'A township can only start from a community space'
Surendra Hiranandani, Managing Director, Hiranandani Group, shares the experience of setting up Mumbai's first planned township at Powai and the need for creating sustainable cities
The township concept evolved over the past decade. When we started and created our township Hiranandani Gardens at Powai, it was a holistic approach. When one is designing the township you are not thinking of a specific building, your prime objective is to think of the community space. A township can only start from a community space.
The thinking of urban planning in India is unfortunately a relic of the past. Even our architectural education system is a relic of and fascination with people like Le Corbusier, who were great icons for thought and for imagination but were total disasters and catastrophes as far as urban planning is concerned. We still have the education architectural system based on Corbusier thoughts, which are now proven failures, proven to be unsustainable. However, our urban planning and our architectural thought is still focused towards that and this is a global problem it's not just an Indian problem.
So the thinking has to be oriented towards the non-Corbusier approach, not what you learn in architecture college unfortunately. So there will be visitors who may give you an alternate thought but the mainstream thinking is still based on the outdated concepts.
For example Le Corbusier thought was that everything should be zoned, residential should be one part of the city commercial should be another part of the city, they should be distance in between and parks in between. So half a kilometre distance between two buildings and with a big park in the middle and that was considered great. Now that is proven to be a disaster and unsustainable.
So what is sustainable? If you see major cities, which are successful, they are in their own way sustainable. So whether it is New York, London, Hongkong or Singapore, they are sustainable cities because of the way it is planned, the way it works. You need a reasonable amount of density to achieve a good city. In India, we have the lowest density in the world in terms of development and we do a very haphazard halfway development, which doesn't allow you to create a good public infrastructure.
So coming to density we say that you need a particular density to justify underground network. Mumbai is unique because it's already congested so it was great in that sense for public transport and that's why Mumbai has a great public transport, which is efficient and sustainable. You cannot spread the population, you cannot go out in the middle of the highway and put an energy efficient project and then have a 2000 car park in your basement and say ' I made a sustainable building'.
A boarding college can be in a remote locality, I mean how many people are going to commute to that college? Some house keeping people, the professors live there, the students live there so it's a town on its own so it's fine, you can be in a remote area and live in the middle of nowhere. But to have population in density in compact areas is tricky. Then, how you plan that and build within that is what urban development is all about.
Planning of a township starts with a footpath. We build the township on how the movement is there. What is the movement of people on the ground, is the most essential thing for a township. There are ways of doing it. You know how you place your building, how you create the public space. Every plot has its own limitations but when we are talking about township it means it should be minimum 70-100 acres to create it.
For maintaining a township, you have to create the infrastructure for that because in India no matter even if you are making a township, public roads are passing through your projects. You cannot depend on the local municipality or local authorities to maintain your roads, you have to create your funds; you have to create the plan that it will be maintained by the residents or by the developer even after it is completed. The fact is that you make something, in the manner that your value will automatically be much higher. Your project may be much more recession proof, your address should be a much appreciated and wanted address.
Mega townships should be mixed used, they should be pedestrian friendly and automobiles should be the last item considered on the agenda. Private automobiles should be less and more of public transport should be encouraged like taxis. No city in the world can succeed with just private automobiles, it will always be a disaster. No matter how many roads, flyovers and bridges you make there will be a traffic jam over a flyover.
Where the future is concerned, there's no choice. You see, we probably haven't even done 2% and haven't built in the last 50 years what China has built in the last 5 years. 10 years ago we were 20 years behind China, but in 2011 we are 150 years behind it.
When it comes to the advantages of a township vis-a-vis stand alone buildings, the difference is that townships promote culture, so you have a variety of functions whether it is working, playing, etc. Culture is not just living, or else the building becomes a dormitory or just offices. Culture is all about mixed activities and different people with their own skills and aptitudes coming together and living in a civilised way.
Surendra Hiranandani, Managing Director, Hiranandani Group, shares the experience of setting up Mumbai's first planned township at Powai and the need for creating sustainable cities
The township concept evolved over the past decade. When we started and created our township Hiranandani Gardens at Powai, it was a holistic approach. When one is designing the township you are not thinking of a specific building, your prime objective is to think of the community space. A township can only start from a community space.
The thinking of urban planning in India is unfortunately a relic of the past. Even our architectural education system is a relic of and fascination with people like Le Corbusier, who were great icons for thought and for imagination but were total disasters and catastrophes as far as urban planning is concerned. We still have the education architectural system based on Corbusier thoughts, which are now proven failures, proven to be unsustainable. However, our urban planning and our architectural thought is still focused towards that and this is a global problem it's not just an Indian problem.
So the thinking has to be oriented towards the non-Corbusier approach, not what you learn in architecture college unfortunately. So there will be visitors who may give you an alternate thought but the mainstream thinking is still based on the outdated concepts.
For example Le Corbusier thought was that everything should be zoned, residential should be one part of the city commercial should be another part of the city, they should be distance in between and parks in between. So half a kilometre distance between two buildings and with a big park in the middle and that was considered great. Now that is proven to be a disaster and unsustainable.
So what is sustainable? If you see major cities, which are successful, they are in their own way sustainable. So whether it is New York, London, Hongkong or Singapore, they are sustainable cities because of the way it is planned, the way it works. You need a reasonable amount of density to achieve a good city. In India, we have the lowest density in the world in terms of development and we do a very haphazard halfway development, which doesn't allow you to create a good public infrastructure.
So coming to density we say that you need a particular density to justify underground network. Mumbai is unique because it's already congested so it was great in that sense for public transport and that's why Mumbai has a great public transport, which is efficient and sustainable. You cannot spread the population, you cannot go out in the middle of the highway and put an energy efficient project and then have a 2000 car park in your basement and say ' I made a sustainable building'.
A boarding college can be in a remote locality, I mean how many people are going to commute to that college? Some house keeping people, the professors live there, the students live there so it's a town on its own so it's fine, you can be in a remote area and live in the middle of nowhere. But to have population in density in compact areas is tricky. Then, how you plan that and build within that is what urban development is all about.
Planning of a township starts with a footpath. We build the township on how the movement is there. What is the movement of people on the ground, is the most essential thing for a township. There are ways of doing it. You know how you place your building, how you create the public space. Every plot has its own limitations but when we are talking about township it means it should be minimum 70-100 acres to create it.
For maintaining a township, you have to create the infrastructure for that because in India no matter even if you are making a township, public roads are passing through your projects. You cannot depend on the local municipality or local authorities to maintain your roads, you have to create your funds; you have to create the plan that it will be maintained by the residents or by the developer even after it is completed. The fact is that you make something, in the manner that your value will automatically be much higher. Your project may be much more recession proof, your address should be a much appreciated and wanted address.
Mega townships should be mixed used, they should be pedestrian friendly and automobiles should be the last item considered on the agenda. Private automobiles should be less and more of public transport should be encouraged like taxis. No city in the world can succeed with just private automobiles, it will always be a disaster. No matter how many roads, flyovers and bridges you make there will be a traffic jam over a flyover.
Where the future is concerned, there's no choice. You see, we probably haven't even done 2% and haven't built in the last 50 years what China has built in the last 5 years. 10 years ago we were 20 years behind China, but in 2011 we are 150 years behind it.
When it comes to the advantages of a township vis-a-vis stand alone buildings, the difference is that townships promote culture, so you have a variety of functions whether it is working, playing, etc. Culture is not just living, or else the building becomes a dormitory or just offices. Culture is all about mixed activities and different people with their own skills and aptitudes coming together and living in a civilised way.
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