Urbanization and Traditional Settlements of Thaltej

PREFACE Urbanization and Liberalization has been driving factor in the evolution of the country in last few decades and have had imperative effects on Thaltej as well . Since last two decades the Precinct has changed significantly in terms of infrastructure, job market and topographics. With heavy migration, the area has densified and developed economically.

The study focuses on understanding these concepts in the context of Thaltej, by analyzing several morphological layers of the precinct.

It further justifies that the rapid development has led to adverse and unfavourable outcomes as well.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would sincerely like to thank my studio guide, Prof. Nitika Bhakuni for her constructive feedbacks and our academic associate, Aarzoo Samani for his continous support throughout the studio.

I would also like to thank all the other professors of the foundation studio, 2019, for their critical inputs and comments which have led to my learning in the studio.

I am also grateful to my family and friends for always supporting and assisting me.

DISCLAIMER The information presented in this portfolio has been studied and collected by the author as a part of the “Understanding the City� studio, Faculty of Planning, CEPT University.

Any omissions and errors are deeply regretted.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 1.1 Urbanization of 21st Century 1.2 Liberalization of Economy and its effects 1.3 Consequences on Thaltej 2. Physical Manifestation of Urbanization 2.1 Evolution over Decades 2.2 Development and its Determinants 2.3 Urban Fabric and Building Typology 2.4 Other Infrastructures and Services 2.5 Economy and its Dynamics 3. Impact on Livelihood 3.1 Preferred mode of Transportation 3.2 Housing Choices 4. Conclusion

1.1 URBANIZATION OF 21 ST CENTURY Urbanization can be defined as the migration of

people towards the Urban areas, which is happening in faster rate in India. As per the records of the World Bank, the urban population of 28.53% in 2001 has increased to 34% in 2017.

As per figures, currently in India out of 285 million urban residents, about a 100 million lives in urban slum, which emerges out of the public infrastructure like parks, footpaths etc. in an eccentric manner. This phenomenon eventually results in unplanned and unequal utilization of public spaces

This phenomenon has had myriads of tangible and intangible effects on the Indian economy on both country and state levels, one being its major contribution to the economic growth of the country.

Due to Urbanization, our cities are expanding while our villages are reducing.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

An aerial view of Ahmedabad (Source- https://www.architecturaldigest.in/content/ahmedabad-walls-exhibition-kasturbhai-museum/)

1.2 LIBERALIZATION OF ECONOMY AND ITS EFFECT Liberalization has been a significant driving force for the development in the country.

With rebuilding of the country after independence, in the years following 1990, India, due to bankruptcy and influence from the western trends decided to change its economic policy by economic liberalization, privatization and globalization.

After the economic liberalization the Indian economy started to embrace the “forces of globalization”. Wide investment in infrastructure took place and in early 2000s the globalization touched upon the infrastructure and other developments in the country.

Honda showroon in Thaltej (Source- Author)

The privatisation has had significant impact on the retail sector of Gujarat. Since it has the India’s strongest middle class population with high per capita GDP, Ahmedabad especially has become the favourite destination of the organized retail groups.

The city has witnessed tremendous development in this sector in last two decades, as with demand the supply has kept on rising.

The Acropolis Mall on SG Highway (Source- Author)

1.3 CONSEQUENCES ON THALTEJ With rest of the country, Thaltej has also been urbanizing and changing rapidly.

This has been clearly evident in the case of the Thaltej Gam, which has shrunk since 2000, as the city has been pushing the Gamtal extents further inside which has rather resulted in the densification of the area, due to the continuous influx of migrants.

The area around the Gamtal is emerging a mixed use type with plenty of residential and commercial multi storeye buildings. Ever since the rise in the number of multi storey apartments the Thaltej village has continued to expand.

Liberalization has attracted various private players in the market which has contributed in boosing the economy by providing job aspects and variety of services to the onsumer.

If one traces the evolution of the precinct over last 20-30 years, one will notice that this is the window where all the major developments have occurredfrom SG Highway to various large- and small-scale commercial job centres, like the Acropolis Mall which attracts thousands of people on daily basis.

Predominantly residentaial multi storey buildings with retail on ground floor.

(Source- Author)

The area surrounding the Thaltej Village has transformed drastically since 2000 . tThe primary factor for all these transformations is the shift of Thaltej from agriculture based to commercial. Initially the development was limited to areas in proximity with SG Highway- including commercial buildings and few residential apartments.

This growth expedited the property demands in the area. This change was followed by the rise in the number of multi- storey apartments between 2005-2010, which further worked like a catalyst to fuel the other significant changes:

Thaltej Gam with vicinity (Source- Google Earth)

The Precinct has evolved tremendously since last

couple of decades in terms of the built fabric, density, public infrastructure and ecology. Until 2000 the Precinct had the Thaltej lake and the Drive in Cinema as the only important landmarks.

The Gamtal which is 60-70 years old was developed around the lake which was the lifeline of the area. The surrounding parcels of land were used for agriculture by the village.

The primary factor for all these transformations is the rapid urbanization of the area with rest of the city.

This growth expedited the property demands in the area. This change was followed by the rise in the number of multi- storey apartments between 2005-2010, which further worked like a catalyst to

CHAPTER 2

PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF URBANIZATION IN THALTEJ

Flow chart showing the transformation and evolution of the Precinct

2.1 EVOLUTION OVER DECADES

2 0 0 5

2 0 1 5

Precint in 2010 (Source- Google Earth)

2 0 0 5

Precint in 2005 (Source- Google Earth)

2 0 1 0

2 0 1 5

Since 2000 until 2005, the Thaltej Village kept on expanding in the South, migration led to the conversion of agricultural land into residential.

The Acropolis Mall was constructed 2009 as a major commercial landmark and Job Centre of the precinct and the city as well.

By 2015 the Precinct has transformed into a MixedUse area and the Thaltej village has completely shifted from agricultural to commercial.

With residential dominated area the precinct started to transform into mixed use as commercial and institutional emerged- direct result of Urbanization.

Due to this, various other small-scale commercial centres also appeared in the Precinct and attracted more people from other corners of the city.

Another significant development is the construction of Underpass on the SG Highway, which made the Gamtal and the surrounding areas well connected to the city.

2.2 DETERMINANTS OF DEVELOPMENT

Timeline of growth

INFRASTRUCTURE- Constructed by NHAI the Thaltej Underpass is the first underpass of Ahmedabad. SG Highway has become the focal point among residential property developers due to various aspects constantly fostering their development plans and making it the most active area for residential development.

It has worked as a CATALYST towards the development of the Precinct. People are moved into the area due the fast rate of development and low property rates in the initial which has hiked after the project.

TOPOGRAPHY AND ECOLOGY- The Precinct is relatively flat with few gradual changes in the topography. The Thaltej Lake is somewhat shallow with no deeper then 4 feet.

The green cover of the Precinct has reduced significantly due to the development in terms in the real estate sector.

SOCIAL- According to a study, the year 2007 saw a shortage of 24.7 million housing units, including 21.8 million units needed for SEWS. AMC has also taken the initiative to construct houses for these people, which will be granted through lottery system.

Contaminated Thaltej Lake as Sewer outlets are channeled into it.

Prominent depletion of Green cover over last two decades.

2.3 URBAN FABRIC AND BUILDING TYPOLOGY LAYERS OF THE MORPHOLOGY

Precinct has also evolved remarkably since past few decades with Morphology as tool, into a much denser and urbanized community.

The study of Urban Fabric of the Precinct is one important aspect under the spectrum of Morphology at Micro Level, which has visibly transformed.

The fabric has changed from coarse- irregularsparse to fine- regular- dense, in order to accommodate the needs of the migrating population in the city.

There is no order in the placement and arrangement of the masses and spaces- which are built and open areas.

Built Form- Figure Ground of the Thaltej Gamtal (

Due to Migration and Urbanization, the prominent land use has been residential which is 26% followed by mixed use which is 21%. In terms of building use, the residential typology covers the 64% of the all the buildings, again followed by mixed use which is 16%.

In terms of the Mixed-Use buildings, the most prevalent type is the Residential- Retail, with shops on ground level and living area on top floors.

These 2-3 storey buildings are located mostly along the Thaltej Road and in the Gamtal area.

Most of the Commercial and Institutional buildings have emerged along the SG Highway, also important religious buildings, like the Gurudwara Govind Built use Dham anddistribution Mukti Dham Crematorium.

0.

Entrop

4%2% 1% 13%

0

16% 64%

Homo geneous

Predomi Floor Use Built Use of the Thaltej Gamtal with Predominant residential

The majority of th Precinct has low rise and mid rise buildings, mainly located in the Gamthal Area which covers majority of land in Precinct. Being developed organically, with rising demand the Gamtal has continued to densify and expand vertically.

Only 7% of the total buildings are High Rise, located along the SG Highway and the Thaltej road due to high FSI and location.

It is projected that in next 10 years more High rise buildings will be coming along SG Highway and Thaltej Road due to the uocoming Metro project.

Building Heights with Number of floors

The Gamthal area has 2 to 3 storey buildings, yet the plots have consumed more FSI (2.0-3.0), due to lack of byelaws and setbacks. On the contrary, the south part of the site has com paratively taller apartments, but yet the FSI is low -around 0.5, as these areas are planned with appropriate byelaws and setbacks. High FSI can also be observed along Arterial and Sub-arterial roadsSG Highway being a city level road and Thaltej Road- part of proposed TOD plan.

The Gamthal area has 2 to 3 storey buildlings, yet the plots have consumed more FSI (2.0-3.0), due to lack of byelaws and setbacks.

On the contarary, the south part of the site has comparitively taller apartments, but yet the FSI is low -around 0.5, as these areas are planned with appropriate byelaws and setbacks.

High FSI can also be observed along Arterial and Sub-arterial roads- SG Higway being a city level road and Thaltej Road- part of proposed TOD plan.

Permissible Land FSI of plots in the Precinct

Bulding use is a primary determinant in the utilization of the FSI. SG Highway has seen the emergence of Mixed use typology with consumption of FSI around 4.

Examples of Used FSI in Thaltej (Source- Author)

HOW CONNECTED IS THE GAMTAL? Although the road netwrok within the Precinct is well connected, congestion can be observed due to Encroachment and improper segregation of traffic.

As the Thaltej Gam covers most part of the Precinct, there are large number of local roads with few collector roads and fewer Arterial and Sub Arterial roads.

The SG Highway being the only Arterial Road in the Precinct connects the sub-arterial and collector roads. There are few location where the local road is directly fed into the Arterial road, due the presence of light traffic on that road. Otherwise the hierarchy of the road levels is maintained on the Precinct.

Congestion on Thaltej Road due to Ongoing Metro construction (Source- Author)

Existing Road structure in the Precinct

There is a lot of Congestion and Bottle-necks have been observed, mainly at the Thaltej Road. This is entirely due to the construction of the Metro Project, which has blocked half of the road. This has also caused defacement of the footpath at the complete stretch.

Road Sections at various locations in the Precinct

While the SG Highway and the Sindhu Bhawan road present the issue of Encroachment by local vendors and Parking. As there are a lot of Commercial and Institutional buildings on this road, the visitors often park their vehicle on the road, which causes serious congestions at the intersection

Walkability study of the Gamtal area

CONNECTIVITY WITH THE CITY Although the precinct is well connected to the majority of lamndmarks of the city through good road network, the overall movement efficiency reduces with Public Transportation.

Few issues were observed with the transportation network which should be taken into consideration in a connectivity study of public transportation: a. Interchange- In five out of 10 stops, which were studied there is no option of direct bus. Other five has options between 2 to 3 interchanges in between the origin and destination stops. b. Last Mile Connectivity- Average walking distance for last mile connectivity is approximately 6 minutes, range of 5 to 13 minutes, which is quiet inconvinient. c. Frequency- For Badrinarayan Society to Chenpur Gam, which is not a very active route there is one bus at every half an hour. The first bus is at 5:45am and the last bus is at 11:00 pm.

Bus routes connecting the Precinct to various locations

HOW ‘PUBLIC’ IS THE PRECINCT? The Nolli’s map shows that nothing is actually ‘public’ in the true meaning. All the spaces are bound with conditions of accessibility like Gender and community biased, timing restrictions and Universal accessibility.

A MOST ‘PUBLIC’ SPACE OF THALTEJ

Keymap

Study Area The Acropolis Mall

The Acropolis Mall is the most vibrant Public Space of the Precinct. Its location along the SG Highway makes it accessible to the people.

The Edges of the Space are quiet porus for most parts. There are sufficient access points at both the Thaltej Road and the SG Highway for both the Pedestrians and vehicles. The planned movement paths helps in keeping the pedestrian flow in control.

There are seatings for the public in the plaza facing the SG highway. The open floor plan of the space allows the good air flow in the mall, eliminating the need of air conditioning.

Informal job economy on Thaltej Road

2.4 OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES HOW DOES THE AMC MANAGES DOMESTIC WASTE? WHAT?

Waste generation per capita- 0.6 kg/ day Total number of residents-2,029 Capacity of Door to Door collection vehicle-1 Tonn Total waste generated-1.2 tonn

HOW?

Waste collection is done by Door to Door vehicles, which collect the waste in two trips from 7 am to 10 am. These vehicles collect the waste and take it to the Transfer station where the waste is compacted and transferred to 10 tonnes capacity Hook Loaders.

WHERE?

The Hook Loaders finally dump the compacted waste at the Pirana Landfill.

The Precinct has a lot of Nuisance Points especially on the Thaltej and Ramdas Road due to few privately owned properties and more apartment complexes. Lack of cleaning facilities are also leading to this.

Section showing the Nuisance Points in the Precinct (Source- Author)

Section showing the Influence Area of a silver Bin on the Thaltej Road (Source- Author)

WATERLOGGING- LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURE!

Contour Plan of the Precinct with Water-logged locations due to lack proper drainage system.

2.5 ECONOMY AND ITS DYNAMICS JOB MARKET

Informal job economy on Thaltej Road (Source- Author)

FORMAL SECTOR: The majority of jobs are created by the Commercial sector as it has 62% of the Job Centers of the Precinct, due to large scale offices like Kohler and Honda.

Although the Residential sectors have most number of Units, job generation are limited due to lack of affordability to hire employee INFORMAL SECTOR: The Street Vending sector has the highest Job Density of 490/hectare, which surpasses the other sectors, as there are large number of vendors operating in smaller areas.

The Space Utilization by the Street Vendors are immensely efficient unlike Offices or Institutions, where the operational space is much larger.

Job distribuiton in the Precinct

The commercial sector has majority of Self Employed , as these are small scale retail shops which are their to feed the daily needs of the residential areas.

The Institutional being formal Job centers have majority of Contract jobs.

As per the conducted survey, women are mostly employed in low income jobs, while high income jobs are dominated by men.

The job market in the precinct has Gender disparity which reflects that men and women do not enjoy same job opportunities.

This is a result of inaccessible education opportunities to all genders.

Income Range Vs Number of Jobs generated

This is a result of inaccessible education opportunities to all genders.

The formal sectors like Commercial and Institutional sectors offer high income, as these have higher contributions towards the GDP in form of formal transactions.

Informal Sectors on the other hand do not have significant contribution towards the economy, due to absence of monetary transactions hence offers low income.

Income Range Vs gender Ratio

The job density in the Commercial sector is the highest as it offers larger number of jobs with various types. and layers. These are mainly retail and wholesale shops.

The job density of the Residential sector is comparatively negligible, as only Apartments and Detached bungalows can afford to hire domestic help or other helpers.

Since the majority of the Residential typology is Gamtal there are very few jobs generated in this sector.

Job Density per square meter in the Precinct

3.1 PREFERRED MODES OF TRANSPORTATION 100% 90%

Mode

80%

Walk Other(specify) Cycle

70%

AMTS

60%

4 Wheeler

50%

3 Wheeler

40%

2 Wheeler

30% 20% 10% 0%

CHAPTER 3

IMPACT ON LIVELIHOODS

Income Range Percentage of different modes of transportation preferred by different income groups

The predominant mode of transportation for low and middle income groups is 2 Wheeler and about 80% people travel by it.

While for high income groups 4 wheeler is preferred mode of transportation with about 85% people relying on it due to convivence.

45000

7

40000

6

35000

4

3

Average of No. of family members

Expenditure

30000

20000

Average of Electricity Bill Average of Transportation (fuel+fare) Average of Food/ Groceries

5

25000

Average of Education

15000 2

10000 1

5000 0

Expenditure bifurcation of Income by different income groups

0

Income Range

The high income group population spend the most on daily expenses, about Rs 43,000 monthly.

The expenditure on food increase significantly with rising income.

A high income group family of 5 spends 25,000 on food while a low income family of 5 only spends 9,000 on food. This is due to the change in the quality of food and the way of lifestyle changes.

Expense of electricity remains more or less constant (7 to 9,000 monthly) with rising income, as it is a basic necessity in todays way of life,

Average of 2 Wheeler (Scooter/Motor Cycle/Moped) 390000-400000 Average of 4 Wheeler (Car/Jeep/Taxi)

200000-209999 100000-109999

Income Range

90000-99999 80000-89999 70000-79999 60000-69999 50000-59999 40000-49999 30000-39999 20000-29999 0

1

2

3

4

5

Average Count of number of Vehicles owned

The ownership of vehicles increase with rising income.

With rise of number of vehicles, the number of 4 wheeler also increase with rising income. The number of 2 wheeler does not vary much and remains more or less constant.

2 Whelers on per 1000 population- 195 4 Wheelers on per 1000 population- 350

6

7

Percentage of different modes of transportation preferred by different income groups

Male

Other(specify)

Cycle

AMTS

4 Wheeler

3 Wheeler

2 Wheeler

Walk

Other(specify)

Work Mode

Cycle

AMTS

4 Wheeler

3 Wheeler

2 Wheeler

Walk

Education

Other(specify)

Gender wise preferred mode of Transportation for different purposes

Cycle

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Other(specify)

Due to long distances, work trips cost more. Education trip cost relatively less and the difference of cost of trips made by men and women is relatively less as well.

Work Mode

4 Wheeler

Men make larger work trips with 4 wheelers and 2 wheelers. An average of 6 men travel to work using Public transportation.

Education

2 Wheeler

Women tend to make larger trips for education purposes and their preferred mode of travel is 2 wheeler followed by 4 wheeler and walking. They do not use Public transportation as they don’t find it convenient enough,

Average Distance Travelled

Gender wise preferred mode of Transportation for different purposes

Cycle

4 Wheeler

Female

2 Wheeler

Cost

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

3.2 HOUSING CHOICES 100%

Semi- detached

No. of Household Typologies

90%

Row houses/ Attached (others) Gamtal

80% 70%

Detached bungalows

60%

Apartment

50% 40% 30% 20% 10%

Percentage of different housing units owned by different Income groups

0%

Income Range

About 70% of the people of low income groups tend to live in Gamtal and row houses. With rising income the number of people living in Gamtal reduces and semi detached typology increases up to 45%.

The diversity of housing typologies completely disappears in high income groups who either live in Apartments or Detached Bungalows.

With rising income diversity in housing choices decreases.

100%

Rental Owned

Number of Household Units

90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Percentage of housing units owned/rented by different typologies in thThaltej

Apartment

Detached bungalows

Gamtal

Row houses/ Attached (others)

Semi- detached

Housing Typologies

The Apartment typology has larger number of rented household units- about 50% then any other housing typology, reason being its location along road and away from core area.

Also people living in apartments are mostly liberal and do not impose many restrictions on tenants.

Gamtal and Semi detached housing has lowest number of rented units- merely 10-20% as these are tightly packed communities and people do not prefer renting out the house to outsiders- people of different caste/religion/eating habits etc.

“Design is often inadvertently used as a synthetic tool to separate people and community based of social, economic and ethnic differences�, says Architect and Urbanist Rahul Mehrotra in the Venice Biennale 2018. However in case of the Precinct, although the development has happened rather organically it has certainly created barriers between socities.

The unplanned development of the Gamtal has resulted in highly unplanned and densely laid living settlements- lacking proper road access and open access, while the rest of the portion seems well planned with luxury apartments and abundant parks and open spaces.

The intriguing part of the study is how these two strikingly different living habitats are functioning unaffected by each other. People living in both the areas have adapted to their surroundings and have learned to utilize the maximum out of it. For reference, the habitants of the village are using local shops, the chabutras, temples or in the shade of the banyan tree for interaction and congregation, as there are no defined spaces for the same.

CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION

Interestingly, these communities share a Symbiotic relation by providing service and employment to each other, which is the foundation of economy growth.