FOUR FUTURE SCENARIOS EXHIBITION

Nksagar-Sagar Media inc: New Delhi ;7 May 2011
‘Great cities are not like towns, only larger. They are not like suburbs, only denser.’‘Cities are by definition full of strangers. To any one person, strangers are far more common in big cities than acquaintances.’ - Jane Jacobs (1961)

Today four scenarios for the future of Delhi were unveiled at Indira Gandhi National Center for Arts. The exhibition launch was accompanied by a series of discussions in the presences of the team of experts from The Netherlands & India and Indian government representatives.

The four scenarios look at the city of Delhi from different perspectives of livability.

1. LIFE Street – Right of way!

‘The public spaces need to be as dynamic as daily routine of humans in a city’ Victor Cautereels, Professor, Man+Mobility, Design Academy Eindhoven, The Netherlands
‘The informal system not only provides employment to large number of people but it is also an eco-friendland efficient waste management system” Seth Schindler, CHINTAN
“Future development is often translated in to heavy development while the lightness of the barber on the street is a more sustainable long term solution” Rianne Makkink, Dutch Designer, Director Makkink Bey Studio

Delhi 2050 is visualized as a city in which all citizens are equal and the street belongs to the people not the cars. It shows an example of completely reworking a typical street (in Khirki Village) in order to get rid of ‘reserved admission rights’, no physical boundaries, happier and friendlier environment with lower crime rates.

2. URBAN Harvest – Self-sufficient Model

“By the year 2020 solar energy will be cheaper than fossil fuels” Ton Venhoeven, Advisor for Infrastructure, Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, The Netherlands
“One needs to realize and think about the origin and destination of water they just drank and flushed a few hours ago” Observation at Delhi 2050 public events

Delhi is seen as a city which harvests energy, water, food to fulfil their requirements and also where the surplus is fed back into the grid. It looks at self-sustainability through urban agriculture, water harvesting and renewable energy sources, solid/liquid waste re-use in a standard middle-income apartment building.

3. CULTURE Loop – Heart Delhi

“The possibility of reconnecting and rejuvenating the fragmented ridge area of Delhi to increase the forest cover needs to be explored. A larger green area not only gives health benefits but also plays a role in replenishing the ground water table which is fast depleting in Delhi” Observation at Delhi 2050 public events
“The idea of a park for Delhi is not vast expanses of grass and manicured lawns, but shady trees to protect against the merciless sun” Sohail Hashmi, Writer & Activist

The city of Delhi in 2050 is an amalgamation of heritage and contemporary culture in this scenario. It also becomes one of the largest cultural city parks of the world that will be a prominent tourist destination. This scenario looks at giving the heart of the city back to the citizens by opening up heritage areas for public cultural purposes and by creating pedestrian friendly green corridors.

4. HUB-itat – Trade City

“Pedestrian and bicycle lanes, women and children Friendly Street are indicators of positive development.” Dinesh Mohan, Coordinator TRIPP, IIT Delhi
“The power of a city or urban region is also about the concentration of knowledge, economic power and influential institutions or other important international functions” Bart Vink, Dep.director of national spatial planning at the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment

This scenario reflects how the city of Delhi can accommodate and adapt to the economic growth which is exponentially increasing. It suggests dramatic increase of public transport and thus creating high economic activities at the new hubs or nodes.

To gather public feedback on the four future scenario architectural models (made using waste) the exhibition will travel in the city from tomorrow onwards till 15 May. The tour will begin from DELHI HAAT (Sunday, 8 May, 2011 at 4:00 PM) and travel to various public locations in the following days.Delhi 2050 is a research project undertaken by arch i* together with Dutch experts to fundamentally rethink the basis of city planning. It is supported of Dutch Design Fashion Architecture Programme** and The Embassy of The Netherlands in India.