A Sustainable Approach for Redevelopment in Capital City of India Case of Sarojni Nagar in New Delhi in India

Vikram Kohli (Department of Architecture)

The capital city Delhi ranks highest being the most polluted megacity of the world. The paper discusses an approach of sustainable integration of blue green infrastructure for a redevelopment project of Sarojni Nagar which is proposed for higher density. A higher urban density would lead to further accentuation of the urban environmental issues. Capital city developments are suffering from environmental problems such as ground water depletion, air pollution etc. Sarojni Nagar in Delhi is famous for its informal market which attracts a huge number of people and is surrounded by Baralpuulah drain which as increased loadings of nutrient, bacteria, oil, grease, salts, heavy metals and other toxics in the drain waters. An ovelay analysis to understand the ecology of the site was done. Suitable projections of future urban growth and development were overlayed. The four steps involved in the process were namely 1 identifying the inherent potentials of the site by mapping existing trees and parks, 2. Understanding the lay of the land, 3 Identifying buried streams, overlay of the above layers, 4. Laying of circulation paths and demarcation of high density areas 5. Proposed outcome. Strategic deign interventions address social and ecological resilience. Multifunctional open space corridors connect the residential open spaces to city regional parks. An emphasis on effective pedestrian circulation leads to reducing vehicles in the neighborhood. The objectives of the proposal thus were: Utilizing the inherent potentials of the site, creating series of commercial and cultural spaces leading to the ecological destination, Bringing nature back to the city, Prioritizing public access, integrating hawking and informality as a positive connection for the place.