Physical & Social Infrastructure 6.1 Introduction The urban physical and social infrastructure forms the basic ingredient for effective and sustainable functioning of the town. In context of this country, with scarce resources, a vital part of the infrastructure plan is the optimisation of resources required to build and maintain the infrastructure. 6.2 Objectives The overall environment of an urban area is a function of the quality, level and type of infrastructure present in the town. In planning for Gwalior West, an integrated infrastructure plan has been devised with a view to achieve a good and healthy quality of life to its citizens. In case of Gwalior West, infrastructure systems need to respond to the demand based incremental pattern of development. At the same time, adequate allocation of land has to be made to provide for future growth. The objectives of the Environmental plan are as follow : w To design independent infrastructure system that are developed as per the planned phases. w To Adopt Measures for Conservation of Areas in Gwalior West that are Environmentally Sensitive. w To promote efficient use of existing Natural Drainage channels as part of watersheds of storm Water drainage and sewerage systems. w To promote use of low cost environmental technology and or indigenous local system. w To develop effective waste Disposal System which are environmental friendly, resource conserving. w To develop new open space networks as part of natural conserved areas. w To discourage proliferation of informal settlements through positive and preemptive measures urban design housing development, use of negative urban spaces, proactive policy for urban village improvements. w Implement of water harvesting techniques through existing water bodies and other means. w To promote measures that ensure urban aesthetics, and retain the natural character and setting of the township. 6.3 Water Supply Introduction : The entire SADA area is presently served by ground water sources through hand pumps and tubewells available in the villages. Out of 36 villages, all of them have wells, 3 villages are provided with tap water supply and 5 villages have hand pumps. The quality of water during the primary survey conducted was found potable after primary treatment. Gwalior-West proposed as a model township needs to be self sufficient in terms of water supply. In addition to augmenting water supply in existing villages, there is need to design an efficient system which would fulfil the requirements of use intensive sectors such as tourism and industry and the town as a whole. Possible sources for the future water supply in the town have been identified as : w Tighra Reservoir which has sufficient water to sustain an additional population of 1 million persons, after linkages with upstream reservoirs. w Sank river w Suvernarekha river Adequate measures have built into the plan for recharge of ground water aquifers through conservation of drainage channels, reserved forests, water bodies and steep slopes and environmentally sensitive areas. The water supply network is proposed to be developed in a demand-oriented way in accordance with the development of the town. The supply would thus be decentralised and independent for each phase of development. Adequate water treatment plants need to be developed independently in each of the 3 or more phases, after feasibility studies based on growth rates. Water Requirements Water requirements have to be met for a population of 800,000 after Phase III. In the First phase, there would be 2 water use intensive facilities; colleges and tourism. Additionally, there would be residential development comprising mainly plotted development. According to ‘Manual on water supply and treatment’ by the ‘Ministry of Works and Hosing, 1997’, the standards for university and tourism are as follows : 135 Ipcd and 180 per bed respectively. The water requirement in the first phase at the overall town level is 15,000,000 litres per day. In the Second phase the town would require 50,000,000 litres per day. In the Third phase water requirement would be 35,000,000 litres per day. Again the demand in the public semi-public and commercial sectors would be subject to the employment generated, ground coverage. The total overall demand after the phase III is expected to be in the range of 100,000,000. 6.4 Sewerage Percentage of public water supply that will reach the sewer will depend on local conditions such as climate, pattern of water usage etc. with an estimated value of 75%. In order to promote low cost environment technology, it is recommended to use ‘Root Zone Technique’. It is a relatively new technique successfully tried out in a few towns in the country. The concept is based on use of aquatic reeds of the fragimite family to decompose waste. Wastewater is passed into the pit filled with water, gravel and porous material on which the weeds are grown. The roots break down the waste. The treated water can sustain aquatic life and no maintenance is required. The site requires permeable ground which can be close to built form. The scale would be at a neighbourhood level and the area required is estimated to be in the range of 1.5m2/person. This area needs further investigation before implementation. Otherwise, several traditional methods, with improvement are available. Discharge of industrial effluents into public sewers should be permitted only when they conform to IS 3305/1965-Tolerance limits for industrial effluents, discharged into public sewers. Peak flow factor : Ratio of maximum flow rate to average flow rate in the sewer. Population Peak Flow Factor 50,000-7,50,000 2.25 Above 7,50,000 2.00 6.5 Solid Waste Disposal The production of solid waste in an area is a function of the population and activities in the area. 126 tons of solid waste in estimated to be collected from neighbourhood areas alone in Phase I, phase II and III. The quantity of solid waste collected per person per day in Indian urban area has been reported ranging between 300-600 gms. In densely populated Calcutta and Bombay it is 0.5 kg/capita/day while in Delhi which have higher level of per capital income, It is 0.3/kg/capita/day. It is lesser than what is actually generated by the household, the leftover after collection of wastes by rag ickers before waste disposal by the municipality. The per capita generation of solid waste by Indian household can be as high as 0.7 kg. The quantity of the combined city refuse reaching Indian municipal collection system at the present level of development would be not more than 0.4kg/capita/day in areas with a density of population less than 20,000/sq. km. It would be 0.6kg/capita/day for a higher urban denstiy. Fro future planning the annual growth rate of 1% solid waste would be considered as an approximation in the absence of database for the city. Innovative methods for separating bio-degradable waste would be encouraged to minimise the need for sanitary land fills. 6.6 Social Infrastructure : It is true that urbanisation has released force of secularisation and modernisation, which are necessary for rapid economic growth and development. But this rapid urbanisation has also resulted in many issues related to land-use and circulation. Urban growth has to be subjected to urban community development to allow social change and urbanism as a way of life. Community facilities for the new town are grouped in five categories : Education Health Care Commercial Recreation and Miscellaneous which includes milk booth, post office, market etc. 6.7 Provision of Facilities The social infrastructure having to serve the resident population directly is proposed to be developed incrementally, based on demand for residential development in Gwalior West. The provision of these amenities considers the regional bearings as well. e.g. in case of educational facilities at the apex level, the university is planned to cater to the north Indian population owing to a regional demand from the area. The following table gives the number of facilities required at the neighbourhood and overall town level at different phases of development. S.No. Facility Per Unit Phase I Phase II Phase III 1. Education No. in N.H. Total Total Total Nursery School 2 42 33 66 Primary School 1 28 22 44 Sr. Sec. School 14 11 22 2. Health Dispensary 14 11 22 Nursing Home 28 22 44 Poly clinic 14 11 22 Hospital 2 2 3 3. Commercial Local shopping 1 28 22 44 Convenient 14 11 22 Sector Level 2 2 3 District Centre 1 1 4. Recreation Neighbourhood park 1 28 22 44 Playground/Play field 14 11 22 City park 1 1 District Sports 1 5. Misc. Police post 14 11 22 Police Station 2 2 3 Telephone Exchange 1 1 Sub-post office 2 2 3 Post-office 1 1 ESS 11 KV 28 22 44 ESS 66 KV 2 2 3 ESS 220 KV 1 1 Gremation Ground 1 Bus Terminus, Depot 1 1 Petrol Pump 2 2 3 LPG Godowns 2 2 3 Local Wholesale 1 Divisional Sports Centre 1 District Jail 1 6.8 Spatial Location Of the nodes identified in the town, recreation Areas/University, CBD, industry, the first two come under community facilities. The university is placed at the Southwest area of town covering an area of 741 Hactares. It is accessible by the main arterial linkage of the town. At the same time, proximity to the Tighra reservoir and the forests creates a pleasing environment. The commercial node and the public/semi-public offices (131 ha) are placed at the heart of the city accessible from all directions through arterial roads. The spatial location of the public/semi-public facilities and commercial node is based on the concept of shifting along the arterial road from Gwalior to Gwalior west. Open Spaces The landuse distribution for the SADA area is characterised by a high proportion of forest land. These areas and other natural drainage and recharge areas, a identified in the suitability analysis, form an integral part of the overall physical structure of the proposed township. The proposal for open spaces in Gwalior West integrates the pockets of forest land and natural water bodies, through a series of green strips of land reserved for conservation or other compatible uses. The interconnecting green also provide links between existing village settlements in form of rural corridors of movement thus seeking to conserve the existing fabric. Recreational open spaces within the proposed urban uses, especially residential areas are proposed to be interlinked through a series of parks, totlots and other recreational activities and also complement the proposed road network for Gwalior West. 6.9 Social Infrastructure at Neighbourhood Level : Case Example The neighbourhood, chosen for demonstration, is one of those, which may be developed in the beginning of the new town formation. Being close to the university area and adjacent to the existing Tighra road, this whole belt of residential area continues till the city centre. The context of the neighbourhood is established by its proximity to important city level linkages (like, the existing Tighra Road and the proposed road networks, connecting farm-lands and university area with the new town; the semi-circular feeder road as intra-city linkage between the neighbourhoods and the city centre; and the inter-city by - pass). Existence of large conserved forest land; the nullahs flowing through the neighbourhood, conserved as water re charge areas, the land form of the terrain; impart a diversified range of ecological parameters of the site. The neighbourhood, therefore, in its layout and built-form has to take congnizance of these variable aspects of be respond to the task ahead for new growth of residential sectors in the Gwalior west. 6.10 Design Interpretations The basic structuring of the neighbourhood considers following aspects : w response to the edges, w disposition of function, w organisation of open spaces, w formation of social fabric, The resultant imageability of the built environment, therefore, emerges out of these design interpretations. Response to the edges : The urban form primarily responds of the edge conditions of the neighbourhood. The forest edge : Softer semi-public uses, like schools, plant nursery etc., are placed here that offer larger open spaces along this edge. One of the educational institutions, being at the junction of two roads, lends legibility to the neighbourhood, and would work as a starting or ending point of the neighbourhood. Also high-income group plots (20×30m2) are placed as fillers between the semi-public uses, which acknowledges the economic potential of this edge. The semi-circular feeder road, running between the neighbourhood and the forest area, can eventually become a quiet residential road with big bungalows overlooking the forest. The mix of school and longer plots, however, will lead to more open spaces (both public and private), and larger building bulks, punctuating the continuous street-side planting (which will extend into the front set-backs of plots and schools); whereas the other side of the road remains as thickly vegetated forest. The university road edge : This road is expected to come up as an important bus-route, which will connect university area, farm-land etc. with the circular feeder road, thereby linking there areas with the city-centre. A residential edge is created here by placing larger plots, and is conceived as an extension of the residential areas on the forest edge. Beyond this immediate edge of HIG plots, EWS/LIG area is proposed behind (similar situation happens beyond the forest edge also), thereby giving them an easy access to the public transport. The water edge : A strip of open land is kept along this edge as Master green in between the water channel and the road. This open land, designated to be used only for agricultural purpose, is a part of adjoining large agricultural belt around the existing village, and will form a much-needed agricultural base for the village community. Along the water edge, open spaces are created in the form of tot-lots, community green, play field, school ground etc. The built fabric, here, offers a more permeable edge to allow open spaces to flow in as extensions of larger greens. Pedestrian/cyclist’s movement network is also envisaged along the edge, which connects residential areas with schools and open spaces. The highway edge : It is an impermeable edge, along which middle income residential area is located with a green buffer in between. The neighbourhood edge/community edge : This edge is bounded by the road, connecting feeder road and the mixed-use spire/inter-sectoral road. There is no clear-cut, defined edge here, and that helps to initiate wider participation between the neighbourhoods. Mix of uses, along with a district park are recommended on this edge to give a range of possibilities for inter-neighbourhood activities and interactions, that can infuse a sense of community life. With the variety of public facilities with different edge condition, not only the scope for socialisation is offered, but also the city is realistically regarded in variable domains, that lie outside physical bounds of the neighbourhood. Disposition of functions This neighbourhood is conceived as re-affirmation of the concept of the main street as ‘forum’, which encourages social and community interactions. The functional disposition within the neighbourhood is organised along the main spine, which is the proposed para-transit movement corridor for rickshaw, auto etc. This street as a continuous entity links up all the adjoining neighbourhoods, and in turn, will provide for a parallel movement system to connect these neighbourhoods with the city centre. Various mixes of use are proposed along this street, which has its connections with city level movement corridors at selected points. Public/semi-public uses are placed at these points of highlight the interface between the city and the neighbourhood. This spine works as a collector of various activities (e.g. commerce on the ground floor of residential units, mix of shops and offices, institutional and recreational uses etc.), where the residents get a scope to interact with the larger city, there by imparting liveliness to the place reminiscent of the older fabric of the Gwalior city. A consolidated core of activities with public and semi-public functions is provided here, from which the mixed uses start spreading linearly along the street towards the either side of the core, and finally make a contiguous mixed use spine, connecting similar activity cores of the adjoining neighbourhoods. Around this central spine, the residential clusters are arranged. The interfaces between the residential cluster and the central spine are highlighted by putting activities, like temples, schools, convenient shops etc., which, being the part of the neighbourhood level activities, are also to be used by the residents from that particular cluster, thereby forming nodes of activities, catering simultaneously to the neighborhood and the clusters as well. Organisation of open spaces : Open space structure, here, is based on the notion of territoriality. Both vehicular and destrian linkages are laid across each other in a hierarchical order that constitutes overlapping in the neighbourhood. Within this hierachy of linkages, some of them establish the required order and clarity and therefore, remain recognisable. At the same time, they offer space for more intricate fabric, formed by the activity pattern of the users in course of their daily life. Thus the network comes into being to offer freedom for the inhabitants to have choices to use spaces according to social, cultural and climatic considerations. Urban Fabric (HIG Area) “WADA Typology” Under this theoretical framework, open spaces are organised as typological interpretations that contribute positively to the legibility of the fabric. The HIG and MIG. Plots are largely arranged around tot-lots-the smallest unit of open space. This arrangement of the fabric, as a whole, takes the clue from the traditional bada typology, where the dwelling units are arranged around a large courtyard. These smaller open spaces in the form of tot-lots are also linked with pedestrian streets to form the network. In LIG/EWS areas, on the other hand, street has been considered as the most important typological ingredient for the liveliness of a housing area, there by having a direct reference with the residential areas in the older part of the Gwalior city. Within this street typology, open spaces are carved out of the built fabric, by extending the larger greens (which, mostly, are the part of conserved open spaces and vegetation) into it. These open spaces within the residential area form the community spaces at the cluster level, and are connected through narrow and shadowy streets, winding between dwelling blocks. Public facilities like shops, schools, temples etc.) are placed as punctuations along these pedestrian streets, which encourage the movement during the day-to-day life of the users. Formation of social fabric : Over the years, the growth of the cities started with palaces and ended with slums. In other word, depending upon the economic potential, man finds his place that much nearer, or that much further in the larger city context. Various economic groups, therefore, have found places in different pockets of the city in isolated manner. The interdependency of one social group on the other, their interaction in day-to-day activities, is completely ignored in the modern planning. This form of social organisation of spaces within the city has eventually resulted in unauthorised colonies informed housing sectors etc. This fundamental organisation of spaces at the every scale-level of the city demands introspection at this juncture. The social organisation of spaces in the Gwalior west, therefore, emerges as a counterpoint to the established concepts at every scale-level, right from the city to the neighbourhood level. Here, neighbourhoods are considered as the representation of the various cross-sections of the society, which co-exist in a way that is mutually responsive and interactive. Neighbourhoods are thus, conceived as ‘cells’, which, put together, form the city. Now the question comes? How these neighbourhoods (cells) will be identifiable with distinctive images? Here, the context of the neighbourhood comes in the form to provide a specific base for the urban design guidelines, which responds to edge conditions and at the same time, assimilate the ecological conditions of the site itself. Social structure within the neighbourhood is strongly based on the accessibility to city linkages, to functions, to open spaces. LIG/EWS residential areas are placed close to the city level linkages, which helps these people to avail public transport within the walking distance. The MIG areas are located around the para-transit network that assumes that private ownership of vehide will be less in these areas. Therefore, the para-transit network will have the possibility to form a parallel semi-public transport system to supplement to or to work with the existing public transport system. Whereas, HIG areas are mostly inside the neighbourhood, which enjoy open spaces in and around these areas, people from LIG/EWS areas will tend to come and use these spaces. This will help to make these open spaces more interactive and utilised, as against the under-utilised open spaces/parks in the higher income neighbourhoods in most of the planned cities.