REGENERATION OF THE OLD TOWN, BHUBANESWAR: TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH

Abstract

Cities offer a platform for cultural, social, physical and economic co-existence and conflict. Many traditional cities in India, during course of time got transformed into complex, fragmentary patterns of urban development due to their failure to support continuous population pressure and new trends of urbanization. One of these cities, Old Town, Bhubaneswar, stands out as one of the perfect examples. The old Bhubaneswar city has earlier witnessed several historic periods, and later chosen to be the administrative capital of Orissa, which gradually generated endless problems due to the pressure of development and needs of modern capital city in the proximity of the historic town. The concept of regeneration was evolved in 1990s, which aims at sustainable development of an area and proceeds on the basis of certain parameters. It is concerned with improving the economic, social and environmental vitality of the city. In this present investigation, an attempt is made to prepare a blueprint for Old Town, Bhubaneswar, for sustainable growth through plausible recommendations and proposals based on regeneration principles. At the outset, literature pertaining to regeneration and relevant case studies were collected and reviewed thoroughly, followed by the characteristics of the study area, studied meticulously to be aware of the problems and prospects of the system. Subsequently a household survey was carried out and the available data were analysed thoroughly for understanding urgent conditions of the city. The findings were presented in a matrix form which provides the basis to determine the most relevant strategic approach for development of the study area. The basic goals for regeneration programme in the study area are set. The study conclude with a set of plausible recommendations in the form of broad policy frame work, detail proposals and their plan implementation for six broad areas i.e. Tourism, Environment, Housing, Physical infrastructure, Traffic and transportation and Socio-economic condition.