Ar. Sushain Gupta
Urban life is so fast and self centered that may be due to the lack of availability of time, busy working schedules and the lifestyle of people which is somehow degrading the environment, devoid the spaces for socio – cultural activities. The higher land prices and the need to exploit it economically , has termed the usable space as the “rentable space” . It has been observed that there are numerable ‘Urban Voids’ in the cities formed by buildings and street corners and are generally known as left over spaces or lost spaces or residual spaces . These spaces are then used for garbage dumping and antisocial activities. The potential of such ‘Urban Voids’ to enrich the public realm, public life etc . have not been exploited sufficiently.
Urban voids are the neglected or either forgotten spaces of contemporary cities. So we can define ‘Urban Voids’ as “unutilized, under-utilized or abandoned land or areas and premises which exist in urban areas due to outdated or defunct uses’. Such spaces could be unused not only because of their limited functionality, but also because of the fact that the public eye does not perceive them at all. They are basically the ignorant spaces in the cityscapes. These spaces can be visualized as spaces which disrupt the urban tissue, without belonging to a private or public realm. They are seen as out of context and incoherent with their surroundings. For example the urban fabric beneath and around the flyovers of massive transport arteries, are spaces almost always not perceived by citizens. These spaces are the eyesore in the neighborhoods. Even though large amount of people are around such spaces but still they are completely invisible to their eyes or they have nothing in them to attract the attention of the people. The purpose is to make people see and experience these spaces in a way that is usually reserved only by urban and landscape designers .
Most of the times, “Urban spaces ” are confused with open spaces, where flora and fauna is grown as an enhancement to the environment and provides a breathing space for the built up area . Each and every urban space whether they are soft or hard surfaced has its own strengths and weaknesses. Critical analysis of such spaces needs to be carried out considering to its surrounding environment only then some productive and functional spaces can be generated out of the dead and waste voids. It is only because of the inappropriate land use which leads to unused or under-utilized ‘Urban Voids’ making it as a permanent feature in the city fabric. So the major factors that have contributed to lost space in our cities as described by Trancik Roger, (Finding Lost Space: Theories of Urban Design Development of the 20th century urban space-The Functionalist Program by Le Corbusier and Modern movement) are:
Increased dependence on the automobile; Zoning and land-use policies of the urban-renewal period that divided the city.
Unwillingness on the part of contemporary institutions -public and private-to assume responsibility for the public urban environment; and an abandonment of industrial, military, or transportation sites in the inner core of the city.
The loophole lies in the usual process of urban development which treats buildings as isolated objects sited in the landscape, not as part of larger fabric of streets, squares, and visible open spaces. Decisions about growth patterns are made from two dimensional land-use plans, without considering the three dimensional relationships between buildings and spaces (mass void relationship) and even without a real understanding of human behavior. In this process, urban space is seldom even thought of as an exterior volume with properties of shape and scale and with connections to other spaces. Therefore what emerges in most environmental settings today is “unshaped antispace”.
Thus, these leftover urban spaces can become a catalyst for transformation that would otherwise remain largely inaccessible. The space could be designed in order to give a sense of ownership of it to the community so that people make their best effort to maintain such spaces to which they feel connected.
The approach to the design thus points out in creating liveable spaces according to the need of the locality and its context. It aims to generate solutions so as to create public spaces which are not only important at urban level but also at community level. For example:
* The railway track precinct which act as a potential site for refurbishing the urban landscape of the city by providing basic amenities ,sanitary facilities’ and emergency aids or may be green zone or a buffer zone to the cityscape.
* Spaces below flyovers can be used to provide green corridors, visual image for the city, tourism development activity area.
* Open ground not under use -make it available for the local public, create centers for community gathering, political and social gathering. Dual use space concept.
(The author is M. Arch, (Urban design)
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