Articles I wrote for Rethinking the Future, an online journal as a part of my editorial internship:

1. Divided Realities of a World Class City

An aspiring 18-year-old architect before entering into the academic space of architecture dreams of
eventually contributing to the changing skyline of cities. One comes with the perception of learning
technical skills to be able to build, to put it simply. It is only after spending a considerable amount of
time in the education system that one starts to even comprehend the complexities and layers attached
to the discipline.
Overwhelmed by the issues and with hardly any aptitude to derive solutions, one begins to question,
“Why is the situation so bad in the first place and why has nobody done anything about it?” It is at this
key junction that the architect realizes a sense of purpose in the profession.

The Need to Perceive Architecture Holistically

It is essential to understand architecture as an interdisciplinary and collaborative process. Architecture

is inclusive of allied and applied aspects of humanities, aesthetics, built environment techniques and
skills, technology and engineering sciences and allied management systems. While utilizing relevant
information and knowledge from these disciplines, it goes beyond them to be a unique and holistic
discipline of architecture. (Council of Architecture, New Delhi, 2005)

The architect also needs to understand the complex relationship that people share with their built
environment. It is through this lens that the architect starts to perceive built spaces very differently.
For example, the glamorous luxury apartment buildings I was once in awe of and believed to be the
“modern way of living” has delayered itself to be hi-tech gated enclaves for the ‘rich’ with aggressive
policing and personal surveillance mechanisms. The analytical skills gained through engaging in allied
courses allow one to look beyond the ‘aesthetic appeal’ of built spaces. A radical change in outlook is
thus required towards the profession of architecture. The architect is no longer a mere designer but a
‘changemaker’ in shaping the urban realm of our society.

Experience of ‘Public’ = Experience of a City

Today, when the economic and social division in our country is at its peak, it is critical to look at its
implications on the built environment. It is evident that many public spaces are being privatized in the
interest of real estate development. Even the ones that are not privatized, it is highly questionable as to
how ‘public’ they really are. In the current times of gated communities, segregated suburbs,
surveillance-controlled malls, open recreational spaces enhance the experience of lived reality.
(Mahadevia, D., 2001)

Cities like Mumbai are left with very few public spaces like the Azad Maidan that allow physical
expression of democracy and participation. Leaving aside big spaces, neighbourhood parks, wide
sidewalks, and community spaces add value to the lifestyle of society. However, we often see such
neighbourhood parks in Indian cities are gated, with heavy surveillance and security mechanisms that
allow for discrimination against marginalized groups.

Even the sidewalks are most often encroached for parking private vehicles or under-maintained for
use. It is the responsibility of the architect to collaborate with administrators to design public spaces
and devise innovative strategies to ensure equitable access to everyone.

Binary of the Slum and High-rise

Furthermore, one can see the dichotomy in the urban typology of the high-rise and slums in urban
India. While the rich are stacking up their mansions to reach greater heights to fulfil their dreams of
living way above the filth of the urban sprawl, the urban poor are living in matchbox dwelling units
with four walls and a roof spread out across the city. The height of the high-rise has become
synonymous with the economic status of the resident. The high-rise building has become a misleading
symbol of modernization, and an answer to the issues concerning the dense, organically developed
low-rise slum settlements. This perspective vaguely categorizes all other urban forms of living as
‘slums’, including chawls and state-built housing that do not strictly fall under the ambit of high-rise
buildings. (Srivastava Echanove, 2012)

With the dreams of making our megacities into ‘world-class cities’, many slum upgradation and
redevelopment projects are being carried out in the cities giving an undue advantage to the real estate
industry. However, it is important to understand that the high rise is not always the solution to the
needs of a highly populated and dense settlement.

For example, Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia, which used to be an unused marshy land has grown
incrementally by marginalized groups over decades to become a diverse, dense settlement with
residential, industrial, trading, and community spaces. It would be preposterous to replace this thriving
economy with high-rise redeveloped towers that would disconnect the inhabitants from their means of
subsistence, which is highly dependent on access to the street and social networking in the context of
India.

The Neglected State of Public Transport

With the conception of World Class cities also comes the idea of grand highways and bridges. This has
caused a shift in city planning, which allows facilitating private transport and systematic neglect and
degradation of public transport. Massive expenditure is incurred on building new metro and car-based
infrastructure while negligible on improving existing modes of public infrastructures such as rails and
buses. This system does not only use State funds to build for the elite class of the urban areas but is
also an unsustainable practice that has manifold repercussions on our environment.

To put it in perspective, the 10 km coastal road being built along the western coastline of Mumbai,
which will cost 14000 crores (the most expensive freeway to be ever built in the country) will serve
only 0.54% of daily commuters while causing irreversible damage to our ecosystem, increase chances
of sea-level rising and flooding. (Indorewala, H. and Wagh, S., 2020)

In tough times such as now, when we are facing major environmental, social and economic conflicts,
architects need to take a stand and sculpt their environments to improve the lives of society.
Reference List

[1] – Quoted from the unpublished report of The Board for Development of Post Graduate/Advanced Studies/Research in
Architecture and Allied Fields of Studies, The Council of Architecture, New Delhi: 2005

[2] – Mahadevia, D., 2001. Public Spaces make Cities. [Blog] Down to Earth, Available at:
<https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/public-spaces-make-cities-44492/

[3]- http://southasia.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/shared/events/21st_Century_Indian_City/
Slums_2012/SrivastavaEchanove_OUP_Ch34.pdf

[4] – Indorewala, H. and Wagh, S., 2020. Mumbai’s Coastal Road: Making land in a drowning city. Scroll.in, [online]
Available at: <https://scroll.in/article/971791/mumbais-coastal-road-making-land-in-a-drowning-city> [Accessed 25 April
2021].
2. The Future is Equal

It is believed that pandemics throughout history have played an important role in shaping our cities.
Today, when the world is fighting against the COVID-19 public health crisis, Indian cities are facing
many challenges and inadequacies to face this pandemic. Many have blamed rapid urbanization for the
failure of providing even basic amenities to the most vulnerable communities. It is no doubt that the
pandemic has raised many questions about the spatial planning of our cities, access to public health
infrastructure, and the impact of physical surroundings on one’s mental health. The COVID 19 crisis
has urged everyone to re-envision our cities. We, as practitioners need to promote new kinds of
architectural and planning practices that focus on integrating public health practices, social thinking,
improving our natural systems, and protecting humans from calamities.

Historical Transformation of Cities Post Pandemics

Like COVID 19, many pandemics have hit the world and ended the lives of millions, while having a
long-lasting urban impact and economic consequences. For example, the black death crisis enabled the
design of large public spaces in European cities for people to connect with nature and reduce the
feeling of isolation.[1] Similarly, in Bombay, it was in the late 1890s after the plague that Bombay
Improvement Trust (BIT) was set up to provide sanitary accommodation for the working class. It is
believed that it was only after the “horrors of the plague” that the colonial State intervened in the poor
housing conditions of the city. It was established that ‘light and air- nature’s two great healing
elements’ were the solution for unsanitary living conditions.[2] Strict building by-laws (housing
densities, set back rules, plot area and coverage, and height restrictions) were set up to ensure adequate
light and ventilation in all rooms of the building. In 2021, it is time to learn new lessons from the
COVID 19 pandemic instead of accelerating current urban trends that have led to designing ‘divided
cities’.

Towards building equitable cities

The pandemic’s disastrous impact on the cities of India has underlined the importance of urban
planning and development that is integrated, inclusive, and resilient. It is understood that a city’s
ability to deal with the scale and severity of a crisis like COVID 19 highly depends on its control over
decision making and planning systems, the quality of public infrastructure, and accessibility of
services.
In India post-liberalization, however, we have handed over the responsibility to the private sector to
determine all the aspects of urban life, including housing, health, and transport. The State, which was
supposed to regulate the activities of the private sector to ensure public good in turn, became a
promoter of ‘urban development projects. For example, Mumbai’s slum redevelopment projects in the
hands of private developers have led to the building of tightly packed high-rises with inadequate
access to light, ventilation, and services with deplorable living conditions. Such policies have not only
contributed to the inequality that exists in our society in terms of living conditions/access to services
but has also weakened our ability to prepare and respond to a crisis. It is high time to take control back
in the hands of collective public planning systems with a focus on public health, food distribution,
public housing and transport, sustainable practices and climate action plans to prepare against disasters
in the future.
Housing for one and all
The “Housing for one and all” model should become the agenda for our nation. The State should play
a proactive role in providing housing for the poor instead of facilitating mega-real estate projects. It is
important to maintain the basic quality of life across all income groups by considering several aspects
including building typology, common services relating to energy, water, and waste, locational aspects,
connectivity, and resource efficiency. [3] Housing thus, cannot be looked at in isolation from
livelihoods, amenities and public realm, transport, and services. From the view of public health, we
need to relook at the current trend of organizing high densities in high rises that look like tiny boxes in
the sky. Such building typologies often create an environment for disease transmission. We should
consider low rise alternatives with larger open spaces, with comprehensive guidelines for materials and
architectural design to incorporate ideas of energy-saving, optimizing access to sunlight and wind,
reducing the need for air conditioning, integrating green spaces and creating a micro-climate, mutual
shading of buildings to reduce heat island effect, etc.

Proposals for spatial planning

The model has proved to create a safe, active, and thriving environment and less impacted during the
restrictions of the pandemic. It not only allows the community to support each other but also ensures
that the vulnerable communities get access to services and not remain neglected during the crisis. It is
obvious that areas with dense urban poor population, often ghettos were highly impacted due to the
pandemic. Owing to lack of infrastructure and amenities, such as adequate access to electricity, water,
toilets, drains, streetlights, spaces for recreation/education, on top of dwindling livelihoods, these
marginalized communities were the worst hit. By moving towards mixed neighborhoods, spaces for
work and live can co-exist such that people do not have to travel long distances in search of job
opportunities. Mixing income groups might best address our goals of poverty alleviation and social
equity. It can also create a community-based living with a focus on small public parks/open spaces,
streets with wide pavements, shared community spaces, and decentralized public spaces to encourage a
safe and healthy lifestyle.
Through this article, I want to urge my fellow practitioners to look at the ‘future of architecture/ urban
development’ in the light of ‘holistic development'. It is essential to understand the role that physical
development plays in achieving human development goals and social welfare and equity, and act on it
responsibly.

Reference List
[1] - Eltarabily S. & Elghezanwy D. (2020). Post-Pandemic Cities - The Impact of COVID-19 on Cities and Urban Design.
Available at: http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.arch.20201003.02.html

[2] – Indorewala H. & Wagh S. (2020). After the pandemic, will we rethink how we plan cities?. The Wire. Available at:
https://thewire.in/urban/city-planning-pandemic

[3] – Adlakha N. (2020). Urban Planning for the Post-Pandemic World. The Hindu. Available at:
https://www.thehindu.com/real-estate/urban-planning-for-the-post-pandemic-world/article31473376.ece
3. How BIG turned an Aging Infrastructure into an Urban Opportunity

The design transformation of Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) to Brooklyn Queens Park (BQP) is
an integrated proposal made by the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), an international architecture and urban
design practice, as an opportunity to rethink the future of the Brooklyn waterfront for the next 100
years. The proposal is based on the concept that investment in our cities should go beyond 20th-
century models for infrastructure, which are built to serve a single function. Increasing urbanization
with the impacts of aging infrastructure, climate change, densification, economic inequity, and other
challenges demand a transformation in our approach to city-scale infrastructure projects. BIG proposes
a multi-issue approach, which would accomplish multiple goals and accommodate multiple uses. By
increasing benefits manifold times, investments in social infrastructure projects can diversify their
funding pools and build stronger constituencies for their construction, to accomplish projects that are
more constructible and beneficial while incurring lesser costs.

Historical Background
The Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) was built by Robert Moses, a mid-century NYC Planner,
and designed by the landscape architects Rapuano and Clark in the early 1950s. Like other urban
highways around the world, the construction of BQE was controversial because it cut through the city's
neighborhood and displaced many residents. It was built after intense negotiations with the community
over a decade, which resulted in an unusual triple-cantilever structure with the Brooklyn Heights
Promenade on the upper tier, one of the most iconic open spaces in New York City. The BQE has
since become one of the most heavily used urban highways in the country and serves as a vital
transportation corridor, which can accommodate about 153000 vehicles per day. However, after
decades of neglect and no major rehabilitation, the structure’s steel reinforcement is rapidly corroding.
Studies have concluded that if not repaired by 2026, trucks will be forced onto neighborhood streets,
with all traffic becoming unviable in the early 2030s.

BIG’s approach
A marvel of engineering, the BQE became a prominent national roadway but it cut off the coastal
neighborhood from its waterfront. Like the BQE, many coastal infrastructures in the 20th century
around the world prioritized those moving through the city over those living in them.
This has contributed to the poor access and health outcomes for adjacent residents. The necessity for
building the BQE due to structural damage provides a unique opportunity to reconnect the
neighborhood with its waterfront, by balancing out the needs of infrastructure with the needs of the
city residents. BIG believes in constructing an integrated project in collaboration with relevant
agencies, across transportation, open space management, planning, and economic development
specializations to meet the needs of all the stakeholders. The project aims to not function as a luxury
for one community, but improve and add parkland for everyone, improve health outcomes for all those
around it, and serve as a model for future aging infrastructure across New York City. By helping to
link the neighborhood and waterfront, it will additionally strengthen the emerging live-work corridor,
providing better access to residents, and help to support a growing Brooklyn economy. BIG describes
the intention of the project as "a condition more reminiscent of Brooklyn Heights historical conditions
– where city and river interlaced seamlessly, prior to construction of the highway,"
BIG’s Proposal for BQP
The Department of Transportation (DOT) made several proposals to construct a temporary roadway
about the existing BQE, and route the traffic through it during the construction of the BQE. This would
not only lead to closing down the Brooklyn Heights Promenade for several years but also increase the
construction cost and timeline. The public opposed this plan, which allowed other initiatives, like
BIG’s to materialize. BIG believes its plan will be both quicker and cheaper than the DOT's. "The
simple structural approach, and one-time construction of the new roadway, create a more feasible and
less costly solution for reconstruction of the BQE while delivering far more benefits to the
community," BIG said.
BIG has developed a 50,000-square-metre proposal to replace the portion of the elevated BQE that
passes along the edge of the residential area. The BQP proposal comprises a six-lane highway located
underground. Three lanes are intended for northbound traffic and three for southbound. A sloped park
is designed to connect to the current level of the top tier of the existing BQE, and then gradually slant
down to the waterfront. They have developed a variety of different options to make the most of the
slanted site, including a rock-climbing wall and, retail and housing opportunities. Grassy areas and a
pedestrian walkway are planned on top of the subterranean highway. BIG has offered two scenarios:
the first scenario involves the repair of the existing cantilever structure and the second requires
replacing it completely. However, in both scenarios vehicles that use the BQE are redirected towards
the 6-lane underground roadway.
The proposal ensures that the BQE traffic would not be disrupted while the at-grade highway and deck
are being constructed. Once the construction is complete, BQE traffic would be re-routed to the
underground roadway while the 3-tier cantilever would be repurposed as terrace gardens/amenities or
the hillside would be completely reconstructed to integrate parking and other activities.
The BQP proposal thus creates a better connected, and bigger Brooklyn Bridge Park. It transforms the
gap existing between the city and the waterfront today into a showcase moment for New York City!

Reference List

BIG + Arcadis + Sherwood + Nelson Nygaard + Kamerer + MVVA (2020). BQP: How can aging infrastructure be turned
into an urban opportunity? New York. Available at: https://bqpark.nyc/BQP_REPORT.pdf

BIG (2019).Now is the moment to rethink the Brooklyn Waterfront for the next 100 years. [online]. Available at:
https://bqpark.nyc/ (Accessed at: 9 May 2021)

Cogley B. (2019, April 3). BIG unveils park-covered highway for Brooklyn's waterfront. Retrieved from:
https://www.dezeen.com/2019/04/03/bqp-big-news-bqe-brooklyn-highway-park/

Walsh N. (2019, April 5). BIG Covers Brooklyn Highway in Landscaped Waterfront Park. Retrieved from:
https://www.archdaily.com/914488/big-covers-brooklyn-highway-in-landscaped-waterfront-park