CHAPTER 4

4.1 OBSERVATIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS

New BEL Road is a commercial and residential street in north Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
The street is three kilometers long and houses a number of fine dining restaurants, pubs, retail
outlets, gyms and salons.
It is in close proximity to Indian institute of science and Sankey Tank which are both
prestigious Landmarks in Bangalore.

Strategically nestled on the northern part of the city, New BEL Road is one of the prominent
residential and commercial areas. New BEL Road is home to several restaurants, pubs, retail
outlets, gyms, salons and these are the prime reasons behind the rapid growth of the real
estate market of this area. Gowri Apartments, Sovereign Developers and Infrastructure
Limited, Benaka Homes Libero Apartments, Anugraha Properties etc., are some of the
residential projects in New BEL Road that mainly comprises residential apartments. New
BEL Road has a great approach to nearby areas such as Mathikere, MSR Nagar, Ashwath
Nagar and Ramakrishna Layout.

From fine-dining restaurants , to ornamental cafes , popular gym chains, high end-salons and
a multitude of supermarkets and retail outlets this is definitely one of the most talked about
towns in Bangalore. A stones throw always offers oodles of options to foodies, revellers and
weekenders, many of them students and the younger age group of the population. While this
may be true of many up and coming city localities, it’s symptomatic of Bengaluru’s
transformation from pensioner’s paradise to consumerist metropolis.

Unbridled growth may have brought shops and amenities closer to residents, but a lot has
been lost ; tranquility , walkability, old world charm. Minus the glitz and glamour, a stroll
down NEW BEL Road is far from pleasant ; vehicle users jostle for space and blare shrill
horns in a mad rush to dash through the next signal, while edgy pedestrians put their lives in
peril. It takes an average of 15 mins to cross the three kilometre stretch in the afternoon.

Owing to the proximity to Ramaiah institutions and IISc, retail stores have mushroomed, PG
accomodations have come up and eateries catering to every taste and budget have sprouted.
The stench from the restaurant is obnoxious. The road was definitely not ready for the rapid
expansion it witnessed.

The campus and the shops on this lane definitely have a symbiotic relationship¸ mutually
benefitting from each other. With the increasing popularity of the campus many prospective
business owners want to start off their venture within close proximity to this area. Similarly
due to the juxtaposition of the campus with BEL road people it has attracted and has been
made more desirable to the localites and they have claimed to prefer this campus over the
other competing campuses.
The campus is also surrounded with many transportation stands be it auto or bus making it
easily accessible from all other parts of the city. The transportation is not only affordable
which makes it extremely beneficial to different stratas of the society who have travelled
miles to fulfil their dream of receiving a quality education. The campus also has different
access points on different sides to make it more easier to connect the wide network of roads,
nodes and junctions.

The limitation of being such a popular landmark not only among the student user groups but
all other sub groups of the society make this road extremely busy at almost all the important
times of the day as the traffic is combined making the air polluted with smoke , noise and a
lot of commotion. The peak hours of the traffic is from 8:00 – 11:00 in the morning and from
6:00 - 8:00 in the evening. A lot of the crowd in the morning is due to the students and
teachers of the campus as the college timings are from 9: 00 AM combined with the people
who are getting to work through BEL road in the morning as it connects a two important road
junctions on it’s two ends, Sadashivanagar circle and Mayuri circle. A lot of the traffic in the
evening is people who are getting off work and people who come to this place for a
recreational purpose as it is the home to a lot off well known restaurants. We noticed that a
lot of this traffic and what kind of traffic is also affected by what day of the week it is ;
working days and non working days.

The ratio of student and non-student oriented shops is quite interesting ; approximately a 70
– 30 ratio. The 30 percent of spaces which are non-student related are the ones which are not
within their budget but help increase the economy of the street hence keeping it busy and
lively throughout. It gives the space a healthy balance as there are good percentage of places
which can be accessed by the entire spectrum of the user group.

Though Bel road is a commercial area – with residential pockets in the vicinity this wasn’t
always the case a few decades ago. One of the owners of one of the last standing houses on
the street , relocated years ago in pursuit of some peace and quiet. He says he moved
diagonally to Seenapa layout as his lane had become a hub for partygoers and cabbies. All
sorts of nefarious activities took place in his house entrance.
Taking a trip down memory lane he mentions that back in the day it was a peaceful road
frequented by morning walkers. It was home to large houses with abundant open spaces for
kids to play. There were barely any provision stores . Sagar Samrat, opposite to Ramiah
hospital is one of the oldest food joints here. Once abandoned by city planners, it has become
a very important stretch, he further proceeded to compare it to Brigade road.

So, although this street is a starting point to the new era of the modernization of this
community, it definitely failed to retain some of it’s old time charm making it a completely
new place all together.

However, not all is lost. Trees, silent spectators to the radical transformation have stood the
test of time. Despite the change, the street has retained much of it’s greenery – the tree – lined
avenue from Ramiah signal to Sadashivanagar police station is an oasis of serenity at night.
Bel Road has it’s fair share of pros and cons which makes us wonder if it’s the right
environment for students to experience the “perfect” college life that they would have long
awaited for. The space although has its share of thriving recreational spaces, it doesn’t have
the privacy and quiet that is needed to optimize learning experiences. Considering the fact
that RIT as a campus by itself doesn’t have a lot of green space and is predominantly a
concrete jungle. This makes us reconsider if the transition from the outside to the inside is
done in the best manner which brings us back to how context plays a major role while
designing a master plan.