On Being Urban
(Image: Kapashera, New Delhi- Old Gurgaon Border)
urban
/ˈəːb(ə)n/
adjective
in, relating to, or characteristic of a town or city."the urban population"
According to Census of India (2011), the definition of urban area is a place comprising of four factors, ie:
A minimum population of 5,000 persons
A density of 400 persons per square kilometer or higher
75% of the male population is employed in non- agricultural activities
And, places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee, etc.
The word ‘urban’ is rooted in the networks formed by people. These high-density settlements and infrastructures of the built environment are created through the process of urbanization, which occurs via migration and natural population growth. Population density and urban sprawl are some of the key occurrences, which are defining measures within the scope of urban areas.
Due to national differences in characteristics of urban areas across the globe, there is no universal definition of what consists of ‘urban’ that would be applicable to all countries or, for the most part, even to the countries within a region.
“In 2014, there were 7.2 billion people living on the planet, of which, 3.9 billion comprised of the global urban population, which is projected to double by the year 2050. ”
There is no doubt that we are living in an ever-increasing urban world, where migrants continue to be drawn to cities in search of economic, social and creative opportunities. From Boris Johnson’s most recent promise to end freedom-of-movement and reshape immigration law to China’s decades-old urban Hakou [1] system (to immobilise China’s large rural population, denying them access to basic public services), these policies to curb migration to megacities is a glaring reminder that our cities’ carrying capacity is fast reaching its tipping point. After which, it is only through harnessing the city’s social and economic capital, could we think of re-imagining the future of cities, quantitatively and qualitatively. It is more than imperative to build communities that can weather and continuously bridge this increasing inequity gap.
“Future cities need to be better equipped for new arrivals if they are to harness the related economic benefits.”
When we deliberate about the future of cities, it is either through the perspective of environmental catastrophes or the role of technology and super-infrastructures, like the Smart Cities Mission (brought in by the National Ruling Party of India in 2014). Both lenses provide a straight-jacket formula for a larger collection of challenges that comprise the city - housing, health, education, employment. Prominent scholars such as Cuthbert (2007) and Verma (2011) have emphasised the need to disentangle studies in the urban realm from the traditional confines of architecture and planning, specifically recommending its reorientation to social science. It is in the breaking away from linear methodologies, that we, as urban practitioners and aware citizens, could corroborate innovative ways of building sustainable cities and resilient communities.
Left: Delhi’s population density visualisation (LSE Cities)
On Delhi
Built and inhabited over multiple centuries, Delhi is a city with almost 20 million citizens with an area of 1,484 square kilometres. Delhi's urban area include the satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon and Noida. It is a rapidly growing urban agglomeration (UA) known as the NCR - National Capital Region.
In Delhi, however, no single form of state reform, governance, or public infrastructure can provide a platform for different groups to pursue their aspirations equally. The city is made up of diverse actors, all of which form the local logic through which the city operates.
Most of Delhi’s urban dwellers live near the core of the city, in informal settlements and urban villages (existed before Delhi’s master planning), creating a unique phenomenon for neighbourhoods where the urban poor and the middle class or even the upper class are coexisting together. When we say ‘co-exist’ it does not mean all things positive. The stark living conditions and the complete failure of state provision for basic services can translate to apathy on the streets and in shared collective spaces.
‘Delhi is an opportunity. Delhi needs no fixing.’
Rather it is the peoples' relationship with the city that needs harnessing, and vice versa. By accepting it has true potential, is a passive way of looking at the city. Therefore, as architects, geographers, community gatekeepers and active citizens, if we proactively redefine imaginations of Delhi by collecting grassroots voices and stirring top-down planning processes, that is, in a way, progress.
We are looking at urban complexity in a slightly chaotic way (much to its character) and this is our foremost effort to simplify each layer to the best of our abilities. To break it down in thinkable terms, is to empathize with every factor that plays a part and to build multi-disciplinary perspectives on our built-environment. The gap in action-oriented research is also due to the fact that there is already a wide roster of academic literature on cities, urbanism, geography, planning, governance, culture, et al. but how they are truly impacting common citizenries is a blatant question mark.
City Sabha is an initiative that looks at intersectionalities between the built environment and people through continuous dialogue, discourse and dilemma. We have set out to answer urban questions, and challenge the status quo through a range of action-based interventions across Delhi.
As urban practitioners born and raised in Delhi, we thought it makes sense to start with a place where we have a sense of belonging. This is not to discount the privileges and backgrounds we come from - it was our relentless intention to not just explore the multiple ‘Dillies’ that exist, but also to knit them through dialogue, activism, and design.
It is safe to say that it is curiosity that pushes us to tackle multi-disciplinary issues, and is the motivation to investigate peoples’ relationship with their built environment - kicking off at the neighbourhood level, springboarding to a city level. Via this new endeavour, we look forward to channel and tie the multiple Delhis we have experienced and are yet to experience, of the present, and in memory.
Set on democratic principles, City Sabha is an effort to build awareness on people taking charge of planning their spaces to better own their future. This initiative conceptualises the city’s ecosystems, set in the forefront of future planning with burgeoning urbanization and inequality as constant real- time trends. In larger terms, the idea is to not chase problems and find quick- fixes, but to strengthen the aforementioned values and to start by having conversations and building awareness around these subjects and how important they are as reinforcements of our common future.
We don’t want to see the future of our cities as a massive set of urban contradictions which currently shape our everyday lives.
Based on the principle of equity and our right to the city, it is a combination of citizen-led movements and state-led policies that could level the playing field when it comes to ‘activating’ public spaces and building cities that are open and resilient.
View of Shahjahanabad from Jama Masjid, Delhi (source: City Sabha)
References and Footnotes:
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/10/how-migration-is-changing-world-cities-charts/
https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2017.html
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315581606/chapters/10.4324/9781315581606-14
http://unccdcop14india.gov.in/about-delhi
