Private Sector Planning in India

We visited two private sector offices while in Amhedabad. Bimal Patel focuses on planning and urban design projects, including the redevelopment of the Sabamarti riverfront. Nimish Patel and his partner are architects whose work focuses on green building and use of local materials and craftsmen. Both are very comprehensive in their approach to planning and architecture, just as the public sector is, including social and economic considerations into all their work. Both are also concerned that public sector planning system is too bureaucratic, despite the trend towards liberalism and free market mechanisms in the last 20 years.

Bimal Patel runs a private architecture firm, HCD Architects, and does both architecture and urban planning in Ahmedabad. He has a fairly international group, including a young German with experience in several countries, a Historian from Temple University, and himself having a degree from Berkeley. Our meeting with him was our first in Ahmedabad, and it began with a bit of historical context, including that the nationalist movement began here with Gandhi, that the Business of Ahmedabad is Business (sounds familiar), and that the city prides itself on progress. It was built by those who call it home, and its main industries have been textiles, soap, and jewelry. It is also famous for its NGOs, including SEWA, which is a program to develop textile-based entrepreneurship and cottage industries among women. The architects Louis Kahn and Le Corbusier both came here to do buildings, and the Indian Space industry started here in a garage.

As the city and country became more communist and isolationist, the city was less productive, but India liberalized in the '90s and central planning was abandoned. Before then plans and master plans were very directive (do this, do that), and the plans didn't work and were not followed. The considered Delhi a mess, and mentioned how many illegal structures there are. Now the national and state governments understand that economic growth will come from businesses that operate in cities. City infrastructure has become a target for government spending only in the last few years.

When we asked about in-migration, the HCD team compared India today to the West in the 1800s, and suggested that we only need to look at that history to understand what India is facing. In the West back then, city institutions could not keep up - social learning takes time. Problems are compounded by increased wealth - wealthy people demand more space. Should you concentrate on in-migrants in the slums, or on preventing in-migration in the first place?
They mentioned some priorities for Indian cities. They need growth management on the periphery with infrastructure (roads, water, and drainage), with sewer being the most important. Affordable housing had not been a priority but is now getting attention. Spread the costs and benefits of development around, and don't use eminent domain so much. To get past arguments that density favors some but not others, require those asking for density to pay for its infrastructure costs, as well as some 'infrastructure that benefits all'.

We finally talked about sustainability. We praised India for its low carbon footprint, but our hosts mentioned the downside of the low footprint, including the psychology of living in such conditions, and that all western models of successful city development require high energy consumption. Hong Kong is the only example of development with low energy use, and Bombay could dream of becoming a Hong Kong.

Nimish Patel is an Architect whose practice concentrates on Green Building and use of local materials and skills. Their flagship example of a modern building is the Torrent building, a laboratory that uses evaporative cooling instead of air conditioning. Their heritage work includes rehabilitation of dilapidated mansions using lime masonry instead of cement, and using the materials found near the ruins, all done without drawings, for $1 per s.f.. Their design philosophy is in part inspired by Christopher Alexander's books, including A Pattern Language.
One useful aspect of the use of lime or brick instead of cement is that lime and brick are easier to re-use should needs change or repairs need to be made. Natural and traditional building methods work and are sufficient. Their reliance on local skills and knowledge allows them to tap the example of the Amber fort, which was designed so sustainably that it could withstand a two year siege, and allows them to build a rural school for 250 kids for 66 cents / s.f., equal to the cost of 6 waterless toilets. One of their goals is to help the crafts survive because they can build sustainably.

They complain about codes getting in the way of effective building, and about not being able to get LEED compliance because LEED focuses on measures of intent rather than performance.
Regarding in-migration, they want the local people to be trained in place, so that they don't migrate. Regarding model cities for Bombay, they state that unless examples like Shanghai have solved their urban problems, they should not be used as examples of solutions for Shanghai.