Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'City planning India Madurai (City)'

Built on the ruins of earlier cities, the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan founded Shahjahanabad in 1639. Cradling a fort, the city expended itself down the social/housing strata to a wall. This wall not only brought coherence to any one group but provided an interaction amongst them. These cohesive units formed neighborhoods called mohallahs, marked by religious, economic and social liaisons, their identity legitimizing the power of certain individuals and institutions. The Palace-Complex formed the pinnacle in this urban hierarchy. This thesis shows the importance of the Palace-Complex and how the British occupied it after the 1857 Sepoy Rebellion in an attempt to exercise control over the city.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2010.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-59).
This thesis examines two approaches to housing the urban poor in the city of Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat - the Slum Networking Project, an attempt to institutionalize slum upgrading at the city-level and the Development Plan-Town Planning Scheme mechanism, an enabling approach similar to land readjustment that seeks to deliver serviced land to the urban land market and contains a provision to reserve some of this land for housing for economically weaker sections of society. Given the shifts in thinking in the past three decades around housing policies in developing countries, and particularly in India, from project-level approaches to enabling approaches that attempt to tackle housing shortages and substandard quality at a broader scale, this thesis asks the question: What is the appropriate role of cities in adequately housing their poor populations? In conjunction with this, additional questions explored include: What has been the history of housing strategies in India? What are some relatively successful efforts that are not national-level policies or small community-level projects, but instead use the scale of the city to address this pressing issue? What are the barriers to bringing these methods to scale?This thesis finds that while upgrading approaches may provide basic services to slum dwellers at the project level, attempts to take upgrading to scale must carefully consider the prevalence and implementation capacity of NGO or other intermediaries, the demand of residents for the services offered, the incentives for participation by private sector entities and the pace of urbanization in the city in question.With respect to the Town Planning Scheme mechanism, there has been considerable success in converting agricultural land to serviced urban land and in appropriated land for housing for the urban poor, but concerns remain about the overly centralized nature of the process, its openness to corruption, and its neglect to consider informal or tenants claims on the land to be developed. Finally, it is found that the mere designation and availability of urban land for housing for the poor is not sufficient to instigate housing production and more research is needed to determine appropriate policies to encourage affordable housing development on this land.
by Sunaree Marshall.
M.C.P.

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of Lavasa, a new town planned, built and managed by a private company in India. It examines the ideologies, institutional arrangements, and political processes at work in the making of this town. It takes seriously the attempt to create a ‘market utopia’ (an inclusive, environmentally sustainable, properly planned, and profitable town), treating it as an empirical phenomenon with social consequences, and asks: why, how, and with what effects did Lavasa come to be? In tracing its conception, production, and contestation, the dissertation analyses the processes and consequences of transforming a rural landscape into an urban place. I make two main arguments. First, the construction of Lavasa is fundamentally speculative and is centred on the ability to transform cheap rural land into urban real estate. I show that the land market that enables the city is actively manufactured by the state, through powerful local political actors, and networks of brokers and agrarian intermediaries. The construction of this land market produces a speculative environment: one in which trading in land simultaneously becomes an opportunity to make money, a cause of dispossession, and a way to lay claim to the city. Second, such speculation generates both resistance against and support for the project. It also, paradoxically, emboldens the ideological project of city-making. Collective action is rendered difficult as it is mediated by the same conditions and state that created the land market. Therefore the contestation takes another form that moves beyond the domain of land, is couched in environmental concerns, and leverages a different level of the state to ultimately stall the project. I demonstrate how the symbolic power of this ‘market utopia’ conceals the conditions of its possibility, that is, the ways in which it was made through the state, through speculation, and the discursive and material operations of the land market. I show how this land market is historically and socio-politically constructed, and how its construction shapes and informs the politics of planning, privatisation, and resistance.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2003.
Title from title screen (viewed Apr. 24, 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Dept. of Archaeology (Prehistoric & Historical), Faculty of Arts. Degree awarded 2003; thesis submitted 2001. Includes bibliography. Also available in print form.

With rapid urbanization, climate change and population growth in the 21st century, the development of eco-cities, especially in those fast-growing populated countries such as China and India, is important to minimize human impact on the planet. Nevertheless,  despite that there is a very well-designed eco-city, if residents living in an eco-city are not environmentally conscious, the eco-city is sustainable only in its tangible part – technologies and infrastructure, but not in its intangible part – environmental attitudes and behavioral patterns of residents. The intangible part is important since HUMANS are the root cause of current climate change (IPCC, 2014). When the policy makers decide to build an eco-city, this thesis thus argues that they should consider not only the tangible part of the city, but also consider the intangible part of eco-city – environmental attitudes and behavioral patterns of residents. This thesis provides a survey of environmental attitudes of 150 Stockholm residents living in three districts: Hammarby Sjöstad, Östermalm and Bromma. It also reports on a well-developed environmental project which is led by residents living in the Stockholm eco-district of Hammarby Sjöstad. The scope of this research is the City of Stockholm (Swedish: Stockholms kommun / Stockholms stad). The objectives of this research are: (1) to find out the environmental attitudes of residents living in three selected districts of Stockholm; (2) to understand the development of Hammarby Sjöstad and find out if residents living in Hammarby Sjöstad are particularly environmentally conscious; (3) to provide suggestions for the policy makers (e.g. Chinese and Indian) of how to take environmental attitudes of residents into consideration when planning and developing projects such as eco-cities. Among the findings of the research are: (1) in the high income, educated, and political conservative Stockholm districts where I conducted my surveys, respondents in general report high levels of environmental concerns and environmentally friendly behavior; (2) however, concerns questions relating to cars (parking restrictions, limiting or banning cars from their districts or Stockholm as a whole), opinions were very divided. There seemed to be much reluctance among many to put severe restrictions on the use of cars; (3) in the eco-district Hammarby Sjöstad, the expression of environmental consciousness did not appear particularly different from the other districts. Many respondents in the district moved into the area for diverse reasons other than environmental ones; (4) however, a well-developed environmental project which is led by residents living in Hammarby Sjöstad has emerged in the eco-district, where comparable projects were not found in the other districts in Stockholm.
I och med den snabba urbaniseringen, klimatförändringen och befolkningstillväxten under 2000-talet, är utvecklingen av eko-städer i de snabbväxande befolkade områdena som Kina och Indien viktig för att minska den mänskliga påverkan på planeten. Emellertid, om en eko-stads invånare inte är miljömedvetna så kommer en väldesignad eko-stad endast vara hållbar på sin materiella del (teknik och infrastruktur) men inte på sin immateriella del (miljöattityder och beteendemönster hos invånare). Den immateriella delen är viktig eftersom MÄNNISKOR är grundorsaken till den nuvarande klimatförändringen (IPCC, 2014). När beslutsfattarna bestämmer sig för att bygga en eko-stad, hävdar den här uppsatsen att de inte bara bör överväga den materiella delen av staden, utan också överväga den immateriella delen av staden - miljöattityder och beteendemönster hos invånare. Den här uppsatsen bygger på en undersökning om miljöattityder hos 150 boende som bor i tre olika områden i Stockholm: Hammarby Sjöstad, Östermalm och Bromma, samt beskriver ett välutvecklat miljöprojekt som leds av invånare i eko-distriktet - Hammarby Sjöstad. Målen för denna forskning är: (1) att ta reda på miljöattityder hos invånare i tre utvalda områden i Stockholm; (2) att förstå utvecklingen av Hammarby Sjöstad samt ta reda på om invånare i Hammarby Sjöstad är särskilt miljömedvetna; (3) att ge förslag till beslutsfattare (t.ex. kinesiska och indiska) om hur man tar hänsyn till miljöattityder hos invånare när de planerar och utvecklar projekt som eko-städer. Bland forskningsresultaten finns följande: (1) i de politiskt konservativa Stockholmsdistrikten med många välutbildade invånare med hög inkomst där jag utförde mina undersökningar rapporterar respondenterna generellt en hög nivå av miljöhänsyn och miljövänligt beteende; (2) när det gäller frågor som rör bilar (parkeringsrestriktioner, begränsning eller förbud mot bilar i deras distrikt eller Stockholm som helhet), var åsikterna emellertid mycket uppdelade. Det föreföll att många svarande inte är villiga att sätta stränga restriktioner på användningen av bilar; (3) invånare i eko-distrikt, Hammarby Sjöstad, verkade inte som om de var särskilt miljömedvetna. Många svarande flyttade in i distriktet på grund av olika orsaker än miljö; (4) ett välutvecklat miljöprojekt som leds av invånare i Hammarby Sjöstad har emellertid uppstått i eko-distriktet. Jämförbara projekt hittades inte i övriga distrikt i Stockholm.
随着21世纪迅速的城市化，气候变化和人口增长，尤其在中国和印度等拥有庞大人口及急速发展的国家，生态城的建设对于减低人类对地球的影响至为重要。然而，即使生态城的设计完善，如果生态城的居民不具环保意识，生态城的可持续性只能在其有形的部分（技术和基础设施），而不在其无形的部分（居民的环保态度和行为模式）。生态城的无形部份是重要的因为人类是当前气候变化的根本原因（IPCC，2014）。当决策者建设生态城时，本文认为决策者不仅要考虑生态城的有形部分，还要考虑生态城的无形部分 - 居民的环保态度和行为模式。 本文提供了一个瑞典斯德哥尔摩三个地区150位居民的环保态度调查：哈马比生态城（Hammarby Sjöstad），Östermalm和Bromma。本文还探讨了一个具规模并由哈马比生态城居民领导的环保项目。 本研究的目的： （1）了解斯德哥尔摩三个地区居民的环保态度; （2）了解哈马比生态城的发展情况和探讨哈马比生态城的居民是否特别具有环保意识; （3）为决策者（如中国和印度）在规划和开发生态城等项目时如何考虑生态城居民的环保态度提供建议。 研究结果包括： （1）在斯德哥尔摩高收入，高教育和政治保守的地区，受访者总体上显示高水平的环保意识和环保行为; （2）然而，受访者在涉及汽车的问题上（如泊车限制，限制或禁止在区内或斯德哥尔摩内使用汽车）意见是非常分歧的。许多人似乎抗拒限制使用汽车; （3）在哈马比生态城，居民的环保意识显现与其他地区没有什么特别的区别。除了环保因素外，受访者迁入该地区有多种原因; （4）然而，哈马比生态城有一个具规模并由当区居民领导的环保项目。在斯德哥尔摩其他地区并没有发现类似的项目。

The ongoing debate within the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) community over the relative importance of 'appropriate' design standards, the 'right' institutional setup and 'political will' to the success of projects obscures the larger importance of the planning process. Political leadership, institutions and design are important conditions that must be considered in the context of one another, but they are also conditions that will change and be influenced by the planning process. Drawing on case studies of the Janmarg BRT in Ahmedabad, and the Delhi BRT in India, I demonstrate the indirect and direct role of the planning process in influencing the outcome of BRT projects. My dissertation argues that planners too often treat the planning process as a one-dimensional sequence of steps in which design, institutions and leadership provide an unchanging framework in which planning proceeds. Planners however, can assert more influence over outcomes by re-framing the process as a three dimensional activity that considers not just the content and sequencing of the steps, but also requires decisions concerning approach (i.e. strategy and tactics) and timing (i.e. both moment of action and duration). This broader three-dimensional understanding of the planning process can be used to reshape design, institutions and leadership. A well-designed planning process has the potential to overcome institutional and design weaknesses and build political support leading to more viable and sustainable BRT systems.

Indian cities are currently facing various transportation issues like congestion, pollution, urban inequity, high fatality rate due to accidents etc. because of an increase in the ownership of private motor vehicles and their usage. This has prompted many policy makers to search for alternate modal options that are more sustainable than motorized modes. Non Motorized Transport (NMT), which includes mainly walking and cycling in an urban context, do not produce many of the issues associated with motorized modes like congestion, pollution, fatal accidents etc. But, promotion of NMT requires a clear-cut planning strategy, with a lucid understanding of various strategies and their effect on the NMT usage. Present study tries to answer certain pertinent questions, particularly with respect to walking and cycling, which can arise while preparing a plan for promoting NMT in Indian cities. The following are the questions that the author seeks to answer in the present study. 1) Which are the areas inside a city that a planner shall target for promotion of NMT?2) Where shall a planner locate the infrastructures for NMT in these areas?3) What may be the possible impacts of providing these NMT facilities?4) What may be the possible effect of built environment factors on the choice of NMT? Providing NMT infrastructures requires knowledge of location characteristics such as the trip distance of NMT. Present study tries to elicit the existing distance characteristics of walking and cycling in terms of an acceptable trip distance. The household travel data of Bangalore city, for the year 2009, are used in the study. First, a description and a statistical analysis of the walking and cycling trip distances across the subcategories of socio-demographic and regional factors is done. Secondly, the acceptable distance is computed from the cumulative trip length distribution based on the results of the statistical analysis. The socio-demographic and regional factors used in the study include purpose, age, gender, educational level, occupational status, and motor vehicle ownership. The major results include a significant difference between the mean trip distances on foot for the subcategories of variables such as gender (z value, 4.94), whether the respondent owned a private vehicle (z value, -21.2), and whether the trip was made inside the Central Business District (CBD) (z value, -3.93). One of the major implications of this study pertains to requirement of a footpath around main activity centers like bus stations, at least up to a distance of 1385 meters (maximum value for walking as the main mode) and around the bus stops, at least up to a distance of 750 meters (maximum value for walking as the access mode). Next, the present study analyzes the influence of built environment factors –density and diversity -on the mode choice and trip distance of the residents in the Bangalore city. The built environment factors are analyzed, for their marginal effects in the presence of various socio-demographic and alternative attributes, for the two segments -respondents owning at least a personal vehicle and respondents not owning any personal vehicle. The density used is the total density, which was the sum of population density in a zone and employment density in a zone. The diversity index, which was an explainer of the land-use mixture, was set such that, when a zone with small area had employment opportunities comparable with its population, the diversity index would be high. When tested on a holdout sample other than the ones used in the estimation of the mode choice model, for the vehicle-owning group, the model estimated produced a validation accuracy of 93% and 91% respectively for two-wheelers and walking. For the vehicle non-owning group, the prediction success rate was highest for walking (97%), and lowest for public transit (84%). For the vehicle non-owning group, an increase in the density increased the trip distance (parameter values of 0.016 for total density at origin and 0.002 for total density at destination) and decreased the NMT usage (parameter values of -0.036 and 0.038 respectively for cycling and walking for total density at origin, and -0.092 and 0.073 respectively for cycling and walking for total density at destination), but for the vehicle-owning group, the inverse was true. The results for the vehicle non-owning group highlighted the requirement of a policy framework to control the employment and housing location of them in order to reduce their trip distance. In the mode choice model for the personal vehicle-owning group, the similarity between the parameters of the built environment factors across the two-wheeler and NMT reflected the need for adopting policies that would change the attitude of people towards NMT. Also, the trip distance model determined that females preferred a shorter working distance, with a parameter value -0.109 for the vehicle-owning group and -0.04 for the vehicle non-owning group, when compared with males. Lastly, the study develops a methodological framework to determine the sustainability impact on providing NMT infrastructures using a Composite Sustainability Index (CSI). More specifically, the study develops a methodological framework to determine the variation in the CSI on providing NMT -walking and cycling – infrastructure. The methodology establishes a link between the proposed NMT infrastructures and the CSI using two explanatory indicators: 1) number of motorized vehicles and 2) vehicle-kilometers travelled by the motorized modes. The main components of the framework include the estimation of a mode choice model for a study area, calculation of the explanatory indicators for the scenarios before and after providing NMT infrastructures, and determination of the sustainability impact. The proposed framework, along with the acceptable distance determined in the earlier step, is then used to determine the sustainability impact on providing NMT facilities, for a future scenario, inside the CBD of Bangalore and around the bus stops carrying trips to the CBD. Three case studies are presented with the first one considering only intra zonal (CBD) trips, the second one considering only inter zonal trips having CBD as destination, and the third one considering both above mentioned the trips. The results of all the three case studies found an increase in the CSI (0.002 for the first case study, 0.076 for the second case study, and 0.100 for the third case study) for the peak-hour trips inside the CBD, on providing NMT infrastructures. This increase showed an improvement in the sustainability. Further, for the case study 1, which consisted of high percentage of short distance trips, the major beneficiaries of the NMT infrastructures were the low-income group. There was a reduction in public transport trips, of which the main contributors were the low-income group, from 142706.2 to 96410.2.

abstract: During the months from June to November 2012, the city of Bangalore was faced with a serious solid waste management (SWM) crisis. In the wake of the upheaval, the state court declared source segregation to be mandatory. Yet, while the legislation was clear, the pathway towards a course of action for the transition was not clear and hence, Bangalore was stuck in a state of limbo. The objectives for this thesis spiraled organically from this crisis. The first objective was to examine the gaps in Bangalore's transition to a more sustainable SWM system. Six particular gaps were identified, which in essence, were opportunities to re-shape the system. The gaps identified included: conflicting political agendas, the exclusion of some key actors, and lack of adequate attention to cultural aspects, provision of appropriate incentives, protection of livelihoods and promotion of innovation. Opportunities were found in better incentivization of sustainable SWM goals, protecting livelihoods that depend on waste, enhancing innovation and endorsing local, context based SWM solutions. Building on this understanding of gaps, the second objective was to explore an innovative, local, bottom-up waste-management model called the Vellore Zero Waste Model, and assess its applicability to Bangalore. The adaptability of the model depended on several factors such as, willingness of actors to redefine their roles and change functions, ability of the municipality to assure quality and oversight, willingness of citizen to source segregate, and most importantly, the political will and collective action needed to ensure and sustain the transition. The role of communication as a vital component to facilitate productive stakeholder engagement and to promote role change was evident. Therefore, the third objective of the study was to explore how interpersonal competencies and communication strategies could be used as a tool to facilitate stakeholder engagement and encourage collective action. In addressing these objectives, India was compared with Austria because Austria is often cited as having some of the best SWM practices in the world and has high recycling rates to show for its reputation.
Dissertation/Thesis
M.S. Sustainability 2013