URBAN VOIDS: SPACES UNDER UPRAISED ROADS

NAME : VEDANSHI BHATT

ID NO : 20-ARG-35
SUB : RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION –
Contemporary Indian cities are witnessing an out of the ordinary pace of urban development create
by economic impetus provided by a booming economy. However, it is eventually leading to a
decrease in the quality of life as the city can experience overcrowding, increased susceptibility to
criminal activities, another problem is the creation of urban voids.
One of the urban voids are elevated roads which are the fundamental structures of mankind. It
determines the ballooning of the cities.
Due to rapid enlargement, elevated roads are leaving extensive areas of dead spaces (voids/lost
spaces) they are part of the urban spaces but unintendedly disconnected and remain unused.
The raised spaces have accidentally distorted the urban fabric of city, disconnected communities and
divided neighborhood deteriorating people’s lives and connection between them.
This research aims to address and study the concept of urban voids, types of voids, and how this void
have potential for turning into great public space, under the upraised roads by developing them in
order to create cities safe, happening, lively, and to connect them to public realms.

AIM –
To study and go over the urban voids and how urban voids have great potential as a better place to
open up as a room for the citizens of the city under elevated roads.
OBJECTIVES –
❑ To study what is urban voids and their types.
❑ Defining urban voids and current use in Indian context.
❑ To located developed/undeveloped voids under elevated roads.
❑ Reasons for the cause of urban voids.
❑ To analyze the solution from various case studies.
❑ To suggest proposals/recommendations for urban voids under elevated roads for better public place.

NEED TO STUDY –
India is rapidly growing country. Its growing space depends on the flyovers and bridges as they play major role in
development. It is seen that most of the flyover under spaces are inaccessible, forgotten, unused, and becoming the site
of negative activities.

This study to cure these voids under flyover or bridges is one of the viable spaces. And to unearth the potentials of these
spaces. Regenerating the leftover spaces under the flyover and ornament this area as much as it can connect to public
realms and make a great public space.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY –
Firstly, aim and objectives have been decided, then data collection. The method of approach will be to study the specific
design interventions to the spaces below elevated highways. First, a theoretical base is devised for the analysis of various
literature reviews that are to be conducted to establish the framework for the study of the spaces under elevated roads
within urban environments. Next, study of different case studies and comparative analyses. After completing the analysis
the findings are summarized into tentative solutions, proposals – recommendation and conclusion.
LITERATURE REVIEW –
URBAN VOIDS OVERVIEW:

Fast and self-centered urban life somehow degrading the environment, spaces for socio-culture activities. Urban voids in the
cities formed by buildings and street corners and are generally known as leftover spaces or lost spaces or residual spaces.
These spaces are used for garbage dumping and anti-social activities. The potential of such urban voids to enrich the public
space have not been exploited sufficiently because they are often neglected or forgotten in cities.

Such spaces could be unused not only because of their limited functionality but also because of the face that the public eye
does not perceive them at all. These spaces are the eyesore for the neighborhoods. Even though a large number of people are
around such spaces but still they are completely invisible to their eyes or they have nothing in them to attract the attention of
people. ( Mohamed,2018)

In short, Urban voids are all the areas in a city, whose functions and designs have not yet been decided upon widely.
A lost space (urban voids) can be leftover unstructured landscapes; it can be forsaken waterfronts or no-man’s land along the
edges of freeways that no one maintains, it can be sink parks or even surface parking sites. These are spaces which often
neglected or either forgotten in the eyes of people. In short, lost spaces are nasty urban areas that are in need of redesign.
(cindhya,2017)
REASONS FOR THE CREATION OF URBAN VOIDS:

The prevalent tradition of using master plan as a tool for planning cities has several limitations. However futuristic, a master
plan is bound to fall short of anticipating the ever-changing needs of diverse demography.

The time lag between conception, implementation and execution of master plan also generates disconnect in the
development of urban areas. Changing economic, social and functional aspects of the spaces also results in generation of
urban voids. Also, unplanned and inorganic growth of cities results in random and chaotic development, leading to certain
pockets of urban spaces being misused, left-over or neglected. Underutilized commercial areas, vacant parking lots,
abandoned industrial areas falls into this category. (cindhya,2017)

To summarized, the main reasons for the creation of urban voids are as follows –

➢ Inherent limitations of approach to policy making and planning mechanisms.

➢ Loss of function, meaning and association of place.
Loss of accessibility to a place.
CLASSIFICATION OF URBAN VOIDS:

A. PLANNING VOIDS – Voids created due to inefficient and improper planning processes. These are created due to planning
in isolation without understanding the fabric of the city. These are most visible in our cities also can be perceived using
figure ground theory.
 B. FUNCTIONAL VOIDS – These are dead vacant spaces in the cities. When a space is not used like it was designed to use
the space becomes defunct. These occupy percious land in the city and make the environment unpleasant.
C. GEOGRAPHICAL VOIDS – These are existing geographical features in the city. When the city planners and designers do
not respond to these geographical features voids created around them making the space unusable.

DEVISING VOID TYPOLOGY:

Aamir Ansari in his study “ Rethinking Urban Voids: Innovating Ways To Use Lost Spaces” tried to relate these types of voids to
the Indian urban context and considering the concern for the potential of urban voids to contribute to the public realms and
devised his version of urban void types.

Although there are similarities between the cities of the west and the Indian cities, but there are also major differences.
There is a categorization of the voids based on understanding and knowledge of Indian cities. The criteria to select these voids
were ownership, the role they play in liveliness of the street, and the potential to transform. (Ansari.2016)
There are 7 categories from both the public and the private realm. But the study sticks on to the public realm. After refining
and addition according to scale and ownership, 4 main types of voids are:

Edge and Buffer voids Infrastructural voids Transportation voids Large scale plots

FLYOVER – OVERVIEW:

A flyover is a bridge that carries one road or railway line above another either with or without
subsidiary roads, for communication between the two sides. Flyover plays a major role in
streamlining the traffic control system. Through flyovers, plenty of time is saved avoiding congestion.
The pollution effect is reduced. Flyovers reduce the risk of accidents. Flyovers also contribute a lot to
the aesthetics of city. The person traveling on flyover can enjoy panoramic view of the city. Flyover
also marks the infrastructure advancement of city.
 TYPES OF FLYOVERS:

1.ROAD CORSSING – simple flyovers

Grade separators
Cloverleaf junction
2.RAILWAY LINE CORSSING
3.ELEVATED EXPRESSWAY/ FREEWAY INTERCHANGE
IMPACTS OF FLYOVERS ON THE CITIES:

1.Environmental impact – helps in reducing pollution

Help in conserve water
2.Psychological impact
3.Negative impacts due to ill maintenance under flyover – dumping yards below flyover
Unplanned structures.
FLYOVER – URBAN VOID:

One can feast his eyes on inviting hoardings get lost in the haze of high-rises, and the panoramic view of the city. But the
underside of these flyovers tells a different story encroached by squatters, littered with filth and dumping grounds for
garbage, that’s the sight under the most of the over bridges across the city. Conditions such a transportation facilities like the
railways, road networks, flyovers and the highways form the basis of contemporary Indian urbanism. However there are vast
amount of urban spaces that appear in various scales. The flyover itself was proposed as a necessary civic infrastructure.
Why cant this idea be extended below as well? What better place top open up a little room for the
citizens of the city? (zalina samadi,2012)

EXISTING CONDITIONS OF SPACES UNDER FLYOVER:

Encroachment by homeless as they become shelters protecting them from extreme weather conditions
as they are shelter less.
Encroachment by car parking vendors/individuals to park vehicles illegally.
Dumping of garbage/construction waste creating environmental hazards to the neighboring areas.
Other informal activities and dangerous activities raising safety issues for the surrounding areas.

WHY FLYOVER:

Flyovers are also known as overpasses. The uniqueness of flyovers lies in its character of an overhead
shelter with its generous underneath space that is longitudinal and barrier-free. Generally, the shape of
the ground level where it is constructed. A sense of intimacy could be felt at which distance between
the ground level and the roof are close where else openness and freedom could be felt when the
distance is far apart. These diverse volumes stimulate different activities to happen mostly due to
limitations in height clearance. The finishes under the flyovers vary in terms of the ground covering
which includes interlocking block pavement, paved road, earth, and natural landscape. Under the
flyovers, is the existence of a space that might differ from the rush of the above, a loose space with
uncertainties and endless possibilities. (zalina,2012)
Amazingly, it is also free of much of the politics, land tenure disputes, and real estate speculation that plague much of the
development cities today. Thus, the negative effects produced by flyovers can be reduced through careful design and more
important the incorporation of the spaces below into their surrounding urban environment.

Both flyovers and skywalks have become highly visible feature of recent rapid urbanization. Many more projects are ongoing
and proposed. Hence the construction of flyovers, however, needs to be seriously analyzed. From planners and designers, it
is and an appeal for consciousness before a responsible design process can start and to work out a well thought out catalog
of what is considered to be part of an urban open space network.

https://books.google.co.in/books?id=UcdJxonfeGMC&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://www.scribd.com/document/439093631/Finding-Lost-Space-Roger-Trancik-pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328735387_Exploring_possible_usage_for_elevated_highway_interstitial_spaces_A_case_study_of_Duke_and_Akleh_Kuala_Lumpur

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374170467_Users'_environmental_preferences_in_spaces_under_elevated_highways_and_urban_bridges#:~:text=The%20spaces%20under%20elevated%20highways,for
%20spaces%20under%20elevated%20highways

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328735387_Exploring_possible_usage_for_elevated_highway_interstitial_spaces_A_case_study_of_Duke_and_Akleh_Kuala_Lumpur