Urban Planning: Sulakshana Mahajan's Rebellious Ideas
Urban Planning: Sulakshana Mahajan's Rebellious Ideas
Sulakshana Mahajan, a renowned architect and known as a rebellious urban planner in Thane, has a clear and people-oriented perspective on city issues. Instead of merely drafting theoretical plans, she places people at the heart of the city.
Mahajan firmly believes that solving urban problems requires a blend of conscious, informed participation from the public and people-centric urban planning experts. In other words, citizens must be active partners in the plan, not just beneficiaries. She has written extensively on the city and urban planning, notably in simple, accessible Marathi, which successfully makes a complex subject easily understandable to the common Marathi reader.
Sulakshana Mahajan: Published Books
[edit]Her written/translated works include:
* Jag Badalale (The World Has Changed) (2004)
* Arthasrushti: Bhāv āṇi Swabhāv (The World of Economics: Emotion and Nature) (2004)
* Londonnāmā (An Account of London) (2010)
* Konkrīṭchī Vanrāī (The Concrete Jungle) (2013)
* Asāvee Shahare Āpulī Chhān (Translation of Jan Gehl's 'Cities for People') (2015)
* Smart City – Sarvānsāṭhī (Smart City – For All) (2016)
* Tumhī Bī Ghaḍā Nā (You Too Shape Up) (2019)
Sulakshana Mahajan: Importance of People-Based Planning and Administration
[edit]Sulakshana Mahajan's urban planning vision is not limited to buildings and infrastructure; it is fundamentally based on people and administrative empowerment. The key and significant aspects of her vision are:
1. People's Participation and People-Centric Planning
* People-Oriented Focus: Her core belief is that the people should be the centre of planning, not just developers or politicians.
* Consideration of Needs: She considers it the primary responsibility of the municipality to fulfill citizens' daily living, lifestyle, and basic needs (e.g., water, sewage management, public transport).
* City Vitality: Her emphasis is not just on 'beautiful' cities, but on 'lively' cities (The Lively City), where citizens can engage in recreational and creative activities in public spaces.
2. Administrative Empowerment and Elected Mayor
* Need for an Empowered Mayor: Mahajan strongly advocates for a directly elected Mayor with administrative and financial powers.
* Demand to End 'Dual Authority': She clearly articulates the obstacle in decision-making caused by the dual authority (Commissioner and Mayor) in municipal bodies. She believes giving administrative and financial powers to the Mayor would make them more accountable for the city's progress.
* Political Interference and Uninformed Decisions: She is a fierce critic of planning decisions being made by uninformed politicians for political gains rather than the city's actual needs, which she argues is why cities like Mumbai collapse during emergencies.
3. Sustainability and Future Vision
* Infrastructure First, Development Later: She states the simple rule of urban planning: first, establish basic services (water, sewage, roads), and then follow up with development. In reality, the reverse happens—development occurs first, leading to reliance on water tankers for services.
* Long-Term Planning: City planning should consider the next 100 to 200 years, not just immediate needs.
* Disaster Planning: Cities have recovered from crises like fire, floods, and pandemics, but she stresses the continuous need to learn from every crisis to make buildings, technology, and systems safer.
In Mahajan's view, bringing cities onto the right track does not require only large projects like metros, but rather strengthening public transport, providing necessary services for people to have dignified and safe mobility, and increasing planning transport awareness among citizens.
Sulakshana Mahajan's Perspective on 'Smart City' and 'Public Transport'
[edit]Sulakshana Mahajan holds significant views on both the Smart City concept and Public Transport management. Her perspective consistently prioritizes people's needs over technology.
1. Smart City Concept
* 'Smartness' Based on Need: In her view, a 'Smart City' is not just about using expensive technology. Technology should be used to solve the city's core problems, not merely because it is available. Smartness should focus on solving citizens' life problems.
* Smart City For All: She wrote the book Smart City – Sarvānsāṭhī (2016) to provide an in-depth commentary on the subject. The benefits of city development should not be limited to the high-income group but must be useful and accessible for the city's poor and common citizens.
* Basic Infrastructure First: Before becoming 'Smart,' a city must have 'Fundamental' (Paayābhūt) services. She argues that if a city lacks clean drinking water and proper sewage systems, it does not become smart by simply providing Wi-Fi or installing sensors. Technology is only useful after basic amenities are met.
* Governance and Transparency: She emphasizes that 'Smart' technology should be used to bring transparency to administration and expedite citizen services.
2. Priority to public transport
* Support for Bus Investment: She believes that instead of overspending on expensive projects like Metro or Monorail, strengthening and expanding bus transport systems like TMT is more essential and people-oriented. Bus service is more flexible and affordable for the common citizen.
* Citizen-Centricity: A good public transport system helps reduce poverty as it provides people with cheap travel to workplaces and saves their commuting time. Public transport is what brings people in the city to a common level.
* Controlling Private Vehicles: The use of private vehicles will not decrease without an effective public transport system. Reducing private vehicle use is essential for both the environment and traffic.
* Influence of 'Cities for People': Her Marathi translation of Jan Gehl's internationally acclaimed book, Cities for People (Asāvee Shahare Āpulī Chhān), validates her views. Gehl's perspective prioritizes pedestrians and cyclists, which reinforces Mahajan's belief that public spaces and roads should be the right of the people, not just vehicles.
Sulakshana Mahajan's People-Centric Urban Planning
[edit]Sulakshana Mahajan's people-centric urban planning concept is a crucial and necessary counter-narrative to the currently prevalent, capital-intensive, and technology-obsessed model of city development in India.
Her approach is highly commendable because:
[edit]* Focus on Fundamentals: Her insistence on basic services first (water, sanitation, effective public transport) over superficial 'Smart' technology or grand infrastructure is a pragmatic and socially responsible priority for Indian cities with large, low-income populations.
* Empowerment of Citizens and Administration: The demand for citizen participation and an empowered, accountable, directly-elected Mayor addresses the core issues of poor governance, political interference, and lack of ownership in city management.
* Sustainable and Equitable: By advocating for the strengthening of affordable, flexible bus transport and prioritizing pedestrians/cyclists (as inspired by Jan Gehl), her plan ensures that development is both environmentally sustainable and equitable, benefiting the maximum number of people.
In essence, Mahajan's philosophy argues that a truly 'smart' city is one that functions efficiently and equitably for its poorest residents, and her 'rebellious' stance is simply a powerful call for common sense and human dignity in urban policy.