SUSTAINABLE URBAN DESIGN IN A DEVELOPING CITY

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF CALICUT, INDIA

By

Vivek Puthan Purayil

HT086002X

Bachelor of Architecture

National Institute of Technology, Calicut, 2004

Essay submitted as the part of

UD5628: Sustainable Urban Design

MASTER OF ARTS (URBAN DESIGN)

At the

National University of Singapore, Singapore

April 2009

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

: To my loving wife who has been the soul and life behind all my efforts

: To my professors who have taught me a lot more beyond these subjects

: To my family and friends who are always my strength and happiness

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 SUSTAINABLE URBAN DESIGN IN A DEVELOPING CITY

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS BASED ON CALICUT, INDIA

By

Vivek Puthan Purayil

HT086002X

Essay submitted as the part of

UD5628: Sustainable urban design
MASTER OF ARTS (URBAN DESIGN)
At the
National University of Singapore, Singapore
April 2009

Abstract:

This study aims at identifying the key parameters of sustainable urban design in

the perspective of a developing city. The first part of the study introduces the

term sustainability and urban design to understand the word sustainable urban

design in a very broad level. It also discusses the complex situation of a

developing city which has to balance the rapid urban growth and long term

sustainability and introduce the case study considered for the study, the city of

Calicut in South India.

The second part of the study looks into various concepts of sustainability and

sustainable urban design, as discussed by various experts and in various

international conferences.

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The third part of the study identifies the key parameters of sustainable urban

design that are important in the case of a developing city and describes the

authors understanding of sustainability. These parameters are discussed based

on the case study emphasizing on the present status and various potentials

and limitations.

The fourth part of the study identifies the key areas of sustainable design in

Calicut city and discusses the relative importance of the parameters of

sustainable design with focus on Calicut and its various limitations and

potentials. The study concludes by evaluating the complexity of co-existence of

rapid urban growth and various parameters of sustainability.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Number of Words: 5263

1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………..…8

1.1 Sustainable urban design – an introduction

1.1.1 Sustainability – key parameters

1.1.2 Urban design – key parameters

1.2 Developing cities– a complex scenario

1.3 Calicut – a developing city

1.4 Objectives and Scopes

1.5 Research Methodology

2. Literature review…………………………………………………………………14

2.1 Various concepts of sustainable development

2.2 Parameters of sustainable urban design

3. Formulation of an independent understanding……………………………20

3.1 sustainability in urban design

3.2 sustainable parameters in a developing city

3.3 Sustainable urban design – an independent perspective

4. Case study analysis and evaluation…………………………………………27

4.1 Details of case study

4.1.1 Calicut, Kerala, India

4.2 Analysis of the case study and findings

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 4.2.1 Ecology

4.2.1.1 Necessity

4.2.1.2 Potentials

4.2.1.3 Conflicts

4.2.1.4 Limitations

4.2.2 Economy and development

4.2.2.1 Necessity

4.2.2.2 Potentials

4.2.2.3 Conflicts

4.2.2.4 limitations

4.2.3 Equity

4.2.3.1 Necessity

4.2.3.2 Potentials

4.2.3.3 Conflicts

4.2.3.4 Limitations

5. Sustainable initiatives in Calicut………………………………………………39

5.1 Canoly canal development scheme

5.2 Sarovaram Bio-park

6. Conclusions………………………………….……………………………………43

7. Bibliography………………………………………………………………………45

7.1 Books and References

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 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig: 01- Map – Location of Calicut…………………………………………………12

Fig: 02- Three poles of sustainable development………………………..………14
Fig: 03- Three poles of sustainable development…………………………..……15
Fig: 04- Calicut – Physical structure…………………………………….…………28
Fig: 05- Calicut – Green spaces……………………………………………………30
Fig: 06- Calicut – public spaces……………………………………………….……33
Fig: 07- Kudumbashree – a social initiative………………………………….……35
Fig: 08- Community waste disposal initiatives……………………………….……36
Fig: 09- A resort in Calicut………………………………………………………..…38
Fig: 10- Canoly canal…………………………………………………………………39
Fig: 11- Canoly canal…………………………………………………………………39
Fig: 12- Map showing critical nodes along Canoly canal…………………………40
Fig: 13- Sarovaram Bio park – Ariel perspective………………………………….42

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Sustainable urban design – an introduction

The word “Sustainable design “has been used everywhere ranging from

environmental applications and building technology to transportation and social

factors. In urban design sustainability is a holistic mix of all these various aspects,

where each of these aspects are mutually interrelated and contribute on its own to

the sustainability of the entire area or district .

1.1.1 Sustainability – key factors

Sustainability, in a broad sense is the ability to maintain a certain process or

state1. Sustainability has become a complex term that can be applied to almost

every facet of life on Earth, particularly the many different levels of biological

organization, such as wetlands, prairies and forests and is expressed in human

organization concepts, such as eco-municipalities, sustainable cities, and human

activities and disciplines, such as sustainable agriculture, sustainable

architecture and renewable energy.

Sustainable development is said to be the development that consider social and

economic factors as well the environment in an integrated and a holistic way.

Sustainable development is essentially said to be a concept of resource

1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability

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conservation and development. The important resources affected most by urban

design and development are land, particularly green areas, ecological systems

and bio-diversity, air, water, physical infrastructure, the built environment, human

health and well-being, social relations (‘social capital’) and cultural heritage.

‘Sustainability’ is mainly concerned with environmental issues and the long term

husbandry of natural resources, while ‘development’ has focused on balancing

longer term economic growth with achieving social equity in ‘meeting needs’

through the equitable distribution of economic and social goods and, in particular,

in overcoming poverty. Compared to indicators of economic and social aspects,

environmental and sustainable development indicators are a relatively new

phenomenon. The Rio Conference on Environment and Development in 1992,

and other similar environmental milestone activities and happenings, recognized

the need for better and more knowledge and information about environmental

conditions, trends, and impacts.

1.1.2 Urban design – key factors

Urban design is defined as, first, the physical design and planning of the built

environment (physical infrastructure, building complexes, spaces and urban

areas) in relation to the natural environment in and around built-up areas and,

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second, the production of concepts and models that serve the purpose of guiding

the sustainable development of settlements. 2

The challenge for urban design is to respond to the emerging patterns of urban

growth, migration and environmental depletion in a proactive way that overcomes

negative effects such as excessive car-based mobility and urban sprawl.

Growing prosperity and wealth and increasing demands for an improved quality

of life are reflected in the increasing consumption of land and space, demand for

privacy and better living conditions and access to green space. Urban design can

help provide the physical framework for overcoming differences and segregating

processes, as well accommodating the need for a variety of expressions of

cultural and ethnic identity.

The overall aim of sustainable urban development is to achieve a healthy and

high quality of life for all people and subsequent generations, with equitable and

geographically balanced and socially cohesive economic development, which

reduces the impact on the global and local environments.

1.2 Developing city – a complex scenario

Developing countries are facing unprecedented challenges towards sustainable

societies in the sense that they have to balance economic growth and

2
Urban Design for Sustainability, Final Report of the Working Group, European union

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environmental consideration even though they are not major contributors to

environmental loads. Different from the situations at early development stage of

developed countries, developing countries have to pay more and more attentions

to such accessibility space in order to realize the same level of economic growth.

Urbanization is one of the most powerful forces influencing global sustainability. It

is dominated by three factors: population growth, rural-urban migration and

subsequent urban expansion. Perhaps nowhere are these factors more dominant

than in developing countries and this point to a challenging scenario of having to

look into these widely contradicting phenomenons with equal importance.

1.3 Calicut – a developing city

Calicut (Kozhikode) is a city in the state of Kerala, southern most tip of India.

Calicut is a coastal city with an urban population of 0.8 million with a decadal

growth of 9.67 % and an urban population density of 1000 p/sq.km, while state

avg.urban population density is 700 p/sq.km. The temperature within city limits

varies between 23 oC – 36 0 C.

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 Fig:01 Location of Calicut city

Calicut is the erstwhile capital of powerful Zamorins and is a historical town with

a hoary past. The charming physical features and prosperity of the town attracted

travelers from all over the world. Being a major trade centre with abundant supply

of spices Calicut turned out to be a very important economic base for British in

south India. The development of Calicut in the post independence period (1947-

2009) is considered as stagnant with respect to its glorious past. At present

Calicut is a prominent city in the southern peninsula of India with a high potential

of growth and development.

1.4 Objectives and Scopes

This study aims at understanding and evaluating various sustainable urban

development potentials in a developing city with focus on city of Calicut, India.

The scope of the study is limited to the parameters of sustainable development

that are found to be important in the case of Calicut and similar type of cities.

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 1.5 Research Methodology

The study starts with a set of research questions aiming at redefining sustainable

urban design to the context of Calicut based on the understanding of the author.

• What does “sustainable urban design “mean in different contexts?

• What are the different perspectives of sustainable urban design in

developing and developed cities ?

• sustainable development – formal and informal dimensions in a

developing city

• sustainable development – local and global perspectives

• sustainable development in developing cities – a time-space phenomenon

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2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Various concepts of sustainable development

The key aspects of Economy, Environment and Society are considered as the

three pillars of sustainable development. This view was predominant at the Earth

Summit or UN conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in

1992. One of the main outcomes of Rio was Agenda 21, intended to provide a

basis for achieving sustainable development in the 21st century. The tendency

has been to view ‘sustainable development’ as a unitary concept that

incorporates environmental, social and economic components. Other

‘dimensions’ of sustainability are also discussed by various experts such as

‘institutional’, ‘cultural’ or ‘physical’.

Fig:02 The three pole concept of sustainable development

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The ‘three-pole’ concept of sustainable development is the one that underlies the

Habitat Agenda – the outcome of the Habitat II Conference or ‘Cities Summit’ in

Istanbul in 1996.

Fig:03 The three pole concept of sustainable development: a different outlook

Sustainable development and urban design are indeed closely linked (C.

Mougthin, 2005). Some current concerns in urban design, such as the form of

urban space (gestalt), vitality and identity of urban areas, quality of urbanity,

respect for tradition and the preferences for developments of human scale, can

all be encompassed within the scheme of sustainable development.3

In order to have a deeper understanding on sustainability, it is worthwhile to refer

the general definition, theoretical framework, of sustainable development, which

is taken from the Burndlandt Report “Sustainable Development is development

3
A study on city of Bandung

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that needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and

Development, 1987).

Firstly, in course of the term of development, according to Blowers (1993), it

should not be confused with growth. Growth is a physical or quantitative

expansion of the economic system, while development is a qualitative concept. It

is concerned with cultural, social and economic progress. Secondly, the term

needs introduces the ideas of distribution of resources: “meeting the basic needs

of all and extending to all the opportunity to satisfy their aspirations for better life”

(World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). There is one

argument concerning the term needs, meeting needs is therefore political, moral

and ethical issue, since the meaning of needs for everyone will not the same.

Other important principles of sustainable development are offered by Elkin (1991)

as follows: futurity, environment, equity and participation. The first principle

futurity is seen as maintaining a minimum of environmental capital including the

planet’s foremost environmental support systems, together with the conservation

of more conventional renewable resources. In terms of Brundlandt’s

requirements, this means that human activity should allow for its effect that may

have on the ability of future generations to meet their needs and aspirations. The

second principle environment is based on the argument that sustainability

constraints are difficult to define with any precision. It is possible, however, to

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identify the direction of changes in consumption patterns that are necessary to

avoid breaching environmental threshold. By applying this principle, it should be

possible to outline the type of development that is more sustainable. The last two

principles equity and participation support the first two main principles of

sustainable development. At a time where increasing issues of democratization

in planning process participation has nowadays become a common feature of

development procedures, with groups of ‘stakeholder’ involved in consultations.

The environmental or ecological dimensions to urban and regional design

emerged steadily through the 1980s. In the following years the proliferation of

writing on concepts of sustainable development has shifted the urban design

agenda towards broader environmental concerns. Of greatest significance in

sustainability terms were the problems of depletion of scarce natural resources,

escalating pollution and the destruction of biodiversity. Thus, urban design will

play a role as a tool in designing our environment.

2.2 Parameters of sustainable urban design

According to J. Punter/M. Carmona, (1997, pp. 79-81) recent research has

focused sustainability concerns upon the environmental stock in terms of three

main aspects.

• Global ecology

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 o air quality, climate, biodiversity, water, land, mineral and energy

resources

• Regional resources

o Air, Water, land, mineral and energy resources

• The human environment

o Buildings, infrastructure, open space, aesthetic, cultural and built

heritage.

Sustainable urban design is also described as the sustainability in the physical

aspects of an urban environment (Randall Thomas, Max Fordham, 2003). The

physical aspects in this description are listed as

• The buildings and their engineering systems

• Green and open spaces

• Transport systems

• Energy

• Water and waste systems

In the report submitted by the working group for studying urban design for

sustainability in European union it is suggested that urban design for sustainable

development should address the following objectives

• The protection of the natural environment and conservation of natural

resources at the local and regional scale;

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• The reduction of the impact on the natural environment at the global scale

and in the longer term: reducing ecological footprints and achieving

balanced production and consumption systems;

• Promoting balanced and appropriate economic development whilst

reducing social inequalities and improving social integration and cohesion;

it is particularly critical to address directly the social issues and rapid

changes arising out of mass immigration from low income countries.

• Advancing the quality of life in relation to the above

• Promoting the long term health of the citizens, including addressing the

relationship between social and psychological well-being and the

possibility of experiencing elements of nature locally (particularly important

for children).

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3 FORMULATION OF AN INDEPENDENT UNDERSTANDING

3.1 Sustainability in urban design

Sustainable development focuses on the qualitative aspects of economic

development, for example, in organizing production and consumption processes

in a more cyclic, balanced way, and choosing forms of production that minimize

the use of resources and environmental pollution. Similarly, urban design for

sustainability is not against economic development, but supports the

concept of combining economic development with environmental progress.

The physical design of infrastructure and the built environment, and the way the

land is used and developed, noting that the value of land as agriculture area is

generally much less than if it is planned for development, is clearly of key

importance to balancing production and consumption patterns and achieving

sustainability.

In this respect the concept of the ‘ecological footprint’ is helpful. There has been

a tendency to use this concept in relation to individual cities, in the negative

sense that cities have been viewed as more unsustainable than rural areas, but

also in the positive sense that self-governing cities can be strong management

units that can take positive steps at the local level, particularly through Local

Agenda 21s, to improve their contribution to sustainable development.

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The 1990 Commission Green Paper on the Urban Environment focused on

• car-based suburban sprawl

• congestion

• pollution and

• segregated land uses

as the key problems that sustainable urban design should address.

Sustainable urban design is a process whereby all the actors involved (national,

regional and local authorities, citizens, civil society and community-based

organisations, research, academic and professional institutions and the private

sector) work together through partnerships and effective participatory processes

to integrate functional, environmental, and quality considerations to design, plan

and manage a built environment that:

• Creates beautiful, distinctive, secure, healthy and high quality places

for people to live andwork in that foster a strong sense of community

pride, social equity, cohesion, integration and identity at the local and

wider scale.

• Supports a vibrant, balanced, inclusive and equitable economy and

promotes effective urban regeneration.

• Treats land as a precious resource that must be used in the most

efficient way possible, reusing land and empty property within the

urban area in preference to seeking new land outside and avoiding

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 urban sprawl: compactness of the city at a human scale as a local

development requirement; concentrated decentralisation as a regional

development pattern.

• Looks at cities and smaller settlements in relationship to their

hinterland and to one another, considers the functional existence of

city regions, networks and urban corridors and systems and their

development trajectory, and treats the urban and rural landscape of the

city region as an integrated whole.

• Ensures the strategic location of new developments and local area

development in relation to the natural environment (addressing

resource conservation, biodiversity and public Regeneration

• Promotes mixed land use to make best use of the benefits of proximity

(easy and equitable access to services, amenities, green areas and

workplaces), ensure the maximum efficiency in the use of public

infrastructure and services, a balanced community and population

structure, vitality and security in the use of public space and

adaptability in the long-term development of built space (with the

concept of adaptability applied to existing and new buildings alike).

• Has sufficient density and intensity of activity and use so that services

such as public transport are viable and efficient whilst achieving a high

quality living environment (including appropriate standards of privacy,

personal space and minimising adverse effects such as noise and

pollution).

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 • Has a green structure to optimize the ecological quality of the urban

areas including microclimate and air pollution, and give access to a

biodiversity for those who lives in the urban areas to explore,

experience, learn about nature elements.

• Has high quality and well-planned public infrastructure including public

transport services, pedestrian and cycle networks and networks of

streets and public spaces to promote accessibility particularly for

disadvantage communities and to support a high level of social,

cultural and economic activity.

• Makes use of the state of the art of resource saving technology

including low energy

• housing and other buildings, environmental technology, fuel efficient,

non-polluting transportations systems, recycling systems, district

heating and bio-mass fuelled and other alternative forms of power

production.

• Respects and builds upon the existing cultural heritage and social

capital and networks of existing communities whilst avoiding

conservation for its own sake.

3.2 Sustainable parameters in a developing city

As discussed earlier, developing countries and cities face the greatest challenge of

balancing the rapid urban growth and the aspect of long term sustainability within

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the economic, social and political limitations they possess. This complex scenario

demands a new way of thinking for the development of these third world cities for

their local sustainability and in turn for the global sustainability. There is a need to

combat the basic issues as poverty, unemployment, social segregation, loss of

governance before there is a discussion about the other factors of sustainability.

The level of pollution of air and water, the loss of bio diversity through the rapid

urbanization and urban sprawl and the loss of green spaces are also not to be

neglected, though these factors always take a second stage when compared to the

basic needs of a society toiling hard for their existence.

Each city or region will have its own natural, social and economic capital which has

developed in the course of the history. It is important that these assets are

conserved, developed and transferred to the coming generation to uphold the

concept of sustainability as discussed in the above chapters. Identifying of the key

assets in these three aspects can thus play the key role in sustainable urban

design of a developing city. The sustainability in a developing country has to be

seen as a time-space phenomenon which depends largely on the period of

discussion and also the context of the discussion. It is very important that both

local and global perspectives of sustainability are considered and discussed at

these various levels for a consistent and true analysis and design. These points to

a complex scenario which makes it difficult to generalize sustainability for

developing cities as a whole as the aspects are too contextual and periodically

variable.

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 3.3 Sustainable urban design – an independent perspective

As seen from various studies, Sustainable urban design has different parameters

and the relative importance of each parameter differ from cities and locations. The

study attempts to find out the relative importance of these various parameters in

the case of a developing city, specifically for Calicut.

Any discussion on sustainable development of a developing city has to consider all

three aspects of natural, economic and social capital. The study essentially looks

at how urban design as a tool can be used to conserve, develop, enrich and

transfer these assets to future generations as well.

A developing city, fights with various contradicting forces regularly for its existence.

Poverty, unemployment, migration, urban sprawl, environmental degradation etc

are some factors which are common to all developing cities and fighting these is

the one of the basic necessity of urban design. But urban design and planning

cannot just concentrate on the mitigations of the problems that the city face in a

specific period, but also have to look into the future, considering the morphological

development of the city, its strengths and weaknesses. Thus sustainable urban

design also has to consider various potentials of the city to realize the vision of

being a developed city in future. These highly contradicting forces of mitigations

and development will lead to several conflicts and urban design in turn has to

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consider these conflicts and set out guidelines on how to overcome these conflicts.

Being a developing city means the planning process will have a number of

limitations like fund availability, political stability, social stability etc depending on

the specific situations. It is thus very important that a sustainable urban design

process look into all the limitations and consider them as a major factor so as to

make the resultant plan sustainable and realistic.

Thus Sustainable urban design has four major roles in a developing city.

• To meet the necessity of the people and the environment

• To cultivate the potentials for future growth and development

• To overcome the conflict of balancing immediate and future needs

• To realise all limitations and to convert them into strengths

For urban design to be sustainable in a developing city and to be sensitive to the

sustainability of the city as a whole, it has to look into all the various parameters

and perform the different roles efficiently, so as to balance all forces. These

aspects have to be applied through physical parameters like built environment,

infrastructure layout, land use mapping, green networks, waste disposals etc.

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4 ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF CASE STUDY

4.1 Calicut – present status

The major strength of Calicut as a city are its

• hospitality

• the historical background

• the traditional trade sector

• the urban wetlands

• the fact that it is well connected by air, sea, road and rail

• the presence of leading public and social institutions and

• proximity to other key cities.

The major weaknesses are

• lack of proper planning

• virtually dead sea- port

• no anchor economy

• inland water ways whose potential is not yet realized

• lack of infrastructure causing hindrance for growth

• lack of coordinated sustainable development and

• lack of concept and master plans.

The city though boasts of a unique 240 acre urban wetland and various green

open spaces within the corporation limit, it has no development plan integrating

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these along with the total urban design scheme. In fact a look into the recent

developments will reveal that the developments proposed in these highly

sensitive green lungs of the city are highly non-sustainable. This scenario calls

for a total analysis of the development schemes in the city in a sustainable

development perspective.

Fig:04 Calicut – physical structure

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 4.2 Sustainable urban design parameters

4.2.1 Ecology

Ecology is one of the three corner stones of sustainability and holds a key

position in urban design aspects as well.

4.2.1.1 Necessity

Total availability of open space in Calicut is 14.94 hectares (0.038 hectare per

1000 persons) and it is just 9% of the minimum accepted standard of

(0.4 hectare per 1000 persons) .This suggests it is a necessity not just to look

into conservation of existing green areas but introduce more green zones by

integrating various small pockets of un utilized spaces through proper urban

design guidelines.

Calicut is blessed with various urban water channels consisting of rivers and

canals and most of them have turned to be mere waste drains due to lack of

proper planning. Even the urban wetlands have been reducing at rapid rates

causing a big threat to a wide variety of bio-diversity it supports. Conserving and

preserving these key ecological capital areas are there fore a necessity of urban

design plans.

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 4.2.1.2 Potentials

The presence of a 240 acre wetland within the city provides a unique oppurtnity

for a bio-diversity park and centre and community learning centres which will also

help to conserve and protect these highly valuable natural assets. Long coastal

lines are also an unrealized potential which can be further developed through

careful planning. Realizing these potentials in urban design plans can have wide

impact in the ecology and economy of the area.

Fig:05 Calicut – green spaces

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 4.2.1.3 Conflicts

The immense land value of the urban wetland zones and green zones are facing

a big threat to the idea of conserving and developing it as a green zone from

various real estate forces. As these real estate forces are the key to the

economical support of the city as a whole, the factors like this possess a conflict

in the land use plans and sustainable urban design has to adapt to these

conflicting situations to balance the requirements.

4.2.1.4 Limitations

Lack of strong leadership with strong environmental perspective and lack of

participation of all stake holders are main reasons for improper conservation of

green zones and urban wetlands. These limitations have to be overcome through

proper evaluation and participation in the urban design process which is also a

key aspect in the sustainability of the city.

4.2.2 Economy

The major economy generators are agriculture (coconut, paddy, banana, tubers,

and spices), fisheries, and trade (industries – tiles, wood, and food products

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Economy), tourism, medical tourism, wetland and cultural tourism, port and ship

building, institutions and consumerism and Middle East NRI income .The major

issues are lack of an anchor economy, capitalizing critical strengths, and the

political system. The proposals are special economic zones, industrial townships,

it parks.

4.2.2.1 Necessity

Calicut, though had a number of industrial units based on clay tile production,

food processing, cottage industries and spices marketing, many of these

industries have disappeared due to lack of designated zones, support facilities

and infrastructure. The traditional trade zones are giving way to real estate units

resulting in the decrease of Calicut’s importance as a trade city. For the

sustainability of the city it is important that urban design plans look into these

aspects as a basic necessity and designate definite zones of industrial

development and trade with strict controls and good infrastructure support.

4.2.2.2 Potentials

The presence of many leading technical educations and an international airport

within the city provides an opportunity to look into new aspects of economical

development like IT and Software parks and Hi-tech Business units. These can

be incorporated in the urban design plans looking it as a sustainable potential

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along with other parameters. Traditional industries can be revived by providing

them with basic needs and support. Tourism is yet another major potential which

has to be integrated to urban design schemes.

Fig:06 A resort in Calicut

4.2.2.3 Conflicts

The lack of proper planning in last few decades has resulted in haphazard

development of an intense mixed use typology which now possesses a threat to

proper designation of industrial and business zones. There has to be strict

controls within urban design plans for the proper sustainable growth of these

aspects.

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 4.2.2.4 Limitations

The availability of designated land and increasing public protests against

undertaking of land are the biggest limitations in getting a development proposal

successful. This can be countered through strict urban design plans

encompassing all requirements and demands.

4.2.3 Equity

Calicut boasts of a highly historically developed culture with a religious mix of

hindhus, muslims and Christians and is known for hospitality, education and

trade. Major potentials are community initiatives like kudumbashree and social

and public organizations .The major issue are lack of integrated involvement in

development, lack of involvement in planning and decision making, rising number

of extremists and unemployment and Middle East returns. The major proposals

are local community initiatives, empowering common people through information

and environmental initiatives like CSDI.

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 Fig:07 kudumbasree – a social initiative

The major issues in waste disposal are unplanned city drains, lack of integrated

sewage lines, blocked storm water drains, untreated sewage to canals, lack of

sewage system for many areas and lack of treatment plants. One of the major

sustainable initiatives is Kudumbashree units taking care of waste disposal under

community initiatves. Quantity of waste generated from the urban area is 350-

500 tonnes per day and out of that only 50% of the wastes generated are

collected for disposal. Around 200 tonnes of waste is left to decompose on road

margins, drains, canals, water bodies and open space.

The reason for poor waste management is the absence of segregation and

primary collection from the source of its origin. Kudumbashree – the state

poverty eradication mission, in its 'clean kerala business' do a door to door

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household waste collection and transport to the transit points fixed by the urban

local bodies. It is a a means of livelihood to the urban poor especially women.

(Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 per month) and also provides employment for 18,500

women all over the state

Fig:08 community waste disposal initiatives

4.2.3.1 Necessity

Many of the traditional public space have given way for real estate developments

and passive green areas which is one of the main reasons of lack of social

interaction leading to development of extremist activities. It is important for a

multi racial and multi religious city like Calicut to have good and effective public

spaces for interaction and recreation. The conservation of development of such

public spaces have to be a considered as a necessity in urban design plans.

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 4.2.3.2 Potentials

Presence of leading social and educational institutions, proximity to other key

cities and areas of raw material availability, availability of developable land and

the presence of a well connected infrastructure provide Calicut with a good

potential of growth which is not yet realized. Through careful and sustainable

urban design plans these aspects can be given a much needed boost to develop

to its potentials.

4.2.3.3 Conflicts

Many social activities like community participation in solid waste management

and collection, women empowerment through house hold industries etc have

created a chance for a better societal integration and development. But these

also act as a conflict when not properly addressed in land use plans as these

community programs are devoid of any designated place for waste disposal and

collection resulting in its inefficiency and also contamination of unwanted areas.

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 Fig:09 calicut – public spaces

4.2.3.4 Limitations

A major limitation in the effective development and conservation of public spaces

are the unavailability of funds to maintain these facilities. Lack of maintenance

lead to the increase of crime activities and illegal activities in such public spaces

and these spaces turn out to be a menace for the society. Proper incorporation of

these aspects and realization of actual capability on type of spaces that can be

developed in the urban design plans will lead to a better and sustainable

proposal.

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5 CALICUT SUSTAINABLE DESIGN INITIATIVES

5.1 Canoly canal development scheme

Canoly canal development project is the development of a 11.2 km man made

canal which connects Elathur river in north and Kallai river in south .It was made

by British in 19th century for the transportation of goods .It plays a major role in

the urban form, means of living, transportation, bio-diversity, ecological balance,

rainwater drainage and socio-cultural activities .the study will look into the detail

of the project.

Fig:10 Canoly canal Fig:11 Canoly canal

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ERANHIKKAL

KUNDUPARAMBA

KARAPARAMBA

ERANHIPALAM

ARAYADATHUPALAM

KALLAI

Fig:12 Map showing critical nodes in canoly canal

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 5.2 Sarovaram Bio-Park

Sarovaram bio park project is a 273 acres wetland ecosystem bio-park

development with emphasis on conservation, restoration, recreation and

tourism. The importance of wetland ecosystem are

• It improves water quality due to natural processes

• It is home for numerous flora and fauna

• It is the drainage basin of the city

• It maintains city’s ecological balance

• It helps in species preservation and enhancing bio diversity

• It provides environmental learning opportunities

• It is very valuable as sources and sinks,

• It transformers of a multitude of chemical, biological and genetic materials

and

• It plays an important role in controlling pollution, flood and recharging

ground water aquifers.

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Fig:13 Sarovaram Bio-park – Ariel perspective

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6 CONCLUSIONS

The study has attempted to answer the research questions and also to find a

right approach of sustainable urban design for cities like Calicut.

The study has found out that sustainable development has different aspects to

be considered in developing cities like Calicut. All three main pillars of

sustainable planning, Ecology, Economy and Equity has to be overlooked

through these main aspects of necessity, potential, conflicts and limitations to

result in a sustainable proposal.

The study also has realized the importance of striking the balance of these

various aspects and key parameters of development and conservation. It has

found out that sustainable urban design is very subjective, both locally and

globally and changes with each location depending on local variables.

The aspect of time and period of discussion is also identified as a major factor in

developing countries as the forces are highly variable and has to be balanced

between the conflicting situations of necessity and development at all times.

Sustainability in urban design is highly depended on the level of integration of of

key aspects of socio-economic and environmental aspects.

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The success of sustainable urban design in developing cities largely depends on

its capability to counter the conflicts and limitations in the form of corruption,

political forces, economical backwardness, lack of strong leadership, vested

interests and contradicting forces.

Specifically in Calicut, though there are some initiatives as the part of Calicut

sustainable development initiatives, the projects has its own potentials and

threats

Potentials

• Exploring the high potential of Calicut as a Green/sustainable city

• Bringing employment to the people

• Restoring the natural habitat the urban area

• Protecting the bio-diversity

• Enhancing the natural processes

Threats

• Over emphasis on aesthetics

• Over emphasis on tourism and secondary income

• Negligence of local community and community participation

• Lack of common interest

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The main concerns that have to be overlooked in the sustainable urban design of

developing cities are

lack of integrated planning and coordination between various agencies

resulting in haphazard development

lack of vision plan and the ignorance about sustainability aspects

lack of awareness among common public about the important of green

spaces and the current pollution rate

eroding social and religious cohesion and unity

lack of proper enforcement of rules and regulations regarding

construction, sewage and water treatment

lack of strong leadership and authority leading to corruption and dilution of

laws and regulations resulting in the depletion of environment

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7 Bibliography:

7.1 Books and references

Cedric Pugh, Sustainable cities in developing countries, 2000

Cliff Moughton, Peter Shirley, Urban design – Green dimensions, Elsevier 2005

Josef Barredo, Luca Deminchelli, Urban sustainability in developing contries:

megacities – modeling and predicting future urban growth of lagos, DG joint
research centre, 2003

Jane Sillberstein, Chris Maser, Land use planning for sustainable development,
CRC press, 2000

Hisashi Ogawa, Sustainable solid waste management in developing countries,

7th ISWA international congress and exhibition, 2006

Munier, Nolberto, Handbook on urban sustainability, Springer, 2006

Marco Keiner, Marlina Koll-Schretze Mayr, Willy A Schimd, Managing urban

future – sustainability and urban growth in developing countries , Ashgate
publishing ltd, 2003

Randall Thomas, Max Ferdham, Sustainable urban design – an environmental

approach, Taylor and Francis, 2003.

Roger Zetter, Georgia Butina, Watson, Designing sustainable cities in the

developing world, Ashgate publishing, 2006

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HIS, Sustainable mobility : the challenges for developing countries , HIS, Vol 9,
issue 1 , 2007

The Urban Experience: (1994) A People Environment Perspective : Proceedings

of the 13th Conference of the International Association for People - Environment
Studies

Working group report, urban design for sustainability, European union

commission, 2004

7.2Internet references

http://www.kozhikodecorporation.org/

http://www.kkd.kerala.gov.in/

http://www.calicutnet.com

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