From bawazainab79 at gmail.com Wed Oct 1 20:57:06 2008 From: bawazainab79 at gmail.com (Zainab Bawa) Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2008 20:57:06 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Job openings at www.EmpoweringIndia.org Message-ID: FYI www.EmpoweringIndia.org is an Internet based platform that allows citizens and civil society groups to access data about candidates contesting for state assembly and parliamentary elections. The primary objective of creating this portal is to disseminate information about political parties and elected representatives to individuals and groups. It is hoped that access to this information will help individuals and groups in making choices about who to cast their vote for during the elections. www.EmpoweringIndia.org is looking to hire a data analyst and a communications and network coordinator. The descriptions of the jobs are available at http://www.indefenceofliberty.org/content.aspx?t=2&m=11 Persons interested can write in with their CVs to libertyinstitute at gmail.com -- Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Between Places ... http://wbfs.wordpress.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081001/c60614ee/attachment.html From yanivbin at gmail.com Wed Oct 8 11:31:42 2008 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2008 11:31:42 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] =?windows-1252?q?=91Focus_on_pedestrians=2C_intercon?= =?windows-1252?q?nectivity_to_improve_transport=92?= Message-ID: <86b8a7050810072301o232c1562gfc0fa84d180115e8@mail.gmail.com> 'Focus on pedestrians, interconnectivity to improve Delhi transport' October 7th, 2008 - 2:14 pm ICT by IANS - *New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) Even as the national capital is changing its face for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, planners and experts here have expressed concern about flawed planning and delay in implementing an interconnected transport system.One of the main flaws in the capital's road plan, according to experts at a conference here on the "Challenges and Possibilities in Mega Cities", is that it ignored pedestrians.* "We can't ape Western models of planning that essentially focus on vehicular traffic. Here, pedestrians and their mobility is most important," said P.K. Nanda, former director of the Central Road Research Institute, who was part of a panel to discuss road transportation and parking. * He pointed out that on several occasions planners had lacked sensitivity towards pedestrians.* "After flyovers like the one at Okhla (in south Delhi) and expressways like on NH8 are constructed … when road accidents reflect alarming fatality figures … only then meek efforts of constructing foot overbridges are carried out - that too with no assessment as to whether mortality has reduced," Nanda said Monday. "If there are timely surveys done reflecting that infrastructure was benefiting public and reducing mortality, then funding can also be easily sanctioned," he added. The two-day conference that ends later Tuesday has brought together mayors of seven cities including Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat, Jalandhar, Dehradun, Amritsar and Delhi along with planners and engineers from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). While the Delhi Metro has eased traffic problems to quite an extent, panellists felt that it was important to implement interconnectivity of public transport as soon as possible. "The need now is to supplement the Metro with other modes of public transport. Many projects in Delhi are under process like the monorail - but a city's bus transport system is the most important," said S.K. Lohia, director in the ministry of urban development. Asserting that well-connected transportation was the need of the hour, he said this could be achieved only "when the public accepts the modes of transport with no negative impressions - like of overflowing buses where commuters hang on for dear life". "Sixty percent of the GDP in 2006 came from cities - it is estimated that cities will contribute 73 percent by 2020. But no mobility means no productivity. If people are stuck in jams or have to travel three hours a day - when will they work?" Lohia told IANS. Lohia added that it would have been better if the Metro had arrived in the city earlier. "The Metro has already reached the city late in comparison to other cities like London and Paris where it reached in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The population was less in comparison to the current situation in Delhi," he said. P.K. Sikdar, technical director of Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats Pvt Ltd (ICT), cited the lack of interconnectivity as one of the reasons for the failing multi-modal transport. "While the Metro is doing well at an isolated level, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has also started feeder bus services. Why cannot the Delhi Transport Corporation also run buses to metro stations," he asked. * "Each mode serves another - be it cycle rickshaws, autos, private cars or buses - transport modes need to be amalgamated - more delay is a disaster in the making," he quipped.* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081008/a51c749e/attachment.html From esg at esgindia.org Tue Oct 7 23:12:19 2008 From: esg at esgindia.org (ESGINDIA S2L) Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:12:19 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Another Tree Fell, Deccan Chronicle Article, 01 October 2008 Message-ID: <48EB9F7B.1060100@esgindia.org> Please find attached an article authored by me and published in the Deccan Chronicle dated 01 October 2008 relating to the functioning of the Committee appointed by the Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka in WP No. 7107/2008 to review road widening mega projects in Bangalore. With best wishes of Dasara. Sincerely, Leo Saldanha -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: AnotherTreeFell_DeccanChronicle_LFS_0110080001.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 631668 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081007/634efa70/attachment-0001.pdf From outtes at uol.com.br Wed Oct 8 02:58:15 2008 From: outtes at uol.com.br (Joel Outtes) Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2008 18:28:15 -0300 Subject: [Urbanstudy] 2ndCFP: Cities in Latin America and/or International Institutions, AAG, Las Vegas, March 22-7, 2009 Message-ID: <8F4EB25049E349FBBCA16543275F0193@JoelOuttes> 2nd Call for Papers Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, www.aag.org, Las Vegas, NV, USA, March 22-27, 2009 Sessions: 1) Cities and Urban Regions in Latin America; 2) International Institutions and/or Urban and Planning Issues. Organizers: Joel Outtes, GEST- Group for the Study of Societies and Territories, email Outtes at uol.com.br and Betty Smith, Eastern Illinois University, email: besmith at eiu.edu Deadline: October 10, 2008 We invite paper proposals for a session on urban topics in developing areas and internationally to take place at the annual meeting of the AAG (www.aag.org) in Las Vegas, March 22-27, 2009. Papers might explore, but not be limited to Economic restructuring and its spatial impacts Changing urban morphology Transnational linkages Urban hierarchies Historic city centers Urban historical geography Ethnic neighborhoods City planning in Latin America Criminality, urban gangs and the Geography of illegal territories The informal sector Intra-metropolitan mobility The politics of urban environmental problems Informal transportation and social conflicts Participatory budget and urban social movements Urban social geography The International Planning Movement The Urban International: the spatiality of international institutions such as the IFHP-International Federation for Housing and Planning, UCLG-United Cities and Local Governments, IULA-International Union of Local Authorities and IHA-International Housing Association alone or in Comparative Perspective After registering for the conference at http://www.aag.org/annualmeetings/ and submitting your abstract for a paper session, forward a copy of the abstract and your PIN to: Joel Outtes, GEST- Group for the Study of Societies and Territories, email Outtes at uol.com.br and Betty Smith, Eastern Illinois University, email: besmith at eiu.edu From yanivbin at gmail.com Thu Oct 9 17:16:38 2008 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2008 17:16:38 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Boon for builders ANUPAMA KATAKAM Message-ID: <86b8a7050810090446l79d57d8h98f4dbba15fad8bd@mail.gmail.com> *Boon for builders * ANUPAMA KATAKAM http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=20081024252103800.htm&date=fl2521/&prd=fline& * The Supreme Court order clearing the way for the redevelopment of 19,000 Mumbai buildings thrills builders but leaves citizens shocked. * PICTURES: VIVEK BENDRE * The Mumbai skyline. After the Supreme Court's ruling, many more skyscrapers may come up. * FOUR months ago, Hindi film actor Vinod Khanna bought a 2,500-square-foot (1 sq ft is 0.09 sq metre) apartment in Mumbai's Malabar Hill for Rs.30 crore. Khanna set a record of sorts in the city, whose real estate market had yet to recover from the Rs.34-crore sale of an apartment on Marine Drive. The sales of these apartments, say realty experts, are not unique cases. These are the prices luxury apartments in the city command. Regular-to-lower-segment residential and commercial space is not that far down the pricing ladder. Undoubtedly, the city's property value is among the highest in the world. So, when the Supreme Court recently cleared the way for the redevelopment of 19,000 dilapidated cessed buildings in Mumbai, it was a bonanza for builders. Stating that the over two lakh people whose families have lived for generations in these cessed buildings deserve new and safer homes, the apex court relaxed the number of approvals builders were required to get and allowed an increase in the floor space index (FSI). The ruling is expected to have an impact on real estate prices. It is believed that the demolition of these buildings will open up land on the island, thus bringing a much-needed correction in the prices. However, concerned citizens are stunned by the judgment, which, they believe, only builders will benefit from. In fact, the increase in construction will put a huge strain on the city's infrastructure. There have been instances in the past when cessed buildings were demolished, and even though the same resettlement rules for tenants applied, none of the original tenants was given what was promised. Furthermore, the ruling reduces the open space buildings are required to have. This is catastrophic for the environment, the citizens say. The Supreme Court overruled a Bombay High Court stay on the demolition of the cessed buildings. It also waived all the restrictions imposed by the High Court, such as compulsory provision of open space and getting additional approvals from the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (MHADA). The Supreme Court ruling says that a builder has to give the current tenant a minimum of 225 sq ft on the same property. In exchange, the builders will get double the FSI. For instance, a three-storey building could become a 10-storey complex. Even after giving the original tenants apartments, the builder would have at least seven storeys to sell and profit from. A cessed building in Mumbai is one that was built before 1940. The State has taken it upon itself to see to it that these buildings are repaired and, wherever necessary, reconstructed. For that purpose, it created the Bombay Building, Repairs and Reconstruction Board by passing the Bombay Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board Act (1969). This Act was later repealed. The activities under the Act were taken over by the MHADA when the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act was passed in 1976. Under Section 82 of the Act, a cess, known as the Mumbai Building, Repairs and Reconstruction Cess, was to be contributed by tenants of private buildings. According to an MHADA survey, there are close to 20,000 cessed buildings in Mumbai although only 19,000 will go under the hammer now. Most tenants of cessed buildings pay rents that were frozen at the 1940 rates. There have been revisions but the increases were marginal. For instance, in an area such as Gamdevi in South Mumbai, where a two-bedroom flat commands a rent anywhere between Rs.40,000 and Rs.1 lakh a month, a rent-control tenant could pay as low as Rs.300. In areas such as Fort, which is the business hub of the city, tenants are known to pay just Rs.50 a month. Since landlords get paid so little, they have no interest in maintaining buildings and several of them are on the verge of collapse. In order to do something as many lives were in danger and the property market was booming, the State government introduced the Development Control Regulation Sec 33 (7) in 1991. But property developers showed little interest as the High Court's criteria for redevelopment and resettlement were strict. For instance, the High Court made it compulsory to keep 30 sq ft of open space when the building was redeveloped. The regulation was amended in 1999 to accelerate development, but even this was met with little enthusiasm as the High Court held on to the stringent rules. At least six cessed buildings have caved in, in the past two years, killing about 50 people. Following an outcry from citizens over the collapsing buildings, the MHADA carried out a survey of dilapidated properties. The State came out with a new policy in June, which stated that if builders took up the reconstruction of a cessed building in a cluster format, which meant integrating the land of two or three neighbouring cessed buildings and putting up one big construction, they would be given an FSI of up to 4 as against the present 1.33. A public interest petition was filed against this policy, and the High Court put a stay on it. With the Supreme Court clearing the way again, the city's future and people's lives are in absolute jeopardy, says Cyrus Guzdar, who is leading a citizens' awareness campaign on the ruling. Unless a review petition is filed, very little can be done now, says Guzdar. Non-governmental organisations and citizens' groups are attempting to get a campaign off the ground, but it will be a hard battle. Real estate in a city like Mumbai is controlled by a cartel of powerful builders who have easy access to politicians and the administration, says Chandrasekhar Prabhu, an architect and urban planner involved with the city's development. He knows of three cessed buildings that were rebuilt and have none of the original tenants living in the newly constructed building. "Builders pay them vast sums of money to give up their rights. If you give one crore to a family who has been living in one-room tenement-type housing, it's a huge amount and the tenant is happy to give up his rights. Since there are no checks on occupancy, the builder merrily sells to whoever can pay the market price," says Prabhu. Much later, the tenants realise that while the money is good, it only gets them a property in some northern suburb, from where they have a one- to two-hour commute to make to their workplaces. * Firemen remove debris from the site of a three-storey building that crashed in south Mumbai on July 13, killing nine people and injuring 30. * "Mumbai is going to resemble a big construction site soon," says Pankaj Joshi from the Urban Development Research Institute. "There is no big-picture plan. These piecemeal policies are going to be disastrous for the city." Joshi says the Supreme Court ruling allows buildings to come up within 5 ft of each other. Additionally, the open space has been reduced drastically from 30 sq ft to 1.5 sq ft. "This is a sure fire hazard. If hygiene is not maintained, epidemic and disease could spread. What happens to the green space and open areas for the city? It will just be one big concrete jungle." Mumbai has a total land area of 600 sq kilometres as opposed to a city like Delhi, which has 1,483 sq km. Property prices are as high as they are mostly because Mumbai is an island city that cannot expand. It can at best develop northwards. Delhi, on the other hand, can expand in all directions. The only way to reduce the pressure on Mumbai's housing is vertical development. The government has realised this, yet it just does not have the foresight to put together a more comprehensive plan, says Joshi. Up to now, about 1,000 buildings have been sold. This entire process will take a bit of time, says real estate broker Usha Thakkar. She says there are "lots of ifs and buts, and almost 40 sanctions are still needed before a project can come up". Within the island city, some areas are more sought after than others. Builders will zero in on spaces that will get them a good price. The more congested and lower income areas will see little development. Usha Thakkar says it is a win-win situation for builders. Some tenants do try and bargain with the developer for more space. But the rules say that if 70 per cent of the occupants agree to the deal, then the others have to agree or they will get thrown out. Two generations of Ramesh Thakur's family have lived in a *chawl* in Gamdevi. *Chawls* are the traditional double-storey 100-sq-ft-a-room tenements scattered across the city, which used to house millworkers. Thakur, a tailor, works out of this little room. His wife and daughter live with him. The *chawl* has common toilets, and a kitchen is built into each room. Propped up with wooden and steel poles, Thakur's *chawl* definitely needs to be reconstructed. Every monsoon, the residents fear that it will collapse. Thakur recently accepted an offer from a prominent Mumbai-based builder to give up his rights in the *chawl* in exchange for a 250-sq-ft apartment that will have its own bathroom and a separate kitchen. The builder has told him he will shift Thakur to the building next door to the *chawl* and will then bring down the *chawl* and construct the new property. The building into which Thakur is supposed to move temporarily is still incomplete. He is positive that the deal is clean and that he will have a better place very soon. Others, he said, took the money and left. "I am certainly not going to move from here." It can only be hoped that he gets what is rightfully due to him.• -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081009/71dc09d8/attachment.html From yanivbin at gmail.com Mon Oct 13 20:16:44 2008 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:16:44 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] MoUD Awards for Excellence in Municipal Reforms & Service Delivery Improvement Message-ID: <86b8a7050810130746v68c8da02sf7d1553fc7ed23c@mail.gmail.com> FYI www.niua.org *MoUD Awards for Excellence in Municipal Reforms & Service Delivery Improvement* *Home* The Sub-mission on Urban Infrastructure and Governance of JNNURM is implemented in 63 cities. MOUD has proposed to give performance award to the cities based on performance under the JNNURM (U&I) Sub-mission. ------------------------------ *Objective:* To recognize the achievement of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) which have undertaken initiatives in the areas of urban reforms and service delivery achievements. In addition, it is envisaged that some of the innovative initiatives undertaken by the ULBs will be showcased and shared with other ULBs, and, as such, this will provide an opportunity for ULBs to learn from the experience of their peers. *Areas for Assessment/Award Categories:* While the focus will be on implementation of projects in basic sectors and reforms under JNNURM, steps taken by ULBs to strengthen their financial position in order to ensure sustainability of infrastructure investments as well as efforts to initiate pro-active partnerships with the private sector will be recognised. Finally, initiatives to strengthen transparency in urban governance as well as efforts to deal with environmental degradation will also be taken into consideration. Based on above, the following award categories are proposed - - *Achievement for Improvement in Basic Services *Water Supply Sewerage, Sanitation & Drainage Solid Waste Management Project undertaken through PPP in the above - *Achievement for Financial Sustainability through Reforms Implementation *Implementation of ULB Reforms in Municipal Accounting, Property Tax, User Charges - *Achievement for Environmental Initiatives - Projects taken up under the CDM for earning carbon credits.* *Assessment Methodology:* - Data - For each of the above categories, a set of parameters along with indicators will be developed. Indicators for the basic services will be taken from the Standardized Service Level Benchmarks Workbook prepared by the Technical Cell. Data will be provided by the ULBs in prescribed formats. The ULBs will be responsible for the accuracy and authenticity of the data. - Ranking - the ranking of ULBs in each category will be on the basis of a final score. A scale of 1 (low), 2 (medium) and 3 (high) will be assigned for each parameter. Individual scores for each parameter will be totalled and the ULB with the highest score in the category will be adjudged the winner. A runner-up award will be also be given. - The mega cities may not be considered for awards because of the size and complexities. *Last Date:* Last date for receiving data from ULBs - 31st October, 2008 *Download Form * -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081013/8f6e4a93/attachment-0001.html From anokhip at gmail.com Tue Oct 14 19:39:32 2008 From: anokhip at gmail.com (Anokhi Parikh) Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:09:32 +0200 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Shelter for the poor in landmark eviction ruling Message-ID: another article on the joburg relocation, written by stuart wilson, who was part of the litigation team http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/opinion.aspx?ID=BD4A862603 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081014/121204f1/attachment.html From divyarrs at gmail.com Thu Oct 16 16:52:29 2008 From: divyarrs at gmail.com (divya r) Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:52:29 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] online petition to Empowered Committee on Bangalore Roads Message-ID: <250ac9ab0810160422r62bdad80gc1d6fc07c54984fb@mail.gmail.com> http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nammaraste Dear All, We write to draw your attention to a matter of critical concern to all-- Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike's (BBMP) proposal to widen 91 prime roads of Bangalore. This is purportedly to reduce congestion and ease traffic flows and thus make living in the city easier for all. It is claimed that road widening will increase average traffic flows from the current 8 kms./hour to 40 kms/hour. Every kilometer of road widening is likely to cost a minimum of Rs. 10 crores (excluding land acquisition costs) thus making the overall exercise a super mega project. A quick analysis of the project would suggest that road widening programmes will not meet the objectives of reducing traffic congestion in the city, as it oriented towards advancing private modes of travel. Besides that, it does not take into account needs of different road users and compromises on the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, hawkers, differently abled, senior citizens, children and so on. We find that the road widening scheme is an irrational exercise and goes against the basic principles of urban planning and design, the National Urban Transport Policy and the innumerable circulars and notices issued Union Ministry of Urban Development. Raising these concerns, Environment Support Group and CIVIC Bangalore filed a PIL (WP No. 7107/2008) challenging the legality of the road widening and other transport development projects in Bangalore. By an interim decision the Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka constituted an Empowered Committee to review road widening and related urban transport projects and to ensure that implementing agencies comply with law while also adhering to progressive urban planning and design standards in project development and implementation. We perceive this process as a progressive and productive step towards resolving the vexatious issues involved in road widening and ensure that any such proposal is only implemented in full conformity with law and for the larger public interest. It is critical that you join us in this process and participate in shaping the city for a better future. Attached below is the link to an online petition/ representation to the Chairperson and Members of the Committee, urging them to involve public in planning and decision making processes, in order to help prioritize safety of cyclists, pedestrians, senior citizens, children, differently abled and so on. With intelligent road design it is possible to safeguard lives, livelihoods, homes, heritage and green cover of the city which is largely provided by avenue trees. Be a part of the campaign by signing the online peition! Regards Divya Ravindranath Researcher, Environment Support Group http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nammaraste -- "Only when the last tree has died And the last river has been poisoned And the last fish has been caught We will realize that we cant eat Money" http://captured-on-camera.blogspot.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081016/5428fc38/attachment.html From nehasami at umich.edu Thu Oct 16 23:30:12 2008 From: nehasami at umich.edu (Neha Sami) Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:00:12 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Research on urban development in Pune Message-ID: I am a PhD candidate in Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. My thesis research focuses on large mixed-use developments such as integrated townships in Indian cities. I'm especially interested in how these developments get planned and how they impact issues of access to urban space. My two case sites are Bangalore and Pune In Pune, I am specifically looking at Magarpatta City. I am interested in talking to people who are involved in real estate development and those studying these processes. I was wondering if anyone on the list would be able to point me in the right direction or put me in touch with people involved in urban studies in Pune. Thanks, Neha Neha Sami Doctoral Candidate Department of Urban Planning http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nehasami From varanashi at gmail.com Sun Oct 19 00:14:19 2008 From: varanashi at gmail.com (varanashi) Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:14:19 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Charles Wallace India Trust Scholarships Message-ID: <48fa2ea4.1b068e0a.1dc5.ffffc91e@mx.google.com> Friends, Bangalore is among the cities with maximum number of Charles Wallace Trust Scholarship awardees in art and architecture. Do you want to be among them? Welcome. Sathya Prakash Varanashi Charles Wallace Scholar 1987-88 at York University. The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are a registered charity; 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland). We build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people worldwide. This message is for the use of the intended recipient(s) only. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete it. The British Council accepts no liability for loss or damage caused by software viruses and you are advised to carry out a virus check on any attachments contained in this message. __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081019/487c0666/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 71031 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081019/487c0666/attachment-0001.jpe From cugambetta at yahoo.com Mon Oct 20 08:08:18 2008 From: cugambetta at yahoo.com (Curt Gambetta) Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2008 19:38:18 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Urbanstudy] teddy cruz lecture Message-ID: <620171.47202.qm@web56803.mail.re3.yahoo.com> hi all: this lecture by teddy cruz, an architect in san diego, is worth watching. teddy cruz is a rare example of an architect engaging with informality in a way that neither seeks its preservation/romanticization or its destruction. it's a fine line to walk, and there are slippages either way. i appreciate the spirit of his work, and how he engages at multiple levels of policy, building, and research. i am curious to know what you all think of certain aspects of the lecture (ie: how he is working in contexts like suburban neighborhoods, relying on NGO's, etc.). i wish we could screen and talk about this in person! http://sorcerer.design.harvard.edu/gsdlectures/s2008/cruz.mov curt (apologies if it does not work on a slow connection) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From elkamath at yahoo.com Mon Oct 20 16:31:05 2008 From: elkamath at yahoo.com (lalitha kamath) Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:01:05 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fwd: National Consultation on Open Solutions for e-Governance Message-ID: <474004.53790.qm@web53608.mail.re2.yahoo.com> FYI ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: India @ Work Summit 2008 Date: Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 4:07 PM Subject: National Consultation on Open Solutions for e-Governance To: elkamath at gmail.com The need for developing standards for interoperability among various e-Governance applications has a great relevance for ensuring success of National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). The government has already created a draft policy, which is open for discussion and feedback from various stakeholder groups (see http://egovstandards.gov.in/public-review/egscontent.2008-08-22.3525430649/base_view). Keeping in view the importance of the subject, we have decided to host a series of consultations to generate awareness and to get inputs. The first national consultation in the series is scheduled to be hosted as a dedicated session on "Open Solutions for e-Governance" during Skoch Summit 2008 India @ Work (www.indiaatwork.in) on October 23, 2008 at India Habitat Center from 2.00 pm - 5.30 pm. In this round presentations are expected from Red Hat, TCS, Department of IT, NIC, IBM & Sun Microsystems etc. Since large number of domain experts and users are traveling from across the country to attend this summit and given that the policy is open for public review, this may be an ideal occasion to get a first hand feel. Some of the issues that this consultation seeks to focus on include: 1. Rationale and implications of the draft policy on promotion of e-governance in India? Feedback and suggestions. 2. What could be the institutional mechanisms for supporting open solution implementations in the government? 3. What are the best examples of open solutions that are worth sharing and replicating everywhere and how can such a sharing be enabled? 4. How to further enhance the skill base for open solution implementations? By hosting a series of multi stakeholder consultations on the subject, we propose to facilitate a deeper understanding and learning of the issues, ideate on solutions and provide an informed participatory feedback into policy from an independent platform. Pre-registered delegates for the summit need not register separately for this consultation. Those who have not registered for the summit and are interested in this session only may request an invitation by sending an email to info at skoch.in latest by 17:30 hrs on 21 October 2008. India@ Work Summit Secretariat 1105-A, Galleria DLF City, Phase-lV Gurgaon -122002, Haryana, India Update Profile / Unsubscribe __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081020/313905ae/attachment.html From gautam.bhan at gmail.com Tue Oct 21 23:43:34 2008 From: gautam.bhan at gmail.com (gautam bhan) Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:13:34 -0700 Subject: [Urbanstudy] a request for contact information Message-ID: dear all, am urgently looking for an email for neera adarkar - bombay based architect and co-author of the book on mill ethnographies. Any one have a clue? thanks, Gautam -- ___________ I write at: www.kafila.org. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081021/18a73b3d/attachment.html From gautam.bhan at gmail.com Tue Oct 21 23:52:48 2008 From: gautam.bhan at gmail.com (gautam bhan) Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:22:48 -0700 Subject: [Urbanstudy] got it - thanks! Message-ID: thanks for the rapid response, everyone. best, gautam -- ___________ I write at: www.kafila.org. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081021/b661a0b6/attachment.html From arunavdg98 at yahoo.co.in Wed Oct 22 00:01:24 2008 From: arunavdg98 at yahoo.co.in (Arunava Dasgupta) Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:01:24 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] IUDI Lecture Series 2008 Message-ID: <154884.44318.qm@web8903.mail.in.yahoo.com> Dear Everybody,   This is to invite you all to the inaugural annual IUDI Lecture Series 2008, in Delhi at the IHC on Saturday, the 25th of October.   Over the past decade and especially over the last few years, attention and focus on the urban centers of our country have gained unprecedented momentum and energy. The intensity of urban development, at every scale and condition of settlements have escalated manifold bringing along with it connected challenges and momentous opportunities.  In this prevailing scenario of rapid change, the need for dialogue, learning, exchange and collective involvement of expertise becomes a vital necessity. The IUDI Lecture Series intends to offer an inclusive platform for a range of discourses revolving around contemporary urban issues at various scales of manifestation and differing levels of complexity. Talks and presentations selected for this series would not only cover discussions and debates on urban design alone but also from other connected and inter-woven disciplines related to the city. This Lecture Series to be held annually each year at various urban centers across the country is envisaged to be attended by urban designers and planners, architects, landscape professionals, social scientists, real-estate consultants, developers, policy-makers, government bodies and the academia.   The Institute of Urban Designers - India is a national association of urban designers from all over the country and abroad.   An e-invite of the event is attached. We look forward to seeing you there.   Warm wishes, Arunava Dasgupta Coordinator - Programs IUDI     Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/defanged-225332 Size: 2569 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081022/0208bef7/attachment-0002.bin -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: invitation2.jpg Type: image/pjpeg Size: 1551220 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081022/0208bef7/attachment-0003.bin From yanivbin at gmail.com Fri Oct 24 12:14:57 2008 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:14:57 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] The colour of paradise Wonderland is where quality infrastructure meets chic lifestyle. Message-ID: <86b8a7050810232344p5a3a6573y7a671e52e48e399e@mail.gmail.com> Infrastructure & Realty The colour of paradise http://business.outlookindia.com/inner.aspx?articleid=343&subcatgid=526&editionid=14&catgid=3 Wonderland is where quality infrastructure meets chic lifestyle. While India has swank, it lags where substance dovetails with style. This story is about crossing the trillion-rupee bend into Shangri-La *Ashish Gupta* ------------------------------ It is 40 kilometres away from Faridabad, a satellite town around Delhi. It is the latest designer [image: Monorail] *Steep Curve**:* Monorail at Darling Harbour in Australia city in India; a township with 40-storied residential complexes, 24/7 water and electricity, parks, solar-powered houses, rain-water harvesting system, and home to a million people. Offices, schools, hospitals, malls and entertainment centres are within a 10-km radius. Cars are few, as congestion taxes have made it unaffordable. Citizens travel by inexpensive light rail. Oh! we forgot to mention. The year is 2030. Nehru Nagar, our futuristic city on a par with its Western counterparts, is a fable. A dream that, going by the creaky state of our infrastructure, looks very nearly impossible. But the dream may yet turn real, and the seed is in the shaping. Chants by the Green brigade, lifestyle aspirations, the touted public-private partnership model, rapid urbanisation and government intervention could catalyse the transformation. * * *Mind-Boggling Mission * One such intervention is the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), a Rs 50,000-crore government initiative to reshape India's urban landscape. Over seven years, 63 towns and metros will be up for a total makeover. Says VK Shrinivas, Principal Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, India: "Unlike in the past, the Centre has put substantial resources in a highly focused manner in a few key cities and also in few basic services.'' The huge mandate includes monitoring properties better through a geographic information system and repealing the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act. Eliminating property tax relief, reducing stamp duty to 5% and adopting a model rent control Act are others. Says V Ravichandar, Chairman and Managing Director of Feedback Consulting: "For the first *Futuristic cities that match western megapolises may come up here * time in independent India, the Centre has put urban infrastructure at the top of its must-do agenda." The move is a "concrete step to empower the third tier (city councils) of the state governments," points out Ravichandar, who along with Nandan Nilekeni of Infosys and Ramesh Ramanathan of Janaagraha and two others were responsible for initiating this project. "Such a huge project will definitely throw open wide opportunities for the private sector," says SC Sethi, Managing Director of Subhash Projects andMarketing, an urban infrastructure company that is into roads, ports, power facilities, sewerage and solid waste management. Elaborates Pradip Jain, Chairman of Parsvnath Developers: "With the JNNURM, the facility to fund such large infrastructure projects has been eased and private developers see this as an opportunity to contribute to infrastructure development." The effort will also force city corporations to be accountable and help tap the nascent municipal bond market for funds. "While the municipal bond market is nearly a trillion-dollar strong in the US, urban local bodies in India have barely managed to raise some Rs 500 crore from this market," Ravichandar opines. *The Fund Fundas* *FUTURE FORCE* [image: Anil Ambani] [image: Mukesh Ambani] [image: Anand Mahindra] [image: GM Rao] [image: Ratan Tata] *Anil Ambani **Group: A**DAG **Interests:** Distribution of Power, MRTS* *Mukesh Ambani **Group*: *RIL **Interests: SEZs , Convention Centres, city Gas* ** *Anand Mahindra **Group:* *M&M Interests: **SEZs, Industrial Water and Urban Waste* *GM Rao **Group:* GMR Interests: *Roads, Airport Complexes and Power* *Ratan Tata **Group:* *TATA **Interests:** Power, Townships and Transportation* According to a report by India Infoline, a financial services company, the total urban infrastructure fund need—covering backlog, new investment and operation and maintenance—for the next 10 years is over Rs 2,80,000 crore. This is a huge opportunity for the private sector. Even in other parts of the world, urban infrastructure promises huge opportunities. Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm, says over the next 25 years modernisation and expansion of water, electricity and transportation systems in cities of the world will need about $400 trillion—a figure roughly equivalent to the 2006 market capitalisation of all shares held in all stock markets of the world. The Indian private sector is not saying no to chances that come its way, at any cost. It is stepping into mass-rapid transport systems, water desalination, distribution, sewage disposal, power transmission, malls, hospitals, hotels, townships, roads and special economic zones. Take Reliance Industries. It has paid Rs 1,104 crore for a 55,000-square metre plot in Mumbai's ** *WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE* - *Build institutional capacity to award bids and monitor performance * ** - *Project structuring for lease and service contracts * ** - *Financial structuring to create innovative financing schemes** * - *Risk mitigation because of intense public scrutiny and opposition from locals.* Bandra-Kurla Complex to build a convention-cum-exhibition centre. In the process it outbid three other companies. "There are no such world-class convention centres between Singapore and Dubai, where corporate conferences, industry trade shows and concerts of global scale can be held," says a source close to the project. The Reliance Convention Centre, with a seating capacity of over 1,000 people, could just be looking to fill the gap. Moreover, the top floors can be leased out for commercial uses. The scenario in water management is no different. A market worth nearly $4 billion and growing at 10-12% annually, the water business is a huge money-spinner. Players are waking up to the prospects. Mumbai-based Ion Exchange and Thermax control nearly 50% of the market, but a dozen or so medium-sized companies have stepped in. Even global giants Vivendi (now Veolia Water), Degremont, Thomas Water, VA TECH Wabag, Nalco Company and Du Pont have a toe-hold. It will not be long before urban local bodies in India outsource everything to private operators—from raw water and sewage treatment to disinfection and filtration to city distribution. * * *Boarding The Bus* Other sectors too have caught the private sector's attention. Rail-based and bus-based mass rapid transport systems are two such. The first phase of the Mumbai Metro project—the 11.4 km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar section—has been awarded to the Reliance Energy, Veolia Transport and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development consortium for Rs 2,356 crore. The three-phase, Rs 19,525-crore project will cover 146.5 km, providing rail connectivity within a radius of 1 to 2 km to people who cannot use the existing suburban rail system. While few question its relevance, doubts are being raised about its financial viability. "The government needs to provide capital subsidy to make the project viable," says Kuljit Singh of Ernst & Young. The Centre has already done its part. It has sanctioned Rs 600 crore under the viability gap funding mechanism. The Rs 8,482-crore Hyderabad Metro has also been sanctioned Rs 1,639 crore, and the Tatas, Essar, GMR, GVK and Lanco have expressed interest in the bid. Such concessions are not unique to India. To make the metro rail successful, the Japanese government gave tax-free commuting allowances to travellers. But there are no such misgivings about the bus-based MRTS, despite Singapore's bus network seeing a drop in passenger traffic by 8.1% in the 10-year period (1995-2005) with the arrival of the metro rail. The optimism may be partly because the launch is mainly due in tier-II cities, like Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Indore and Pune. Delhi too will have several bus corridors for the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Indore started the bus project on a public-private partnership in February 2006 and the city municipal corporation has made a profit of Rs 100 crore within 18 months. Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Kota, Udaipur, Rourkela and Raipur are also planning to replicate this model. In Curitiba, Brazil, for instance, the bus-based MRTS, running on dedicated tracks, brought about annual fuel savings of 27 million litres and many car owners opted for buses. Buses make up nearly 50% of commercial vehicles in China and 40% in Russia, but in India the figure is less than 15%. This puts the bus-based MRTS business on a strong wicket. * * *Power Hunger* *Rs 2,80,000 croroe is needed for infrastructure development in the next 10 years** * Power transmission and distribution (T&D) is another huge opportunity. Says Anil Ambani, Chairman of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group: "Our company will actively participate in state-level transmission networks and even examine options to develop networks to evacuate power from its own projects." This, despite the fact that two of his projects, the Parbati-Koldam hydro project in Himachal Pradesh and the Western Region Strengthening System (WRSS) have not yet been approved by the finance ministry. That optimism may not be misplaced. The outgo on T&D networks worldwide is nearly $70 billion per annum and is likely to touch $100 billion by 2010. Domestically, too, the Eleventh Five-Year Plan estimates an investment of Rs 65,000 crore in intra-state transmission by 2012. This is a huge draw for private participants. Even flyovers, hospitals, car parks, schools, malls, bus stands are being snapped up by real estate players. For instance, Subhash Projects is constructing a six-level parking lot in Hyderabad. The real money in parking lots comes from the exploitation of the real estate space through advertising, says Singh of E&Y. * * *Roads, Retail & Health* City roads are turning to the PPP model. In Thiruvanathapuram, for instance, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services is building the roads. The Hyderabad Urban Authority has also decided to call for bids for a ring road around the city. These projects would be developed on annuity, insulating private players from demand risk. [image: Volkswagen] *Push-ups: *A Volkswagen being loaded at VW Autostadt in Wolfsburg. Multi-storied parking lots are on the cards in India Retail and real estate markets are really sizzling. Technopak, a retail advisory firm, says India's retail market would touch $427 billion by 2010 from $300 billion now. Tata, Birla, Mahindra, Godrej and Bharti groups are all queuing up to skim off the cream. The healthcare sector, where companies are investing close to Rs 16,000 crore over the next three years, is another huge draw. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority says the healthcare industry has the potential to grow like the software industry. The biggest urban infrastructure opportunities, though, will be in SEZs. E&Y estimates $25 billion to flow in to the space by 2010. Reliance Industries, which is setting up two SEZs—the Navi Mumbai (4,000 hectares) and Maha Mumbai (10,000 hectares) in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region—is talking of Rs 2,50,000-crore investments over the next 10 years on a capital investment of Rs 30,000 crore. These two townships are expected to generate 25 lakh jobs in 10 years. "In China, a dollar invested by the government generates an investment of $40. There is a conservative expectation of about Rs 10 for every rupee invested in the two zones," says a Reliance official. Reliance is targeting Fortune 500 companies to set up shop in both the zones. "Over 200 top names have already approached us with concrete proposals," the official says. Adds Anand Jain, Chairman of the SEZs: "So far, development has chased infrastructure. We want to change the trend. We will create world-class infrastructure that will attract best-known companies." DS Constructions is also setting up two multi-product SEZs in Haryana (5,000 hectares) and Himachal Pradesh (250 hectares). These are likely to get Rs 1,200 crore and Rs 600 crore, respectively, by targeting auto component manufacturers, engineering goods and processed foods players. * * *Key Pitfalls* The story may seem rosy, but speed-breakers abound. "The biggest stumbling block is state governments' unwillingness to devolve more functions and taxation powers to the city corporations," says Rumjhum Chatterjee, Managing Director of Feedback Ventures. Without political and financial muscle, urban local bodies will remain peripheral players. "The other big hurdle," points out Singh, is the absence of "structured projects". There are no clear guidelines on revenue streams that could make these projects viable. HS Kohli, Director of DS Constructions, also has a grouse. "Besides regulatory processes, obsolete laws, high stamp duties, lack of defined exit routes, low supply of government land and restrictive FDI regulations act as impediments," he rues. But the spirit of enterprise somehow overcomes all obstacles. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081024/991943d8/attachment-0001.html From esg at esgindia.org Sat Oct 25 15:47:14 2008 From: esg at esgindia.org (ESGINDIA) Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:47:14 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Reckless Tree Felling of Avenue Trees in Bangalore Illegal: Tree Officer's claim that he has the approval of the Committee is absolutely without support Message-ID: <4902F22A.2080202@esgindia.org> * * *PRESS RELEASE : 25 October 2008 : Bangalore* Reckless Felling of Avenue Trees in Bangalore Illegal Tree Officer's claim that he has the approval of the Committee is absolutely without support Not one meeting of the Committee appointed by the Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka to review road widening and other transport infrastructure projects (Eg. Metro) of Bangalore has concluded in a decision. Yet the Tree Officer has proclaimed that the Committee has approved of felling of over 300 avenue and park trees in some of the oldest neighbourhoods of Bangalore; a claim he is unable to substantiate with any documentation from the Committee's proceedings. It may be recalled that this Committee was set up in June 2008 in response to a PIL filed by Environment Support Group and CIVIC Bangalore, terming the proposed widening of over 120 roads in Bangalore, and also the Metro project as violative of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, Karnataka Tree Protection Act, various standards such the National Building Code and Indian Roads Congress, and also policies of the Govenment of India on Urban Transport and Street Vendors. Accepting these arguments, the Hon'ble Court set up a Committee under the Chairmanship of former Environment Secretary, Mr. Yellappa Reddy (IFS, Retd.) and members proposed by both Petitioners and Respondents. The members are Dr. Subbarayan Prasanna (Former Dean and Retd. Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore), Dr. Carol Upadhya (Social Anthropologist at National Institute for Advances Studies, Bangalore), Dr. Shirdi Prasad Tekur (Community Health Expert), Dr. Paramesh (Lakeside Hospital, Bangalore), Dr. Shekar Mudhu (Professor of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) and Dr. Sharma (Engineer, Ramky Engineers). In all the meetings that have been held by this Committee over the past four months, not one has reached a conclusion. Neither has an order been issued by the Committee. Moreover, not one decision has been taken in consultation with the Members to allow for felling of trees. Many members are on record repeatedly demanding that no action must be initiated on projects till such time they are proven to be in conformity with law, conforming to design standards and the implementing agencies have held Public Consultations as required per law. Despite which, the Tree Officer, a forest official assigned to BBMP, has recklessly approved tree felling on a massive scale on many prime roads of Bangalore. Several representations by the Petitioners and various other organisations to the Chairman of the Committee to restrain this officer have not been considered till today. Since yesterday there has been reckless felling of some of the oldest avenue trees in Bangalore along K. R. Road. 50 trees were felled in just one morning. Each tree a treasure, that has provided shade and comfort to millions, and took nothing but a small ground area to work with the next tree to provide a massive green canopy to a stressed out city. Not one public hearing or a design review, or even a meeting of the Committee demonstrating compliance with law for felling these trees, has preceded such massive felling. Absolutely no study exists to prove the claim that road widening will reduce traffic congestion. In the past two months, similar exercises on Kanakapura Road has resulted in the loss of over a dozen very large trees. The trees have been recklessly felled, but four places of worship that have illegally emerged in the past few years, several telephone and power utilities and numerous other encrochments remain. Consequently, despite the loss of these trees, not one inch of road space has been added to the claim made by BBMP that the tree felling effort was to widen roads. This city was not shaped by officials of BBMP, and the trees that are felled were not only planted by forest officials. The streets and avenue trees of Bangalore belong to one and all. Any decision to fell trees or widen roads, or destroy parks has to be in compliance with the law and when proven to be in the wider public interest. To ensure which the Hon'ble High Court set up the Committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Reddy. Yet, Mr. Reddy has not found it essential to pull up the erring officials despite many representations and petitions. In fact, many members have protested the lack of accountability and transparency in the conduct of the Committee's proceedings. Such illegal infrastructure developments are severely compromising the Right to Life of hundreds. Bellary Road alone claims three lives every week after it was widened without any heed to pedestrian rights. Such ill thought out projects also destroy the Right Livelihood of thousands, especially of street vendors and shopkeepers. Hundreds of homes would be destroyed as well. Senior citizens, differently abled, children, pedestrians and cyclists are the worst hit by such projects, as there is simply no consideration for their needs. Ironically and tragically, the worst destruction of greenery in Bangalore is being officiated by the Tree Officer of Bangalore, without in any manner conforming with the law or the directions of the Hon'ble High Court. Environment Support Group initiated an appeal to the High Court appointed committee through and online petition (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nammaraste/) and in less than a week over 400 people have signed this appeal. Many have expressed their anguish over the loss of greenery and livelihoods and called for a rational and legal approach to resolving the problem if traffic congestion. This is a time for restraint and consultation, not reckless action that will have irreversible and adverse consequences on all. Leo F. Saldanha Coordinator Environment Support Group 105, East End B Main Road, Jayanagar 9^th Block East, Bangalore 560069 Tel: 91-80-22441977/26531339 Fax: 91-80-26534364 Email: esg at esgindia.org Web: www.esgindia.org *Some comments by signatories of online petition:* *P. C. Alexander:* Development patterns have essentially become copy cats of western unsustainable progress projects. Let us stand up and say our development should be for the majority and not catering the affluent minority, and avoiding exploitation of natural resources. *Ranjit Gadgil :* Road widening is not the solution to solving traffic congestion, since it will actually do the exact opposite - increase traffic and congestion. This is known worldwide. Further this is a waste of public funds. Wider roads make it more difficult for pedestrians and cyclists. This is in direct contravention of the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP). Making Committees and their deliberations hiden from public is against the spirit of local self governance and the Right to Information Act. *Benson Issac : *The city belongs to those who have made it their home - a choice that has been made considering the social, cultural and ecological heritage of the place. Every citizen has a right to be heard and his/her opinion considered in the process of planning for the city. the committee should be accessible to the common citizen of bangalore and take their opinion on board. The road widening mega project is a sure way of alienating Bangalore from Bangaloreans. It will destroy the livelihoods, homes and lives of millions of people alongwith the ecological and built heritage and aesthetics of the city. *Amitangshu Acharya :* Urban planning needs to be more participatory and pedestrian friendly. Regulatory authorities needs to understand that reckless road widening is not a simple solution but has long term ramifications on the ecology of the city itself. There is no point turning Bangalore into a heat trap like Gurgaon, the charm and the USP of the city lies in its lakes and trees. Destroying both will take away the soul of the city *Kanishka Lahiri : *Traffic is destroying this once beautiful city. Sadly, reckless road widening is only going to make matters worse. There is still time for the BBMP to exercise commonsense, enlightened thinking, and prevent the downward spiral that this city is in. There are numerous cities that are gripped by a crisis of gridlock and pollution in spite of having the finest road infrastructure in the world (Los Angeles and Beijing are good examples) . This is an appeal to the BBMP to be careful in choosing the cities we try to emulate, and to allow citizens to have a larger say in choosing the direction in which we are headed. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081025/9a29e25c/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: esg_vcf.DEFANGED-141255 Type: application/defanged-141255 Size: 363 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081025/9a29e25c/attachment.bin From debsinha at gmail.com Sun Oct 26 02:26:44 2008 From: debsinha at gmail.com (Deb Ranjan Sinha (Gmail)) Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:56:44 -0400 Subject: [Urbanstudy] The Godfather of Bangalore Message-ID: <27E9252F71E049BC90721FFA62275970@PAGOL> "But high prices are only part of the problem for businesses looking for space in the city. It's nearly impossible to determine who actually owns any given piece of Bangalorean real estate. Some 85 percent of citizens occupy land illegally, according to Solomon Benjamin, a University of Toronto urban studies professor who specializes in Bangalore's real estate market. Most land in the city, as in the rest of India, is bound by ancestral ties that go back hundreds of years. Little undisputed documentation exists. Moreover, as families mingle and fracture over generations, ownership becomes diluted along with the bloodline. A buyer who wants to acquire a large parcel may have to negotiate with dozens of owners. Disputes are inevitable." http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-11/mf_mobgalore?currentPage=all From sollybenj at yahoo.co.in Sun Oct 26 06:03:04 2008 From: sollybenj at yahoo.co.in (solomon benjamin) Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 06:03:04 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Land titles and The Godfather of Bangalore In-Reply-To: <27E9252F71E049BC90721FFA62275970@PAGOL> Message-ID: <540506.33215.qm@web8906.mail.in.yahoo.com> Dear Deb, Thanks for this, and perhaps some clarifications are due. Writing such a piece is bound to confuse the specifics of the quote so the latter part of this email are extracts from my my emails to the author of the piece that sets this particular selection in context. Much of our own insights on the specifics of this issue comes based on our work on the Bhoomi program. This program of the GOK claims to have digitized 20 million land records in Karnataka. Since it follows the line promoted by Hernando desoto, its not surprising that its been highlighted by the WB as a best practice to be followed: Not just in India, but in the rest of the 'Global South'. Some weeks ago, Vinay Baindur had placed some related postings on the urban list to show how PWC I think, but also the Bill Gates foundation, and the ADB were investing some real big bucks into "e-titles" and e-gov., and there are also indications that ICICI Bank when we did the Bhoomi research, was also investing the same. The specific issue of land titles is complicated especially as many progressive academics and activists, and policy folks assume that 'clean titles' automatically imply a step towards social justice. Well, read more, and also on what Tim Mitchell has on this, in his own critique of De Soto. There is more recent to that, more academic material on land titling and the problems with claims by the very well funded 'de-soto camp'. Our Bhoomi report and it's summary is given at: http://casumm.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/bhoomi-ase-politics-summary2006.pdf http://casumm.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/bhoomi-e-governance.pdf I wrote to the author of the Wired piece, I was impressed and glad that he interviewed directly some of the main figures of the so called 'mafia'. In the context of our own research on the Bhoomi program in the 8 districts around Bangalore, it significant that one of his quotes from one of the main persons in his report, is on how they help to 'clean up' messy titles, and use the mainstream court system within this, as a service to large land developers and what we know as their predominantly IT clients. Cheers Solly Now here are some extracts from my emails (with minimal editing) to the author of the wired piece. apologies for the grammar -- which normally happens when one is email ing late into the night, but I hope my broad argument is conveyed: "....However, I would like to make a point about land 'mafia's and this links to how we view illegality and criminality. These two are very different and at times merge depending on the politics of the situation. The way deve. authorities and most planning agencies structure building and other regulations, almost all people (85%) exist on illegal land of various categories. Some of these are less "legal" as they are in fact recognized by municipal councils. But municipal authorities are, like in the US, subjugated by supra regional agencies that dis empower them. The 'informal' sector' that employs upto 90% of all urban employment and some estimates by the Nat. ins of Adv. Economic Research (Indian's premier research agency) some years ago suggested that it also contributed 65% of economic value addition. I am personally not too enamored by these categories of economic rational but putting that aside, with all this, when planners and high level adm. call these as illegal, there is obviously a particular politics that is with this tag. Now while some activities like murder and violence is criminal no doubt, not all with a criminal tag are criminals!. Vivek Dharehswar had written a wonderful article (Vivek Dhareshwar, R. Srivatsan @ Hyderabad Subaltern Studies (India) "Rowdy-sheeters: An Essay on Subalternity and Politics" no. 9,) to show how if you were a poor person aiming to organize fellow residents to pressure authorities to access clean water, secure land against demolitions by planning authorities (playing to large developer authorities) than you were most likely to have a 'criminal' case of murder, rape, or dowry seeking, slapped on to you! And we would recognize that 'good politics' would include building a constituency around getting access to water, actions to strengthen land tenure.! The elite today are really worried about the poorer groups turning out with 95% voter turnout in municipal elections to push open their space to access basic amenities. of course this is likely to be un-ruly, but in ways not that different from the behind the scenes unrulyness of big business lobbying Development Authorities. Perhaps its this fear that has them now supporting the Vote India campaign that in the guise of electoral reforms aims to discipline poor groups and in the guise of identifying 'criminal' elements are in fact playing into and building on elite interests! Since now illegality is more complicated and just as criminality is, its a good time to visit the ALF's report on how super large IT companies and the KIADB's new avatar into land acquistion for IT in 2000 . For more evidence, you could look at the website of the Environ Support Group and their documentation of the BMIC project, and the KIADB. Perhaps none of these acts were, or are illegal! -- it all depends on how you define illegality. Thus, with the political clout that the IT and large land developers enjoyed in 2000, it was obvious that first you re-draw legality, and then get the nation state and its 'policy apparatus' to act in their behalf! If the new acts and actions by the puritans aim cut the space down for the illegal 'rowdysheeters' (to use Dharweshwer) and turn them into what the Times of India often calls as 'the land mafia' we live in normal times. Perhaps we need to move beyond the expected way: "third world corruption by corrupt politicians and the land mafia". I feel that not only is this un-grounded and empirically problematic but reverts back to a sort of neo-colonial developmentalism which needs questioning..." ******88 --- On Sun, 26/10/08, Deb Ranjan Sinha (Gmail) wrote: > From: Deb Ranjan Sinha (Gmail) > Subject: [Urbanstudy] The Godfather of Bangalore > To: urbanstudygroup at sarai.net > Date: Sunday, 26 October, 2008, 2:26 AM > "But high prices are only part of the problem for > businesses looking for space > in the city. It's nearly impossible to determine who > actually owns any given > piece of Bangalorean real estate. Some 85 percent of > citizens occupy land > illegally, according to Solomon Benjamin, a University of > Toronto urban studies > professor who specializes in Bangalore's real estate > market. Most land in the > city, as in the rest of India, is bound by ancestral ties > that go back hundreds > of years. Little undisputed documentation exists. Moreover, > as families mingle > and fracture over generations, ownership becomes diluted > along with the > bloodline. A buyer who wants to acquire a large parcel may > have to negotiate > with dozens of owners. Disputes are inevitable." > > http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-11/mf_mobgalore?currentPage=all > > > _______________________________________________ > Urbanstudygroup mailing list > Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City > > To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group archives, > please visit > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup Get rid of Add-Ons in your email ID. Get yourname at rocketmail.com. Sign up now! http://in.promos.yahoo.com/address From sudhir at openlx.com Sun Oct 26 23:02:40 2008 From: sudhir at openlx.com (Sudhir Gandotra) Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:02:40 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] European Humanist forum, 17to19 October 2008, at Milan, Italy Message-ID: <1225042361.27787.31.camel@laptop.censusindia.net> European Humanist Forum The Strength of Nonviolence More than 2000 people from 63 countries and 187 organisations! European Humanist forum, 17-19/10/2008 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009511&id=1306857654&page=3 Dear Friends, some of the pictures of the Forum are at the above website. You can see many more from the website of the forum at http://www.humanistforum.eu/ Do take a look and see how the Universal Human Nation is getting formed day by day..... Peace, Force & Joy! Sudhir Gandotra. (C-246) You don't need violence to shake the world Treat Others As You Would Have Them Treat You Humanist Movement www.humanistmovement.org Humanist Party www.humanistparty.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20081026/b340a904/attachment-0001.html From esg at esgindia.org Wed Oct 29 23:44:04 2008 From: esg at esgindia.org (ESGINDIA) Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:44:04 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Walk to reclaim Bengaluru: 9th Nov 2008, Sunday, Lalbagh West Gate, Bengaluru Message-ID: <4908A7EC.2080802@esgindia.org> Dear All, /Hasiru Usiru, /a network of community organisations, residents associations, project affected communities, voluntary organisations and individuals concerned about protecting equitable access to public spaces such as roads and parks in Bengaluru, invite you to participate in a *Walk to Reclaim Bengaluru on November 9th 2008, at 11 am at Lalbagh West Gate*. The key purpose is to highlight the extensive damage that road-widening and Metro projects are causing to the city, destroying in the process lives, livelihoods and thousands of trees. This walk is also to demand an inclusive planning process in shaping our city and ensuring that short-sighted, elite induced, infrastructure development, does not cause irreversible damage to the city and ruin the lives of thousands. * The Walk is to highlight that there are many progressive and intelligent solutions to the current problems of traffic congestion that do not involve destruction of thousands of trees, businesses and homes. * The Walk is to emphasise the importance of including public consultations as required by law in road widening and Metro construction proposals. (Currently, both projects are being rushed through in blatant violation of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, amongst others.) * The Walk is to emphasise that the Metro is a solution that can work only if integrated with bus based transport modes. (Building an elevated Metro will certainly ruin the city forever.) * The Walk is to assert our right to participate in decision making relating to projects of our city. To mobilise support for this Walk, we have developed a flyer and the same is attached. Please feel free to print or forward the flyer and kindly use it in mobilizing the wide public to ensure maximum participation in the walk. We also request you to contribute to the expenses involved in this initiative. /Hasiru Usiru/ members are keen to meet with your community or organisation and explain why this Walk is so necessary now. Please confirm if you would like one of the /Hasiru Usiru /volunteers to meet with your community and make a presentation. For details of participation or to make a donation please contact Nandini, Divya or Sharmila at Environment Support Group. Email: bellursharmila at yahoo.com / nandini at esgindia.org / divyarrs at esgindia.org. Call them at Environment Support Group on (080)26531339, (080) 22441977 (b/w 10:30 AM and 5:30 PM) on all working days. /Namma Rasthe.. Namma Uru.. Hasire Usiru! / (Our Roads.... Our City... Greenery is Life's Breath) Looking forward to your participation. With warm Diwali greetings. for /Hasiru Usiru /network More details contact: Environment Support Group 105, East End B Main Road Jayanagar 9th Block East Bangalore 560069 Tel: 91-80-22441977/26531339 Voice/Fax: 91-80-26534364 Email: esg at esgindia.or/esgindia at gmail.com Web: www.esgindia.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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