WestConnex of Sydney, Australia

WestConnex is a major road infrastructure project under construction in Sydney, Australia. The plan is to build more than 30 Kms of road network which will connect two existing highways passing through City of Sydney. The amazing part is that most of these road connections are underground in form of tunnels, even the complex Rozelle interchange. Below map will give an idea of the extent of development for just this one part. The dotted lines are proposed underground roads.

Rozelle Interchange in Sydney

Sydney is a spectacularly beautiful city set in one of the most beautiful natural settings in the world. Much of the central part is old and dense. Few separate highways pass through the city center but they are now falling short with increasing traffic and population. It is in these parts that separate highways need to be connected to each other. Further, the highways going towards west and south need expansion. The city could have built all these roads over-ground or as elevated highways but then it would have ruined the beauty and charm of old neighborhoods, not to mention the impact it would have had on the vistas for which Sydney is so famous for.

Bays and views of Sydney

World over it has been seen that major highway projects cutting through cities and old neighborhoods tend to create an adverse impact on the divided/destroyed areas. The cost for building predominantly underground highways is huge but one needs to consider the long term impact which is what Sydney has astutely done. Similar developments are also underway in Melbourne. One needs to note that there is no dearth of land in Australia. The cities can expand as much as they want and more new roads can be built. Yet a cautious approach is visible in its major cities when it comes to urban development and creating density. There is a push for medium density apartment dwelling to accommodate the swelling population in Sydney in and around the city. New highways are few and when they're built, care is taken that they do not damage the existing neighborhoods in established parts of the city.

The project reminds of Mumbai Coastal Road Project which is similar project proposed to alleviate congestion on the western periphery of the island city. But most of the route, at least in South Mumbai has been proposed overland by the means of land reclamation, along the west coast of the city. Many of these areas house old and beautiful sea facing neighborhoods or bays which will be completely lost to road network. Consider Mahalaxmi temple precinct. The current temple access to the sea where the waves lash on the small but beautiful promenade will now instead have a road behind it. The Haji Ali bay will become a road interchange which will put end to the bay as we know it today.

Proposed Haji Ali interchange

Cities have to price of such blunders for years to come. Bigger roads and highways bring more pollution to the already choked up areas prompting the residents to leave to quiet and clean zones. In case of Mumbai better road infrastructure is absolutely necessary but why not be a little bit bold and creative and literally bury the roads underground. The huge costs will be offset in the years to come by the quality and connectivity they will bring to the entire areas along which the highway is proposed. If there is any place in India where higher infrastructure costs could be justified it would be Mumbai.

Cities like Sydney are setting an example where no road is considered too large or too long to be put underground. Facilities and transportation infrastructure is essential but not at the cost of people and neighborhoods for whom it is built.

Nawabi nostalgia

I must say I was impressed by the setting and cinematography of the recent movie Dedh Ishqiya. The fading Begum Para and her crumbling mansion have been beautifully portrayed in the movie. The movie made me wonder and imagine the life and times of Nawabs of Awadh region. Legacy of Nawabs of Awadh is their contribution towards development of arts, crafts, language a unique culture.

Mahmudabad Palace, Mahmudabad, U.P.

Mahmudabad palace close to Luckhnow provides a fitting backdrop for the movie. This particular Qila or Kothi as they call it is a whopping 67,650 square feet (6,285 square meters) in size. The is a part of twenty acre complex comprising of private gardens and lakes. The Kothi played an important role during the Indian uprising of 1857, and was completely destroyed by the British. It rebuilt immediately thereafter using the original plinth.

The present heir of the property fought a 32 year long battle to regain the control of property lost after independence due to various acts and ordinances. The sheer size of the property has made conservation difficult, especially since the parts of the building have been unused for 50 years and the combination of neglect, aging and seismic damage have further exacerbated the problems. As this wmf link states, the site is emblematic of the plight of many still privately owned 18th and 19th century palaces,for which the size and scale make conservation difficult. 

The art director has beautifully transformed the palace and its interior in the movie. Whether it is the grand hall, or the living quarters of the begum or the beautifully lighted outdoors area where the mushayra competition is staged. The sepia tone of the palace and interiors subtly enhances its age while adding to the old charm. Many such palaces lie in various states of disrepair all over the country. Many may have even vanished to make way for modern development. My only hope is the local governments and more importantly the people take initiative to identify and restore such beautiful monuments which stand as a testimony to our history. I hope such architectural legacies will find a place in our ever expanding urban environments.

And yes, Mads is stunning in the movie! So go watch it!

Links for further reading:
http://www.uppercrustindia.com/posts/52/The-Riyasat-Of-Raja-Mehmoodabad

http://news.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/sep/07/slide-show-1-the-love-and-lament-of-raja-of-mahmoodabad.htm#6

http://www.rajamahmudabad.com/gallery/

Thoughts on future: NaMo's vision of 100 new cities

Recently in a rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, Narendra Modi, the future PM of India talked about his vision for the nation. He talked about creating 100 new cities in the country where concepts such as smart cities, specialized cities such as health cities, sport cities as well as twin city concepts, satellite towns etc.

India today stands at a cusp of an era of development and growth. The population is going to drive India to become a superpower in coming decades. Indian cities will see unprecedented growth in the years to come and the key to success lies in thoughtfully planned developments rather than the uncontrolled growth patterns we have witnessed in past few decades.

Big vision plans needs to be prepared for such a venture which will identify and outline creation of such new towns, redevelopment of existing towns and implementing other concepts such as twin cities etc. This is necessary to ensure an equitable development, keeping in mind the role of environment. Such vision plan would also be necessary to bring different stakeholders on the same page.

We should make sure not to imitate the Chinese model which has brought about huge development at the cost of destruction of environment and the imposing a modern rationale and eradicating the existing palimpsest of culture and old urban settlements.

Presently 75% greenhouses gases are created by cities worldwide. It would be absolutely imperative that all these new cities are sustainable. This means innovative ideas for commute, work and in general the way we live need to be set up.

We need to take steps to ensure urban planning as a field is institutionalized in India. We should set up new research centers at a few key universities in the country which can bring about innovative urban ideas. Probably instead of creating a gigantic Mumbai of 36 million (population projection for 2050) or other big metros such as Delhi, small towns around these cities and even in the hinterlands could be created which will provide opportunities to the people in the areas and thwart overcrowding.

In many cases we could revitalize some of our old towns and the plan for growth around them which will take in to consideration their history, the settlement form and the climate. For instance, the small towns in Maharashtra are still much different than say small towns in Gujarat, which have evolved as a result of local climate and tradition. Such nuances in city planning need to be studied and applied while planning for the expansion or new towns.

A street scene in Junagadh, Saurashtra, Gujarat

Old towns such as Bijapur in Karnataka, or Junagadh in Saurashtra similar to many towns in Rajasthan still bear a strong cultural flair which transcends in the architecture and settlement patterns. Any new plans for expansion of such towns should consider these factors before planning for growth. Different urban design guidelines should be created for different towns. One formula for all cannot be a solution as is the case today.

Experimentation:
Experimentation could be a major component in all these new towns. Many different themes such as bike share, sustainable living, solar power, industrial make ups, mixed uses, garden cities etc. could be experimented at various levels. Vikram Soni, a noted UGC Physics professor from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi has come up with a concept of 'Natural Cities'. Such cities will be self sufficient and aims at providing a certain quality of life of its residents. Although widely criticized by planners and architects for a number of reasons, it outlines a completely different vision for future.

Non-architects and non-planners should also be encouraged to participate and come up radical concepts which could be partly or fully incorporated in different new town plans. Of course not to mention the importance of studying planning ideas and precedents world wide such as Masdar City or bike friendly towns of The Netherlands and Denmark.

India with all its problems and paradoxes presents a great opportunity to set a new paradigm for the future of humanity. In our means to address problems of population and poverty lie the answers to the future. 

2012 – A year of Protests

A very interesting year indeed! And as always a happening one for India.

We could easily call it a year of protests. On a good note it was a year of rising awareness. People or rather the aam aadmi stepped out on the streets standing against the corruption, or demanding justice as in the case of rape victim. This is probably in the long time that people have been consistently protesting the malfunctioning of government. It is also in a long time that youth has stepped out on the streets demanding a change. 2012 has infused a hope for the forthcoming year. Hopefully 2013 sees the final fall of UPA and Congress.

I wish for a healthy, wealthy and successful 2013 for us all! 

Latest addition to Pune ring-road: A bridge over Khadakwasla backwaters

If the existing ring road plan is not enough, now the government has planned to build an 1850 meters long bridge over one of the last few pristine areas on the fringes of the city. It will join the villages of Sangrun and Khadakwasla over water.

A bridge will span the Khadakwasla lake

A metro has been proposed parallel to the ring road. Over 6000 acres of land will have to be acquired, for which an estimated 2848 crore rupees would be required. The road construction would cost approximately 10408 crores (Maharashtra Times, 24th November 2012). The FSI along the ring road will be 1.75 instead of the regular 0.75. Since the development has metro back up, an 1.75 FSI according to me is quite less. Why not increase it further to 2 , 3 or even 4 for certain parts? A good master plan should be prepared which proposes an increase and decrease of FSI loading considering the geography, location advantage etc to create high and density development. Certain areas such as the hills and mountains should be preserved as open spaces. The balance FSI of these open spaces can be loaded over the more buildable land to achieve the FSI target.

Building a ring road is not going to be enough. The connectivity to and from the city to the ring road must be strengthened. In addition, there is an opportunity to create large accessible open spaces and parks along the mountains and hills thereby adding value to surrounding development and conserving the local ecology.

Large open spaces bordered by highrises in Curitiba, Brazil

But in the end there are a bunch of questions about the effectiveness of the scheme.    

Imagine the scale of change resulting from spending even half the proposed money on improving and adding to the existing infrastructure in the city. Some might argue lack of space for further growth in Pune city, but this is a myth. A visionary plan could create ample amount of land for development. many of the 30-40 year old developments could be redeveloped with much higher FSI after improving the existing infrastructure. Instead of building more roads along the river and other sensitive environments, beautiful promenades and parks could be created.

Apart from a little bit of vision, this needs tremendous political will. A ring road could ensure more growth for the town but not necessarily improve the quality of life for the inner city residents. And what’s the use of growth if it can only benefit a few?

PMC's approach towards pedestrian safety

Pedestrian Bridge near Mrityunjayeshwar temple, Pune

In an effort towards increasing pedestrian safety, the PMC (Pune Municipal Corporation) is planning more and more pedestrian bridges and underpasses (subways) on major traffic arteries in the city. Sadly in the prime story feature in Sakal newspaper, the author highlights the limited success of such projects. He says that except in places like Pune station and SNDT on Karve Road, such bridges or subways have limited use, despite installing elevators. [Article: पादचाऱ्यांच्या सुरक्षेसाठी सरसावली पालिका]

One cannot deny a simple fact. Crossing a road at grade takes minimum effort and saves energy than climbing and descending stairs. Moreover due security hazards in subways, some such as the one near Dahanukar circle are simply locked up at night. Even people might avoid crossing the lonely pedestrian bridges at night due to safety issues. Thus subways and pedestrian bridges should be constructed only in high pedestrian and vehicular traffic zones such as railway stations, universities, major highway crossings etc.

Guangzhou China, pedestrian bridges with escalators.

Another viable alternative could be taking the road below grade and creating tunnel such as the one near Sancheti hospital. In Guangzhou, China, pedestrian bridges with escalators have been installed around the BRTS routes to increase efficiency. More often they connect the pedestrians directly to the malls or places of activity on the other side as shown in this picture.  (Although a costly option) I think the usage could go up if escalators provided instead of lifts since providing lifts is not an incentive enough given the waiting time and patience during rush hours. 

Yet the best solution near Mrityunjayeshwar temple or the subway near Dahanukar circle would have been to make at grade pedestrian crossing safer with installation of zebra crossings and other markers.  

With BRT lines being laid out on many arteries throughout the city, it is likely that Punekars will be seeing many more pedestrian bridges and subways in the near future. It is important to study the future proposals in detail in terms of its usage and importance to the public. Otherwise it is a likely waste of tax payers’ money. Perhaps something more meaningful could have been done in the same funds, such as improving the footpaths, adding footpaths on streets where they are needed thereby making a real effort towards pedestrian safety than some pretentious measures.    

To conclude, I’d like to say and hope that the Punekars push for a better and safer environment for the kids and the old people in the city. Prioritizing pedestrians and people in general over vehicles is the need of the hour for Indian cities.

Pune Ring-road plan: No way out

A ring road for Pune has been sanctioned. It is a whopping 118 km in length, six lanes, two lane service road on either side,  12 flyovers,  4 railway bridges, 7 big bridges over valleys, 14 subways, and 13 tunnels (Source: Ringroad article, Sakal Property supplement, 19/5/12 by Santosh Shaligram).

Overtly looking at the present situation with congestion the ringroad sounds necessary. But let’s look at the proposal in detail. Take a look at the map below. I mapped it in Google Earth based on the description and map in the original article.

Proposed Ringroad for Pune 

The grey area is the actual urbanized area of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. The yellow line towards the left of the city is the NH4 bypass. Most of the proposed ring road passes through villages and small towns way beyond the city development and the border.

There is no doubt that the road will provide a huge impetus for growth in the small towns like Alandi, Loni Kalbhor etc. But how is this going to help decongest the already built out areas within the Pune city? Only a fraction of people currently living in the city will move out to these areas. Most of the growth will be due to migrants from other towns in the state and beyond. De-congestion is given as one of the prime reasons in the article for the proposal of ring road. If one studies examples of other cities which have built ring roads, one will understand how and if they have really helped decongest the city itself. Sadly the answer is NO.

Ahmedabad is a classic example of ring road development. It is built over a period of time over a series of ring roads. Yet the city itself is as congested as ever. Still one could argue that it works for Ahmedabad not for the decongestion reasons but as a way to accommodate future growth.

Ahmedabad and Pune are different in one main respect. Topography. Being in the hilly Maval region, Pune is bound on the west by the Sahyadri mountains. This means you cannot impose a ring road and the kind of all over development generates around it. In this proposal, the south-west section of the ringroad, passes through hills and forest department land and is going to be a threat to the environment (refer map).

Proposed ringroad over the hilly region in the south and west

It is more likely to cause leapfrog development. Further, the article does not discuss if and whether the new land is going to be re-planned for development through mechanisms such as town planning schemes. There is a big chance that the new development will look like the banal concrete towers and unplanned sprawl which one witnesses around the NH4 bypass today. One also needs to consider the additional cost of planting other infrastructure such as water,  sewage and electricity lines which would need to be extended up to the ring road zone. Ahmedabad ring road development plan has incorporated town planning schemes as well.
   

Let me make my point clear. I am not against a ring road. I am against the problems it is set to address. ‘Congestion’ being the prime one. The more roads we build the more traffic they will generate. This is an established fact. People tend to buy more personal vehicles and travel more generating more traffic than the designed capacities creating need for expansion of the roads or building new ones. One can notice that many roads in the old city have been expanded and yet congestion has remained or has in fact increased.

In a fast urbanizing country like India with a huge population, building new roads will never really solve the problem of congestion in the cities. Contrary to this belief, the only answer is creating denser, compact centers and nodes in the city interconnected by quality mass transit such as metro rail, BRT, feeder buses. The personal transport should primarily compose of bicycles than two wheelers or cars. This means designing the cities for people than for the personal vehicles. Many European and even American cities are trying to realign their road network towards such sustainable transit options.


Now the question of accommodating future growth is a critical issue and needs to be handled with extreme sensitivity in the Indian urban context. Ring roads are certainly not the best way. This is a time tested and proven fact. Ideally, a city like Pune should set up an urban growth boundary. This will ensure quality life and amenities for its residents. The growth can be redirected to the surrounding smaller towns such as Daund which has rail connectivity to Pune or Saswad, Rajgurunagar etc. which can be connected via better rail or public transport. This option is much different and sustainable than building a 118 km long ring road for the city to leap out of bounds. It also could be an ideal solution for a city surrounded by hills and mountains like Pune. From an urban real estate point of view as well it could work better with good opportunity for development in the surrounding towns. In future, all these surrounding towns could be considered as a part of metro Pune.

I am talking of development and expansion as well but in a very different sense. The roads surrounding the congested city center and other areas could be unified and the connections can be made smoother to be designated as ring roads, which in real sense would help alleviate congestion.  

As of now it looks like the biggest beneficiaries of the ring road are going to be the developers.