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Issue #02, June 2020 New Delhi, India ‘To get in touch with us, Please mail us at: urbanregenerationindia@gmall.com STAY IN TOUCH WITH US AT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE httos,//wwwu facebook com/urbanregenerationindia/ Team Sheher Intekhab Alam Nomaan Khan Ishleen Dheer Anshul Abbasi Subarma Sadhu Supported by Vshakha Ja Sohaib IlyasSHEHER. ‘Strategies for Habitat, Economic, Heritage and Ecological Regeneration’ is an initiative by the Association of Urban Regeneration Alumni. -AURA (March), Faculty of Architecture & Ekistics, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. This bi-annual publication has been initiated to highlight the pressing issues existing in urban areas and provide solutions in the form of policy/ program analysis, planning strategies and design interventions. The aim is to create awareness and provide a platform for exchange of ideas, innovations and forming collaborations for regeneration of urban areas. Sheher primarily looks at sharing learnings and on-ground experiences of the Urban Regeneration alumni fraternity, thesis/ research topics of the current batches and any events/accomplishments of the AURA members. It also has a dedicated guest column inviting contributions from urban professionals from diverse backgrounds to bring forth new understanding and innovative concepts. In this issue, we have tried to put together reflections, experiences and intriguing ideas from an eclectic line up of authors and urban professionals on how they perceive the new normal for our cities post the COVID19 pandemic. “Our mind and body needs regeneration regularly and so do our cities.” So let’s converge and innovate in a collective effort towards ‘SHEHER‘NURTURING THE COMMONS ae ea Le) DE a errs saBIRDING IN TIMES OF va COV pt bra L (a ra Mere rey a oor 5 3 THE PANDEMIC ae Cerrar = The road Te Cee 5 RE-STARTING THE ‘ENGINES’ | OF ECONOMIC af i = Cee Nee FR w (3) Tent SLR eel TCT ia eee RESPONSE- A 1000 DAY ACTION PLAN tkra Syed | Nomaan Khan ICCCS: TOWARDS SMART MANAGEMENT Ee arg RESILIENCE TO COVID-19. Bi La LUP Rat bene i) The Multilogue CollectiveNidhi Batra larnbatra@gmail.com NURTURING THE COMMONS RESPONSE FOR AND BY THE CITIES< ares before Coronavirus outbreak struck our lives, | was 3 binge watehing The Handmaid's Tales, a futuristic series set SRT et Uren ear cae nel ae ROR Me a Co ’ ee ee Ree cgi ce net ma DC aR Re Cee ee el ees a ee neu egatet coe ers Comune hoa icnoientie sk atm nice —_ Puree ace Vea alee em elec eae ne el SC eaie tere tees In Indiafand in many other parts of the world, the outbreak Cee RRY A tat eRe ee a poe rm Reeder ST na R ORC au ne Oe Lele a ee - ee eM ae Th moc eaeeat MeL meat A ae ee nae | for such struggles’and display of dissent and dissatisfaction. feel Roe oe Celso aL olce mer) RTs eee CRN ce Rae er le and acts’ to those holding the strings of the world — be it the fecleteleeeo Tel ete Uera TI crti eeTad Inthe backdrop of this, | would like to highlight few incidences that have been shaping current Indian urbanism or, if we can eee Reece1. An ‘alternate urbanism’ or ‘Southern Urbanism’ In India, planners and policy makers tell us to look at ‘urban’ asa locale of a certain size and density, with a local governing body and with 75% of its male population in non-agricultural economy. However, today more than ever, one couldn’tagree more with Jonathan Metzger, who in ‘The city is not a Menschenpark’ highlighted that ‘the Western idea of the city has generally been formulated as the ideally exclusive dwelling of humans, standing in direct contrast to the savage nature imagined to exist outside of the city walls. Walls that both physically and symbolically have been generating a protective space in which the unique and supposedly superior traits that have been thought to distinguish humans from animals could be cultivated and fostered: This phenomenon is not new in India and can be clearly seen in the planning approach of Delhi, right from the first Master Plan in 1962. The existing villages that dotted the Delhi area found themselves in an imaginary municipal jurisdiction laid out on a map — designated as ‘urban villages’, encircled by a ‘lal dora’. Since then they continue to live in a state of a flux, deprived of a quality of life that urban areas offer, yet they continue to feed the city, through informal housing and economy. A similar phenomenon was seen in expansion/development of Gurgaon in the NCR or any other development corridor projects and new master planned cities which displaced the rural residents and their livelihood to make way for ‘urbanization’. These practices are always exclusionary and also, often, ecologically unsustainable. Disappearing drainage paths and ponds leading to urban flooding, deforestation and contestations of the once ‘rural commons’ has become a common phenomenon. However, this notion of a city, where an urban-rural divide and a human-non-human divide exists, is certainly not the only way of ‘urban life’. The issue of land contestations, tenure rights, socio-economic and environmental justice can be addressed by observing ‘land resources’ as common, that is managed by the collective for the collective. Maybe it is time, that global south defines its own path of inclusive urbanization. “This notion of a city, where an urban- rural divide and a human- non-human divide exists, is certainly not the only way of ‘urban life’. The issue of land contestations, tenure rights, socio- economic and environmental justice can be addressed by observing ‘land resources’ as common, that is managed by the collective for the collective.”PREVIOUS SPREAD] Bird's eye view uplooking Nehru Place precint, New Delhi PHOTO CREDIT Intekhab Alam ABOVE] Ascene from The Handmaid’s Tales, PHOTO CREDIT] https://dcist.com/wp-content/ uploads/sites/3/2019/06/THT_ BN_306_OO25RT_f-2-768x512,jp8 2. Exploitation of the urban commons Inthecurrentlockdown period, we are experiencing wildlife, flora fauna, the sky, stars — everything seems to have re-appeared or shall we say brought back into focus. These non-humans have always been part of our urban environment but were just pushed away due to our uncontrollable exploitation of the ‘commons’ and we simply became blind to their existence. Many urbanists and environmentalists in india are mourning the death of “commons”, through the acts of rampant project clearances by the MOEF (Environment ministry). In times, where the world is in awe of the lower AQ\ level, the return of the visibility of stars in the night sky, reduced water pollution and probably reflecting on how greed, especially of ourcities, has destroyed our environment, the Indian Ministry of Environment And Forests’ expert appraisal committee (EAC) held nine meetings in Apri 20through video-conferencing where several industrial, mining and infrastructure projects were considered and some were cleared. Significant among them are the: renovation and expansion of the existing Parliament building (part of the Central Vista) in the capital at cost of Rs 922 crore (Jayashree, 2020), the forest clearance given to the Etalin hydropower project in one of India’s most biodiverse zones in Arunachal Pradesh’s Dibang Valley and survey and exploration of uranium over 83 sq. km of forests in Telangana’s Amrabad Tiger Reserve. Further, the Ministry had released draft amendment to the EIA notification early this year,which according to environmentalists and researchers who analysed the draft, legitimizes violations by those who start projects without environment clearance, weakens the public consultation process and gives a lot of discretionary powers to authorities. The Ministry has not, till date, withdrawn the amendments despite the outrage of development professionals. The tragedy of commons is on Live Theatre these days. 3. Act of “commoning” At the time when one of India’s most celebrated public place — The Central Vista, has been dealt a death blow with its redevelopment proposal, the capital city of Delhi has become an exhibit of another characteristic of urban commons - the act of ‘commoning’. David Harvey (Rebel cities: from the right to the city to the urban revolution, 2013) very aptly has defined the distinction between public spaces and urban commons. According to him, public spaces and goods in the city make a common when part of the citizens take political action. Syntagma Square in Athens, Tahrir Square in Cairo, and the Plaza de Catalunya in Barcelona were public spaces that transformed to an urban common as people protested there to support their political statements. Streets are public spaces that have often become an urban common by social action and revolutionary protests. In Delhi, this urban common emerged at Shaheen Bagh, late last year. Shaheen Bagh, which did not exist in mental maps of many of the residents of Delhi — now had many swarming to this site of city spectacle — some in curiosity and some in 7BELOW] Aerial view of Jama Masjid precinct during second phase of lockdown PHOTO CREDIT] Sohail llyasSoon volunteer groups collectivized themselves — some volunteered a library, few legal aid, some medical aid, some helped to set up the stage, some producing the public art, some supporting with food, other with basic services and facilities. LEFT | Shaheen Bagh Protest Site PHOTO CREDIT] Author solidarity. Following the attack on students of Jamia Millia Islamia in December, the women of Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, a little-known locality just ahead of the University, decided to stage a peaceful sit-in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019, blocking the Kalindi Kunj- Shaheen Bagh stretch. The protests which started against the CAA-NRC slowly embraced issues of women safety, rising cost of commodities, increasing unemployment and poverty. Soon volunteer groups collectivized themselves — some volunteered a library, few legal aid, some medical aid, some helped to set up the stage, some producing the public art, some supporting with food, other with basic services and facilities. The Shaheen Bagh protest then inspired similar Shaheen Bagh-style protests all across the country. Another, aspect of commoning that has later emerged in the COVID response, is the role that Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) have been playing. Decentralisation, acting as a platform for the voices of the community ~ all which have been the part of the 74" amendment since 1990s have acquired a new meaning with RWAs being the first line soldiers in the ‘war’ against COVID and attempting to make the communities resilient. From providing meals to stranded migrants, arranging vegetable and groceries, serving food to the vulnerable and elderly in the locality, ensuring essential services, helping to maintain law and order and many other roles ~ the RWAs are exhibiting a sudden ‘spirit of community’ in these times. In most urban settlements, where one doesn’t even bother ‘knowing thy neighbor’ — we all are now tuned in to our local RWA Telegram groups - a return to “mohalladar’. This spirit of coming together to act for the collective and as a collective — be it the women of Shaheen Bagh or RWAs is. the act of ‘commoning’ of our urban commons. It is a small upspring, but a defining one.Back to the future? Planning for the common Sitting in the lockdown, many of us have been hungry — hungry for the next meal, hungry for affordable housing, hungry for mobility, hungry for that time in the neighborhood park, hungry for the right to the city... and hungry for all the ‘commons.’ Leif Jerram (Leif, 2015) presents to us another dimension of commons. According to him, urban commons are not simply out there, waiting to be exploited; rather they must first be produced and then constantly reproduced. While we do miss our ‘normal’, we are fully aware that there was nothing normal about it. Our cities have been exploiting the commons, at the expense of the common. Since my house burned down | now have a better view of the rising moon --Mizuta Masahide Now more than ever there is no escaping that cities need to plan, invest and nurture the commons. This would require us to relook our dichotomies of nature and man, urban — rural, resident-migrant, public-private, greed-need and many such. There is possibly no ‘back to the normal’. Rather we need to go back to the future by slowing down, enjoying and nurturing co-existence through all the essentials of urban commons — the common resources (built or natural environs), sharing of resources , the act of commoning or collectively managing the resources and the need to plan for the commons (be it common infrastructure or conservation of ecologies). After all we are all ‘stewards of a commons’, commons which we inhabit, manage and hold only temporarily, commons that need to be nurtured constantly, day in and day out. Maybe it is time, that global south defines its own path of inclusive urbanization.References De Angelis, M. (2010). The Production of Commons and the “Explosion” of the Middle Class. Harvey, D. (2013). Rebel cities: from the right to the city to the urban revolution. London Jayashree, N. (2020, May 1). Environment ministry on project clearance spree, activists wary. Retrieved from https://www.hindustantimes.com) https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ environment-ministry-on-project-clearance-spree- activists-wary/story-vW0oGyPPmtPILGE8mipZM. htmi Leif, J. (2015). The false promise of the commons: historical fantasies, sexuality and the really existing urban commons of modernity. In K. M. Borch Christian, Urban Commons-Rethinking the City. Oxon: Routledge. Nidhi Batra is a development practitioner, an architect and urban designer by training. She specializes in environmental urban design, participatory planning, WASH, skill development and public policy. She is the founder director of a platform for urban collective practices called *Sehreeti” and also works as a consultant for government and multilateral organizations. She is «a visiting faculty at various architectural and urban studies colleges in Delhi-NCR.IN CONVERSATION WITH THE CHANGE MAKERS Mbrizanta Saxena and Puneet Khanna from Habitat Tectonics Architecture & Urbanism (HTAU), Delhi have prepared the “Implementation Framework for Containment Plan for COVID-19 for Indian Towns & Cities (20 April 2020)”. The guiding document prepared by them has been shared with multiple cities and states, stressing the need to delineate containment zones at the micro level to curb the transmission of COVID-19 disease in urban agglomerations. The document also stresses on area specific variations and contextual planning models by the urban local bodies for this ‘containment zones’ strategy to show favorably on the rising number of cases. Understanding the evolutionary nature, the document sets out protocols for the long-term, over different stages of relaxation of lockdown and intensities of spread, up to the resumption of normal life after the complete eradication of Covid-19. The document also makes an effort towards addressing the need for different measures on the basis of different typologies and nature of urban fabric in Indian cities. Most importantly, it lays out the guidelines for categorization and colour coding of urban areas based on the intensity of the spread. We bring to you a comprehensive understanding of the Implementation Framework for the Containment Plan for COVID 19 and future strategies that need to be ingrained in the planning and designing of cities, from Mriganka and Puneet themselves. 13 ~ ‘Mriganka Saxena is an Architect and Urban Designer and Founding Partner of Habitat Tectonics Architecture & Urbanism (HTAU). She has over eighteen years’ experience in the field of urban design and planning jin UK and India. Her expertise is in preparing urban strategies and enabling frameworks for city level initiatives. msaxena@htau.co.in Puneet Khanna is an Architect with over 18 years’ experience and is the Founding Partner of Habitat Tectonics Architecture & Urbanism (HTAU). He has worked on building design and ‘master plonning projects extensively in UK, Middle east and in India, Puneet leads City Analytics a data-analytics cell within HTAU established with the vision to become the most credible platform for comprehensive, up-to-date high-caliber geo-linked analytics on indian cities, identifying behavioral trends across scales. pkhanna@htau.co.inQ.1 In early April, you prepared an Urban Planning Strategy for the Containment of Covid-19 in Indian Cities. We believe this led to the formulation of the Implementation Framework for Containment Plan for Covid-19 for Indian Towns and Cities. Can you tell us about how it all started and the journey so far? MS: It was immediately after the Janta Curfew that we started deliberating on how we, as urban practitioners, could use our skills and contribute...assist city administrations to deal with the crisis. The lockdown that followed gave us the necessary impetus and over the next week or so we prepared the Urban Planning Strategy for Containment of Covid-19 through Incremental relaxation of lockdown in Indian Cities. It was an ‘Area’ based approach. We believe that the best scale at which to contain the spread is at that of Residential Areas, the origin of all trips within a city. We then went about identifying Residential Area Types (RA)s typically found in Indian cities and established seven different RA ‘Types based on criteria such as population densities, dwelling size, household size, available street widths (for access to services), levels of amenity, demographics etc. These also broadly represented community needs, constraints and existing governance structures such as RWA / panchayats, (or lack thereof), which become essential to our response strategy at these times. PK: The aim, back then, was to align the WHO framework of intensity of transmission - zero, sporadic, cluster, and community - to RA types and introduce the idea of colour- coding these areas as Green, Yellow and Red for ease of monitoring and management. We really wanted to ensure that in areas with 0 Transmission, pre-emptive measures could be implemented so that unaffected parts of the city could be retained as such and resources could be channelized in affected areas more effectively. This approach would also help in the incremental relaxation of lockdown. Similarly, the aim was to prevent other areas from transitioning into higher levels of spread. The Strategy set out protocols for different RA Types and focused on aligning the allocation of health services, essential supplies, food for the needy and constraints of a specific Residential Area. We really believed that this approach would prepare the city for early detection and timely containment through an agile response strategy. We still do!Q2. So why did you feel 15 the need to prepare an “Implementation Framework for Containment Plan for Covid-19 for Indian Towns and Cities”? MS: The Urban Planning Strategy we had prepared earlier was shared widely - with Niti Aayog, Central Ministries, multiple State Governments including Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra as well as City administrations of Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore etc. Soon after, in early April itself, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) released the Containment Plan for Large Outbreaks, Novel Coronoavirus Disease (Covid-19). This Plan also proposed geographic quarantine, but recommended large areas spread over multiple blocks of one or more districts as containment zones. We realized this would be really difficult for cities to implement and looking at the way cases were spreading, in the long run would put large parts of the city under lock down. We then decided to extend the approach and recommendations of the Urban Planning Strategy, link it to the MoHFW Plan and clearly define the containment zone ata smaller scale making it easier for the cities to implement it. That gave birth to the Implementation Framework for Containment Plan for Covid-19 for Indian Towns and Cities. It set out simplified and clear Monitoring and Containment Protocols for RAs and we ensured that these align with the goals of the MoHFW Containment Plan i.e. ensure social distancing, early detection of cases, testing of all suspect cases, isolation of cases and quarantine of contacts, risk communication to create awareness among public, and enhanced active surveillance. PK: The Implementation Framework has also been shared widely; even more so than the earlier Strategy. Some of the recommendations made by us were also reflected in National directives and advisories — i) Colour-coding different zones as Red, Yellow and Green based intensity of spread of Covod-19, ii) contextualizing the containment zone for urban agglomerations to a smaller geographical area focused on Residential Colonies, and ili) redefining the Orange / Yellow Zone as a Transition Zone between the Red (areas with confirmed cases) and Green Zones (areas with no new case for 21 days). Going further, we aimed to help cities to first, define the extents of the ‘geographical area’ for containment on the basis of RA Types; second, map existing data of positive cases to RA Types to arrive at conclusive trends on the spread of the virus; third, resume economic activity in unaffected parts of a town or city when certain other parts may still beQ3. Is the approach inspired by some literature study or is it purely defined by your experience? Q4. You have also undertaken data analytics to establish emerging trends of the pandemic. Could you please elaborate on the findings and explain how this may alter the approach to the Containment Plan going forward? affected; fourth, roll-out simple monitoring and containment protocols across affected and unaffected parts of the city to stop these from transitioning to higher levels of spread; fifth, roll out operational and management protocols for public transport and intermediate public transport through partial / complete relaxation of lock-down; sixth, put in place Monitoring and Containment Protocols for the long- term, assisting them to forward plan resource allocation and budgetary allowances. This approach would have helped identify successful / unsuccessful models and approaches for different types of localities within a city so that lessons learnt in one city could have helped other cities and states to preempt surges and spikes. MS: Itis really defined by our experience at preparing urban strategies and enabling frameworks for city-level initiatives. Looking at urban issues through a place-based systems approach is what we do. | think it is this very approach that guided us on the Covid containment strategies as well. PK: Yes, in late May, we carried out analysis of the five cities worst by the pandemic. India had just crossed the mark of 1 lakh positive cases. We analyzed the location of almost 1,600 containment zones in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Pune and found out that over 65% lie within RA type 2 (RA 02), ie. areas such as unplanned colonies, chawls, and housing on plots less than 125 sqm. It is not only about high density; the quality of the built environment and resultant poor living conditions is the crux of the issue. These areas are just not fit for home quarantine or isolation or to practice social distancing. MS: Administrations are experiencing fatigue now. Resources are scarce; healthcare services, health infrastructure and Municipal funds are stretched. If cities want to be ahead of the curve, our analysis clearly demonstrates that they now urgently need to shift their focus on these higher density unplanned areas to roll out monitoring and containment measures for maximum impact.pandemic’s aftermath Q5. As you mentioned, a large number of urban dwellers live in informal / unplanned settlements; areas you define as Residential Area Type 02 in the Implementation Framework. How can the Authorities ensure containment in these dense fabrics? Q6. Have you also considered behavioral aspects of various socio-economic groups v7 to prepare the plan? PK: If the government were to share the data on the Covid patients, while obviously respecting their privacy, mapping actual cases on the RA types would reveal definitive patterns on the spread of the virus vis-a-vis the residential context. It would also reveal interesting relationship between the patient's age, gender, socio-economic group and the residential area type they belong to. This can help in preempting the spread of the virus, identifying both RA types and potential patients’ profile much in advance. We strongly believe that the government's response needs to change from reactive to preemptive and data analysis is the key here. MS: The protocols we recommend in the Implementation Framework really hinge on pre-emptive monitoring and containment measures and social benefit schemes being rolled out in all such areas, even those unaffected by the virus. This is really important; we cannot ignore RA 02s even in the Green Zones! Local health booths manned primarily by volunteers under the supervision of a small medical team that can conduct biweekly door-to-door visits and provide much-needed health updates is something we strongly recommend. This will help in early detection, timely isolation and quarantine, and prevent these areas from transitioning into higher levels of transmission. Similarly, targeted schemes for social and financial assistance including supply of essential provisions and minimum monthly sustenance allowances is also essential. These areas must also be prioritized for pre-emptive testing for asymptomatic cases. These areas are home to a majority of our lower income workforce. Further increase in spread in these areas will also impact the economy grievously. MS: More than behavior, | would say, it is the ‘type’ and quality of built environment and the day-to-day lifestyle it imposes on people, is what has been considered. Let me explain myself — A large number of these unplanned high- density areas have common bathing and toilet facilities. This building ‘typology’ compels you to step out of your private habitable space, negating the very premise of homeQ7. How can the master plans of cities address future pandemics and strategize towards building resilient cities? Q8. What is the way forward? quarantine. Similarly, the extreme lack of public open space, forces people to use the narrow lanes within these localities as areas of congregation; again, making social distancing an impossibility. The Monitoring and Containment Protocols address such specificities across all RA Types. MS: | truly believe that pandemics is not the issue that city Master Plans need to address. It is the failure of urban planning! The pandemic is the wake-up call. Our cities are literally bursting at their seams and simultaneously crumbling within. Legislative and regulatory frameworks across scales - national, state and city — must be reviewed and revised to ensure systematic realignment and rehabilitation of urban densities. Within this larger framework, city masterplans need to strategically prioritize and actively enable the urban renewal of these unplanned areas. It is not easy. Redevelopment schemes for such areas are some of the most challenging to plan and implement. But cities do not have a choice! And, city Planning Authorities and Departments and professionals like you and me need to step up to the challenge and play our part. PK: In the short term, | believe there is still time for cities to course correct. A place-based granular approach is the way forward. Cities must start linking data of positive cases to specific RA Types to identify their priority areas and roll out preemptive monitoring and containment measures. Our analysis suggests that the focus should be on unplanned colonies and weekly monitoring of such areas and an accordingly agile response strategy, can change the narrative for Municipalities. . 18