| after positing a vacuous either-or, where neither
| is the choice, the author brings up 30 year old
| ideas (proposed 'alternatives') unmindful of the fact
| the model he has proposed has been in operation in India
| for some decades, albeit, not so explicitly stated. he
| then struggles to make either-or type choices where
| categories do not explicitly exist, besides fictitious
| models applied by planners. also, exactly how private
| or public development make for private or public spaces
| is kind of obscure, our municipalities are after all,
| also corporations. in all, another confused opinion piece,
| perhaps pointing at the dire need for professionals who
| ought to have solicited media amongst all this shrill noise
| surrounding SEZ(s) and NURM(s) of the world.
|
| the noise comes, again, after the die is cast. think there
| are comments anticipating the emerging SEZ(s) and NURM(s) on
| this list, circa two years ago when discussion may have made
| sense.
Should our cities be private or public spaces?
A. Srivathsan
From Hong Kong to London, new towns have failed to contain the
overcrowding of the parent city. And if private enclaves proliferate, we
could end up with the dilution of the public nature of the city.
IN 2005, South Korea's Assembly voted in favour of splitting the capital
city Seoul and creating a new administrative city in the Yongi-Kongju
area. About 12 Ministries and 30 government agencies were to be shifted
to this new city and this, it was hoped, would reduce the overcrowding
of Seoul. The move was opposed by a few groups including Lee Myung-Bak,
the Mayor of Seoul. He pointed out that the new city would not reduce
the number of people coming to Seoul but would increase it. Whatever be
the politics behind these approvals and objections, the doubt raised
about the efficacy of such new towns is not without reason.
....
The Randstad urban model of the Netherlands might not entirely serve as
an alternative but has some principles worth looking at. The Randstad is
a horseshoe-shaped 70-km-wide region, which includes large cities such
as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. These cities have less hierarchy
and urban growth is limited to the rim with a protected green area at
the centre. Since 1998, these cities have not been developed
individually and independently; instead they are networked, integrated
and developed. Here the shift is from simple physical expansion of
cities to a broader integration of transport, governance, and citizens
of a region.
If such a policy was considered, Chennai might not have looked to
develop a new town. It would have looked at its own horseshoe that
encompasses Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu. Instead of acquiring large
parcels of land, it would have proposed a high-speed public transport
network between the three cities, and provided incentives for the cities
to grow and reduce the hierarchy between them.
cont'd....
http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/21/stories/2006092102911000.htm