Today the State capital city of Bhubaneswar celebrates its 65th Foundation Day.
It was on April 13, 1948 that first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had laid the foundation-stone of the city. Bhubaneswar, as one of the first planned cities of modern India, was designed on a linear plan by German architect and urban planner Dr Otto H Koenigsberger. More than sixty years since its making, the city remains a celebrated model of modern architecture and city planning.
The original plan envisaged horizontal development rather than vertical growth for a population of 40,000 with administration as the primary function. Accordingly, six units were developed with Unit-V as location of the administrative complex and the other units planned on neighbourhood principles. The town centre consisted of the market building, weekly market, daily market and bus-station with a central vista leading up to Raj Bhavan and a commercial zone along Janpath and Bapuji Nagar up to the railway station. Koenigsberger’s planning zone provided the function of microclimate control and offers salubrious climate throughout the year. This particular area designed by Dr Koenigsberger remains as the best green cover with open space and a well-organised transportation system in the city.
Architect Julius lazras Vaz played an important role in shaping the skyline of Bhubaneswar. He designed most of the government buildings. Vaz adopted the Hindu style of architecture with some modifications to take advantage of modern methods of construction and to meet new social needs of the people. However, Koenigsberger specified a few guiding principles and climatic design features essential for the city building design. According to his guidelines, most government buildings were designed with impressive corridors intended to protect the walls of office rooms from direct sunrays.
Neighbourhood units were designed with the best amenities of urban life, with units placed at short distances to give people easy access to school, hospital and other facilities. In a neighbourhood unit, every child had to live within one-quarter or one-third of a mile from school. Every housewife had to live within half a mile from the civic centre, where she could do her shopping and also visit medical facilities. Home and workplace distance that could be conveniently covered was by using a bicycle or a cycle-rickshaw.
Koenigsberger suggested seven types of roads -- footpaths, parkways, cycle paths, minor housing streets, major housing streets, main roads and main arteries -- for seven groups of users for seven different functions. The overall widths of land earmarked for roads and streets were not determined by traffic alone but also by requirements for storm water drainage services like overhead electric lines, telephone, water and the need of adequate light and air to the adjoining houses. The overall width of land allotted for road purposes was, therefore, dependent on the height of houses on both sides.
An important consideration was space for avenue trees, and necessary provisions were made early in the land allotment scheme and in the estimates. For requirements other than traffic, the allotment of land even for the smallest housing street had been fixed at a minimum of 30 feet. Only about nine feet of these 30 was traffic, the rest for storm water drainage, avenue trees and services and to allow sufficient gap between two rows of houses for a fair share of the cooling breeze to every house.
The guidelines suggested by Koenigsberger have not been followed in the present-day planning. Today, the city faces urbanisation with a high population growth. The overall width of the road in many areas does not have any relation with the height of the building. Avenue trees, storm water drainage, services and footpaths have not been given importance. Redevelopment in the particular area has not followed the Koenigsberger’s design principles. Since the designed area is in the heart of the city and due to the increasing pressure on land, there are demands for re-densification of the residential area by increasing the floor area ratio (FAR).
To meet the changing needs, the city requires more land. Konigsberger had also pointed out in his report to supplement the Master Plan for the New Capital by a regional development plan. He emphasised a good master plan for a new town must provide for unlimited expansion but at the same time organise the town in such a way that it forms an organic and healthy structure at each stage of its development.
Bhubaneswar is currently witnessing several modern buildings and high-rise apartments to accommodate its growing population. Today, the city’s growth is so fast that it is spreading towards Khurda and Jatani. The development activities in the city have led to large-scale deforestation, an increasing volume of traffic, pollution and temperature rise. The city’s expansion and lots of concrete structures are also the reason for microclimatic change over the years. Bhubaneswar recorded 42°C temperature on April 6 this year, which is highest in the State. The same day Titilagarh in Balangir district, the place considered the hottest in Odisha, recorded 40.7°C.
To formulate a meaningful physical development plan, to regulate and guide the urban growth in Bhubaneswar by 2030 in a planned and healthy manner, a Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for Bhubaneswar Development Planned Area (BDPA) was prepared by IIT, Kharagpur in 2006. To manage and organise the planning, development and control functions, development strategies for both new areas and the existing ones have been integrated. As per the CDP, the maximum density in Bhubaneswar would be 50-60 dwelling units (DUs) per acre.
The Bhubaneswar New Town Zone designed by Koenigsberger would have intensive development with administrative function, capital function, institutions, commercial complex, housing of all kinds, urban parkway system, sports complex, art and cultural activities, etc. In this zone, the existing density of 24 DU/acre is assumed to go up to 50 DU/acre. Adequate attention should be paid to transportation network and parking facility while increasing the density in the existing developed area.
A need for high-density living in the 21st century is inevitable. However, planning guidance on the methods of calculating and assessing the sustainable density is the need of the day. In many high density urban areas, greenery such as city parks, traditional streetscape, trees and planters have been reduced.
The urban greenery should be developed in high-density areas for cleaner air and safer environment. The problem worsens when the population continues to grow and the density of the area increases but new green spaces are not being created at an equal pace.
There should be a proper development control in all aspects of planning and design. Care needs to be taken for physical, infrastructure, city transport planning and environmental considerations of the whole region to prevent haphazard growth and squatter settlements. The open spaces, parks, recreational areas, greenbelts and plantation should be properly organised in the region to provide environmental functions such as control of microclimate and pollution and beautification of the region. This would help making the city a comfortable, safe and enjoyable place to live in.
Koenigsberger’s planning principles applied in Bhubaneswar have inspired many architects and planners in India and abroad. Today, the architects and planners from all over the world learn his design principles applied in Bhubaneswar. The central area of Bhubaneswar designed by Koenigsberger is a special urban heritage site of the city with outstanding planning features and has a public value. The buildings designed in this area by architect Vaz are the important landmarks of the city and attract people from all corners of the city to this area. These buildings with special architectural interest along with the site should be listed under consideration of the planning system and protected from alterations by regulatory techniques. To retain its planned character, the area should be declared as urban heritage having groups of buildings, neighbourhoods and public spaces including landscapes and natural features which provide character and distinctive identity to a city.
The listed urban heritage should be emphasised in the CDP and, if understood and managed properly, the urban heritage could effectively contribute to the overall quality of urban areas and serve as a vital asset and attractor for future urban development. This would identify the visual, spatial and cultural character of the city.
Besides, the city’s role as an important centre of administration, tourism, commerce and industry calls for planning environment-friendly and sustainable development which would provide high quality of life and support health and wellbeing of people who live and work in the city.
(Dr Mayarani Praharaj works at the Department of Architecture, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar)