In May 2015, we came together, not as a group of architects but as citizens passionate about our city and concerned about its future. Having lived and worked in multiple cities we realize that it’s the people that make a place. To even attempt to bring about any sort of change in the physical dimension of a city, we understand that it is imperative to engage with its people and bring awareness about the importance of a qualitative improvement of this physical dimension. We saw the Jane Jacobs Walk as an opportunity to use the ideas of Jane Jacobs as a viewing lens to speculate on Hyderabad city and its neighborhoods.
photo - Sneha Parthasarathy
hyderabad I india I may 2015
The Jane Jacobs Walks are held every year worldwide in the month of May to commemorate the birthday of Jane Jacobs; an urban activist who believed in making cities more humane and inclusive. It was hosted for the very first time in Hyderabad on 9th and 10th May 2015 under the theme“Moghulpura Displaced-Marredpally Misplaced� The idea was to visit two different neighbourhoods in Hyderabad and by walking, observing and discussing, attempt to understand the subtleties that make these neighbourhoods sustain in a certain way due to their own histories, cultures, demographics and spatial development. The neighbourhoods visted were Moghalpura (9th May) in the erstwhile walled city of Hyderabad and Marredpally (10th May) in the erstwhile British settlement of Secunderabad. Walk co-ordinators Abdul Bari Sneha Parthasarathy Walk Hosts Naheema Shahnawaz Surya Narayana Murthy
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Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
“No Marredpally walk is complete without the company of monkeys� photo and caption- Sreemathy Sunder (walk participant)
walk I observe I connect I share Jane Jacobs Walks are free self-organized walks and discussions led by committed citizens sharing their knowledge about and love for places.
“The simmering discontent with Modernist urbanism that began after the Second World War came to a boil around 1960. Jane Jacobs (b.1916), a journalist and activist, stoked the fire with ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’, one of the first books to take the issue out of the closed world of the professionals and expose it to the general public.” -extract from book ‘Theories and Manifestos of Contemporary Architecture”
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Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
comparing urban grain through satellite imagery charminar
MOGHALPURA MARREDPALLY
st. john’s church
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
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brief introduction of neighbourhoods visited
MOGHALPURA This historic neighborhood is located to the south east of Charminar and is said to have got its name when a Mughal Army set camp here in 1640 A.D. As Dr. Shah Manzoor Alam (1965) wrote: “Another nucleus had developed around the Moghalpura Lashkar (Cantonment), which was established in 1640 near the tank Mir Jumla south-east of Charminar“ It is also said that Mubrez Khan, the first governor of Hyderabad, established his headquarters in this area in 1687 A.D and subsequently the Mughal Nobels clustered in this area and built their homes here. Bordered by Ali Jah Kotla on the north with its historic buildings and landmarks like the Nizamia General Hospital, Sardar Mahal and the Malwala Palace it is now a densely packed middle income residential neighborhood. MARREDPALLY This working class residential neighbourhood, an erstwhile native settlement on the periphery of Secunderabad Cantonment was planned after the Town Improvement Trust was set up in 1930 by the Cantonment autorities. While categorizing Marredpally as area E, Dr. Shah Manzoor Alam (1965) wrote: “Area ‘E’ is an exclusive upper-class residential neighbourhood. It is cosmpolitan. and not sectional, in that people of all castes and creeds can build houses if they have the means, and so can share the social status of the locality, It is in this area that most of the foreigners resident in Hyderabad seek to live. Area’ E’ is surrounded on all sides by residents ‘of lower income groups who are largely domestic servants working in this neighbourhood.” Because of the housing pressures post 1990s this area underwent tremendous change in terms of morphology as well as density. Once sparsely built with large plots the independent bungalows have now been replaced almost entirely by multistoried apartments.
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Boys playing cricket in one of the by-lanes of Moghalpura photo - Sneha Parthasarathy
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
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email invite- Moghalpura Walk, 9th May 2015
‘The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes’ - Marcel Proust, French Novelist Dear All, Thank you once again for your interest in the Jane Jacobs Walk, Hyderabad. This is a confirmation email for your participation and an intimation for the walk to be taken tomorrow at Moghalpura. The walk will be led by Mr. Suryanarayana Murthy, who has been engaging with various built and cultural heritage issues within the walled city of Hyderabad for the past 15 years. He is a domain expert in the fields of architectural conservation and human settlements research. We hope to start the walk sharp at 7:30am, and would request everybody to gather by 7:15am at the entrance of Daira Mir Momin, Hari Bowli. We anticipate the walk and conversations to be a 1.5 to 2 hour journey through the neighborhood, which will conclude at Gulzar Houz, Charminar. Do carry summer essentials like caps and water along with walking essentials like comfortable footwear. You are encouraged to use public transport to reach the destination, though paid car parking is available at Nizamia Hospital adjacent to Charminar, close to where the walk will conclude. We hope it will an enlightening experience for all, and set a context for the Marredpally walk to be taken the day after. To explore the walk route and familiarize yourself with the neighborhood, please follow the link for the map: http://www.janejacobswalk.org/hyderabad-india-moghalpura-walk/ Kindly put it in a word in case you are not able to attend the walk for any reason. For any other information/query before or during the walk, please contact my colleague Sneha. Regards, Abdul Bari
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Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Roads around the West Marredpally community park give way to a makeshift vegetable market every Monday photo - Sneha Parthasarathy
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
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email invite- Marredpally Walk, 10th May 2015
‘There is no logic that can be superimposed on the city; people make, and it is to them, not buildings, that we must fit our plans.’ - Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author & activist Dear All, Thank you once again for your interest in the Jane Jacobs Walk, Secunderabad. This is a confirmation email for your participation and an intimation for the walk to be taken tomorrow at Marredpally. The walk will be led by Prof. Naheema Shahnawaz, who has engaged with architectural pedagogy in India for the past 20 years along with practice. She has been a mentor to a whole generation of budding Architects, Urban Designers and Planners. We hope to start the walk sharp at 7:30am, and would request everybody to gather by 7:15am at the St. John’s Church, East Marredpally. We anticipate the walk and conversations to be a 1.5 to 2 hour journey through the neighborhood, which will conclude at Ramser Cafe, East Marredpally. Do carry summer essentials like caps and water along with walking essentials like comfortable footwear. You are encouraged to use public transport to reach the destination, though paid car parking is available at St. John’s Church. We now understand from the Moghalpura experience that perceived notions of a place are very different from ground realities. Is it just the buildings that make a place? Marredpally, a designed 20th century neighborhood, brings into focus the contrast between a city ‘made’ and a city ‘designed’. We hope this will be a fascinating culmination to this year’s walk series, which will inspire further inquiries into the workings of our city in the years to come. To explore the walk route and familiarize yourself with the neighborhood, please follow the link for the map: http://www.janejacobswalk.org/secunderabad-india-marredpally-walk/ Kindly put it in a word in case you are not able to attend the walk for any reason. For any other information/query before or during the walk, please contact my colleague Sneha. Regards, Abdul Bari
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Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Moghalpura walk host, Surya Naraya Murthy, visually analysing the neighbourhood photo - Sneha Parthasarathy
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
reconnaisance
Marredpally walk host, Naheema Shahnawaz, collecting stories and memories from old-timers photo - Sneha Parthasarathy
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Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Moghalpura walk. Walk participants meet outside Daira Mir Momin.
Participants from left to right- Ashish Tripathi, Surya Narayana Murthy (walk host), KR Parthasarathy, Sandhya Parthasarathy, Naheema Shahnawaz, Kanthi Kannan and Prasad Boddupali.
Moghalpura walk. Walk participants meet outside Daira Mir Momin.
Participants from left to right- Kanthi Kannan, Prasad Boddupali., Nitya Khendry, Lata Kovelamudi and Bharat Chandra.
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Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
walk participants
MOGHALPURA
Abdul Bari
(walk co-ordinator)
MARREDPALLY
Abhirami Krishnamoorthi
MA
Anuradha Reddy
MA
Ankit Sagar
MA
Arul Tippabattuni
MO MA
Aruna Vasudevan
MA
Ashish Tripathi
MO
Bharat
MO MA
Celia Fernandez
MO MA
Chandan
MO
Eisha Nagpal
MA
G.S.R Chaitanya
MO MA
Gladys Emanuel
MA
Kanthi Kannan
MO MA
Latha Kovelamudi
MO
Lenny Emanuel Naheema Shahnawaz
MA
(walk host)
Nitya Kendry
MO
K.R. Parthasarathy
MO
Prasad Boddupali
MO
Prathyusha Viddam
MA
Rohini Rao
MA
Rushab Gada
MO
Saikrishna Sanga
MO
Sandhya Parthasarathy
MO MA
Sandhya Madhuri
MA
Sanjay Borra
MA
Seetha Anand
MA
Shilpa Parthasarathy
MA
Sneha Parthasarathy
(walk co-ordinator)
Sreemathy Sunder
MA
Sreenivas Murthy
MO MA
S.Sunder
MA
Sunanda Subramanian Surya Narayana Murthy Vaibhavi Shah Vijay Kumar
MO
(walk host) MA MO MA
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Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Moghalpura Walk. Does one define this space as public or private? photo- Sneha Parthasarathy
Moghalpura walk. When colour becomes identity. photo- Sneha Parthasarathy
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
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Moghalpura walk. Participants, divided into groups of 5-6 each, set out to discover by-lanes and alleys of Moghalpura. photo - Bharat Chandra
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15th century Qutub Shahi Tomb, Moghalpura photo- Sneha Parthasarathy
Art Deco in Moghalpura photo- Sneha Parthasarathy
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Looking down one of the main arterial roads through Moghalpura photo - Sneha Parthasarathy
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Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Moghalpura walk. Houses along Rathkhana Street. photo- Sneha Parthasarathy
Moghalpura walk. Walk participants at Sardar Mahal.
Participants from left to right- Surya Narayana Murthy (walk host), Celia Fernandez, Sunanda Subramaniam, Vijay Kumar, Kanthi Kannan and Naheema Shahnawaz
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
photos - Vijay Kumar (walk participant)
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Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Marredpally walk. Walk participants meet outside St. John’s Church.
Participants from left to right- Vaibhavi C Shah, Sanjay Borra, Surya Narayana Murthy, Lenny Emanuel Vijay Kumar, Kanthi Kannan, Prathyusha Viddham, Abhirami Ramkumar, Celia Fernandez, Bharat Kumar and GSR Chaitanya.
Marredpally walk. Walk participants meet outside St. John’s Church.
Participants from left to right- Sanjay Borra, Ankit Sagar, Eisha Nagpal, Arul Tippabattuni, S Sunder, Srinivas Murthy, Surya Naryana Murthy, Lenny Emmanuel, Kanthi Kannan, Prathyusha Viddham, Celia Fernandez and Bharat Kumar
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Marredpally Walk. Participants visiting St. John’s Church photo - Sanjay Borra (walk participant)
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Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Marredpally walk. Walk participants meet outside St. John’s Church.
Participants from left to right- Naheema Shahnawaz (walk host), Sneha Parthasarathy (walk co-ordinator), Sandhya Madhuri, Rohini Rao, Gladys Emmanuel, Anuradha Reddy and Sreemathy Sunder
Marredpally walk. Walk participants outside one of the oldest houses built in 1935.
Participants from left to right- Seetha Anand, Naheema Shahnawaz, Bharat Chandra, Rohini Rao, Eisha Nagpal, Ankit Sagar.
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Marredpally Walk. Inside St. John’s Church. photo - Sanjay Borra (walk participant)
Marredpally Walk. Navigating vehicular traffic at St. John’s Circle. photo - Sanjay Borra (walk participant)
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Marredpally Walk. Street opposite Court House. photo - Sreemathy Sunder (walk participant)
Marredpally Walk. Vintage Buggy love. photo - Sanjay Borra (walk participant)
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Marredpally Walk. Metrorail work under progress opposite St. Ann’s School. photo - Sanjay Borra (walk participant)
Marredpally Walk. Ibrahim Mansion.
photo - Sreemathy Sunder (walk participant)
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Marredpally Walk.
photo - Surya Narayana Murthy
Marredpally Walk. .
photo - Sreemathy Sunder (walk participant)
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Dewan Ramgopal Bahadur’s House, Marredpally photo - Sneha Parthasarathy
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Moghalpura
Marredpally
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
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notes and observations by walk participants
What did you like most about Moghalpura? “Its tight & dense urban fabric.” - Lata Kovelamudi “The calm and silence of the inner roads. It was also cleaner than i had expected.” - Celia Fernandez “The interesting mix of old and new houses and building elements and the narrow shaded streets.” - Nitya Khendry “Still lot of old structures were intact, roads were wide, reminding us about the Nizami culture.” - Vijay Kumar S “The Old Houses which still exist somewhere in between with those courtyards and natural ventilation and good light.” - Rushab Gada “The wide roads. It was a surprise to see the same not very dirty. The old buildings preserved and ensconced amongst new structures.” - KR Parthasarathy What did you like most about Marredpally? “The abandoned old buildings,architecture and its history.” - Sanjay Borra “Shaded streetscape!” - Srinivas Murthy “It was much more an architecture experience. Interesting to see how some villas have survived there through decades, and how that fact is what makes them interesting (rathen that the architecture of them).” - Celia Fernandez “The art deco buildings and old trees” - Vaibhavi C Shah “Looked like a planned layout. Traffic was less, and lots of trees.” - Vijay Kumar S “Although I dint participate in Marredpally Walk on 10th May....I have been walking through it since my child hood....love its planned roads....quieter nights...all essentials near by..in fact u can walk to them ( schools, hospitals,shopping places etc)....existing park and lung space.etc....” - KR Parthasarathy
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Moghalpura
Marredpally
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
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notes and observations by walk participants
What changes, in your opinion, would most improve Moghalpura? “Creating awareness about the value of their heritage amongst the locals. Having the Government give incentives to the owners to retain that character.” - Lata Kovelamudi “Well, i gues there would be a lot of things to do. I wonder wether it is a safe place to walk in after dusk or not, for example; or how is this area towards women or aged people or handicapped ones.” - Celia Fernandez “Public spaces for recreation and interaction.” - Nitya Khendry “Probably more no of trees, footpaths.etc” - Vijay Kumar S “Proper System / Planning for vehicular and non-vehicular traffic and also making people aware about heritage buildings and preserving few which are there.” - Rushab Gada “To educate the public to preserve the environment...encourage preserving the lung space instead of constructing cement structures in the name of sports complex...stream line the power lines which are precariously dangling over the balconies/terraces... keep their neighborhood cleaner particularly their own homes.” - KR Parthasarathy What changes, in your opinion, would most improve Marredpally? “The area was walkable because of the plot dimensions and because of the quiet ambience of a Sunday morning, not because the physical elements were allowing for it.” - Celia Fernandez “Repair of foothpaths” - Vijay Kumar S “What it needs is more parking place for the resident vehicles....now it occupies most of the motorable roads....an excellent community hall catering to all needs of the residents without compromising on the greenery.” - KR Parthasarathy
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Moghalpura
Marredpally
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
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notes and observations by walk participants
Did you find walking through Moghalpura an enjoyable experience? If Yes then Why? If No then Why? If Yes, in some stretches then can you identify the quality of these stretches that made them more enjoyable. “Yes. Had opportunity to interact with local residents and understand their perspective.” - Srinivas Murthy “Yes in some stretches. The enjoyable parts were the densely packed narrow winding streets.” - Lata Kovelamudi “Yes. Overall, it was a nice experience, because of the share of ideas and perceptions from the other team members. But the narrower roads, were more enjoyable that the wider ones, of course!” - Celia Fernandez “Yes. Never had an opportunity to walk along these streets.” - Vijay Kumar S Did you find walking through Marredpally an enjoyable experience? If Yes then Why? If No then Why? If Yes, in some stretches then can you identify the quality of these stretches that made them more enjoyable. “Yes. Discovered some new Art Deco residential building.” - Srinivas Murthy “Yes in some stretches. The significance of each house & it’s history, lineage etc.. linked to each made the stretches more enjoyable.” - Vaibavi C Shah “Yes, in some stretches. Nice experiences after we took the inner lanes. As i mentioned in the previous survey, some of the stops we did to listen to the guide during the first half were really unsafe. The noise of the main road was not allowing us to hear her most of the time. I think, that shout be worked out in a better way for the next time.” - Celia Fernandez “Yes. There was very little traffic, and most of the roads were shaded.” - Vijay Kumar S
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Moghalpura
Marredpally
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
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notes and observations by walk participants
What were your particular interests in observing these neighbourhoods? Do you have any other observations, questions, or concerns related to Moghalpura or Marredpally? “I’d like to study the flexibility of spaces. How they are not strictly defined rooms. Instead they are malleable and multifunctional, having different a function at different times of the day, or for different occasions. And how their articulation influences the social life of people. I think we could look for Continuity and Change. Retaining the best of from our past - physical environment and social structures. And integrating practices for an empowering future, systems, amenities etc.” - Lata Kovelamudi “I was more keen to see how the neighbourhood was getting transformed over a period of time. From a Residential to Commercial to Mixed land use. I think we should encourage more of local public partcipation.” - Vijay Kumar S “I was not too aware of the development & history as i have been engaged in more of construction & site work.I was looking forward to know something about these neighbourhoods.” - Vaibavi C Shah “I am interested on the use of the public space, how people use it or not, how they get used to it, or customize it, or ...Something that also interests me a lot , and it was very shallowly treated during the walk was how the urban mobility networks operate at these areas, from the pedestrian walkability (another meaning of the term, different from the permeability one) to the public and private transport nets. They both were very nice and interesting walks in two different areas, but ..were they Jane Jacobs walks? or just interesting neighbourhood or heritage walks?” - Celia Fernandez
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Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Conclusion The introverted nature of an old city lifestyle was conveyed through almost no interaction or possibility either on the arterial inner roads because of the scale of road & lack of visual & physical permeability. Even the public spaces followed the same idiom.
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
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notes by walk host Naheema Shanawaz
MOGHULPURA WALK The method Pleasant experience, not intrusive, made us discover the place on our own largely. The context of the neighbourhood was explained concisely before that self exploration. The groups were small enough to discuss our observations, in addition to observing whatever we wanted. The coming together at strategic landmarks like Sardar Mahal set a context of time & architectural style. However, the intermediate meeting point of the maidan should have been a place of discussion of the various experiences. The Neighbourhood Travelling on the outer roads & inner roads differed due to the land use, commercial on the outer, residential otherwise. The internal roads were fairly wide surprising for an old city neighbourhood, though the smaller lanes branching further from this was of a scale more associated with an old city. Not much activity in the neighbourhood‌.Sunday, maybe. Except at the public swimming pool where hordes of exuberant kids fresh from the wet play were exiting. A lone old man was diligently distributing philosophical pamphlets on his cycle & was quite amenable to a conversation. Character of buildings non-descript mostly, with occasional flamboyant expressions of colour & treatment more inspired by the modern indian style. Masjids stuck very dogmatically to the Islamic style. One 150 year old house belonging to Mr. Mathur displayed use of Madras roof, Jack-arched roofs in a courtyard & verandah layout. No significant embellishment in the interiors. The entry was typical of those in old cities, narrow, dark, winding & cool.
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Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
Conclusion Great possibilities emerge with Marredpally’s active resident welfare association. Waste management, erection of sensitive public structures, promoting awareness of appropriate upgradation of infrastructure especially in high heritage value lanes of buildings & green cover, innovative adaptive reuse all can be addressed through citizen participation because of the unique involvement & pride of the residents. The facilitating of convenient access to the future metro also can be strategized with active involvement of the residents. The walk itself as planned was too long to be practical in summer. Possibilty of self-discovery should be made possible to make it less structured & more flexible, especially because of the distance & rich heritage experience.
Jane Jacobs Walk I Hyderabad I May 2015
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notes by walk host Naheema Shanawaz
MARREDPALLY WALK Method A guided tour, with about 30 participants, with inputs from historian Anuradha Reddy who was familiar with the area. Introducing the historical timeline to the regional context of Marredpally, the tour was programmed starting from the earliest buildings to the present . This was an attempt to familiarize with the status of the public & service infrastructure when the colony was first established. The route was circuitous around the southern part & entering the colony from the west , introducing the earlier buidings then to the later ones. The route was truncated at the park central to the colony - a last minute decision due to time overruns. The attempt to end the walk with a tour through the soon to be demolished Malani mansion did not come about. However, the walk was concluded with a comparison between the two neighbourhoods. The neighbourhood Historical neighbourhood , well planned in a grid layout and a source of pride & nostalgia amongst its present & past residents extending even upto the 4th generation. Promoting an extroverted lifestyle with low compound walls, the residents connected closely with each other & to the place even after moving away or into the vertical apartments. The neighbourhood is fast changing, but yet there are positives..the activity centres in old buildings, renovated habitats, the highly vibrant central park for all ages. However, it is also vulnerable to the fallout of the decisions made leading to the changes. The impermeability of the park enclosure can lead to uncivic practices, erection of informal structures, formal public structures insensitive to the character of the locality, depletion of green cover, increasing loss of heritage value of the precinct.
walk I observe I connect I share Thanks a lot for your participation. We look forward to creating more such opportunities for you to discover your city.