vehicular movement, putting commercial space in the centre. Considering role, relevance, importance and usability , NH needs to be planned, designed with care and caution, in order to make cities socially and economically vibrant, inclusive. NH planning deserves a new definition and approach to make it relevant and rational.
Reviewing, Revising and Redefining Master Plans and Development Plans to Ma...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Looking at its efficacy and efficiency, it can be seen and observed that Master Plans/ Development Plans have done more damage than good for the planned growth and development of the cities to which they have been made applicable. These plans have been violated with impunity both by the people, communities, cities and parastatal agencies; for the betterment/welfare of which these plans were prepared. These plans have been visualized as controller of development rather than promoters of development. Instead of planned development , these plans have been usherers of the unplanned development. These plans are known to be responsible for promoting large number of slums besides making quality of life poor for majority of the urban inhabitants. Cities under Master Plans are also known to promote exclusion rather than inclusion. Master Plans/Development Plans are known to promote prosperity for few and marginalize the large proportions of the local community by making them poor. Instead of catering to urban dynamism, Master Plans/Development Plans try to freeze the city, for next two decades, to which it is made to serve. Accordingly, these plans need to be reviewed , rationalised, revised and redefined to make them better Master Plans/Development Plans
Rationalizing the Planned Growth of Urban India- paper.docxJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Rapid and uncontrolled growth in population experienced by urban areas has adversely impacted and generated considerable pressure on land resource in cities and towns , leading to large scale conversion, sub-division and illegal occupation of urban land. Unregulated and regulated pressure on land has largely been met by means of both formal/informal sub-division and development of land. Growth of the urban settlements and entire mechanism of urban planning and development remains land based/ land focused, based on a strategy of sub-division of the land, dictated by the economic forces prevailing in the market. Irrational and ineffective public policies of urban planning and land sub-division, devoid of prevailing ground realities, have turned out to be incompatible with the demands of urban expansion, leading to large scale un-authorized and illegal sub-division of land. In the process, valuable land resources, gift of nature, has been misused, abused and mutilated in this race of uncontrolled and irrational urbanisation. In order to make optimum use of land resource; making city planning, growth, development and management ,both rational. realistic, orderly and promoter of quality living, it will be critical and essential, that all urban centres are made to focus on eliminating the culture and practices promoting un-authorized/illegal sub-division of land for ushering an environment and era of planned urban development in the country.
Suggestion and Options for integrating villages. within the framework of the...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Preparing Master Plans/Development Plans for any urban settlements, basically and essentially, involves declaring a planning area for which the said long term plans are prepared. Planning area invariably includes and involves, number of rural settlements, which comprise of the planning area besides the urban settlement. It has been observed that in majority of cases, while detailed studies and analysis are carried out of the urban settlements but villages in the study and analysis remain marginalized, diluted and muted. Despite the fact, villages have critical role in the rational development of the urban settlement, but in preparing Master Plans their role and relevance is not made part of the said plan. Accordingly, this text tries to bring out the typologies of villages falling in the planning area and the suggested framework to develop these villages in making Master Plans, better Master Plan. In order to improve Master Plan qualitatively, quantitively, both in intent, contents and scope, It will be appropriate that all the villages falling in the planning area must be studied , analyzed and made integral part of the final outcome of the proposals of Master Plan. In-fact one Chapter must be exclusively dedicated to detail out the issues faced by the Villages and options which can be leveraged to promote the rational growth of villages ,as an integral part of the long term development of the urban settlement , for which the Master Plan is being prepared. This will help not only in integrating the urban- rural settlements falling in the planning area, but would also go a long way in promoting and ensuring rational growth and development of the urban settlement, for which the Master Plan is being prepared.
Making cities Climate Responsive and SustainableJIT KUMAR GUPTA
“Decarbonization” of cities ,as an issue ,as an option and as a strategy , has been gaining currency in the parlance of; making planet earth livable and sustainable. “Decarbonization has been globally valued for keeping the global temperature below 1.5C, and achieving the agenda and goals defined in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, defined by UN for achieving universal sustainability. Despite distinct role and relevance, criticality and importance of decarbonization of cities has neither been properly understood and appreciated nor made integral part of the architectural practice and art and science of designing and construction of buildings. Consuming one -third of global energy (33%) and generating 39% of greenhouse gas emissions buildings have been considered as the major player in the domain of climate change and global warming. Since Architects and Architecture are
actively involved in the making and unmaking of buildings, accordingly it becomes important that planners and architects must play a significant role in making
cities and buildings least consumers of energy and generators of the minimum greenhouse gas emissions. This objective can be achieved if decarbonizing cities/buildings is made a distinct reality . Issue of decarbonizing the cities/buildings assumes importance for the reason, that world’s building floorspace is likely to be become double by the year 2060, with the addition of large number of newcities/ buildings due to rapid urbanization, population growth and economic development ; required for catering to
to the needs of additional population opting for urban living.
Managing Planning and Development of Citie- 26-2-24.docxJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Cities in India are known to be in perpetual crisis; facing numerous crises in terms of; crisis of rational growth, crisis of orderly and planned development; crisis of effective and efficient urban management; crisis of making provision of basic infrastructure and services; crisis of climate change; crisis of global warming; crisis of poverty, pollution and population and crisis of making human living and prevailing environment qualitative. These urban crises have genesis in the fact that cities in India, lack ownership, command, authority and lack of willingness to run and manage cities professionally and objectively. In majority of cases, cities in India are run by proxy. In terms of physical growth and development; large cities are marked by multiplicity of agencies claiming right/ownership of development over the urban areas, whereas smaller cities face absence of such ownership and are made to run, operate and function like orphans
Agenda, Approach and Options for Rationalising and Redefining Future Indian ...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Government of India/state policies, programs, mission and agenda must move providing basic essentials to all its citizens through an efficient, objective and transparent system of governance. For making cities livable and empowering people; right to basics/essential of human living including; Right to shelter, food, clothing universal access to healthcare, education, employment , infrastructures, amenities and mobility; should be made integral part of Indian Constitution by embedding it as Fundamental Rights/Directive Principles of state policy besides making them integral part of planning, development and management/governance process of all human settlements.
Transforming Brand Perception and Boosting Profitabilityaaryangarg12
In today's digital era, the dynamics of brand perception, consumer behavior, and profitability have been profoundly reshaped by the synergy of branding, social media, and website design. This research paper investigates the transformative power of these elements in influencing how individuals perceive brands and products and how this transformation can be harnessed to drive sales and profitability for businesses.
Through an exploration of brand psychology and consumer behavior, this study sheds light on the intricate ways in which effective branding strategies, strategic social media engagement, and user-centric website design contribute to altering consumers' perceptions. We delve into the principles that underlie successful brand transformations, examining how visual identity, messaging, and storytelling can captivate and resonate with target audiences.
Methodologically, this research employs a comprehensive approach, combining qualitative and quantitative analyses. Real-world case studies illustrate the impact of branding, social media campaigns, and website redesigns on consumer perception, sales figures, and profitability. We assess the various metrics, including brand awareness, customer engagement, conversion rates, and revenue growth, to measure the effectiveness of these strategies.
The results underscore the pivotal role of cohesive branding, social media influence, and website usability in shaping positive brand perceptions, influencing consumer decisions, and ultimately bolstering sales and profitability. This paper provides actionable insights and strategic recommendations for businesses seeking to leverage branding, social media, and website design as potent tools to enhance their market position and financial success.
White wonder, Work developed by Eva TschoppMansi Shah
White Wonder by Eva Tschopp
A tale about our culture around the use of fertilizers and pesticides visiting small farms around Ahmedabad in Matar and Shilaj.
Book Formatting: Quality Control Checks for DesignersConfidence Ago
This presentation was made to help designers who work in publishing houses or format books for printing ensure quality.
Quality control is vital to every industry. This is why every department in a company need create a method they use in ensuring quality. This, perhaps, will not only improve the quality of products and bring errors to the barest minimum, but take it to a near perfect finish.
It is beyond a moot point that a good book will somewhat be judged by its cover, but the content of the book remains king. No matter how beautiful the cover, if the quality of writing or presentation is off, that will be a reason for readers not to come back to the book or recommend it.
So, this presentation points designers to some important things that may be missed by an editor that they could eventually discover and call the attention of the editor.
You could be a professional graphic designer and still make mistakes. There is always the possibility of human error. On the other hand if you’re not a designer, the chances of making some common graphic design mistakes are even higher. Because you don’t know what you don’t know. That’s where this blog comes in. To make your job easier and help you create better designs, we have put together a list of common graphic design mistakes that you need to avoid.
Expert Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Drafting ServicesResDraft
Whether you’re looking to create a guest house, a rental unit, or a private retreat, our experienced team will design a space that complements your existing home and maximizes your investment. We provide personalized, comprehensive expert accessory dwelling unit (ADU)drafting solutions tailored to your needs, ensuring a seamless process from concept to completion.
1. Designing Harmonious and Smart Cities
*Ar Jit Kumar Gupta
Introduction
Cities have been integral part of human history, marked by origin, growth, decline
and decay. Cities are the most complex creation of humanity, distinguished by
agglomeration and concentration of human beings and activities, but full of
dichotomy and contradictions. Cities are entities which represent order and chaos.
They are places where poverty and prosperity rub shoulders and where beauty
and ugliness dot the urban canvas. They represent both vices and virtues with best
and worst of humanity. Cities are places where planned and unplanned
development competes and where skyscrapers and slums/shanties rub shoulders.
Cities are known to be creators of wealth and generators of waste. Despite being
main source of global economic growth and productivity, cities have also emerged
as breeding grounds of poverty, exclusion, pollution and environmental
degradation. Considering the prevailing contradictions, critical role and importance
of cities in leveraging economy, generating large scale employment, providing
state of art infrastructures, ensuring quality of life, it becomes important that cities
are made more livable, productive, effective, efficient, humane, sustainable,
inclusive, equitable and devoid of contradictions. In search for appropriate
solutions, it has been globally and locally demonstrated that cities can be made,
both harmonious and smart, by adopting smart planning, innovative ideas, using
out of box approaches, ensuring total commitment, using state of art solutions,
adopting innovative technologies, ensuring government support, involving
communities and providing dynamic leadership. Globally, there exist numerous
problems where cities have tried to make them better places to live and work. Few
of these global examples demonstrated and good practices adopted by cities have
been showcased in the text detailed below.
2. Tianjin City
Tianjin Eco –city, a flagship government to government project between China
and Singapore, has shown how cities can be made harmonious with people,
environment and economy. City of 0.35 million has clearly demonstrated that by
using state of art planning and development, even a derelict site largely comprising
of salt pans, barren land and polluted water bodies including 2.6 square kilometers
of waste water pond, can be converted into one of the best livable and eco- friendly
city. Tianjin has been planned to be a compact city, using option of mixed land use
and based on the principle of transit-oriented development (TOD). With optimum
living and working relationship, city transport system is exclusively based on
pedestrianization, cycling and mass transportation. Extensive Green and Blue
network, involving vegetation and water, has been leveraged to promote high order
of living and working environment.
Tianjin City -Master Plan
With planning based on a network of self-contained and self-sufficient eco-
cells, eco-neighborhoods, eco-districts and development guided by a system of
well -defined indicators ,city is fast emerging as a role model of smart city with 90%
trips made as green trips, 60% of waste recycled, 100% barrier free access
provided, 20% energy used generated from renewable resources, 59% water
3. supplied from non-traditional sources involving desalination and recycling, using
low energy lights, making all buildings green, daily per capita water supply not
exceeding 120 liters, assured green spaces @12 sqm per person with high
proportions of technical manpower to promote R&D.
City of Copenhagen
City of Copenhagen, with substantial investment made in the Green Infrastructure,
is ranked as the most sustainable city in Europe with high degree of energy
efficiency; promoting centralized heating using waste energy used from electricity
generation; transport network planned to ensure all resident live within walking
distance not exceeding 400 meters; laying down a 388 kms dedicated cycling
network to ensure 50% daily trips are made by bicycles; optimum use of available
water by bringing leakage/ wastage at 5% ( as against prevailing 20% ); separating
organic/inorganic waste and producing bio-gas and bio- ethanol for sheathing ;
promoting carbon neutral neighborhoods with energy efficient residential and
commercial buildings, creating sustainable energy network and low emission
transport systems.
4. Chengdu- China
Chengdu (China) is building a city for
80,000, residents providing living and
working within half mile square with
everything accessible within 15 minute’s
walk, cutting down landfill by 89%,
reducing waste water by 58% and energy
use by 48% compared to similar sized
Chinese cities with operational efficiency
largely facilitated by city design
Masdar City -- Dubai
Masdar (Abu Masdar City Plan Dubai) is being developed as zero energy, zero
waste, zero car and zero-carbon eco-city with focus on using green energy,
promoting green transportation , ensuring total recycling of waste, converting
waste into wealth, designing green and energy positive buildings and fecilitating
travel by ipods.
Abu Masdar City Master Plan Dubai
5. Cities of Singapore and Istanbul
City of Singapore has promoted high degree of road efficiency, reduced road
congestion, promoted car-pooling and public transport besides generating
resources for city infrastructure by using state of art hi-tech concept of Road
Pricing. Istanbul used the mechanism of 42 kms dedicated road lanes for the new
Bus Rapid Transport System, to promote public transport, to tackle the problem
of traffic congestion and air pollution while providing most efficient service to
6,20,000 passengers on daily basis.
Delhi
Delhi, through its green metro, achieved the milestone of transporting 2.8 million
people persons on a single day with the target of 6 million, when all the four phases
will be operational. Metro has not only reduced travelling time by 32 minutes of
travel time/ road congestion, air pollution and carbon contents, besides increasing
road efficiency but has also made the mega city much cleaner and greener.
6. Ahmedabad, Mumbai, New York
Ahmadabad’s state of art BRTS has
reinvented and revolutionized the
city road traffic whereas local train
network and mono-rail system in
Mumbai has emerged as the lifeline
of the mega city to keep it moving.
Preserving precious and valuable
land resource has been ably
demonstrated by making cities more
compact through creating high density communities by splitting large land parcels
and creating studio buildings on rooftops in New York; converting under-utilised
plots to promote high density development by Singapore; bringing all vacant plots
under development to create more built space by city of Rio- de- Janeiro.
Washington and New York
High degree of energy efficiency achieved by city of
Washington DC by implementing building code
requiring all public buildings to conform to LEED
certification; transforming 80 year old Empire State
Building New York Singapore Road Pricing Delhi
Metro building into a land mark green construction
by Retrofitting and placing it among top 25% green
com mercial buildings of USA with retrofitting
resulting in reduced energy consumption by 38% ,
electric load by 3.5 MW and greenhouse gas
emission by 1,00,000 metric tonnes over a period of
15 years with payback period of 3.5 years for the $
13.5 million invested in retrofitting.
7. City of San- Francisco
Making planning process inclusive, flexible and innovative, involving large number
of professionals and experts, was used successfully by the city of San-Francisco
to promote city vision of protecting, preserving, promoting and enhancing city’s
economy, sustainability, aesthetic and culture. Regional Planning approach has
been leveraged by China’s Pearl River Delta Region and city state of Berlin to
promote growth of both city and region.
National Capital Region- Delhi
National Capital Region concept has been used to rationalize and decentralize
the growth and development of Delhi in India. Critical problem of solid waste
management has been effectively solved by city of Zurich by imposing cost on
residents based on the volume of waste generated; with c ity of Seattle setting a
goal of zero waste to landfills and San Francisco used regulations to ensure
composting leftover food by residents with construction companies required to
recycle / reuse at least 65% of waste at building site.
8. City of Hong-Kong
Objective of creating adequate affordable housing stock, to minimize slums and
meet the needs of shelter for the poor, has been achieved by city of Hong Kong
by imposing a precondition to create affordable housing before permitting
developers to build commercial properties ; providing subsidized housing to 80%
residents by Singapore government ; involving private sector on partnership basis
to transform 2500 distressed public housing into thriving , mixed- income
communities with more than 50,000 units by city of San- Francisco and creating
affordable housing as integral part of legal framework of residential development
by the private developers in the states of Punjab and Haryana. Public- private
partnership has been leveraged to develop quality infrastructure and to make cities
smarter by city of Denver (USA) by creating 196 kms of railway line for promoting
transportation; and by city of Vancouver to develop state of art transportation
infrastructure in the city.
Leveraging Technology
Smart cities are supposed to be technology
driven, accordingly using innovative
technologies to promote operational
efficiency, economy, service delivery and
urban governance have been considered
vital. Dimming/ switching street lights
automatically by using real time data to save
30% on energy cost; using cameras at cross-
sections to optimize traffic lights, cut travel
times while reducing air pollution and cost of
tackling it ; using One Map, an online portal,
enabling government, business,
organizations and residents to access geo-
spatial data ; using digital applications to
register concern about streets that require
9. cleaning and potholes that need repair ; posting information online about pending
changes to land use plan; sharing data suggesting best bus- route for any journey
in the city; engaging citizens as active partners in planning and development
process; providing drivers with real- time traffic information to avoid congested
roads and city authorities to track traffic volumes and plan for new roads; creating
world’s first solar powered bike-lane to make cycle even greener, have been
effectively used by cities of Boston, Berlin, California, London, and Bucheon in
South Korea to make them smarter and harmonious.
Quality Leadership
Involving quality leadership to create highest level of urban governance, put city
growth on a new pedestal and fast trajectory and to make them smart and
harmonious has been ably demonstrated by Mayors of Rio-de- Janeiro , Bagota,
Toledo, London , San Francisco ,New York and Washington DC with their vision,
commitment and innovations.
Conclusion
Considering the global and local success stories, paper objectively and critically
looks at the processes and principles based on which city planning, growth,
development, management and governance in India is being dictated; identifying
issues and roadblocks which are largely responsible for making urban growth both
unplanned, haphazard, irrational and sub-standard besides strategies and options
which need to be invented and adopted to make the growth of the cities and urban
settlements rational , equitable, smarter and harmonious to usher a new era of
urbanization in India.
Key Words: Compact cities, Sustainable transportation, Technology,
Note; All images shown in the text are sourced and have genesis in the Google.com
, which are gratefully and thankfully acknowledged by the author
Author:
*Ar. Jit Kumar Gupta
Ex- Director ,College of Architecture, IET Bhaddal &
#344, Sec. 40-A, Chandigarh- 160036
Email : jit.kumar1944@gmail.com
