April 13 is the Foundation Day of Bhubaneswar. It was on this day in 1948 that India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had laid the foundation stone for the new capital city of Odisha. The city was bordered by forests until 1947 when it was chosen as the site for new capital. The new capital constructed on a green field site.
The Master Plan of Bhubaneswar was prepared by the internationally acclaimed urban planner, Otto H Koenigsberger in 1948 for a population of 40,000 over an area of 16.48 sqkm with a density of 10 to 12 families per acre.
The initial planning was done on neighbourhood planning concept. In each neighbourhood, rows of Government quarters were built. Large Government buildings and a market place were designed at the town center. Koenigsberger’s visualisation was of a horizontal plan in consideration with budget and the general characteristics of the living style of the people.
Each residential neighbourhood is planned around an educational and recreational centre with open spaces for community functions.
Local shopping area for every two sets of neighbourhoods is grouped together with the intention of improving business prospects. The town centre consisted of the market building, weekly market, and daily market.
Koenigsberger’s overall design for Bhubaneswar was based on the simple device of one main traffic artery to which the neighbourhood units were attached. Initially emphasis was given to meet housing requirements of Ministers and gazetted officers, ministerial and nongazetted staffs and class IV employees.
Six units were designed namely Unit – I( Bapuji Nagar). II (Ashok Nagar), III (Kharavela Nagar), IV(Bhauma Nagar), V(Keshari Nagar), and VI(Ganga Nagar). Public utilities like market, hospital were distributed in each unit.
Unit-1 is the first of the six units, which caters to the daily market, first public bank and police station along with different types of quarters for the Government employees. Unit V was earmarked for administrative functions. Other units were planned as residential neighbourhoods.
The city has now undergone various transformations. Bhubaneswar was a small sacred town in 1921 with population of 8,110 persons only. Later on the city became a class IV town and retained the same status until 1951.
In 1951 the population increased to 16,512. The population further increased to 38,211 in 1961, 1,05,491 in 1971 and 2,19, 211 in 1981. In 1991 population was 4, 11,542. Bhubaneswar got the NAC status in 1952. It became a Class III town in the next Census of 1961 and a Class I city with municipality status in 1971, depending on its population strength and other urban characteristics.
The city was declared a Municipal Corporation in the year 1994 and according to the 2001 census it accommodated 6,48,032 people in the city. As per the 2011 census, the population of Bhubaneswar is 837,737 and covers an area of 135 sqkm. The decadal growth rate of the city is 30.2 per cent indicating that Bhubaneswar is growing very fast. The Temple City, Bhubaneswar is part of the tentative list to qualify for inclusion in the World Heritage List. The city declared as the smart city proposal in 2015.
Now-a-days there are loss of green cover due to different development activities. On the other hand the density of population has increased in different neighbourhoods.
In the present situation children find it difficult to go to school and women find it difficult to move around the city. A climate change effect has been observed during hot summers. There are pollution problems due to increase of vehicles on the road.
A report by the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) revealed that pollutants in the ambient air were found to be far above the permissible limit at all the six pollution monitoring stations in the city. However, the pollution level during the Covid 19 lockdown fell drastically in Bhubaneswar.
The air quality in Bhubaneswar improved significantly and got better with a 60% drop in particulate matter (PM) within a week during the lockdown period. This was due to the less number of vehicles on the road. However, the negative side is that corona virus affected the life style of all the people in the city.
When lockdown restrictions for Covid -19 were lifted, people gathered in different public spaces. Narrow streets, few green open spaces, crowded commercial places and apartment buildings with common staircase and lift make it difficult to maintain proper social distancing. As per the WHO guidelines, the quarantine, social distancing and isolation are essential to reduce the spread of the disease.
There is a need to keep people safe and healthy in the temple city. The built environment can play a significant role in creating a healthy environment during pandemic situation. The buildings in different neighbourhoods, transportation facility, and open spaces including parks and playgrounds significantly affect the life of individuals.
We have learned some lessons during lockdown which gives an opportunity to plan the city for better future. The pandemic underlines the need for our cities to incorporate smart technologies for real-time data monitoring about the status of corona virus cases in different wards. This can help to prepare containment plan with proper medical facilities for early recovery of the patients and create awareness to take precautionary measures.
It is time to rethink the concepts of self-sufficient-neighbourhood planning applied in Bhubaneswar by Otto Koenigsberger. Neighbourhood unit planning offers many advantages. It is part of the development plan which provides the opportunity to develop each unit as per the present as well as future need.
It can provide parks, gardens and playground for recreation and leisure activity considering the number of population. The people of the neighbourhoods need not go to big market complexes and big shopping malls which are located at several kilometers from each neighbourhoods. It is a good opportunity to give priority to pedestrians and cyclists to move in their own neighbourhood. This way residents travel short distances for their daily need. It will reduce the transportation cost and protect the area from air pollution. It is necessary to think about the urban development which will create a healthy environment for future.
In the pandemic situation people should change their behaviour and they should avoid large gathering in market complexes and big malls. Rather, they should avail the facilities provided in each neighbourhoods and prevent overcrowding.
There is a need to provide green spaces between the neighbourhoods. The open spaces, parks, recreational areas and plantation should be properly organised in each neighborhood to provide environmental functions such as control of microclimate and environmental pollution. Besides, it is desirable to provide healthcare facility to all residents. This will create a healthy environment during pandemic situation and also for the future.
(Dr Praharaj teaches in Department of Architecture, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar)