BALANCING THE DEMANDS OF EDUCATIONAL DESIGN IN DENSE URBAN SETTINGS

Saurabh Gupta, Partner at Vijay Gupta Architects, shares insights on how we can navigate urban density and address challenges to come up with creative solutions for educational institutions in Indian cities

- Saurabh Gupta

Twenty-two Indian cities house more than 16,500 people per kilometer – among the most densely populated cities in the world. With more than half of India’s population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, urban environments in India will only be getting denser.

In such a context, building educational institutions away from the cities would deprive a vast majority of the population of accessing quality education. Apart from this, it would also rob the locals of multiple job opportunities. Moving schools and other educational institutes away from the cities is not an option – we need to look at ways of designing them within our cities, tackling the challenges of urban density creatively.

BUILDING SCHOOLS ON SMALL PARCELS OF LAND

Sites for educational institutions in cities are often small, irregularly shaped, and located far from open greens, either abutting noisy roads or in the middle of dense settings like housing. Accessibility, incorporating physical mobility, transportation options, pedestrian infrastructure, community integration, and universal design principles, remains crucial for schools built on small urban parcels.

These small parcels of land still need to cater to the extensive educational institute programs while accommodating ancillary requirements such as parking. With more people now accepting newer education systems, the institutes must also live up to the aspirations of parents and students.

Building upwards while maintaining efficiency and a sense of openness is a strategy that can help us create beautiful learning environments even in dense urban settings.