Delhi 2050

Delhi 2050 brings together Indian and Dutch experts in a joint research into long-term urban scenarios for India's capital city. The first results were presented to the Delhi public on 7 and 8 May 2011, with four large scale models. The next stage will be shown at the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam 2012. 
 

To question the fundamental approach toward long-term city planning, a people's project 'DELHi 2050' was initiated by arch i (a Delhi based architecture and research platform) with the support of Dutch Design Fashion Architecture Programme and The Embassy of The Netherlands in India.

The Dutch being positively obsessed to planning, (It is said every square centimetre of land in The Netherlands is atleast planned twice.) contributed in this process to develop possible future scenarios for Delhi in 2050. The Indian expertise came together with the Dutch long-term design approach in this collaborative project.

DELHi 2050 started with a six month exercise undertaken to fundamentally rethink urban futures and start the vital and unparalleled discourse on long term thinking for the capital of the country. An important distinction that set DELHi 2050 apart from its precedents is the high level of engagement with the people of the city, and outside, national and international. Following intensive research, which was interpreted and thrown open for public scrutiny and comment via the web (www.delhi2050.com), citywide public interactive sessions, panel discussions, workshops and lectures were organised, where participants were invited both from India and abroad.

The multidisciplinary process turned out to be a great opportunity to create and present scenarios for long term vision to the people of the city. It was also a platform for all stakeholder from the city to come together and discuss alternatives for the city and at the same time, learn from the mistakes and successes of the west, via the active participation of players who are instrumental in shaping urban Netherlands. The open process of the exercise, offered a lot of scope for debate and discussions.

Phase 1 of Delhi2050 which included the ongoing research and design process to look at alternative long term future scenarios for the multi-polis of Delhi,was concluded at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on 15 May 2011.The information from both the research as well as these interactions was assimilated to make four future scenarios for the city of Delhi, focussing on four different core issues- "Life Street" give the streets and public spaces back to the people, "Urban Harvest" looks at the self-sufficient sustainable Delhi in the future, "Culture Loop", breathes new life into the heart of the city and its heritage and "Hub-itat" considers the possibility of a higher, transit oriented, denser nodes within Delhi.

The four architectural models were opened to a select audience at Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts on 7 May. This was accompanied by a dialogue with various stakeholders from the city and outside, like Ton Venhoeven and Bart Vink from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment in The Netherlands, Rianne Makkink from Makkink-Bey Studio in The Netherlands, Victor Cautereels from Design Academy Eindhoven, Ravi Hazra from IIT Mumbai, Durganand Balsavar from Artes Chennai, Christene De Baan and Meilan Tjoa from DDFA, Ravi Agrawal from Toxic Links, Iftikhar Mulk Chishti from School of Planning and Architecture, Sarandha Jain from CSE, also the author of the book "In search of Yamuna" and Ishan Khosla from Ishan Khosla Studio all joined the discussion.

The models were unveiled to the public at Delhi Haat on 8 May 2011. The display generated curiosity in people of all ages and backgrounds, who listened to the explanations offered by the team and posed enthusiastic questions. The exhibition travelled to various locations across the city during the course of the next 7 days, carried on hand drawn push-carts. The display received overwhelming response from all sections of the society and raised many critical debates in the travels from Indira Gandhi International Centre to KHOJ studios in Khirki village, Delhi Haat, Embassy of the Netherlands in India, Nangli village on the banks of Yamuna to India Habitat Centre where it was on display till 15 May.

DELHi 2050 has recently been selected to be high-lighted at the prestigious architecture event IABR (International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam) in April 2012.