REJUVENATION OF HARDING PARK AND STATION ROAD, PATNA

Abstract

Patna is one of the fastest growing cities, with the increase in population and consequently the area of town. The city was started developing along the bank of Ganga River and spreads over a large area in the linear form. All kind of trading and commercial activity including the industrial setup are near to the river bank because of the transportation factor. When railway enters to the city, it was located in the outskirt of the city, eventually it becomes the CBD area for whole city because of the ease of transportation, easy land availability and central location to the newly developed area which were well connected to the new railway station. The rate of urbanization is leading to many problems for the different sectors of society. The commercial, industrial and residential development has taken place during this period, most of the developments within the existing built up area and within the city core has been haphazard and necessary infrastructure has not been provided particularly roads and public transportation, public facilities and open spaces, resulting in over-burden on the city core and results to poor quality of built environment. There are developments of new area such as satellite township, commercial and institutional buildings but the old town and the central area where the major section of society lives, works and visit, are being neglected, resulting in overcrowding, traffic congestion, parking problems, poor condition of public buildings and spaces, which results to poor quality public realm. The streets of core city are vibrant but have aesthetically unattractive built environment, water-logging, narrow roads, traffic congestion, footpath encroachments, problems related to sanitation are prevalent in the area. Hence there is a need to give proper attention to the central city for making it into a place for good city life.