July 2008 Edition
Civil Society News
New Delhi
KT Ravindran has been appointed Chairman of the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) at a time when the city is preparing for the Commonwealth Games in 2010. The previous team at the commission headed by the celebrated Charles Correa left over differences with the government regarding certain projects.
Ravindran, who has a long association with Delhi, is known to be sensitiveto issues regarding the environment and heritage. He believes in inclusive cities with shared public spaces. He would like to help fashion a Delhi in which everyone and not just a chosen few have access to facilities.
Ravindran, architect and a teacher, believes the Commonwealth Games are a good opportunity to usher in new standards for the urban environment of Delhi. He thinks that without running into a wall, the commission can play an activist role in redefining Delhi. It can build a dialogue with citizens and serve as a hub for new ideas. Edited excerpts from an interview to Civil Society:
You have come to head DUAC at a time when Delhi is preparing for the Commonwealth Games. Could you tell us something about this?
I am coming to the commission at a time when most decisions on the Commonwealth Games have already been taken as far as location and construction are concerned. Some decisions are with the commission. Whether we like it or not the Games are going to be there and they are of great consequence to the city. They will alter its landscape and provide an opportunity to infuse quality into the urban environment. I consider it of great significance and I want to prioritize the clearances so that it happens gracefully.We are also making a distinction between what we call the core Games projects and the non-core projects: things like connectivity, roads, flyovers as well as hotel projects. We are giving priority to all of them but we are giving more priority to the core projects such as stadia and connectivity between them.
We are concerned about overall connectivity between the sites of the events and how the city is going to receive these connectivities during the Commonwealth Games because we cannot shut down the city. The main geographic centre of the city is the road which connects north to south. It is also the road on which major sports venues are coming up. So the functioning of the Games and the city has to be packaged.
What long-term effects will this have on the city?
Well, considering the fact that large investments are being made in public spaces, the legacy of the Games should integrate with the normal functioning of the city. In many other cities, the Games have been used as an opportunity for a makeover of the entire city. In some cases, the Games have been used as a vehicle for providing low-cost housing and urban renewal. This has unfortunately not happened here as yet or if it is happening it is in a piecemeal and uncoordinated way. I would like to see, if permitted, how public spaces can be improved in a coordinated way.
What is the priority?
What we call the street is the most important public space in a city. Not just for vehicles to run fast but also for a very large number of people to walk and cycle to places of work or for shopping and so on. The street is actually a very, very active public space and we need to see we improve the opportunities on the street.
There is a sense that too much is being done too late as a result of which you have a very narrow window of opportunity and a huge ….
That’s very true but you have to make a distinction between what are the core issues and what are the non-core issues. I’m not talking about those socalled mainstream interventionist areas, but the opportunity that presents itself to do a makeover of Delhi’s monuments and centres of culture. The influx of people expected will be a huge small trade opportunity. There will be a big opportunity in relation to tourism. So the Games have the potential to be a cultural event. People who come to the Games will be looking for shopping, entertainment and fun in the evening.
We would like to put simple infrastructure like street lighting in place so that people can walk without tripping or putting a foot in a puddle. Such things are not mainstream, but they need to be done. There is the ordinary citizen who has the right to public spaces in the city. What happened over the BRT corridor shows that though 80 to 90 per cent of the people are bus riders, cyclists and pedestrians, they are given totally marginalized positioning in the street profile so that automobiles can run around as they like. If you look at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium it is a place where many different forms of transport are emerging. You have the ring railway coming from one side, the metro coming from another side and you have the BRT corridor. There are lots of facilities being built for the Games at the stadium and it has the potential to become a new kind of public space.
Do you sense great opportunities in DUAC?
Absolutely, it has to be part of the flow. The commission is open in its communications. I would like a higher participatory mode of development in which DUAC becomes responsive to what the people are asking for. A large number of letters come on public issues. They are usually written by people who are interested in those issues and have a personal agenda or whatever. However they also do pick up public issues. I am sitting down and answering those letters and ensuring those issues are taken up by the commission. By being more responsive to public opinion I think we can generate a flow.
How do we assess what a city really wants?
DUAC is a place where a large number of technical people are involved: architects, engineers, social scientists, historians. All these experts interact with the city and with each other. We want to become an activist forum.
So, you would draw out public opinion.
We would like to do that. We want to focus on the idea of building the city through the prism of climate change. We want to see how the commission can bring about a change in the mindset of people who are involved on the technical side and take cognizance of the fact that 40 per cent of carbon emissions are generated by development activities.
I am sure historical buildings are something you would like to look at?
It is a concern very central to my own development and consciousness. I have been involved with INTACH since its inception. Every city has a personality and where does that come from? It comes from its monuments, its environment and the link between the environment and monuments. That’s where Delhi’s spirit is located. We have to see that that spirit is not damaged.
Will it include for instance waterways?
Absolutely. Monuments are linked to a waterway and connected to a green spot. We are always looking at roads. Instead we should look at monuments and waterways. The commission had done this and we held an exhibition called Imagining Delhi. In this exhibition, the link between water, monuments and the city clearly came out. We also found that monuments are kept out of the city. They are protected and not consequential to what happens around them.
We would like to reconnect the city’s daily development with the monuments. So we want to establish links between the natural environment, heritage, monuments and development activity. It’s a large complex task but in principle that’s what we would like to see happen.
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