A Syncretic Pathway to Urban Rejuvenation

Only when humans are again permitted to build authentic urbanism - those cities, towns, and villages that nurture us by their comforts and delights - will we cease the despoiling of Nature by escaping to sprawl. - Andres Duany, Urban Planner

There is a push towards modernizing Indian cities. Let us look at the nature of this thrust and what India can learn from other countries that have traversed the ‘high modern’ pathway.

Baron von Haussmann, a prefect (similar to a district magistrate in India) in France, started the large-scale practice of modernism when he received a mandate to ‘regularize’ Paris. In the 1840s, this urban renewal program involved demolishing congested properties in the inner city and replacing them with a series of long, regular streets containing large apartments with shops and offices located on the first floor.

People labeled this extensive process of demolishing and re-creating existing cities as Haussmannisation, and it became a byword for massive urban renewal in the United States after World War II.

Concerns about congestion and overcrowding reached a fever pitch in the United States in the first decade of the 20th century. The strategy involved demolishing existing structures and moving residents away from the city center. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Federal Government took up urban renewal as a program and cleared about 1,000 square miles of urban land. This action displaced about 20 lakh people living in 6 lakh houses.

This soon generated a backlash that was vividly captured in the now-famous contestation between Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs.

Robert Moses, the head of planning for New York City from 1934 to 1960, transformed New York City by building numerous highways, bridges, tunnels, public housing units, playgrounds, and parks, earning the title “master builder.” In contrast, Jane Jacobs wrote an influential book in urban planning, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. In this book, she challenged the short sightedness of modern urban planning and used her observations and experiences to conclude what makes a good, safe, livable, and desirable city.

The flashpoint occurred when they planned to develop a 10-lane elevated highway that would cut through areas like Washington Square Park, demolishing numerous buildings and displacing thousands of families and businesses. Protests by a Joint Committee chaired by Jane Jacobs ultimately scrapped the plan.

Moses represents the modern version of city planning, while Jacobs stands for the post-modern view that focuses on sufficient density of people and buildings, a mix of old and new buildings, and strengthening residents through policies that support their needs and reinforce social ties.

Presently, India relies on the tools of modernism to develop cities, which must be complemented with post-modern ones.

Sociologist and urban planner Patrick Geddes explored post-modern practices in Indian cities as far back as 1915, when he prepared rejuvenation plans for 18 Indian cities, including Tanjore, Madurai, Balrampur (see plan in endnote), Lucknow, and Indore.

Applying some of Geddes’ ideas to Indian cities would mean mapping the existing conditions (“diagnostic survey”) of mohallas followed by “conservative surgery”. Conservative treatment means upgrading mohallas by incurring minimal financial and human costs. Possible elements could include: 10% of electricity supply coming from solar, adequate water supply including wastewater recycling and stormwater reuse, sanitation including solid waste management, rainwater harvesting, smart metering, pedestrian-friendly pathways, encouragement to non-motorized transport (e.g., walking and cycling), non-vehicle streets/zones, smart parking, energy-efficient street lighting, innovative use of open spaces, and ensuring the safety of citizens, especially women and the elderly.

This syncretic pathway to urban rejuvenation - big, bold efforts (zoom-out) to reduce congestion and overcrowding at a city-wide scale going hand-in-hand with small-scale mohalla (zoom-in) improvements - exemplifies neo-traditional development.

Endnote: