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CHAPTERI

INTRODUCTION
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CHAPTER. I
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I.INTRODUCTION

ln a world ever growing in nurnbers and needs, finding a place for 'stay' and providing
'shelter' for people are ever challenging. The increase in population and changes in

pattems of living lead to the expansion of human settlementscoming under large and
complex urban agglomeratescalled towns and cities, often termed as urban areas.But not
all large settlementsare urban areas.

To be ca'lled an urban area, a settlement will have to embody various parameters,with


regard to population size, occupational modes and density. These parametersvary from
county to counfy and sometimesfrom region to region as in the casesof hilly areasand
deserts- conditioned by topographical and other geo-climatic variations. However one
cannot deny the obvious lure a town or city contains to an ordinary citizen. Strangelythis
lure of the towns and cities itself often proves to be its undoing. Often cities take pride in
being larger than any other city in its surroundings while blissfully ignoring its
infrastructure and quality of life, which will be cracking and collapsing under pressure.
Sadly, the process of city's development takes the path of continuous urbanization and
endlessencroachmentof surroundinggreen belt absorbingnumerousrural pockets,moved
by the common belief that a city's natural courseof developmeritmeansonly increasein its
size both demographicand spatial.

This trend however must end, if our towns and cities are to remain livable at all. A more
equitable, proportionate and uniform population distribution across a region will stop
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undue growth of constituent cities and will definitely benefit the region, the towns and
cities and of-coursethe people.

Buitding of new towns becomesvery relevant in the context of unwieldy urban growth,
most planncrs agree. However, the concept of new towns has not been understood
p€rceptively outside the professional circle of planners. The right way of understanding

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n€s' towns is by understandingvarious definitions of towns devised under various li

their presencethroughthe history of variouscountriesand civilizations.


circumstances,
Howeverto be practicable,a new town has to be built to caterto the local aspirations,
needsandlifestyles.To achievethis the studyofnew townsin the immediatesurrounding
region of the study area will be importantas it would yield many clues about the
appropriate
size,densityandform.

I.I DEFINITIONS AND HISTORY OF NEW TOWNS

When we considerthe history of human settl€ments,s'e seethat every large settlementor


town thatwe seenow did havea startingpoint.But we cannottreatthemall asnewtowns.
Becausemostof themwereprobablymerehamletsandvillagesbeforethey acquiredtheir
prescntsignificance.On the otherhandnew townsarethe ones,which wereplannedto be
towns right from the beginningand built on perhapsa virgin pieceof land.Converselya

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new town could very well be a planneddevelopment
of an alreadyexistingtownshipso
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that it may act as a countermagnetto a fast growingmetropolis:in otherwords,a new
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trrt town may not be foundednecessarily
on a virgin pieceofland.

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The exactbeginningof deliberatetown planningand building may neverbe determined.
However, the practice of town planning has been traced back to the earliesturban
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civilizationsof differentcultures.New townsby definitionare completelydesignedand i
urbancomplexesand the commonnotionis that all the townsin historyhave
constructed
l hadorganicgrowthandthatthenew townshavehada relativelyshorthistory,startingafter
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the uglinessof industrialrevolutionbecamepronouncedand unbearable.
Howeverthis is
not correct.By definition,a town,to qualifoas one,needsto be ofa certainsize,followed iI
by the requirement
thata majorityof its workforceneedsto be in non-primaryactivities.

The variety of existingcharacteristics


or featuresis indicativeof lack of a conrmonly
accepteddefinitionof the new town concept.Therehavebeenlargediscrepancies
while
;
especiallynew towns.In recentdecades
referringto new urbansettlements, the termsnew
town, new community,new town in-town, regional growth center,satellitetown, and
othershavebeenusedinterchangeably.
On the onehand,lack of clarity in the meaningof
'
€achof thesetermshas led to much confusion;on the other,someplarmers,designers,
developers,
and othershaveusedthe wordsto suit their own purposes.Becausethe term
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new town connotesirurovation,private developershave exploited it for commercial l

purposesmore so in the free economies.Consequently,


thesedevelopershavefrequently
appliedthe label to settlements
that are really subdivisionsor regularlarge-scale
housing
Thusthe specificterm for a uniquecommunityhasbecomea generalterm
developments.
encompassing
manynewdevelopments in thepastfew decades
plannedandimplemented

The terms introducedduring recent decadescontain four significant elements:economic


base and self-containment,land-use..pattem,provision of services,and commuting
behaviour,the last threefactorsbeingintegrallydependenton the first (Golony,Gideon,
1972,p.22).The history of urbanexperiencehas showntlat the community'seconomic
basestronglyinfluencesits character:a communitywith a diversifiedeconomicbasehasa
wide rangeof socioeconomicgroupsand providesa variety of job opportunities.The
To a great
degreeof thesetwo factorssctsthe degreeof a community'sself-containment.
extent the economicbase also determinesa cornmunity'srange of social activities,
.intensity,and power structure.Diversifiedland use largely supportsthe
transportation
of socioeconomicactivities. A bedroomcommunity,for
developmentof an assortment
example,is limited to a few typesof landuseand,therefore,doesnot providea varietyof
activities.The numberofsocial servicesprovidedthroughpublic or privateinitiativeis one
motive not only for creatingthe socialidentity of a settlement,but also for insuringthe
futurecontinuityof that community.Sincethe absenceof socialservicesleadsdirectlyto
intensecommutingbehaviour,the degreeof socialbalancewithin a settlementis shaped
primarily by the amountof servicesprovided.Commutingbehaviourdependsgreatlyon
the diversity of economicbase,the pattemsof land use, and the number of services
provided.Thus, an intensecommutingpattem from a communityto centersbeyondits
little diversityin landuse,andfew public
peripheryindicatesfew economicopportunities,
facilitiesandsocialserviceswithin thesettlement.

Sincean economicbaseis a dominantfactor dictatingthe nature,setting,function,and


should
relation of a settlementto its region, the degreeof economicself-containment
defineclassesof settlements.On this basis,all new urbans€ttlements
fall into two maior
groups:

Group A - whichincludes:

- new town, nerecommunity, new city, company totwn,development

town, regional grov)th center,free-standing cotnmunity, accelerated


grovlth center,horizontal city, vertical city, and new town in-city.

Group B - whichincludes:

- satellite town, metro town, land subdivision, planned unit


develooment.and new lown in-town-

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The seftlementsin group A are relatively independentcconomicattyand have physicat .il


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self-identity.They are not basedprimarily on a commutingpattem and, in all their .€

dimensions,
arerelativelyself-contained Thus,theyhavediversesocio
and self-sustaining.
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economicgroupsandincludea wide rangeof landuse.Usuallythesesettlements
havebeen -
t.
careftilly,innovatively,andcomprehensively
plannedanddeveloped,
to servepurposesand
achievegoalsotherthanmerclyprovidinghousing.

By contrast,the settlementsincludedin group B are not physicallyor economically


and physicallyor economicallyrelatedto an alreadyexistingurbancenter.
independent,
Sincemajorjob opportunitiesexist out-sidethe settlements,
majority of their inhabitants
form a nightpopulation,andthe settlements
thushavea lowerday density.Mainly usedas
housingcenters,thesenew settlements
dependon a pattemof commutingto anestablished
clty.

We also mean enfirely new towns, deliberatelycreatedby an act of will on the part 6f
individualsor groupsfor a given purposeand most importantof all in accordance
with a
carefullydevisedplan,bearingin mindtheneedfor economicanddemographic
balance.
The term new community was coined a few decadesago in the United Statesas a result of
this country's unique socio-economicand political conditions. It describesa new type of
settlementsimilar, but not identical, to a new town. The American Institute of planners
(AIP) envisionsthe new communityas:
"a
setllement entailing pices and rents, an internal transportation system
as well as convenientaccessto other communitiesand metropolitan areas,
community facilities, services and amenities and an elfective local
' government. Such settlementscould range from small towns of 25,000
population to very large cities with a population of a million or
more ".(Meyer, Albert. 1964,p.32).

In another definition, the Advisory Commission on lntergovemmental Relations describes


new cornmunities
as:
Large-scale developments under single or unijied management,following a

fairly precise, inclusiveplan for diJferenttypes of housing, commercial and


cultural facilities, and amenities sulficient to serve the residents of the
community. They may provide land for industry, offer other types of
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employment opportunities, and may eventually achieve a considerable
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,neasure of self-sfficiency. With few exceptions, new communities under
development today are within commuting distance of existing employment
centers.(Eichler, Edward P & Kaplan, Marshall. 1968,p.63)
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One of the altemative comprehensive schemesthat may alteviate critical congested urban
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centers is New towns, which may arise from (l) large scale expansion of existing
,
settlements,and (2) constructionofnew oneswith built in encouragementfor translocation
of population - housing, support industries, ancillarisation, installation of facilities for
education,health care etc.
Plannershave viewed new towns as laboratoriesthat can contribute to their experiences
from older cities and can afford a chance to break away from conventional development
thinking and to try altemative envisagement.Since they are developed literally from
ground up, new towns are pioneers in technological innovation, social management,
govemmentaland administrativestructures,and urban planning and design. Actually, new
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town plannersand developershave introduced such innovative techniquesof plaruringand
implementation as new types of building codes particularly those oriented to test
performancestandards,to test land use control techniquesother than conventionalzoning.
Land use control and building codes in new towns, for example,can be absentor minimal
and more flexible than in older or organically and a-normativelydevelopedurban areas.

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EbenezerHoward, who is sometimesreferred to as the progenitor of the idea, often used
the term 'new town' interchangeablywith the term Garden City, and offered a definition
which summarizedthe major elementsof his thesis:
"A .
Garden City is a town designedfor healthy living and industry; of a size
.
that makes possible the full measure of social life, but not larger; I
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surrounded hy a rural belt; the whole of the land being in public ownership - ' 'l

or held in trustfor the community" (EbenezerHoward, 1965,p.26).

Some more recent definitions of new towns exhibil greater detail and more precise
formulations.One, for example,statesthat:
"new
By tovn" we mean first of all towns built on a site without any large
urban concentrations; towns which are large enough to have an
independent existence, in other words, self-contained towns with
commercial, educational,social and cultural institutions that satisfy all the
needs of families and individuals alike; above all, the towns must have a
sulficient number of industrial enterpriseslo create a wide labour market.
. Such towns are fundamentally dilferent from "satellite towns," where
- workers are depenclentupon another urban centre which may, or may not,
be easily accessible, or from towns enlarged by new districts, which meet
other needs and raise other problems. They are also different from towns
that have been almost entirely destroyedand have been rebuilt on the same
site....(Jean,Viet, 1960,p.16).

Definition oftowns varies from country to country and from region to region. In the Indian
context various censuses had introduced various definitions, some times ambiguous

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leading to confusion. However with the 196l censusonwards all this ambiguity was put an
end to and a common un-ambisuousdefinition was formulated.

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Depending upon the predominant economic activity, the towns may be termed as a local l
trading and marketing town, industrial town, institutional town, of administration, and
cultural importanceor a transporttown, port town, etc. A town may contaln some or moFe
of these featurestogether, within the respective size categones.Some towns may be in
sharpcontrastto the rural countryside,while othersmay not-

Settlements whose principal occupation is other than agriculture and allied activities,
whose occupations are mostly conducted within the settlements, with a population
exceeding 5000, having an occupational structure where in 75 percent of its male adult
population is engagedin non-primary sector activities with a municipal organizationwith

some municipal services are consideredas urban areas. Large number of buildings and
structureshere are of a permanentnature. Smaller size urban areasare towns while bigger
ones are cities. If the population ofan urban areais less than, 20,000 it is termedas a town
or a small town. lf the population of the same exceeds20,000 but is less than 50,000 it is
termed as medium-sizedtowns. When the population of the urban areais more than 50'000
and less than 100,000it is termed as a large town though in the Indian context the towns
are classifiedas class I-VI with varying population (All India Town Directory, 1991)

In history,we find urbancomplexesof Harappa- MohenjoDaro (3500 BC) in what is


thatit hada very
today's' Pakistanor Lothalin Gujaratservedascentersof administration,
fine networkof servicesanda very dominatinggrid iron networkof streetswhichpattemis
evenfiow.
beingemployed

Egypt takesthe credit for having hadtlre earlicstnew tmms. It is no secretthat the greatest
for any Egyptianpharaohwaspreparingfor his deathby meansof spending
pre-occupation
on buildingpyramids.It is herethatwe find evidenceof
hugetime andmonetaryresources
giganticlabourforce employedto build pyramids.The
townshipsbuilt to accommodate
earliestexamplecanbe tracedto the smalltown of Kahun(about3000BC). Thetown was
of cells in rectangularblocks,but is interestingin that it
little more than an arrangement
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was deliberatelylaid out and built to houseslavesand artisanswho were constructinga


pyramidthere.

The first new towns in Europecan be tracedback to Greece,built for the purposeof
colonization.Due to the hilly tenain that Greeceis, it was nearimpossiblefor townsto
grow beyonda certainsize without affectingthe terrainvastly,which was impossibleat
that time and without affectingthe services.After city reacheda certainsizethey would
dispatcha batch of populace,mostly about 10,000to newly developedurban complex
which would in tum, after reachingits maximumsize dispatchanotherset of peopleto
anothernewlydesigned
town.
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In the past when military invasionswere the order of the day, as in the days of Romans,the
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conquerorsalways setuptheir fortified cantonmentsover the landsthey had conquered.The
other occasionfor building new towns was when a thriving empire decidedto build a new
town reflecting all the pomp and glory that the empire had acquired, and use it as a new
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capital. Not always, display ofan empire's wealth u'as the purposefor building new capital . {
towns, as evident in the argument put forth during the zenith of Roman Empire when to ii
keep a hold on tlre ever expanding Roman empires which had already reachedhalf the
African continent,to move the empire's capital from Rome to Byzantium (Istanbul).

In the caseof Roman Empire their prime occupationwas empire building, which lastedfor
nearly 300 years during which they expandedtheir empire to cover what was then referred
to as 'the entire civilized world.' And wherever the Romans went they would establish
their military colonies or 'Castra' based mostly on Hellenistic principles, which by then
had beenconvertedinto a mere formula by Roman Engineersand city builders.
The middle ages witnesseda downfall in the history of most civilizations and wffi mole a
time for city destructionthan city construction.The next important phasein the history of
cities started with the advent of industrial revolution and the chaos resulting llom it
prompting many utopian visionaries to come up with various solutions mostly to be
implemented in the form of new towns. The utopians range from Thomas Moore in 1516
who authored a book titled Utopia in which he put forth his proposal for what he
consideredan ideal town form
However in the modern context United Kingdom offers a pioneering instance of a new
town movement that it witnessed and which is regarded as the cradle of modem new
towns. UK was among the first of the countriesto come out of the ugly shadowscastby the
industrial revolution on its towns and cities. The beginning was made by the intoduction
of the Urban Health Act in the t850s. In the 20thCentury Utopian visionaries- Ebenezer
Howard and Daniel Bumham saw their proposals for 'Garden City' and 'City Beautiful'
conceptsbecomea reality during their life time. Revolutionarythinker, Le Corbusier,came
up with grand proposals for new town form and design with publication of La Cite
Contemporaineand La Cite Radiuse,which were implemented in parts and pieces across
the world as in Brasilia designedas the new capital ofBrazil by Lucio Costa.

Ebcnezcr Howard gave thrust to the common man's dream of clean, green and livable
towns in publishing his ideas in the form of a book, which eventually led to the
establishmentof GardenCitics. The successof theseGardenCities was such that the terms
New Towns and Carden Cities are usedas svnonvmseven to this date.

In recent years, the new towns, much more in the affluent countries, have become
specialized in the form of retirement settlements,holiday villages etc. In the developing
countries like India, townships built around the large industriesreceived a major thrust in
the 1950sand 60s when the governmentpolicies were to achieve complete industrial self-
sufficiency. In the socialist countries like the erstwhile USSR, the prospectof peholeum
depositsin the far eastemprovinces like Siberia, among the least inhabitableplacesin the
world, witnessedthe establishmentof a seriesof new towns.

I.2 NEW TOWN CONCEPT AIYDPI]RPOSES

The ncw town concept concsponds well to two long-standing beliefs, which have
planners- 'physicaldeterminism'and the 'relevanceof the generalplan'. In
predisposed
many ways the new town concepthas functionedas the urbanplamers' model,to which
could easily be attachedrelatedconceptsor ideas such as the physically,socially,or
economically balanced community, neighbourhood plaming, diversification and utilization
ofland uses,and optimum city sizesand densities.Establishedpolitical strucrures,existing
land use patterns,and heterogeneous
populationshave always contributedto complicatethe
application of planning concepts.However, the new town concepthas offered the prospect
of a unique opportunity to plan the land use arrangementof a community relatively free
from the constraints of prior development pattems, local politics, fragmented land
ownerships,and other factors which limit freedom and effectivenessin conventionalcit5r
plaruring. Explicit or implicit referenceto the new town concept or aspectsof it can tre

identified throughout the literature of physical planning and urban design. Much of the
influence of the new town idea can be traced to the work of EbenezerHoward and the
resultantGardenCity Movement (Kaplan, Marshall, 1964,p.88).

Probably the most distinguishing characteristics of new towns are that they arc always
founded for some pre-establishedpurposes or objectives. The objectives determine the
major planning characteristicsof any new town, such as size, location and composition of
land uses.

The purposesfor which new towns are founded are numerousand serveto demonstratethe
flexibility of the concept. New towns have been built, for example, to establish capital
cities, for military or strategic pulposes, in connection with public works projects, to
exploit natural resources, as demonstration projects, to relieve urban congestion in
establishedcenters,to revive declining areas,as educationalcenters,and as private land
developmententerprises.New towns have also been founded for colonization, as ports; to
relocate the populationsof existing towns, and as planned extensionsofexisting towns. In
many casesthe purposesfor which new towns are built overlap, or some other function
may be servedwhich is incidental to the major purposefor which a town is founded.Also,
the purposesfor some new towns may be establishedby the broaderobjectivesof national
developmentplans.

Contrary to the popular perceptionamong plannersthat the New Towns are designedonly
to be executedon open expanseof land away from existing developments,there is another
form of new towns, which are a result of major revamp or redevelopmentthat takes place i
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in the core of an existing city, the site for which may be an existing hwnn activity in
dilapidatedcondition or stretchesof land deemedundevelopableeconomically till the land
cost in the surroundingrise to an extent that the developing such parcelsof land becomes
viable. Such developmentsare termed 'New towns in Town,' a term coined by American
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planner Harvey Perloff.

The'New Town In-townt concept involves the large-scale rehabilitation,


modernization, and redevelopment of the core of the city. It is proposed that
the functions of the area be changed to make for a viable and improved
Iiing environment that will be attractive and safefor persons of all ages
who like to be in the heart of the city where inevitable interesting and
exciting activities are available. The concept involves a recognition that the
central city areas are too important to discard- To reconstitute the central i
core as a total livfng environment is a challenging idea. To make it an
economically sound as well as socially desirable part of the total city is
imperutive. The changescalled for will take time and large-scaleefforts on
the part of both government and the private sector to complete. The old

format for the area must he drastically altered. Vehicular tralfic must be
reduced or confined to particular routes, the concentration of pollutants
must be reduced, streets must be well lighted and protected against
vandalismand crime (Gallion, Arthur, 1988,p.561).

An abidingpurposeof new towns is to achievenew levels of satisfactorycoordination


among the various urban subsystems- transport, housing, schools, health care,
entertainment,markets,industries,professionalcentres,water supply, sanitation,and
electricity.The difficultiesin accessing
someor all thesefacilitiesshouldbe minimal and
tum out to be economicalandlesstime consuming.

The heart of the new town idea is the creation of an urban community conceivedas an ,{

integratedand harmoniouswhole. The new town starting either from scratchor from an
alreadyexisting humanseftlementor hamletwith an adequateurbanizingpotentialcan
providethe mostmodemof facilities,whetherschools,shoppingor parking.The ability to
develop through an overall plan makes possible community amenities and aesthetic
qualities normally not realized. Because people today have both rising incomes and
expanding leisure time, recreationreceives a higher priority in the new town plan. Reston
in Virginia Statein the USA, for example,has made a golf course,an artificial lake, riding
stables and bridle paths, and other recreational facilities the very backbone of the
community. The more advancednew town makes an effort to provide a balance between
workplaces and homes. It has a distinctive center with important functional and visual
features.High-rise apartments,low lying buildings and individual homes help to provide
variety as well as superiordesign for living.

With adequate imagination and purpose, the essenceof all this can be applied to the older
parts of the metropolis. Since re-planningis much more difficult than starting from scratch,
it will require particularly good planning aimed at the samegoals of harmony and balance.
It will normally require some strategicrebuilding as well as rehabilitation for continuous
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improvement accordirrgto a plan. An essentialelement would be a working partnershipin
planned urban developmentbetween the people of the area, a variety of public agencies,
and private enterprise.The aim should not be to createcommunitiesthat are all alike; each
should have its own specialcharacter,its own focal points, and its own attractions.

The New Town In-town Concept can greatly help in transforming the physical
environment of the city in keeping with social objectives and human resourcesneeds.It
cannot solve the human problems of the city, nor even all the physical problems. It can ;.,{
provide a valuable lever for both. If we hope to achievethe objectives of the antipoverty ,*
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and other social progtams, it will be necessary,among other things, to transform the total
environmentofpoverty - the physical aspectsas well as the social, economic,and political.
It is important to create an environment in which the community as well as the individual
family becomesrehabilitated.

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1.3NEW TOWNS IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT

India is a country of wide diversity with many cultures.Eachpart of tbe cornry is distinct
in its culture,tradition,andarchitecture
andplanning.Integmtionof thesecameinto being
only aller British colonization,whenvariousroyaltiesthat ruledIndia werebroughtunder
the umbrellaof British rule. The British broughtwith them the knowledgeof the west,
which differedfrom orientalknowledge.The westemknowledgewasbasedon logic and
the experiences
gainedfrom what is well known as the industrialrevolution,while the
orientalknow-howwasmorebasedon local traditionsandmodesofproductionandliving
and social organizationrelatively un-impactedby the modern scientific quantitative
techniquesand the elementof deliberateness.
The inquisitiveand innovativefeatureof
westerncivilizationshad its impacton their planningas well. The citiesof the Greekand
Romantimesto thepresentday planningpracticeswerebasedon sheerlogic in relationto
form, while Indian planning was basedmore on relatively unchangedtraditionsand
imitationof forbears.
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New townshavebeenbuilt andold onesmodifiedin India sincethe earliesttimes.The idea
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of new town is not new to India. Fromthe earlyhistorictimes, a planningtraditionexists .

in this countrywhich is reflectedin the building up of towns suchas Mohenjodaroand


Harappa during the Indus valley civilization. Pataliputra,Varanasi, Nalanda and
Takshashila
in the later periods,Agra, and Golcondain the Mughaltimes,New Delhi in {
the 20thcentury,Bhuvaneshwar
prior to independence
and Chandigarhafter independence
are the best examples.TheseNew towns have been built for a variety of purposes
(Kopardekar
H.D., 1994,p.71).

Brudly thesenew towns ar€ ctassified into nine prcdominantly firnctionat categories-

'S" adninistrative,educational,industrial,port, transportation(Surface),


market, recreation,
religiousandcantonment.
The get recategorised
andfurtherdiversifiedin accordance
with
needsandgovemmentpolicy initiatives.
technological

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India has assirnilated experience of building new towns explicitly according to different
planning and managementparametersin Hindu, Muslim, British and Modem period i.e.,
after independencein 1947.New towns have appearedin large numbersafter independence
due to several reasonsas functional demand at some place, as part of a natural growth
process,and as a part of planned attempt to divert urban population liom metropoliten
cities. There were more than l4l new towns in the country as per 1991 censuswhich were
built after 1947.They constitutedabout 9 percentoftotal urbanpopulation. Out of those29
were with population of more than 100,000(Class I cities), 72 with population between
50,000-100,000, and the remaining with population 20,000-50,000. The state wise
distribution showed that the number of new towns is relatively more in less developed
states(Saini,N.S., 1989,p. 107)

Navi Mumbai and Chandigarh are chosen as examples for a brief study of Indian new
towns. These towns, one meant to be a counter magnet to a thriving commercial and
administrative capital and the other more of an administrativecapital of a region, have a
few things in common though design approachesresemble.In any city meantto serve as a
capital city scale is of utmost importance.However the planners' failure to anticipate the
growth rate of thesecities would only diminish the magnificenceof the cities. These have
becomea reality in caseof both Navi Mumbai and Chandigarh.In the modem context, to
be viable, a city needsto perform many functions and only such multifunctional cities can
survive in the long run in this businessage, where the needsof economic developmentare
of primary importanceas comparedto military prowess which has lost its importance in
thesetimes. Due to this a true multifunctional city of the businessage like New Bombay
may becomea good role model for the intendedstudy.

Earlier, there were attemptsin setting up of new towns, the most noted being attempt to
build and shift the capital city of Mughal Empire by Mohammed Bin Tughalaqwho wanted
to shift from Delhi to Tughalaqabador Devagiri in central India for strategicreasons.The
citizens were forcibly evacuatedfrom Delhi to move to Devagiri, who ultimately did not
budge and the aftempt failed. Going by these lines, Narsingpur in the south of Madhya
Pradeshstate,on the banks of Narmadashould have been the capital of the modem India.

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Another noted example was that of an attempt by Akbar, who built Fateh-Pur-Sikri.
Despitebeing an architectecturalwonderthe project got abrted half way lhrough because
they facedserioustroublein providingbasicutilities like waterand sanitationdue to the
terrainofthe landchosen.

During the tenureof the British,India witnesseda shift in focusfrom casteto classbased
planning.Classalone continuedto determinethe planningprocess.The book 'Indian
summer'which gives a comprehensive
chronologyof eventsthat led to the creationand
how hierarchyin societyhadits impacton the planningof
planningof New Delhi discusses
varioushousingtlpes basedon variousincomegtoupsand the influenceit exertedon the
societyasa whole.The first newtownsthatsprangup in the historyofmodem Indiawere
of the colonists,if they canbe calledthat.In the historyof modemIndia,
the cantonments
the mostprominentexamplesof new town movementareNew Delhi andChandigarh.
The
former was an expressiongiven to the power of the colonistmonarchywhile the latter
symbolizedthe spiritofa freeIndia,freein thoughts,spiritsanddecision-making. ,# t:

New Delhi and Chandigarhare the most celebratedexamplesof modem Indian New
Towns. Thesetowns,both meantto be capitalsofa regionor a countryhavea few things r*
vary. In any ciry meantto serveas a capitalcity scaleis of
in commonthoughapproaches
utmostimportance.Howeverthe planners'failure to anticipatethe growthof thesecities t1

of thecities.Thesehavebecomea realityin caseof


would only diminishthemagnificence
u
.

both New DelhiandChandigarh.Howeverin the modemcontext,to be viable,a city needs


to perform many functionsand only such multifunctionalcities can be feasibleas the
solutionsfor the businessage,wherethe needsof economicdevelopment are the new 'rn ll

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Dueto this a truemultifunctionalcity
thing' while military prowesshaslost its importance. ql

i,
of the businessage like Navi Mumbai assumesthe statusas the role model for the new !,
i
generationof new townsto be built in India.Howevera detailedcasestudyof thesenew
towns has not beenincludedin the researchprocessas the contextand conceptof new
towns in the studyarcaderivehints from variousexamplesfor differing aspectslike site
demarcation,size,density,employment,populationbalanceand other crucialparameters
from di fferentnew towns from acrossthe world. This may meanthat every new town
desisnwill startfrom a scratchbut it is far from the situationof 'Re-inventinsthewheel'.

t5
In this context, only a brief note on two of thesethree noted Indian new towns is givan
here.

1.3.1Navi Mumbai: A Metro CounterMagnet

Mumbai (Earlier called Bombay) - the capital city of Maharashtra,is the largestmetropolis
of India. As a part of Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Plan, the Navi Mumbai (meaning
New Mumbli), conceived to be developed as a counter magnet to Mumbai attracting the
activities from Mumbai and checking the influx of migrants there. Locationally, the Navi
Mumbai occupiesthe land along the main land over looking the peninsulaof Mumbai. The
land acquired, about 90,000 hectares from about 95 villages was entrusted to a nodal
agency called City Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) by the govemment of - i l
_ !l
Maharashtra, and is regarded as the world's largest ever land development project.
Development of Navi Mumbai, when complete. will house a population of about 20
million (Architecture + Design, March-April, 1997, p.25).
$
,'fl
-.
Navi Mumbai is planned and conceived as a poly centered new city. A number of nuclei
b
serving as poly-centerswith proper links to connect them will form the basic structureof
it
il
the new city. The CIDCO had first undertaken an early development of a residential
x
complex of50,000 population on land at Vashi at the foot of the first ofthe linking bridges
,-
constructedto link the two cities, acrossTrans creek, and an agricultural produce market ;:
a
complex at the Turbhe node. :l

i:
Alt the nodes developed and proposed are having residential development surrounding the {j
{i
!l
focal point of each noclewith 8 rectangularclustersand each cluster measure0.25 Km x lt
ii
0.35 Km. The first cluster called 'Alpha' was to accommodatea population of 6500 like ;i
the micro district of Russiannew town Sputnik, which is consideredsuitable for closely -
knit specially integrated community. The houses catering for different income-gtoups i
consist of ground and multi-storied structureswith 2 to 5 stories. The gross density of
population was planned to be nearly 700 to 750 personsper acl,e(275 to 300 personsper
hectare).

r6
!

The streetsystemwithin the clusteris in tbe form of cul-de-sac


linkedwith the mainroads,
which run alongthe peripheryof the cluster.Schoolsand local shopsare within walking
distancefrom the houseswithin the respectivecluster.After an initial slowergrowth,the
in planningandpickedup fastergrowthtrend
Navi Mumbaihasmadeseveralexperiments
which otherwisewouldhavegravitatedto Mumbai.

1.3.2Chartdigarh:A CapitalTown
't
Just after partition of India in 1947, Chandigarh was planned close to the foothills of
Himalayan Mountains abont 225 Kms northwest of New Delhi near an existing highway.
Initially the town was developed over an area of about 3800 hectares for the ultimate
population of 500,000. Both the town planning and Architectural frames were planned by
Le Corbusier - the world renowned planner, have worked as a model and pride for the
people of Punjab,whose capital it is and India in general.The town plan is an analogy with
a human body having capitol complex as head on top in the north side of the town, the
town centre as the heart located at the crossing of two main roads, the educationaland
health facilities complex as right hand and the industriesas left hand falling on two sidesof
the town.

The town is planned on rectangularsectorbasis - 30 in numbersof which 24 are residential


sectors.Theseare enclosedby a grid of fast moving traffic roadscrossingeachother at 0.8
km. in one direction and at 1.2 kms in another. The residential sectors developed in a
typical cluster form cover an areaof about 15,000people. The landscapingis featuredby
'leisure
the valley which mns through the entire stretch of the town, a lake formed out of
seasonaldrains from the hills, and organically flowing open spaces.
The town has been developed through public sector initiative where all the land was
acquired and placed under the state ownership and it is given in different size of plots to
the individuals and communities on lease basis for specific use with detailed control
measures.A separateplanning, developmentand control administrationhasbeen operating.
The details worked out for the land use, architectural features,building materials,traffic

l7
etc. for all areas in town has helped to keep harmony in the living ways and architectural
expression-

I.4 NEW TOWNS IN THE STUDY AREA - KARNATAKA

The pattem of new town development in the country shows a surprising trend in the
distributrnn of new towns in that the maximum number of new towns is concentratedin tlre
backward stateslike Bihar. This may be attributed to the fact that a good number of new
towns in the country are in the form of one industry-townshipswhich are found mostly in
resourcerich but otherwisebackward stateslike the one mentionedabove.

In Kamatakawhat is probably one of lie country's earliestresetttementnew towns in thi


form of KrishnarajaNagar designedby Koenesberg,which was built to accommodate
populationdisplacedby the dambriilt acrossCauvery,the KrishnarajaSagar(KRS) in the
early 1900s.In the later years,industrialtownshipsat Bhadravatiand Dandeliare the *
prominentexampleunderthe British era.In the post independence
era,particularlyin the
(PSUs)wereestablished
50sand 60sa largenumberof Public SectorUndertakings on the
outskirtsof Bangalore,eachwith their own townshipsto accommodate
their staff. The r
fi
- F
townshipsthat were established
during this time were that of BharatElectronicsLimited !
(BEL), Indian TelephoneIndustries (ITI), Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT), and !
HindustanAeronauticsLimited(HAL). Howeverall thesetownshipshavenow comeunder .

the City Corporationlimits of Bangalore.In the 70stherewas for the first time a hue and
cry aboutplanneddecentralization for the city which was thenconsidered
measures to be
burgeoningwith influx of immigrants.To answerthesedemandstwo new towns as
ii
satelliteswereproposedandbuilt at YalahankaandKengeri.In the yearsthat followedthe i
growthof Bangalorehasbeensuchthat thesenew satelliteshavealmostbecomea part of ii
'
Bangalore,with whatwasto be a permanent
gteenbeltencroached
all over.
i1

As an examplewe can study Bhadravathiin Shimoggadistrict, which was built as m


industrialto* n I 918. Availability of raw materialslike iron and manganese
ore, lime
stone,timber. charcoaland bambooand facilities, such as power, water and transport

f t8
provoked the govemment of Kamataka, to start the Mysore lron and Steel Works at
Bhadravatiduring the year 1918, The Mysore PaperMills in 1936 and a Cement factory in
1938. Till the commencement of these industries the adjoining sleepy village of
Bhadravathi was having a population of only 1801 in l9ll, but went on to grow to a
populationof I 60,392in 2001.

Also there is a series of new towns built across the Westem Ghats like Caneshgudiand
Supawhich were built around numeroushydro-electricprojects that are built in thesehilly
regions. The other major concentrationof new towns is in the iron ore rich Bellary distric!
which is home to some of the mining towns like Thoranagal.Also not to forget another
resettlementnew town Navanagarwhich is to replacethe about to be submergedBagalkot
as a part ofUpper Krishna Valley irrigation projects. . i
il
li
In the recentpast the Jindal Vijaynagar Steel plant township, the most recent new town in
the state, has won the Prime Ministers gold medal in the field of Housing and Urban
Developmentfor its sensitiveapproachto the surroundingecology for the year 2002-03.

I.5 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

the planningand designaspectsof new towns


The main aim of this studyis to understand
and look into the needandpossibilitiesof building new townsin Kamatakato hamessits
potentialin the field ofurbanization.

The main objectivesare:


- to study the origin and historical growth of new towns in general;

- to briefiy study the context, concept and realities that mark some of i
the most noted Utopian neb' town designphilosophies;

- to evaluatethe pattern of urbanization and regional disparities in the


'
study area and examine the prospeas for new town developmentas
solution;

- to developa strategt for locarion of new towns basedon "Wwiate


criteria; and

e" l9
to suggest the design guidelines and give the basic outline schemesfor
proposed new towns,

1.6METHODOLOGY

The research
work is basedmostlyon secondary
dataavailableregardingvariousaspects
of
new towns. Also censusand other publishedwork fiom Town and Country Planning
Organization,Instituteof Town Planners-India,
Town PlanningDepartmentin Kamataka,
andalsomaterialspublishedby eminentscholarswho haveworkedin this areaarestudied.

Review of the report submittedby the 'High Power Committeeon Redressalof Regional
Imbalances
in Kamataka'andpresented
to the StateGovemmentin July 2002is takenup .
i
ij

as a crucialpart of the studyas the findingsin the reportform the basisfor the proposal
madein the research
work.

Variousnormspublishedfor plaruringofnew lownsarestudiedand appropriate


guidelines
picked up for considerationin the proposals,after having tabulatedand analyzedusing
appropriate
statisticaltoolsandtechniques.

Initially the studywhich dealswith the Indian experiencein planningand designof New
townswill only categorise
all the IndianNew Townsbasedon contextandconcept,while
only oneor two of the mostprominentand relevantexampleselectedfor furtheranalysis.
Howevera csaestudyApproachis not adaptedasno new town may be termed100percent
adaptiblein othercontext.

The laterpart of thestudydealswith identificationof strongandweakpointsof thevarious


distinctregionsof the statepwely on relativemeritsanddemerits.This stepis followedby
the identificationof the sitesand potentialfor the optimumpopulationand its density,
of landandtypesof employmentthatmay be provided.The studyculminates
requirement
in providingbasicdesignoutlinesfor thesenew towns.

m
1.7SCOPEAND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The modern new towns were built as a measure to counter excessive crowding in sorne of
the primate cities, more so in London and in the later years as an effective tool of post war
reconstruction, after the devastating First and Second World Wars and for refugees
following partition in India. Strangely it was rebuilding of a country from the ashesthat
proved to be a god send opportun'ityfor even distribution of towns and thereby planned
decentalisation ofpopulation, employmentand in tum development.

Kamataka has always been a progressive state in terms of adapting to newer needs,
opportunitiesand technology.The Stateof Kamataka earlier known as Mysore State,came
;
ii
into being after the StateReorganizationof 1956,encompassingregions from sunounding il
tl
- rl
statesthat were predominantly Kannada speaking.The state increasedin area,population
and resourcesbut the newly added portions, particularly the most of Northem Kamataka
have not witnessedthe optimum utilization of the rich resourcesthat it comprisesof. The !i1
reason for this is that majority of the development that has taken place in the state is
confined to the selectedcities of the Old Mysore region and more so to Bangalore,the il
capital of the stateand also the largestcity. Bangaloreis among the best known examples
tl 1
of primate city which is bad for the State'sevendevelopment. li
i
The under developmentof major part of Kamataka, mostly in the north, indicate by no
means the lack of resourcesbut point to their under-utilization. For any region to thrive
i
industrial developmentusing available resourcesand the resulting economic opportunities .

is very important. However in the absenceof sufficient infrastructure,the resourcesare sil


difficult to be hamessed.This is the root causefor Bangalore'sexcessivegrowth at the cost 1t
:1

of rest of the State. A Major part of the Stateas it standslacks the kind of infrastructure
comparable to Bangalore and Mysore. The existing townships up north have failed to il
:l
attractinvestmentand hencedevelopment. t

The situation of the north south divide and the urban primacy is comparableto that of
London in the early 1900's. The UK adoptednew towns as a tool to fight urban primacy

2l
that existed,effectively. After a cenhry of the beginningof the new town movementthe
aftereffectsaretherefor us to seeandleamin the form ofevennessofdevelopmentacross
that country.This achievement
hasbeenintemationallyacknowledged
andservesas a role
model for correct urban developmentwith many countriesadoptingsimilar planning
policiesandsucceeding
to varyingdegree.

Kamatakacanaswell adaptthe schemeof new townsasan effectivetool to countertwo of


its majorproblemsnamely,urbanprimacyand the resultantlack of parity of development
acrossthe State.The studyexaminesthephenomenon
ofnew townsandtheir abilityto act
as solutionsto variouskindsof problemsaccumulated
over a periodof time like servingas
countermagnets,resettlement
townsact aslaboratories
for modemplanningresearch.
As a
part of thestudy,intricaciesof theplanninganddesignofnew townsandmoreimportantly
their role as tools infusing newer developmentactivitiesas a cumulativeeffect in the
regionof their establishment
arestudiedin greaterdetailandinferences in the
incorporated
1
proposalsmade. li
i:
i
The limitationsof the studymay rangefrom lack of literatureon Indiannew townsunlike
their westemcounterparts
to a lack of a clear-cutdefinitionin the Censusof Indiafor new
towns.This makesdifficult the taskofupdatingthe statisticsregardingtheir numbersin the
recentpastto their development
trendsascomparedto organicallygrowntownsandcities
!
,.I
'r' *i
asmostof the secondary
dataabouttownsin IndiacomesthroughCensusreports. tl

The cost aspect is a complex and time consumingexercisercquiring the assistanceof


detailedsurveysdone,quantitysurveyors,statisticians professionals.
and othersp€cialized -:
.l

Also lack of detaileddatapertainingto a selectedsiteasto yields,agricultural/horticultural


'-i
and fertility of soil will make it difficult to assessthe value of the land.
developments .Il

Hencea blanketratethat is applicableto the most fertile agriculturalland is takenas the


price of unit hectarecost of land and it is assumedthat all the land comesfrom private I

:
holdingonly and no landis underGovernmentownership.This may indicatethe landcost
to be higherthanwhatit may be in factbut estimatingthe coston thehighersideis a better
practice.Landdevelopment
costis takenas the costof land filling andprovisionof basrc
utilities and little else,while in reality theremay be numerouscomponentsthat are not

rF
72
' ' l

listed. However a blanket r\ate for land developmentis taken fr,qn the project report of
similarexercisesdonein greaterdetailfor similarmassivetown development
projectlike
Bangalore-Mysore
I nliastructureCorridorProject.

Siteanalysisis anotherareawhereit is accomplished


with a secondary
sourcelike a
l:50,000 scaletoposheets
of Surveyof India, which are datedand hencetheremay be
patchesof developments
on chosensitesthat haveescapednotice during the visit to the
sites.The extentof sitebeingso largethat it makesit difficult to locatenewerdevelopment
or extensionof developments
indicatedin the toposheets.
The contourintervalsfor slope
analysiswill be limited to macroscaleas givenout by the toposheets.
Otheraspectslike
accessto transportation,
accessto water,presence
of ecologicallysensitiveareasandothers
may be adequatelystudied with 1:250,000District series maps and the 1:50,000
toposheets.

Design of the new torns in.lud" a detailedprototype for a standardsize residential


neighbourhood
that may be replicatedin any part of the town exceptin caseswherethe
form of the neighbourhood
variesdueto somereasonlike adjacency
to a waterbody or so.
Howeverprototypesare not developedfor industrial,commercialor public-semipublic .:$
l!
- ri
t-
usesarenot developedin detail,insteadguidelinesregardingthe factorsto be considered
in
their location,orientationwith respectto waterbodies,wind directionand otherimportant lr

parameters
arediscussed.

The other limitation may be in the form of lack of agreedstandardsfor the devetopmentof
new towns.Thereare no set rules with regardto designas every new town designis a
uniquesolutionin the eontextin which it is built and in thelocal siteconditions.Owingto
the fact that the study is conductedby meansof data that is mostly secondary,the
individualsite influenceson the town designmay not be seento a greaterextent,insteada
templateadaptedto the most striking of the site featureslike rivers or a
standardised
all the New Town designshas
transportarterycuttingacrossthe selectedsite characterise
beenat the back[ound.

23

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