Urban Design

1st Assignment

Ideology, Topology and

Typology of a place.

Introduction

BidhannagarorSalt Lake Cityas it is popularly

called, is aplannedsatellite townin
theIndianstate ofWest Bengal. It was
developed between 1958 and 1965 to
accommodate the burgeoning population
ofKolkata, the statecapital.
It is now a hub of economic and social
expansion and is famous as the centre forITin
the city.The city was built on areclaimedsaltwater lake, which gave rise to its popular
name of "Salt Lake City".

Historical Imprints

On 17 June 1756,Siraj ud-Daulah, theNawab of Bengal,

camped at this place to chalk out the strategy for attacking
theBritish East India CompanyatFort William.
After his death in the Battle Of Plassey, the right of the lakes
remained to Mir Jafar and his descendants.
In 1865, theBritishofficially started reclaiming these salt
water bodies by connecting it withMahratta Ditch(canal).
On 30 April 1890, the Government gave the leasehold right
to the highest bidder, Bhabanath Sen, who offeredINR3400
for the rights.
In 1906, the Government again leased out the lakes for 10
years to the highest bidder against INR 9750.

Geography

Bidhannagar is located at22.58N 88.42E.

It has an average elevation of 11metres(49ft.)
It has asubtropical climate, with summer monsoons.
The annual mean temperature is 26.8C (80F)

Salt Lake City

From Marshlands to
Metropolis

By May 19, 1956, the Government had taken over the

lands and then gradually Salt Lake started taking
shape.
The area was a conglomerate of several salt lakes, a
low-lying saucer shaped area, which was lower than
the adjoining drainage channels.
The global tender, for the reclamation of salt water
lakes was floated in 1959, which was won by M/s.
"Invest Import" Company of erstwhileYugoslavia.

Sector- 1

Sector- 2
Sector- 3
Sector- 4

Sector- 5

Salt Lake City, Guidemap

From Marshlands to
Metropolis

Considering the challenges, only available method

of development was to fill these salt lakes to a
higher level which would permit gravity drainage
through the nearby channels.
The Hooghly river, lying in the western fringe
ofKolkata, neededdredgingto maintain the
minimum draught for ships.
Pipes were laid down from Chitpur lock gate in the
north of Kolkata to Salt Lake for bringing silt from
the bed of Hooghly river to Salt Lake via a number
of pumping stations.

From Marshlands to
Metropolis

It took nearly 7 years to fill up the 12.35km

of land with dredged silt, which was once a
very fertile fishing zone. On 16 April 1962, the
Salt Lake City was officially born.
The original planner of Bidhannagar was a
Yugoslav named Dobrivoje Tokovi. His
master plan was approved by
theGovernmenton 9 April 1964.He revisited
his architected city in 2007.

Salt Lake City, Satellite View 2006

Development thereafter

The development of the area was done in "Sectors".

The plots were classified as
residential,
residential (shop-allowable)
commercial
institutional and industrial

By 1965, Sector-I was complete.

And by 1969 Sector-II and Sector-III were ready for
occupancy.
Then came up the industrial Sectors IV and V (the location of
theITindustries).
The Sector IV containsNicco Park the first amusement park
of eastern India with 40 acres (160,000m 2)

Site Plan: Salt Lake City, 2013

Development thereafter

The 12.35km area of the town, initially

composed of 12873 plots of land apart from
87 housing estates and blocks, got built up.
Recently, the land area of this township has
almost doubled to 33.5km due to the
incorporation of Duttabad, Sukantanagar,
Nayapatti, Dhapa-Manpur and Mahishbathan
areas.

Salt Lake Today

Being a planned city, Bidhannagar offers many facilities

usually not available in many of the other older Indian cities.
It has clean and well-maintained roads and sanitation, treeclad boulevards, relatively pollution free environment, its own
swimming pool, a large number of schools and educational
institutions.
The largest sports stadium in India theYuva Bharati Krirangan,
modern shopping malls such as City Centre, INOX multiplex,
RDB Big Cinemas multiplex, an amusement park, theNetaji
Subhas Sports Institute, a 5-star hotel (Hyatt Regency) and a
vast array of Governmentoffices that cater not only to the
local town but to the entire city of Kolkata.

IBM and Cognizant Offices

Infinity Benchmark Office

Salt Lake City Stadium

Salt Lake Today

Bidhannagar is also home toCentral Park, the

largest park in the Kolkata urban area after
theMaidan. Like the town it is situated in, it too
has amore famous namesakein USA. The Central
Park, which is about 100 acres (0.40km2 ).

A new township thrice the size of Salt Lake is coming up

further east inRajarhat under the name of New Town.