Social infrastructure a must for city’s holistic development, say experts as they draw government’s attention to today’s pressing urban policy issues.
The Metro may take up 75 sq km of the 800 sq km of the land — a tenth of the total area — that constitutes Bangalore. It cannot be denied that the Metro has the potential to effect immense change.
But in order to take advantage of this potential, the Metro must be seen more than just as an engineering project.
“There has to be a system of looking at infrastructure projects in a spatial way,” said Ashwin Mahesh, former member of ABIDe. He was at the Global Initiative Restructuring Environment and Management (GIREM) - Destination Bangalore summit, a conference on infrastructure challenges, on Thursday.
He added that the Metro’s scope would be reduced if there is no adequate social infrastructure in place. “Schools are no longer being built in the city, but on the outskirts. When infrastructure facilities are not adequate, nobody thinks about the Metro,” he said. Moreover, he added that most infrastructure development work in the city is being done in pockets and this will be a problem in the long run.
VA Group managing partner V Naresh Narasimhan said it is evident that the city is not investing in social infrastructure. For example, the last regional park in the city, Cubbon Park, was built in 1840. “There are enough commercial complexes, apartments, malls and offices in the city,” he said. There is nothing ‘Namma’ (ours) about Metro. “Our city cannot be just about going to work and returning. The cultural life of our city is dead,” he said.
“There is no sense of inclusion in the city’s development since nobody thinks about it,” he said in the light of Mahesh’s statement that although 1,000 people come into the city every day, the focus is still on building commercial establishments rather than housing for these people. The panellists debated when the Metro’s Phase-1 would be completed.
Some said it would be completed at the end of 2014 while others said that it might take at least an additional two years to complete the project. But they agreed on one point: The value of Metro would diminish unless people could travel long distances.
“Along each of the reaches, a person can travel 12 km. But when the underground stretch is completed, travelling over long distances will be possible.
That’s when the Metro will be most beneficial,” said Mahesh.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}