An Urban spatial analysis.
October 18th 2018
Sector 17, the dwindling soul of Chandigarh city promises to keep you captivated from the moment you set foot in it. The first thing that comes to our attention about the city centre, is the bustle around the brightly lighted stores of private clothing brands. The excitement of being in Sector 17 only increases as you walk through this passage, admiring the mannequin window displays. Walking further into the market place, away from the honking cars stuck in traffic, you’ll reach a more hushed region where many cars are parked. The anticipation of entering the main plaza gains momentum as we walk deeper into the sector, reaching the most crowded spot on the map, the plaza where hundreds of people, families with young excited kids, tourists and regular locals are going about their weekend activities.
The many stores that surround the plaza have huge ‘half-off’ posters and signboards that immediately catch our attention. There is nothing you could want and not want right here, in the heart of this commercial centre. From clothes, bags, shoes to jewellery, books and eatables, you’ll be able to tick every item off your shopping list. But the journey doesn’t end here.
The large plaza, filled with families and small-scale vendors and the laser-fountain show cautiously lead to a large, monotonous, empty space. On first sight, you’ll probably not want to proceed to this area, with barely any public — in contrast to the densely populated main plaza just behind it. This dark space has a lot of trees, benches and street lights.
The symmetrically lined up street lights are dimly lit, and even though you can spot a handful of children playing with the swing sets in the nearby park, the place feels unpleasant. On speaking with a policeman, passing by the area, we come to know that this large open space that lies abandoned on Dussehra is otherwise a parking ground completely occupied by the vehicles of office going people who work right in this area. The buildings ahead of the parking space are all offices and banks.
In this dark and dingy environment, if you look close enough you will find some unconventional characters, like the old aunty who sits in the corner of one of the empty buildings and sells chai and has been doing so for the past many years. Even on the days that the crowd is less to nil, she sits in her spot, ritualistically, preparing fresh tea to serve anyone who might need it. A little further away from our chai-seller, is a low height bridge connecting two opposite shopping complexes. Under this bridge, you will find countless homeless people resting on broken rickshaws.
After talking to a few of the labourers on-site, we know that this space becomes extremely dark and stagnant after 4:30 pm even on weekdays, as the office goers leave for their homes.
Besides this, there are some architectural features that can be noticed such as pilotis and ribbon windows. As Chandigarh city is planned by Le Corbusier, his iconic features can be seen in these buildings. The office buildings were oriented towards the Northside which provides thermal comfort and the louvres provide shading.
A place as versatile as the plaza we visited can have multiple uses; and with changing times, it is essential to come up with some flexible solutions to liven-up the space during non-office hours. This can be achieved by creating innovative pop-up structures that can be assembled and dis-assembled as the utility of the space changes. Limiting the fringe activities in the plaza is a matter of safety for the society and for this, it’s important to create a colourful and lively environment which could generate more employment opportunities for the low-income groups that are regular inhabitants of this space.
