Visions 2047

Visions 2047: India in its 100^th Year of Independence

A hundred-year time continuum from 1947 to 2047 is but a single pulse in the life of India’s many millennia old Urbanism. Stretching from the archaeological sites of planned ancient cities to the thriving contemporary metropolis, an astounding variety of city typologies are found in this sub-continent. Many of these cities were organic while the others were planned according to texts. However, from 1947 onwards the rules of the game have changed. Within the framework of a democratic policy, modern town planning has taken on a highly consequential role in mediating change in the Indian city. Operating from the secure pedestal of governmental protection, planned development has managed to contain some of the run-away forces of urban growth while ignoring many others, leading to a highly inequitable, skewed development.

This has pushed many an Indian city to a schizoid condition. Most cities in India today have their soul vested in a degenerating old core, bereft of any investment into its urban fabric while new areas and suburbs in the same cities receive both planning and economic attention. Besides, sea fronts, rivers, lakes and canals, which were the lifeline of most Indian cities, have also suffered a parallel fate under mainstream development process. Similarly, the plight of the urban poor both in areas of shelter and livelihood, has received scant attention in the last six decades.

These compelling issues have engaged many urban design professionals across India. Often on their own steam, they have sought solutions to these through projects. In the space that was left vacant in the mainstream planning process, these professional have dared to enter. The indomitable dreamer, the incurable idealist, the urban adventurer who dared to wander into the public domain, the ambitious who wants to conquer the city, and the well meaning reformer, everyone has made plans to fill the gap in the developmental process. Many schemes have been drawn up, sometimes with visions too early for time, sometimes out of step with local politics and more often without anyone to back the scheme financially. This exhibition packages over 50 such projects divided into five categories to readdress the community, government and the promoter. The projects themselves are seen here not as finite entities in chronology but as an essential spirit of change which opens up future possibilities, pushing towards a fervent, people / nature-centered urbanism.

How would the Indian city grow in the next 40 years? A hundred years of independence should liberate our cities from strife, reinforce the democratic ideals that the Nation holds so dear, ensure a minimum quality of life and dignity for all its citizens and become the fertile springs of urban culture for all humanity. Morphology of the new city may yield from a compact, high-density form, low on carbon emissions and wasteful consumption and high on inventive new technologies that liberate the human spirit from the violence of limitless competition with nature.

Now the economic mood is upbeat, investments are pouring into Indian cities.
The recent government initiative towards urban renewal through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission has intensions to address the three vital areas of neglect, the inner city, city water interface and the prospect of providing for the urban poor, while negotiating the future. With its massive investment of the Rs 100,000 crores into 63 cities within 2012, the National Urban Renewal Mission is perhaps the first opportunity for our cities to gain some equilibrium. A massive multiplier effect is bound to follow in the form of private investments. It would throw up a number of opportunities for the Indian city to reinvent itself. This exhibition focuses precisely on these themes from the perspective of the urban design professionals.

CATEGORIES

1. Inner City Renewal
2. Waterfront Development
3. Regeneration of canals and riverine systems
4. Renewal of housing for the poor
5. Urban Extensions
6. Future City Panels.