The_New_Landscape_By_Charles_Correa.pdf

In his words, in a t ropical count ry, "space is a resource” . His experiment s have always made full use of t he ambiguous nat ure of space, light and shadow, in a t ropical climate. "Improving the habitat needs visual skills" w rites Charles Correa in his blueprint for change, The New Landscape in w hich he has analyzed t he problems facing t he urban landscape and provided his suggest ions. The lack of planners and the role of architects as experts, rather than executioners in policy and decision making also undermines the proper maintaining and development of a city, he mentioned. Adding further that skyscrapers were not a solution to end the problem of housing in cities like Mumbai and Pune, architect Correa endorsed the traditional way of building houses as they were affordable and provided better living conditions. In many of his published articles he has explained how low rise typical developments in countries like India, Pakistan or Bangladesh can achieve a certain density in urban development. By his word high density area doesn't mean containing high-rises. Rather high-rises often reduce the job opportunity of unskilled floating urban population. urbanization New phenomena Mass migration in urban areas Squatter : anti social element Urban center :growing twice as fast as over all population Distress migration: pull of big city lights-marginal earners [land less labor] Housing: a very low priority on their list of needs. they want to be where their job are. Solutions are complex Distress migration Solution 01: land redistribution and social reform in villages Increase holding capacity Solution 02: identify key market towns, appropriate investment New growth centers Solution 03: all new industry ,Government buildings Locate on small and middle sized cities Crucial role of our town and cities Developers Architects and Engineers Large High rise Building PROFIT BANKS Construction companies Pattern of development in old city centers of third world Masons Bazar sector Carpenters Petty Contractors Small tightly packed Building, 4-5 storied Spread Employment opportunity BENIFIT Not perceived by the decision makers WIDER SEGMENT OF POPULATION Political Favoritism Increase economic activity in the territory to find work of the migrants Physical form of the city is important to achieve the aim Bureaucratic Corruption Re adjust the pressure point in existing city structure by generate Urban land Serviced by public transport Related to work opportunities New growth centers Re –structuring the CITY space as resource Key to Correa’s design approach is his understanding of the unique cultural requirements and needs of his native country. He recognizes that living in an Asian city requires much more than the use of a small room. In a 1987 book focused on his work, Correa said, “Such a cell is only one element in a whole system of spaces people need in order to live.” He identifies this hierarchical system as consisting of four major elements: space needed by the family for private use [A], areas of intimate contact [B](e.g. the front doorstep where children play), neighborhood spaces [C], like a water tap, and urban area open space [D] used by the whole city. analogue of a system Covered space and Open to sky spaces Elements are mutually inter-dependent neighborhood spaces [C] Enclosed room Verandahs Usability coefficients Pergola covered terraces Tree shaded courtyard Open to sky space Production cost Optimal pattern and density of housing Use of open to sky spaces Territorial privacy Function restricted Ground floor Many purposes including sleeping Two storeys Cooking Five storeys Children to play in Ten storeys Parking lot Surrounding buildings get taller Disaggregate the numbers: breaking up into component parts Five to ten stories: Children to play in or parking lot Two stories: Cooking Re-establishing land-use allocations equity High rises, high expenses, high maintenance Income Status Space differential Family size Pattern of high density low rise housing Equity plots Egalitarian urban society Crucial advantages of low rise housing 01. It is incremental 02. It has great variety 03. This pattern is sensitive 04. It makes for speedier provision of housing 05. It has much shorter construction period 06. No need of high priority construction materials 07. Renewability 08. Maintenance is easier. Cluster of 7 houses Housing at Belpur, India Master plan Cluster of 3 x 7 houses Clusters of 3 x 3 x 7 houses courtyard Court yard Court yard Open space Court yard community space Court yard Open space Community space Court yard Open space Spatial hierarchy Largest community space Typology of house use forms Incrementality Income generation services Hierarchy of space mobility Bi-cycle Individual mobility Low capital investment Energy-sane & pollution free Bi-cycle Path Public transport system Bi-cycle is Fundamental mode of transportation Employment centers Housing areas Travel distance & cost Pattern of work dwellings mix Different transport system Different cost/capacity Hierarchy of transport system Pattern of work dwellings mix Mode of transportations in & around the city Mode of transportations A large, densely populated metropolitan city like Dhaka cannot function without a welldeveloped system linking all population centers by fast, safe and cheap means of transport.. In 2004, the World Bank funded a $177 million Strategic Transport Plan to improve transport services for the city's 10 million residents. This program is upgrading the city's extensive transportation network by developing an updated urban transport policy and a long-term strategic plan; encouraging improved inter modal transfers; resurfacing major urban corridors as well as non-motorized traffic lanes; introducing improved parking and zoning regulations; strengthening vehicle registration and driver licensing procedures; and phasing out polluting vehicles. The recommended plan places special emphasis on the integration of land use and improved zoning. A key element of the plan was reducing accidents and improving traffic flow by separating fast and slower moving traffic. To accomplish this, the plan created separate lanes for Dhaka's traditional rickshaws and developed more than 175 kilometers of pedestrian footways, resulting in a significant reduction in congestion and collisions. Berger also focused on improving bus service and other inter modal connections. Ad-hoc measures will not suffice; without a well-planned Mass Rail Transit (MRT) system and other public transport systems, traffic jam in Dhaka simply cannot be mitigated. Also, elevated expressway and subway projects must not be taken up before the mass transit is finalized as the expressways normally cross over the elevated train route. We must not repeat the mistake of Mohakhali flyover; had it been 4-6 meters higher, the train line below could easily have been elevated and, in some places, pedestrian over-bridges could have been built to pass below. For the MRT, we may make best use of our existing rightof-way and other infrastructure. Outlines of some probable solutions (absent in the sketchy STP) which should be taken up on a priority basis are given below for urgent government consideration great CITY….terrible place Most great cities were terrible places, he said, but their inhabitants were sustained by the myth, the overall image with which a city's identity is inextricably fused. The key to handling urban expansion, Correa insisted, was not decentralization and dispersal to rural hinterlands, but increasing 'the absorptive capacity' of the metropolitan conglomeration. In Bombay - which has reached a population of 14 million and, like most Indian cities, is set to double in the next 20 years - he said nothing has been done about restructuring the city (not quite true, in light of the New Bombay initiative for expansion in the 1970s). Disaggregating the numbers… Political will… ‘‘Cities like Mumbai should be governed along the lines of London and New York, which have an elected mayor living in the city. Accordingly, the mayor can then focus on the development and betterment of the city totally and will be responsible to people and not to his political bosses,’’ Correa said. ‘‘The public are living in a dehumanizing condition. At times, the government officials behave in a docile manner as was reflected in the aftermath of the recent Mumbai blasts, when citizens rushed in to carry the injured and dead to hospital.’’ he added. The POOR The RICH SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP urban ELITE owning LAND Economic commodity POOR illegally sell DU Subsidized price move back to pavement scanning the options…. Correa was adamant that high-rise was not a solution for urban housing provision. For one thing, it had to be financed by banks which then pocket all the equity. But, also, 'doubling the height of a building doesn't double the density', while the open space around highrises was wasted. Correa advised that 'we must know how big the numbers are' - in terms of dwellings required - because 'it sends adrenalin through our systems'. The cluster model Correa developed for courtyard housing in India, with private and shared 'open-to-thesky space', and a built-in capacity for incremental growth, is well known, but he offered no clear models for, say, London. What he did advise was always to judge optimum density in relation to the other crucial factors of economy, culture and lifestyle. Balanced ecosystem Recycling of waste products Appropriate life styles Indigenous technology URBAN CONTEXT thanks