1. 11/12/12 PlanningUrbanORegional: For those who are very fond of Urban Axis…
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For those who are very fond of Urban Axis…
Diluting significance of urban Axis due to land constraint and transit UrbanORegional on Twitter
retrofits?? Follow
UrbanORegional has 4,904 Followers
At times you see someone being possessive or
rather poetic about linearity of city architecture
and geometry of urban fabric, being very DA O U D47 jeancroro sengulc lilmama34tk w adi_com
peculiar about alignment of streets and visual
axis, there is fair chance that he or she is an
Architect and if you see someone rather allisonelfxoxo E liatcoachdaddy LA N YP O MM arjie_G irl deborahy ela
ME BO
sentimental or defensive about all this affair of
axis and orientation, there is strong probability
that you are interacting with an Urban Designer. You can Follow me on Twitter
Of course laymen also appreciate the beauty of Follow @UrbanORegional
carefully planned urban fabric and thoughtful positioning of landmark
structures and public plazas etc. knowingly or unknowingly, they even
travel faraway lands to witness the glory and charm of historic cities and
as well as modern metropolitan cities and certainly formulas of urban
patterns and axis have great contribution in the making of a wonderful
city as proven historically.
Let’s try to understand the quantum shift in the approach of city planning
and redevelopment from couple of centuries back till today not to speak
of future trend and try to analyze the “still un-deviated” intellectual
affection for urban geometry specially axis call it inertia or stubbornness
or whatever. All this in the light of mounting pressure of traffic; growing,
busy and occupied population, all this in a city which is struggling
everyday just to survive functionally that very day while managing the
damage and backlog of many yesterdays. In a city which is going on a
path very different than what perceived originally because of its changing
priorities and unperceived growth, specifically in terms of transit
requirements. Share 0 More Next Blog» Create Blog Sign In
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2. 11/12/12 PlanningUrbanORegional: For those who are very fond of Urban Axis…
When Lutyen Delhi was perceived originally no one would have imagined
that this very city is going to grow so much so soon that one day it will
need a mass rapid transit system (MRTS) or may be more, like integrated
transport system as we call it, no one thought that it will need
“flyovers”? subways?? Underground transport!! Are you kidding? Elevated
tracks, No way!! PRT?? What is that?? Such would have been the
response of architects, Urban Designers and Planners of that time,
someone go ask them, if you will, hire a time machine may be? And
hence they planned wonderful avenues, boulevards, most importantly
urban Axis what started as a core of city. Of course that’s the beauty and
heritage of the city one can be proud of, but as city expanded the
firmness and geometry of those axis and alignments got diluted, which
was due to the race, race of providing accommodation and business to
the exponentially growing population but still without recognizing the
latent growth potential of the city otherwise they wouldn’t have planned
low and medium rise land use in South Delhi and similar spatial positions
at the present intermediate ring of city which they can’t really afford to!
Now the focus shifted from axis to pockets, loosely arranged urban
pockets, based on affordability and all. This diluting axial or otherwise
geometry is also due to retrofitting, retrofitting of transit systems and
development interventions and traffic management measures, like
flyovers, underpass, subways, elevated tract, underground tunnel etc.
We were discussing axis, so let’s stick to the subject for a while. That
colonial urban axis emerged from the need to showcase the extravagant
luxury and prove their capacity, knowledge, authority and aesthetic or
otherwise, while rest of the city fabric which emerged in recent decades
was driven by the necessity to handle growth, priorities were different AUTHOR
and will be different. The colonial axis was bliss to experience, still it is, Anoop Jha
while today’s axis in other parts of city is apparently agonizing an Delhi, India
experience for many most of the time, waiting in a traffic queue today’s View my complete
urban axis gives a view of more than mile long array of crawling vehicles profile
bumper to bumper, again and again, everyday. Array of flashy car tail
lights in the mirage of heat emerging from vehicles! You can’t associate Total Pageviews
this axis with a very pleasant experience. What about aesthetic urban
experience of thousands of those commuting in tens of mile underground
24046
tunnel or organic and maneuvering elevated MRT network? They don’t
really come to witness the extraordinary experience which is historically
associated with planned urban fabric.
Labels
Feelings attached to traditional values and formulas of what an ideal Architecture (79)
urban fabric should be have remained same while the needs and urban City (74)
technologies have moved ahead. People tend to approach and appreciate
Design (39)
modern cities and metropolis on the historically benchmarked cities and
Development (68)
hence this disappointment. These contemporary cities demand a totally
Environment (55)
new approach of planning for preserving and nurturing its aesthetic
Urban and Regional Planning (85)
beauty. What we seem to have achieved very convincingly historically,
Urban Design (19)
since centuries and beyond seems to be a big challenge today. It’s time
Urban Mobility (33)
to shed the nostalgia and comfort of proven urban design formulas and
Urban Planning (122)
get back to drawing sheet to create new age aesthetics for new age
cities in the light of new transit, growth and lifestyle needs and in the
See Author's other blog:
light of emerging and unexpected urban technologies and unexplored
FromtheDiaryofMentor
land use strategies. Though you can’t really design or plan for some
urban technology or strategy which has not been invented or explored
yet, but we can always keep some margin and scope today itself for
future integration and urban retrofit which seem to be inevitable a
phenomenon. Only one thing which is definite here is the growth, so let’s
plan for growth. At least let’s try to acknowledge inevitability of growth
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3. 11/12/12 PlanningUrbanORegional: For those who are very fond of Urban Axis…
today itself, for a better urban future, its aesthetics and character.
All said and done, fact remains that there is something really magical
about the urban axis and it has repeatedly proven its worth and guess
that quantum of our future city planning strategies and spatial
arrangement will still revolve around it.
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