On Tuesday, NYU research scholar Patrick Lamson-Hall presented the preliminary results of the year-long study by at the UXO.
Mahatma Education Society's Pillai Group of Institutions collaborated with New York University (NYU) to come up with an Urban Expansion Observatory (UXO), or a research centre, that focussed on urban planning. As per the research conducted, although Mumbai has been expanding and an increase of 7% has been noticed in its urban planning, it is still very populated and the facilities required for residents to lead a comfortable life are not available, let alone meeting international standards.
On Tuesday, NYU research scholar Patrick Lamson-Hall presented the preliminary results of the year-long study by at the UXO. The research is based on monitoring global urban expansion. Around 30 professionals and image analysts were chosen for the research team working on the satellite images captured. NYU had prepared a sample of 200 cities, rather than adopting the 4,000 cities in the world. These cities were analysed and the data was sent to the researchers; it will soon be presented at the United Nations Habitat Conference (UN Conference III) that takes place every 20 years. The third conference is in October in Ecuador.
As per the research, Mumbai is growing rapidly and expanding beyond its geographical boundaries, but this has led to fewer facilities for the residents. "There are major areas within the expanding cities where residents are comfortable within the township built for them but are situated in less accessible areas. Planning exists in these urban pockets, but the arterial roads may not be directly connected to the main road, or these areas are situated in remote pockets of the city," said Lamson-Hall.
The research is based on 15 Indian cities between the period 1990 and 2015, amongst which Mumbai has four times the world average population. The built-up area has increased by 0.7% in 2000, but only 22% of land is accessible to streets, whereas the global requirement is 30%. Planning has led to the size of residential blocks within the city decreasing from 6 hectares to 4.3.
"Making it inconvenient for residents to commute, if a city is not planned from scratch, it becomes difficult to provide services, facilities or to even improve the layout and living conditions in such areas. Our research helps understand the drawbacks and helps make better and accurate plans," said Lamson-Hall. Discussions on development of urban areas will be conducted at the UN conference.
"Conducting research within the college premises helps stimulate intellectual development for the students and the faculty. It is a source for hands-on development and creativity, this is how education is imparted at the NYU."
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