The Hindu 18.12.2013
Urban Arts Commission model may solve housing, parking issues
The Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) has come up with a
template for urban planning for the national Capital which, it asserts,
addresses the issues of housing and infrastructure deficit,
unauthorised constructions,
in situ
rehabilitation of slums, creating more green and open spaces and transit oriented development.
The
template based on a dozen studies carried out across various urban
scenarios was presented to the Union Urban Development Ministry on
Monday and the DUAC says can be replicated in town and cities across the
country.
“These three dimensional studies are a way
forward; the Master Plan only stipulates, these studies are based on
ground realities, they are an example of what can be done to solve the
housing and infrastructure problems, cleaning and beautifying the city
and laying out a plan for allowing more floor area ration in some areas
where expansion can be vertical,” said Commission chairperson Raj Rewal.
Carried
out over six months using a special fund released by the Ministry, the
studies examine site-specific design for wards, rehabilitation of
unauthorised and slums clusters, potential for high rise development
along Metro corridors, rejuvenation of gardens and greens, and a unified
building by-laws for the city.
A study on the slum
cluster of Mohammadpur Village in Delhi where houses stand cheek by jowl
with little or no provisions for sewage removal, open areas or even
streetlights shows how with a turn-around can be achieved by
in situ
rehabilitation.
“In Kalkaji vegetable mandi for
instance, a three-level parking can take 700 haphazardly parked cars off
the road. There is enough space to build a parking and once that gets
ready problems like traffic congestion, road bottlenecks will be solved
and the area can be aesthetically developed,” Mr. Rewal said.
Proposals
for pedestrian and cycling tracks, interconnecting parks and gardens
and providing recreational facilities and food courts have also been
made.
“Land pooling is an answer to freeing up spaces
that can be used for community development and reorganising urban
spaces. There is paucity of land and there has been talk of going
vertical, so we have suggested that high-rises can be built along
transit corridors where floor area ratio can be higher and developers
can be incentivised,” he said.