Dy CM urges urban planners to solve city's civic issues

The city’s fast growth has created civic challenges that call for greater involvement of urban planners, Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan has said.

He spoke at the inaugural event organised by the Institute of Urban Designers India (IUDI), Karnataka Chapter, where he was presented with 32 new proposals from urban designers and students from 15 colleges on rehabilitating Bengaluru spaces.

Among the proposals was a new civic centre and park on the site of the racecourse, improvements to the south Cantonment area (including Brigade Road), adding more green spaces to MG Road and the ecological restoration at the Kalkere reserve forest.

While the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had placed Bengaluru on top of its “ease of living” index, the city’s rapid growth has created a less than sustainable environment.

“The city needs to be planned properly. Designers and architects are very important players. The profession should be put into full use, but it is not happening,” Narayan said, adding that Comprehensive Development Plans, which have come out in Bengaluru and across, do not inspire confidence.

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“I don’t see the solution for sustainability. Just colour-coding has happened — which areas become residential and which become commercial, but we must actually make it a sustainable city, keeping in mind the environment and stakeholders.” Bengaluru’s challenge is that it expanded too quickly, noted Sathya Prakash Varanashi, an urban designer and architect who serves as an advisor to IUDI.

“Rapid migration led to a shortage of water and other resources. This is a city that should have stopped growing after a certain point,” he said.

U Seema Maiya, Assistant Professor at RV College of Architecture and an IUDI member, told DH that projects had taken up to 18 months to conceive and develop.

A project by students at the CMR University School of Architecture who mapped Brigade Road, including its nightlife traffic, involved researchers standing on the street, talking to people and collecting data, Seema said.

“Other sources of information included police databases and economic information,” she added.

IUDI’s two-day event will continue into Sunday at the Bangalore International Centre. The institute said it will hold similar events in other cities across
Karnataka.