PLANNING OF CITIES

21.MADURAI
• Madurai is one of the major cities in Tamil Nadu which has been a cultural capital for
two millennia. The natural determinant for the origin of settlement is River Vaigai
which is one of the 17 river basins of Tamil Nadu.
• The old city is a planned settlement based on ancient town planning principles of
Shilpasatra, as four concentric squares with Meenakshi Amman temple in the center.
The planning is also based on caste and occupational hierarchy.

• Older core city was a fortified settlement on the southern banks of river Vaigai, few
scattered buildings and agricultural farm lands outside the fort area.
• After the 1900s, the city’s growth started towards Northern part with the advent of
the railways and other public services.
• The administration centre of the city also shifted to the Northern part as a
decongestion measure.
 • While the Northern part of the city provides administrative and civic services, the
South city provides commercial and socio-cultural activities.

There is a distinct demarcation in the city as Old and New city, North and South city.

• The Government order issued by the Municipal administration and water supply
department in 1997 prohibited construction of buildings over 9 m within a radius of 1
km from the outer walls of Madurai.
• But there are 30 m buildings that had been constructed illegally. This height
restriction is a determinant factor in the urban growth pattern.
• It helps to maintain the skyline of Madurai.

People can view the historical buildings from the terrace of their homes because of the height
restriction.

Elements of planning of older core city

• Meenakshi temple’s planning was the basis of core city’s planning. It extends from
the temple till periphery.

• Residences with its traditional planning with courtyards and thinnai helps with the hot
weather and provides natural surveillance.
Urban Grains of the city
• City’s fabric is defined by its distinct
urban grains.

• Coarser grains can be seen in areas

where there are high economic and
socio-cultural opportunities. Some of
the coarser grain areas are core city
and sellur area.

• These areas are highly mixed-use

creating many opportunities and
choice for people.

• The fine grains are TVS colony, KK

Nagar, Villapuram colony and Agrini
township.

Water bodies and open spaces

• The topography of Madurai city created low level lands i.e. small natural tanks and
small streams which served as water sources since historical times. They were well
connected to the river Vaigai – the excess water from the river flows into these tanks.
Madurai being a temple city considered river Vaigai and these tanks as sacred
elements and cultural markers.
 • Traditionally, ghat structures i.e. a series of steps leading to a water body were built
to connect land surface and water. People peacefully performed their social and
cultural rituals by accessing through it. In 1900s, bund road and bridges which were
constructed to connect Northern and Southern part of the city destroyed these ghat
structures.

Water bodies then and now

• Since it is a non-perennial river, many small temples were constructed inside the
river. Several temples and two main mandapams – neeryazhi mandapam and
vandiyur mandapam can be found along the river.

Transportation
• The transportation network is well connected. The old bus stand is Periyar bus stand
which is one of the major landmarks of the city. Urbanisation lead to construction of
other bus stands. Periyar bus stand became local bus stand and omni buses are also
in this area. Arapalayam bus stand serves people to travel west parts of Tamilnadu.
Mattuthavani bus terminus, now called MGR bus stand was a cattle trade area
provides services for other parts if Tamilnadu.

• The major roads connect major areas i.e, core city, educational institutions,
administrative buildings, etc.

Economic drivers
• Madurai is one of the cities where one of the major contributor to the economy is
Agriculture.

• The other major sector is tourism with its many historic monuments. Some of the
traditional economic drivers are textile industry famous for its Sungudi sarees,
national and international importing of jasmine flowers for perfume preparation,
cottage and small industries preparing thaalambpoo kunkumam and glass bangles.
• But, at present the fast growing primary contributor is IT sector and it is an important
industrial hub with automobile, rubber and chemical manufacturing industries.
23.JAIPUR
PLANNING STRATEGIES USED IN JAIPUR
• The present state of Rajasthan, in India was earlier known as Rajputana and is renowned
for its varied culture and rich architecture of Havelis, palaces and forts, built in mughal
and Rajput style.
• The capital city, Jaipur falls in the Dhundhar region ruled by Kachhwaha Rajputs.
• The then ruler Sawai Jai Singh II moved the capital from Amber to Jaipur because of the
topographical constraints of expanding the city as Amber was mainly a citadel town and
secondly to protect it from invasions.

• The city was initially divided into two portions by one long road, running east to west i.e.
from Surajpole gate to Chandpole gate, respectively. On the south of these roads, there are
five rectangular blocks of irregular dimensions, while on the north there is one square, a
block containing the City Palace and another block called Purani basti.
• Sawai Jai Singh and his ministers planned the city keeping in view the topography of the area
and the existing Jai Niwas Garden, which is axially connected to the old capital Amber.
• The city planning extended to the socio-cultural domains which is what is reflected in the
eight residential Chowkris (blocks) for the ease of administration.
• These residential neighbourhoods were demarcated by the main market streets namely, 1.
Kishanpole Bazaar, 2. Chaura Rasta, 3. Jauhari Bazaar, 4. Chandpole Bazaar, 5. Tripolia
Bazaar, 6. Gangauri Bazaar, 7. Sireh Deori Bazaar , 8. and 9. Each cluster had a hierarchical
placement of dwelling units with the havelis or houses of the courtiers, and/ or merchants
lining the first layer of the bazaars regularly punctuated by temples approached by a
staircase flanked by shops.
• These market streets were connected with the interior neighbourhood through subsidiary
streets called as Raastas which were named after the associated trade or some important
person or community residing in the same vicinity.
• Likewise there are some twenty five to thirty arts and crafts of Jaipur, which were
systematically manifested in the built form and is thriving till today.(Tillotson, 2004)
• The original plan of the city of Jaipur was
probably prepared by Sawai Jai Singh II
himself with the assistance of his ministers,
though, the merit of design and execution of
the city is assigned to Vidyadhar
Bhattacharya. (Ashim Kumar Roy 2006) He
was thus, the chief architect and engineer for
the buildings, both state and private.

SITE CHARACTERISTICS
• A glance at the present map of the walled city
of Jaipur will show that its shape is not a
regular geometrical figure but it is responds
to the topological and climatic characteristics
of the region.
• The paramount topographical constraint was
that of the hills on the northern and eastern
sides, the reason why the north-west block
was shifted to the south-east corner of the
city. Another constraint was the lack of any
perennial source of water in the proximity
due to which an elaborate water harvesting
system inclusive of dams, step wells, water
tanks and manmade lakes, was laid. These
structures also acted as community places for
interaction such as Bawadis (Step well) at city square recognised as Badi Chaupar and Chhoti
Chaupar, which now act as major traffic nodes.
 ORGANIZATION
• An organization scheme that allows individual
elements to retain their personality while
creating a composition that aspires to attain a
higher purpose is an effective composition.
• Where ever two important streets cross, the
spaces around it reflects the importance of
that interaction.
• It has been achieved by increasing the height
of buildings at that junction.
• It is not a public square like in other instances
but at the same time a feeling of enclosure
has been created by taller buildings on two
sides and a magnificent gateway on the other.

BALANCE
• Balance is the arrangement of different
elements such as weight, height, color,
etc. it remains steady and upright &
doesn't overpower each other.
• The layout and building structure on the
main streets create balance by no one
side dominating the other but creating
cohesive whole.

DYNAMIC SYMMETRY

• A structure is said to express dynamic

symmetric when different elements are in
proportion and complement each other
creating harmony while arranged in a
heterogeneous and asymmetric manner.
• A cylindrical extrusion from the building is
balanced by making a difference in the
windows of the second floor. This makes the
overall structure balanced.
SEQUENCE

• Jaipur has a very clear spatial

sequence which is based on the
stone slabs that were used for
spanning walls.
• This dimension is roughly 8 to 10
feet. Once this restriction is
understood, every other facade
treatment can be related to the
sequencing pattern that originated
from this.
22. SHAHJAHANABAD