The document provides a history of the development of Chennai city from its establishment in 1637. It details how the city grew from a small fishing village called Madraspatnam due to establishment of St. George fort by the British. The city's growth was supported by development of trade activities in the port and construction of roads connecting the coast to surrounding areas. Major institutions, housing developments, and infrastructure projects over the 20th century further accelerated the expansion of Chennai. The study area saw tremendous growth due to establishment of educational institutes and implementation of development plans after independence.

1. introduction
/ / h i s t o r y o f t h e r e g i o n
/ / l o c a t i o n
/ / p r o x i m i t i e s
1633 1733 1798 1875 1923 1965 1975
/ / growth o f chennai city
st arte d with the estab-
l i shme nt o f St.George
f ort by B ristish company
/ / t his la id the founda-
t i on of th e city in the
ol d fish er man village
cal l ed ma da rasapattinam
// due to the trade activi -
ties in the port, the need
for tansport made way fo r
the finger like road net-
work from the coast to the
periphery and surroun d -
ing villages at that tim e
// the british govern -
ment started to develop
the indo-saracenic styl e
building along the coas t
/ /// the establishemt of
fort in turn favoured the
trade around the area
// so the port started
to develop with paral-
lel devolpment of small
agraharams like tripli-
cane, mylapore area with
temple as the nuleus
// th e i n c r e a s e i n d e n s i ty
a t th e c e n tr a l c o r e ma d e
th e p e o p l e to s h i ft a n d
s e ttl e a l o n g th e r o a d - wa y s
// ti l l th i s p e r i o d th e d e -
v e l o p me n t wa s h a p p e n -
i n g ma i n l y b e twe e n th e
c o o v u m a n d a d y a r r i v e r
// th e d e n s i ty o f th e c e n -
tr a l b u i s n e s s d i s tr i c t
( CB D) wa s g e tti n g d e n s e r
// a fte r i n d e p e n d e n c e ,
th e u r b a n a g g l o me r a -
ti o n h a p p e n d a s a r e -
s u l t o f fi v e y e a r p l a n s
a n d c h a n g e i n p o l i -
c i e s b y th e g o v e r n me n t
// city started to grow
i n a radial way with the
r i n g road connection
th ose m ain roads
// south and west side
o f the city is facing
tr e m endous growth com -
p a red to other parts of
th e city
india
tamil nadu
health care proximity insitutional proximity transport proximity
chennai
kasthuribhai nagar
indira nagar
gandhi nagar
pallipattu
ward no : 175
zone : Adyar
area : 1.8sq.km
area : 2.6sq.km
area : 0.2sq.km
area : 1.1sq.km
ward no : 174
zone : Adyar
area : 2.8sq.km
zone : Adyar
ward no : 180
area : 2.8sq.km
kottur
adyar
chennai
Me tr o p o l i to n A r e a : 9 ,121,477
Cu r r e n t p o p u l a ti o n : 4 ,828,858
P o p u l a ti o n d e n s i ty : 2 6903per sq.km
1u r b a nd e s i g n s t u d i o
g r o u p 1 : m a d h y a k a i l a s h
c a y s e r | g e e v a c h a n d a n a | h a r s h i n i | k a v i p r i y a | r a a g h a v i | r o h i t
Adyar Can cer Institute Malar fortis Hospital Anna University K e n d i r a Vi d y a l a y a G u i n d y Me tr o Ma d h y a K a i lash Junction
V HS Hosp ita l Menangudy Hospital IIT Chennai Hi n d u S e n i o r S c h o o l G u i n d y P a r k L a tti c e B r i d g e road

2. p h y s i c a l
/ / b u i l d i n g u s e
/ / h e i g h t s
/ / f i g u r e g r o u n d
2
1800 1900
/ / estab lishment of Chennai in 1637
/ / bucking ha m canal of 107m was fromed by connecting
Coovu m r ive r and adyar river
/ / t his favo ur ed the deveopment the farmlands, residen-
t i al s pa ces a nd garage
// St.Patrices edu c a ti o n a l i n s ti tu te wa s s ta r te d i n 1 8 7 4
// this favoured th e r e s i d e n ti a l d e v o l o p me n t a l o n g th e
northen streach o f B u c k i n g h a m c a n a l
// th e i n c r e a s e i n th e r e s i d e n ti a l u n its near the educa-
ti o n a l i n s ti tu te
// th e c o mme r c i a l a r e a s th a t wa s a l so developing arong
th e c a n a l a r e a s wa s a l s o i n c r e a s i n g
1914
1934 1974 2004
/ / t he institute s like CLRI , centre polytechnic college
were star ted
/ / t he r oa d th at connecting the beach and those institutes
st arte d to rece ive residential settements to meet the
needs
// five-year plan o f Mr.J a wa h a r l a l Ne h r u b r o u g h t tr e me n -
dous change to th i s a r e a
// Inira Nagar, Ga n d h i n a g a r a n d K a s h th u r i b h a i n a g a r
areas are designe d b y Ta mi l Na d u Ho u s i n g B o a r d to a c -
comodate IAS, IPS a n d o th e r g o o v e r n me n t o ffi c e r s
// this have made th e n a ti v e s e ttl e r s to ma k e to K o ttu r
and pallpatu in s e a r c h o f p l a c e a n d th e y fo r me d th o s e s
sqatter settlemen ts i n th o s e a r e s
// i n 2 0 0 0 , Ch e n n a i Me tr o De v e l o p ment Authority pro-
p o s e d th e r o a d th a t c o n n e c ts to S h o linganallur as IT
Co r r i d o r
// th i s g a v e tr e me n d o u s g r o wth to this area
// p r o p e r l y p l a n n e d r o a d s we r e l a i d
// mr ts p l a n n e d a l o n g th e b u c k i n g h a m canal, encroached
th e s p a c e a n d s o o mu c h p o p u l a ti o n were m igrated during
th e c o n s tr u c ti o n o f mr ts
0 150m
0 150m
0 150m
0 150m
0 150m
0 150m
0 150m
0 150m
0 150m
0 150m
0 150m
0 150m
u r b a nd e s i g n s t u d i o
g r o u p 1 : m a d h y a k a i l a s h
c a y s e r | g e e v a c h a n d a n a | h a r s h i n i | k a v i p r i y a | r a a g h a v i | r o h i t

3. 3p h y s i c a l
/ / b u i l d i n g u s e
/ / h e i g h t s
/ / f i g u r e g r o u n d
u r b a nd e s i g n s t u d i o
g r o u p 1 : m a d h y a k a i l a s h
c a y s e r | g e e v a c h a n d a n a | h a r s h i n i | k a v i p r i y a | r a a g h a v i | r o h i t
b uild in g line carriage way carriage way
path
way
n ar row lanes carriage way
service lane
path
way
s i x l a n e
+
s e r v i c e l a n e
p a th
wa y
kottur
// sq u a tter s ettlements
// u n a rtic ulated pathway s
// u n p l anned res idenc e
w i th p o or s anitation
gandhi nagar
// planned lay outs
// defined c arriage way s
and pathway s
// dens e greenery
a d y a r r i v e r
// rich heritage of flora
and fauna
// good vista from the site
indira nagar
// green canopy
// surrounded by resi-
dence
// isolated from vehicular
traffic
pallipattu
// d e n sl y p o p u l a te d
// h i g h fl o a ti n g p o p u l a ti o n
// n a r r o w l a n e s
// h i g h ve h i cu l a r tr a ffi c
s a r d a r p a te l r d .
// six lane road + service
lane on either side
// take heavy traffic from
guindy and adyar
// with commercial activity
on either sides
r a j i v g andhi rd.
// six lane road + service
lane on either side
// buckingham canal in
east
// institutions in the west

4. p h y s i c a l
/ / r o a d n e t w o r k
4
towards Sholinganallur
towards e.c.r
towards santhome
towards guindy
towards lighthouse kottur MRTS
Kasthuribhai
MRTS
LB Road
// There are five major access points in the study
area. There are three
MRTS stations ,Kasturibai nagar station, Indranagar
and Kotturpuram station, Madhyakailash Bus stop ,
Adyar bus stop which is a strength to this area.
// All the major roads connect to Central Building
District of Chennai.
towards
Besant
Nagar
u r b a nd e s i g n s t u d i o
g r o u p 1 : m a d h y a k a i l a s h
c a y s e r | g e e v a c h a n d a n a | h a r s h i n i | k a v i p r i y a | r a a g h a v i | r o h i t
towards
IndraNagar
tank

5. socio-economic
/ / p o p u l a t i o n d e n s i t y
/ / i n c o m e
/ / v i s u a l c h a r a c t e r
5
Built forms are observed to be denser in Pallipattu where the road widths are found to be only 2m. Along
with population pallipattu seems to be the densest area in the given site with floating population. Kasturib-
ai nagar and Indira nagar are in fair ratio in terms of both built forms and human density. Gandhi nagar is
loosely packed in built forms density along with the human population comparatively. LIG areas of Kottur
are much denser than other areas of Kottur in terms of built form density.
The major occupation sectors falls in the given site
are IT, Business/Corporate, daily wages and others
which includes teaching and other professionals.
Among these business/corporate sectors are ma-
jorly concentrated in Kasturibai nagar and Gandhi
nagar. Pallipattu has majority of IT sector and stu-
dents, and daily wages and other professionals in
less numbers. Kottur is vastly filled by daily wages
and others category.
As Kasturibai nagar and Gandhi nagar has major
Officials/Business/corporate sectors it has major of
High Income Group whereas Indira nagar has Mid-
dle Income group and HIG in equal numbers. Kottur
shares equal numbers of MIG and LIG and pallipat-
tu has predominantly MIG and LIG in few numbers.
gandhi nagar
sardar patel road pallipattu
residence
institute residence residence residencelane lanecommercialservice
lane
sqatters
settlement
sqatters
settlement
narrow
lane
tamilnadu slum clerence board
Housig
service
lane
road way
road set-back residence
kottur
low high low high
HIG
MIG
LIG
u r b a nd e s i g n s t u d i o
g r o u p 1 : m a d h y a k a i l a s h
c a y s e r | g e e v a c h a n d a n a | h a r s h i n i | k a v i p r i y a | r a a g h a v i | r o h i t
population density income group

6. / / t r a f f i c d e n s i t y
/ / p e d e s t r i a n d e n s i t y
/ / o p e n s p a c e
a n a l y s i s6
low lowhigh high
lowhigh
public open space
private open space
traffic density at peak hours traffic density at non peak hours
pedestrian density open spaces
u r b a nd e s i g n s t u d i o
g r o u p 1 : m a d h y a k a i l a s h
c a y s e r | g e e v a c h a n d a n a | h a r s h i n i | k a v i p r i y a | r a a g h a v i | r o h i t

7. a n a l y s i s7/ / c o n t e x t u a l a p p r a i s a l
/ / p e d e s t r i a n p r o x i m i t y
According to URDPFI Guidelines
Space standardsfor road types are
1.Urban Expressway 50-60 m
2.Arterial Road 50-80 m
3.Sub Arterial Road 30-50 m
4.Distributor/Collector Roads 12-30 m
5.Local Street 12-20 m
6.Access Street 6-15m
The Rajiv Gandhi Road which is the major road in the study
area has a road width of 38m which comes under sub-Arterial
road. The other roads were identified as collector, local and
cul-de-sac which had 10m to 12m, 7.5m and 3m widths re-
spectively.
Passenger Car Unit
main connections
area with strong frontages
areas of oppurtunity
poorly defined areas
barriers to movement and links
vistas
potential nodes
pedestrian routes
important buildings
u r b a nd e s i g n s t u d i o
g r o u p 1 : m a d h y a k a i l a s h
c a y s e r | g e e v a c h a n d a n a | h a r s h i n i | k a v i p r i y a | r a a g h a v i | r o h i t
road network contextual appraisal

8. u r b a n s w o t
/ / s t r e n g t h
/ / w e a k n e s s
/ / o p p u r t u n i t y
/ / t h r e a d
d e s i g n s t u d i o
g r o u p 1 : m a d h y a k a i l a s h
c a y s e r | g e e v a c h a n d a n a | h a r s h i n i | k a v i p r i y a | r a a g h a v i | r o h i t
8
Ss t r e n g t h
opportunity t h r e a d
w e a k n e s s
O
W
T
Architectural Issues:
• Improper place making in and around MRTS.
• Lack of Pedestrian walkways.
• Narrow roads in Pallipattu – Inadequate Parking Areas.
• Dense built environment in Pallipattu – lack of ventilation.
Social issues:
• Ground water salinity.
• Contamination of Ground Water because of Buckingham Ca-
nal
• Lack in maintenance of MRTS stations.
• Garbage dumps in streets and along Buckingham canal.
• Floating Population in Pallipattu
• Buckingham Canal can be revitalised for Recreation
and Potable water.
• Adaptive reuse of MRTS stations
• Encroachments along Buckingham Canal
• Increasing Floating Population in Pallipattu areas
URDPFI Guidelines:
TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT
• Highly intensive Residential Develop-
ment – Need for Bicycle lanes
• Maximum Land area by use:
RESIDENTIAL AREA:
Analysis based on proportion of total built up
area used for dwelling units.
 The value should be 80% or more.
Inference from Study: 86% of our study area is
Primarily Residential.
RESIDENTIAL AREAS FOR EWS:
 10% of land under residential develop-
ment to be allocated.
Inference: 15% of the community belongs to
EWS.
COMMERCIAL AREA:
10% of developed land area should be for
commercial purposes.
Inference: 10% of Land Area is used as com-
mercial areas.
COMMERCIAL AREA FOR EWS:
5% of land under commercial development to
be allocated.
Inference: Only 2% of the land is allocated
INSTITUTIONAL AREA:
5% of developed land area.
Inference: 5% is allocated for Institutions.
ROAD:
10% of developed land area.
Inference:
12% of land is used as roads.
FUNCTIONAL OPEN SPACES:
10% of developed land area.
Inference:
20% of Land area allocated.
THRESHOLD ANALYSIS:
Limitation encountered by towns to their ex-
pansion due to physiographic fea
tures, existing land use and technology of in-
frastructure.
Inference from study:
Encroachments along Buckingham canal – In-
dira Nagar
Floating population in Pallipattu areas.
Squatter development in Kottur area
• Proximity to amenities. Eg. Institutions, Hospitals etc.,
• Madhya Kailash Temple – Heritage asset to the location
• Dense green cover along roads.
• Transport nodes at nearest proximity.

9. u r b a n p r o p o s a l
/ / o b j e c t i v e s
/ / g u i d e l i n e s
/ / s i t e j u s t i f i c a t i o n
d e s i g n s t u d i o
g r o u p 1 : m a d h y a k a i l a s h
c a y s e r | g e e v a c h a n d a n a | h a r s h i n i | k a v i p r i y a | r a a g h a v i | r o h i t
9
// To create a pedestrian oriented design by prioriting walking, cycling and
public transport, and minimise the need to use cars in residential zones
// To refine the dead spaces by sculpting an attractive, well-maintained appear-
ance, with a distinct sense of place and a quality public realm that is easily maintained
// To consign connectivity and permeability by providing conve-
nient access between and within areas, particularly to larger communi-
ty and commercial facilities and to places of work and recreational spaces
// To enhance and protect the natural resources of the site, the design process should
consider what levels of permeability are appropriate for different street users, with per-
meability for pedestrians and cyclists taking precedence over permeability for vehicles.
// To reduce transport density the greater consideration should be giv-
en to pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users. In many instances,
all users can comfortably share the same street network.
// Promote Mass Transport and make our study area a pedestri-
an friendly and integrate different modes of transport viz. road and rail.
// Adding to the existing green spaces addtional green ar-
eas has to be interconnected with the pedestrian walkways
// Activities of the informal sector shall be accommodated at specif-
ic designated areas within the planning areas. The scattered green de-
velopment in the site and the water front development can be integrat-
ed by connecting it through areas of access, thus can be used efficiently.
// Buckingham canal can be restored, widened and the encroachment
can be evacuated. Thus making it potential site for recreational activities.
// Kasturiba Nagar and Indira Nagar MRTS stations being poten-
tial transport nodes of the study area can be adequately used by pro-
moting commercial activities within the stations, thereby attracts people.
// Kasturiba Nagar and Indira Nagar shall exploit its vast potential for wa-
ter front development. Quality urban spaces and landmarks shall be developed
// Planned efforts shall be adopted to address the requirements of the float-
ing population in the city, which shall include reduction in the need for the com-
muting population to commute daily for work and services within the city region.
// Pallipattu which is the major area with floating population shall be given im-
petus for further growth to arrest the influx of floating population to the city
and also to provide opportunities for the other areas in the region to develop.
// Flyovers , subways, underground bicycle tracks , Moving walk ways could be in-
troduced to reduce the traffic density resulted due to improper provison of lanes.
objectives
guide lines
pedestrian oriented design
place making and public realm
built-form and transport density
Pedestrian Oriented Development
Public realm
place making
built
form
building
line
path
way
cycle
way
carriage way median
built forms
green nodes
promenade
b u c k i n g h a m
canal
commercial
spaces
parking spaces
lanscaped
areas
recreational
activities
walking
track
recreational
activities
recreational
activities

10. u r b a n p r o p o s a l
/ / p r o p o s a l s
/ / d e s i g n i n t e n t
/ / s p a t i a l p r o g r a m s
d e s i g n s t u d i o
g r o u p 1 : m a d h y a k a i l a s h
c a y s e r | g e e v a c h a n d a n a | h a r s h i n i | k a v i p r i y a | r a a g h a v i | r o h i t
10
The design intent is to restore the buckingham canal and revitalise the present MRTS
stations along with the fringe by providing community facilities. This decentralisation of
activity will help us to reduce the transport density. This also result in the conservation of
the built and the natural forms.
The design intent is to integrate the open spaces with the pedestrian pathways with dif-
ferent activities in each zone to accomdate the facility of that particular area. This help
us to create public realm with different place making concepts.
Site : Present Kottur, Kasthuribhai and
Indira Nagar MRTS stations
Site Area : 2.1 Km stretch
Requirements :
MRTS
- Ticket counter
- Admin office
- Primary commercial shops
- Temporary stalls
- Multi-use hall
- Screens
- Parking
- Public toilets
- Exhibition halls
Along Canal
- Cafe
- Amphitheatre
- Cycle track
- Parking
- Jogging track
- Meditation space
- Banquet halls
- Admin office
- Seating
- Semiopen library
- Children play area
Requirements
- Cafe
- Amphitheatre
- Cycle track
- Parking
- Jogging track
- Meditation/yoga/exercise space
- Banquet halls
- Admin office
- Seating
- Semiopen library
- Children play area
- Public toilets
proposal 1
proposal 2