Design for Change

Can Design Change the World? We asked. We got a resounding yes as an answer. This issue, we asked, architects, designers and urban planners how they would use "Design" as a tool to change the world. From urban planning, public infrastructure, to architecture in response to disaster, we present some really interesting insights from the world of design.

Bimal Patel

Director, HCP and President, CEPT University, Ahmedabad

MAKING INDIAN CITIES LIVABLE AND PRODUCTIVE

Thoughtful interventions in the public realm are key to making Indian cities livable.

INDIA is undergoing an epochal transformation. It is industrializing and urbanising. More and more of its people are moving from villages to towns and cities. Industrialization and urbanization are also making India wealthier. More and more of its people are escaping poverty and scarcity. With additional resources at their command, they are consuming more of everything, including floor space and transport.

With increasing populations and rising prosperity, Indian towns and cities are highly stressed. They are also rapidly growing out into their peripheries and their older built-up areas are being redeveloped and are densifying. Unable to cope with the pressures of population and growth, they seem to be falling apart. They are becoming increasingly difficult to live in, highly inefficient, and very ugly.

India is not unique in this regard. World over, industrialization and urbanization has led to towns and cities falling apart. However, the example of many countries shows that if urban stresses are effectively tackled, towns and cities can be made highly livable and productive. They can afford flourishing lives for their citizens.