ROLE OF URBAN VILLAGES IN THE CITY OF DELHI

(Transformation of a village to form an Urban Village)

Suhani Gupta
4th Year - A

AIM

To explore the role of Urban Villages in the city of Delhi.

Also includes the transformation of a village to form an Urban village.
To evolve new urban villages around historical monuments & define a character to the place.

INTRODUCTION

Urban Villages are traditional rural settlements which have been changed and merged with urban areas or
villages which have been incorporated over time into the urban limits of the present city of Delhi.
They are a basic feature of the present complex urban structure and include within their limits a large proportion
of the heritage resources associated with the many earlier cities of Delhi, encompassing both vernacular
residential and community structures, as well as religious buildings and historic monuments.

All the settlements were initially rural. However, most of them have been converted into urban due to
interaction of different forces of agglomeration, urbanization, industrialization and migration
These urban villages form very distinctive spatial and social spaces as they are spatially enclosed by formally
planned and developed urban built-up areas which are designed for urban functions and lifestyles.

One of the ways by which an urban village plays an important role in the city is by starting commercial or
industrial establishments to cater to the surrounding areas. Commercial activities in an urban village is a
widespread phenomenon and most evident.
-Revitalize village economy and makes these settlements viable in the city.

Urban villages have the potential for contributing a great deal towards not only housing stock but
employment opportunities as well.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Most of the citys urban villages are shantytowns, inhabited by the people of low-income groups. Some
continue to exist with a mere identity associated with their street names. A few of the urban villages have
captured the cosmopolitan flavor of the city through evolution of culture and fashion.
It is the monuments that define the beauty and dominate the persona of Delhi.

The villages connect Delhi to its distant and near pasts, and provide refuge to many Delhizens that
gentrified Delhi cold-shoulders, single women and Northeasterners, for instance. And now we begin to see
the transformation of some of these villages into cosmopolitan hubs, with an interesting cultural mix, or
even (as in the case of Shahpur Jat or Hauz Khas Village) into posh commercial areas.

POSSIBLE OUTCOME
With the help of this study, we would be able to identify the common trend in these changes of the village
in respect to the structural modifications, space uses and construction methods.
Also, we can make strategies to develop remote villages/ rural villages near the historic monuments and
transform them into urban villages.
ROLE OF URBAN VILLAGES IN A
CITY

Suhani Gupta
4th Year A
Roll No 6
INTRODUCTION
Urban Villages are traditional rural settlements which have been changed and
merged with urban areas or villages which have been incorporated over time into
the urban limits of the present city of Delhi. They are a basic feature of the present
complex urban structure and include within their limits a large proportion of the
heritage resources associated with the many earlier cities of Delhi, encompassing
both vernacular residential and community structures, as well as religious buildings
and historic monuments.

All the settlements were initially rural. However, most of them have been converted
into urban due to interaction of different forces of agglomeration, urbanization,
industrialization and migration. These urban villages form very distinctive spatial and
social spaces as they are spatially enclosed by formally planned and developed
urban built-up areas which are designed for urban functions and lifestyles.

URBAN VILLAGES OF DELHI

An urban village is an urban planning and design concept at work within the urban
limits. It refers to a well planned space in an urban area which has certain
characteristics of a village, with typical features like mixed-use zoning, which is the
practice of allowing more than one type of use in a building or set of buildings, good
public transit and urban design, particularly pedestrianization and public space, with
medium density development, which refers to land development that is zoned to
allow for a higher population density. This concept seeks to reduce car reliance and
promotes walking, cycling, transit use, and provides space for people to live, work
and recreate in the same area.

Urban villages in Delhi are as undefined, peculiar and diverse as other facets of the
country. The lal dora lands are today the urban villages in Delhi. Lal dora (red thread
in English) was the term used for that part of the village land which was segregated
from the agricultural land for habitational use. The name caught on because of the
practice of tying a red thread to mark the area of habitation. This marking also
signified the land as protected land, and was given immunity from the jurisdiction of
the municipal authorities and urban development plans, as an act of preserving
space for habitation.

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The Delhi urban villages have some of these salient features, especially mixed-use
zoning. What has become more apparent, though, is how each urban village here also
differs from the other.
EXAMPLE: Hauz Khas village is a gentrified, yuppified hang-out space for tourists.
Munirka, on the other hand, seems to cater more to the lower middle class of the urban
population, with small-scale businesses tucked in every corner of the village, and its
residents ranging from migrant labourers to students from all parts of India.

BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW

HERITAGE AS A RESOURCE FOR DEVELOPMENT
Delhi exists as capital site of India, a historic power centre. According to the urban
sociologists and historians (Mumford, 1966) all cities are living entities, which go
through a life-cycle as the birth, growth, consolidation, expansion, decline, and quite
often some kind of end, or state of decay, unless they are turned-around and
revived by combined human efforts.

Unfortunately modern planning in India has never considered the city as a cultural
artifact. Neither has it come to term with the rapid rate of transformation and change
that is occurring within our historic areas. It is a wide and complex subject but essential
in the management of historic areas. An understanding of transformation and change is
essential to conservation because it has to be integrated into the planning and
conservation process.

The greatest challenge in places with rich heritage is balancing the conflicting pressure
of conservation of heritage elements with sustainability and local economic
development. Due to fast urban sprawls and land use change, most of the cultural
heritage sites are almost endangered by such changes in Delhi. The land environment is
under stress due to the fast pace of urbanization. These spaces create spatial-social
constructs that represent, invert or challenge real arrangements with their surroundings.
Sustainable urban development, therefore, is the most important concern to the current
urban environmental crisis.

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REFERENCES
https://www.eda.admin.ch/content/dam/countries/countries--
content/india/en/Heritage%20Published%20Emb.pdf
http://www.academia.edu/19973029/significance_of_monuments_in_delhi
http://www.moef.nic.in/sites/default/files/nlcp/P%20-%20World%20Case%20Studies/P-
21.pdf
http://cpwd.gov.in/Publication/ConservationHertBuildings.pdf
http://www.academia.edu/19973029/significance_of_monuments_in_delhi
https://fotonix.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/delhi-urban-village-reality-or-gem-of-a-
sham/

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AIM : ROLE OF URBAN VILLAGES IN THE CITY

OBJECTIVES:
To study the factors in the development of an Urban Village.
To bring out the significance of monuments in the vicinity of an Urban village.
Importance/Function of urban villages in the city

HYPOTHESIS:
Evolved Urban Villages plays an important role in image building of a City.

CONTENTS OF THE DISSERTATION

Chapter 1: What is urbanism?

Philosophy of Urbanism
Impact of Urbanism on a city

Chapter 2: Urban villages

Urban Rural Integration
Transformation/ Modification From the city of villages to the metropolitan city
Development of small towns
Historic urban villages social and physical characteristics
Lal Dora/ Pre Urban Villages

Chapter 3: Heritage/ Urban Renewal

Importance of Monuments
Upliftment of heritage
Vicinity- Firoz Shah Tughlaqs Tomb & Madrassa
Prohibition for construction of structures by ASI

Chapter 4: Urban Village Case study- Hauz khas village

Transformation from an idyllic village in the heart of Delhi.(1987)
Impact on Villagers before the development (Artists & designers made their home)
Changes took place
Concept of Hauz khas
Decade study
Before 1990:
Pre urban village
1990 2000:
Development and changes took place
2000 2010:
Early 2000s was dead, Name changed on request, Tourist market, Landlord & Tenant
Relationship, Peaceful space.
2010 2016
Sub culture, Real Estate Bubble, Commercialization, cultural adjustments, Gentrification

Core Of the Village : Activities and people

Outer margins of the village : Activities and people

Chapter 5: Comparison of other not so developed village (Mehraulli Village) - OPTIONAL

Study the missing character of the place as compared to Hauz khas village

Chapter 6: Role of Urban villages in Urban Development of India

Future of Urban Villages
Conclusion