Now, In Bidhannagar, we just completed a new Pay-and-Use Toilet near Sech Bhavan and BSNL telephone exchange. The area is close to CGO Complex and other State Government offices like Bikash Bhavan, There used to be complaints from morning walkers that visitors to the area create nuisance on the walls of the offices for lack of public conveniences. Tejen Shome, Special Engineer UD and his team has just completed one Pay & Use facility. It is very innovatively designed. It will be commissioned soon. Here is a photograph:
 |
| Parks of Salt Lake on wall of Public Toilet. Salt Lake. |
This mornng, I broke coconut to mark commencement of a City Centre in front of Home Town. A picture:
 |
| Near flyover and Axis Mall / Home Town: Birth of a City Centre Plaza |
Here are a few clippings:
 |
| Ei Samay dt 19.7.2014 |
 |
| Ei Samay dt 19.7.2014 |
Interesting to know that something is finally coming up in the empty plot opposite Home town - so what is the "City Centre" being built there ? Is it another mall like the one in salt lake or something else ?
ReplyDeleteThe painting scheme on the pay and use toilet is really innovative - helping it kind of blend in with the green surroundings. However, the building design is typical pwd style - the Cafe cum toilets in new town are much more aesthetically pleasing and should be adopted all over the city.
Smart cities is a good idea.........and is necessary to save already congested cities.
ReplyDeleteBut center should made a guideline before approving any projects and ......should have a plan to take urbanization as a opportunity rather than a problem.....
Rapid urbanisation is going in china. ....From 25% urban population in 1990 to present more than 50% and have a plan to take it 70% in 2030.....They are now building hundreds of large cities but most of them are ghost cities due to high price and do not have any takers......There is demand for affordable housing from lower middle class but they do not have the money to buy flats...
Only upper class have more money to bye them...and they take it as an investment........As a result.........Even if 50-60% flats had been sold but only 10-15% are occupied............
Hope this will not be repeated in INDIA.
Schools are very important for any smart city. To perform better in sports we should how to make new modern schools with different sports facilities.
ReplyDeleteFor a case study you can take an example of Kilamba new city, a satalite city of Luanda, Angola Africa. (Phase-1 for population of 1,50,000 ; 700 blocks , few dozens schools )
There is already a city centre in newtown so better to to have some other name for the mall.
ReplyDeleteIt won't be a mall. It will be a plaza, a city square.
ReplyDeleteSir, I do not know the size of the plaza but if it is large enough I think it would be great if small stores in the likes of Delhi Haat Janakpuri is developed which can house not only handicrafts but quality street food that Kolkata is known for and also if possible rehabilitate the hawkers who have setup in the nearby area. The idea is to have a mix of traditional and swanky stores all at one place. This would mean a strict regulation for the hawker's stores to blend with the other structures. While these suggestions can be incorporated as a design brief for the architect developing the project, the area should also try incorporate some character of DLF Cyberhub as precedence as well. A percentage of food joints can be leased though invitation to the renowned but almost forgotten food joints of Kolkata like from College Street's Paramount's for juices and shakes, Mitra Cafe, etc to Kathi Roll's of Nizam's, Nakur's sweets, etc. while the rest of the percentage can be on auction basis. While all these are developed as auxiliary facility it would be great if open spaces are provided fro children and enthusiasts for skate boarding, open air theatre, performance stages for folk music and folk dance like Baul and Chau, etc.
DeleteAlso at the heart of it, a modern sculpture that reflects the aspiration of the city of Kolkata to regain its glory through New Town's development done by any famous Indian sculptor (preferably) through competition. We should get ideas of such thing from the Mumbai's Art Project at its new Airport Terminal.
I understand since these would be capital intensive if these proposals are incorporated, I suggest private players be involved in auctioning of stores, Ad agencies for small trade presentation or product launches in the performance areas, and sculpture funding through CSR of companies stationed in Kolkata
As per google maps the plot is around 500 feet x 500 feet - http://goo.gl/ARXEd3
DeleteSomething in the lines of Delhi haat ( http://goo.gl/cpElEw ) would be really good - but not sure if we have enough space there. At a minimum the following should be planned -
- a central fountain / sculpture with a lot of open space around it
- good quality landscaping with trees, flowers etc
- ample places to sit / relax near the fountain
- adda zone in a ampitheatre like setting
- a few food stalls with at least one bengali sweet shop (there's not a single good one in new town so far) and one kabab/biriyani joint (like Arsalan) and one chat stall.
- open air sitting / picnic tables near the food stalls
- provision for underground parking for cars / 2-wheelers
- provision for bicycle corrals at street level
- public toilets (pay and use)
In addition to this, something should be done about the ugly hoardings all over the home town building opposite this plaza. It is an eyesore really - new town has been declared hoarding free and thankfully there are no stand alone hoardings, but somehow the hometown building managed to bend the rules and turn their entire front facade into a collection of ugly hoardings !
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete