Turtle City

By Jaime Lerner The city of today is too often a campground, an unchecked metastasis. It is either an ever-spreading Atlanta or Los Angeles - an endless suburb unable to contain and sustain itself - or a frightening Gotham of skyscrapers huddled over dark concrete valleys. It is a place without priority, logic, or true consideration of its residents needs.

By contrast, consider a turtle's shell: a house upon the back of its self-sufficient occupant. Have you ever noticed that the meticulously organized outer surface resembles an aerial view of a city? The shell's pattern evokes the cells that constitute urban tissue - blocks, streets, and functional centers. A turtle-shell city is a place to live, to work, to relax and play. In all, it is a circumscribed, homey shelter.

This schematic drawing of a turtle can help you imagine some of the important features of the ideal urban environment, built upon principles of mobility, sustainability, and cultural identity. In the denser area of the turtle-shell city, identified by the taller edifices, you can find apartments, office buildings, mixed-use structures (with residential, commercial, and service functions), as well as street-level attractions - a bakery for morning bread, a fancy bistro for business lunches, a newsstand with reading material for bus rides, a town square, a church, an art gallery. Supporting the highdensity area is an ecologically sustainable mass transportation system that, whether it operates on the surface or underground, is fast, safe, comfortable, and accessible to all. It's also part of a public transit network that extends throughout the community. The turtle-shell city's housing accommodates the needs and preferences of a broad spectrum of people. It has high- and low-rise buildings along with stand-alone homes. There are no ghettos, because neighborhoods comprise a mixture of income and age groups performing a variety of functions. The more you mix, the more livable the city becomes. Near the residences are schools, hospitals, and workplaces. All areas are permeated by parks and gardenskeys to a healthier urban environment. Such green spaces are even part of the citys drainage system, protecting the waterways and creating natural flood basins. Just as no part of the turtle's shell can be changed or removed without harming the whole creature, none of these elements of the city can be altered without affecting its overall sustainability. The city of the future will not be an accident of mindless growth. Instead, it will be a home as exquisitely and holistically designed as the turtles. It is where businesses will need to operate and what they must first help to create. Jaime Lerner, architect and urban planner, is the founder of the Instituto Jaime Lerner in Curitiba, Brazil. He has formerly served as president of the International Union of Architects, governor of the Brazilian state of Paran, and mayor of Curitiba. This article was orginally written by Jaime Lerner.

A Study of Aghapur Village

Aghapur Village

Aghapur Village is located in Sector- 41, Noida, 10km from toll road.The boundary of this village is defined, from west DSH road, East Sec-41,NALA at North and school at South. Though this is strongly linked with the developed area of NOIDA, yet there this village has a strong characteristic of its own. The type of lifestyle led here is very different from the near by NOIDA or Delhi. History:

This village came into existence during 1900. The residents of this village orignally came from near by settlements close to the Yamuna, as flood was a major problem faced by the people.

Originally there were only four to five families, who were primarily the gujjars The land now under NOIDA originally belonged to these people which was later taken over by the NOIDA authorities.

Location:

Agahpur Village is located in NOIDA Sector-41. The village is nearly 10km from the NOIDA toll plaza. 3-3.5km ,along DSH road connecting Agahpur Village to Atta Market.

Early Settlement: People from Aliganj, Kotlamubarkpur and other places on the banks of Yamuna came to this place due to flooding of the river.

Gujjar and Chamar Comunities form two main nuclei of the settlement spreading outwards. The more powerful Gujjar Community checked the spread of Chamar Community. Their external boundaries at present is joined to each other but there still exists a segregation of areas caste wise.

Gujjar located themselves on higher level while the lower caste (Chamars) were on the lower level.

This type of segregation still remains.

Growth Pattern:

The pattern of the settlement is of organic kind. There is no proper grid pattern. People came and settled here over a period of time. There is no clear and definite road pattern. Lanes which leads to the inside of the village obeys no order. It just break into curves and angles. Looks like they were made to access the already haphazardly placed houses.

Village Plan:

Main Entries There are four main entries to the village.

Open Spaces and Dead Ends

Schools and Shops

Segregation Among the Communities

There is a stark segregation between the communities of Gujjars (higher caste) and Chamar (lower caste). The upper class restricted the expansion of the lower caste people to a limited area. Effect of Urbanization:

Their land was taken over by the NOIDA development authority to built NOIDA. In return of their land they were given compensation. The compensation they received was Rs3/yard2 or Rs3000/bigha. The land was taken over by NOIDA authority in the year 1976. In 1976, they got less compensation but in the later years have got more.

Roads and petroleum pumps came into existence. Hospitals were built. Schools were opened in this area, by the villagers only.

Economy:

Earlier people relied on agriculture and cattle for there livelihood. Drastic change came when NOIDA Authorities took over their lands. Now they have to rely on their cattle mainly for milk.

They now have to find other sources of income to suffice their needs.(e.g. putting their houses on rent, small shops etc.) People even go out for work in the areas nearby.

Recent Aghapur:

Expansion of the village is now restricted by the NOIDA authorities which has led to more congestion in the area. Since people here have started giving their houses on rent on cheaper rates as compared to the areas nearby, this also has lead in increase in net population.

Older houses are being broken down - though some of them still remain and new construction is being done to meet the demands of increasing population.

New Construction Made

Some Older Houses Are Still Retained

Problems:

Earlier the village Panchayat was responsible for up keep of village. As the village came under NOIDA authorities the village maintenance was given to contractors who neglect their duties.

Cleaning of streets and drains becomes a major challenge during the monsoons with water clogging on the streets.

Though the road on the periphery is in good condition but as we move inside ,we find poorly maintained streets with a lot of filth lying on and on the sides of them.

A flowing NALA just beside the settlement is the ready source of mosquitoes found in abundance. The compensation tussle is still going on with the NOIDA authority and a court case is in progress about the same matter.