Why planning and development efforts should increasingly shift focus from confined city boundaries to city-region scale.

City regions, made of multiple cities and towns are characterised by mutual influences, unavoidable impacts and necessary interdependencies.

For instance, when the housing demand in one city exceeds supply of residential stock, nearby cities and towns start to feel the pressure and real estate activities start to accelerate. When real estate prices start to escalate in one city then businesses start to flee to other nearby cities and neighbourhoods. When one large city feels infrastructure capacity constraints, the nearby towns start to witness increasing investments in infrastructure upgradation and augmentation to leverage and embrace growth they are about to witness. When one city starts to experience frequent congestion, it may also be a result of simultaneous development several miles away in nearby satellite towns and neighbourhoods.

With city boundaries increasingly getting blurred on functional parameters like mobility and housing; environmental parameters like microclimate and pollution; economic parameter like commerce and trade; it makes sense to have a renewed focus on concerted efforts at regional or cluster level, in terms of shared vision formulation, spatial planning and development framework preparation. In a regional, setting nearby satellite cities and smaller towns are seen to have dyadic and complimentary relationship with larger city and stimulus effect on neighbouring towns and neighbourhoods.

Acknowledging that the problems and opportunities of any town is a resultant of regional dynamics, it is imperative that cities should look beyond its physical administrative boundaries for resilient, timely and appropriate answers i.e., at a city-region scale. City-regions shall benefit from coordination and cooperation to achieve a critical magnitude to attract national and international attention, actors, skillsets, investments and public funding.

Based on the regional strengths, shared history, resource characteristics such city-regions can formulate shared growth vision, thematic identity (smart city region, specialized regional hub, heritage tourism circuit, ecological zone etc.), prioritise investments, forge new partnerships and devise new joint governance mechanism.

This case is especially relevant for the #Netherlands as there are more than 40 such poised city municipality regions which may benefit if they adopt a shared growth vision, create or revisit common unified development framework for city-region.

Author: Anoop Jha

#smartcity #smartcityregion #smartregion #urbanplanning #regionalplanning #networkgovernance #transportplanning #urbanmanagement #urbandevelopement #technology #urbanplanning #exhibition #globalnorth #Amsterdam #Utretch #Hague #alkmaar #noordholland #northholland #Eindhoven #Rotterdam #Netherlands

Art on Autopilot - Since you dont have time!

Long back read that some sculptor spent his whole life making several sculptures for a large garden, sounds cool but what a waste of life, seriously! In case you paint a Monalisa or something than you might think its worthwhile, since you made a masterpiece for generations to come, but all of us ain't Vinchi. 

With whatever capabilities we possess we can have two possible choices to make, one is to make a masterpiece to be remembered or to create abundance of art for yourself and for humanity. Abundance can give you instant opportunity to channelise your creative energy rather than waiting to make that one masterpiece for which you are waiting since last 10 years. And we are not talking about just fine arts, it can be anything, any form of creative affair which you love to be engaged in, you see even pattern of numbers is art for statistician, that's art for her!

So how will you create abundance when art is not your bread n butter and you are ever occupied with inexhaustible to-do list for your lifetime. Solution is to put your art on an autopilot mode. Making art anywhere everywhere, art which consumes least amount of time but is still an art to your satisfaction.

To keep your thinking wheel rotating an example can be like; take a complex peice of sculpture or object or take simply a junk, spill a bucket or mug of  water in front of it, see the amazing reflection in water, now click or capture or paint or draw that reflection or the whole environment or simply observe and feel blessed to see your creation, additionally spill some paint in the  water or add a mirror in the backdrop if you want or just do anything you like and your are ready with your art piece.

Idea is that it might take substantial time to create that very sculpture or art piece for example, whose reflection you are trying to capture but the moment you added thin film of water or a mirror for example the whole dynamics changed, now the whole setting is complex enough to qualify for an art, your personal art. See Master Artists used to paint pomegranate and guava to create classic masterpiece called “Still Life”, you simply cut them in half and one-click-capture the intricate pattern or just cut-n-shape them in cube and you are ready with your modern piece of art.

The best thing is that it’s you who have created this art, and you own this art; at least it gives you satisfaction to see your creativity manifested, in a blink of eye almost. This shortcut of art is just an example, because you were really running short of time to be devoted to art but you really wanted to create some, now you can think of infinite possibilities to dump the excuse that you could have created something only if you had time. This is how you beat the art!  

Design - An interplay and interpretation of subject

Design fundamentals 

Defining Modular for Sustainable Future

By Anoop Jha

Sustainable Modular Unit for Design, Architecture and Planning

Modular planning and design is not a luxury, its necessity of time due to scarce resources, ever growing population, industrialization and mass production, automation, emerging and rapidly changing technology, wide gap of demand and supply, time constraint, need for efficient integration, rapid expansion and need for fast and easy maintenance and reproduction. In context of above observation let’s analyze the elements and process which are and can be made modular for optimum utilization of time and resources for the better future. But one should not be confuse modularity with monotony; Modular units need to be flexible for the customization based on region, location, altitude, culture and other environmental constraints. 

Modular Elements in Design - Design elements, patterns, motifs, pixels, Canvas/ Panel/ Base, printing, casting moulds, design tools, frames, pallets,

Modular Elements in Architecture - Architectural elements like door & windows construction items like tiles and glass panels, false ceiling panels, etc., Toilet, Kitchen, Structural elements, prefabricated modules,

Modular Elements in Planning - Replicable city grid, clusters, modular infrastructure, Modular neighborhood sectors, Modular housing units, Street section templates, street hardware etc

Conference cum Exhibition on Sustainable Mobility -2011

4th ANNUAL URBAN MOBILITY CONFERENCE CUM EXHIBITION-2011 AND SIXTH REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT (EST) FORUM IN ASI

Programme

Conference cum Exhibition on Sustainable Mobility

Organized by

Ministry of Urban Development

Government of India

Insititute of Urban Transport (IUT)           

United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD)              

World Health Organization (WHO)

Ministry of the Environment,

Government of Japan

VENUE: The Manekshaw Centre, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi-110070, India

3rd to 6th December 2011

New Delhi

PROVISIONAL CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Conference Chair: Prof. Saugata Roy, Hon’ble Minister of State (Urban Development), Government of India

Source: iutindia.org