Sustainability through Urban Transformations – Recycling and Reusing Residual Spaces in Cities

Hemambika P (Anna University)

Cities are largest creations of humankind and today if we ask ourselves the question “Are our Cities Sustainable?”, there is no doubt about the answer. An embarrassing “No”. Most of the Indian cities could not keep pace with rapid urbanization led by industrial growth and IT boom and responded by unplanned urban sprawl characterised by poor infrastructure and amenities. Recently, there has been much thought in to understanding sustainability and aligning urban development accordingly.

The growth objectives for city expansion focused on maximizing FAR leading to poorly planned suburban pockets. To cater to this unprecedented and unplanned growth, roads and public transit systems were put in place, more as a reactive rather than a proactive approach. The result was not pretty. These suburban residential pockets emerged as disparate urban planning and design responses that were characterised by inferior amenities and lack of public spaces resulting in poor quality of life especially in terms of lack of greens and community spaces.

Rapid growth resulted in urban areas especially suburbs dotted with spaces that are just “left over” or “unused” or “residual”. To ensure sustainable and efficient utilisation of finite spaces within overcrowded crammed cities, an approach towards understanding the quality & quantity of existing residual spaces, that can be deployed to become multipurpose spaces, is required. It is imperative that a comprehensive analysis be carried out to this effect. This analysis will allow an understanding of these spaces that can then be recycled and reused to enrich social relations, enhance dialogue between inhabitants and neighbourhood and develop environment friendly functionalities. The place making solutions thus arrived at will aim to enhance sustainability and promote a better lifestyle.