Skip to Content

Urban Development

BDA - Multi - Story Housing

Urban DevelopmentGovernance

Just came back from another week long Singapore trip. Every time you look at those high rise apartments, can't help wonder how Bangalore would benefit if it had its share. It would have been impossible for Singapore to be that green without them. 

Should'nt city editors have critical eye ?

Urban DevelopmentGovernance

Here is what the editor of a city news paper says about metro and mono etc -

Another piece of good news. Apart from Metro rail, work on which has picked up speed, Bangalore will soon have a mono rail, acting as feeder service to the Metro, and a high speed rail to link the city to international airport. A global city like Bangalore needs such rapid transport systems. Its narrow roads can’t handle the increasing vehicular traffic. The number of twowheelers and autorickshaws will come down drastically once the Metro rail starts functioning. Many may stop using personal cars. You can reach your destination in no time, that too in the cozy comforts of air-conditioned coaches. No dust, no noise, no sweat. Mono rail will help you reach Metro stations in similar comfort. And you can say goodbye to parking problems.

I have pasted the link to the article in the epaper at the end of the mail. Read the times of india bangalore city edition - may 2, pg 5.

Building bye laws

Urban DevelopmentGovernance

 The comprehensive Building bye laws of 2003 available as a pdf document  is impressive which tries to set the rules in a professional way for preserving heritage Bangalore. However the BJP government thought in its wisdom that it is very stringent and some minor deviations are in the public interest. I built my house in 1986 fully complaint to the set backs specified, and some thing more than specified and built a duplex building exclusively for one family. However I built a toilet at a corner outside which was not as per the rule book. However such akramas are now Sakrama. This according to me is a step in the forward direction. 

Street improvements - Problems aplenty

Urban DevelopmentGovernance

Roads in most Indian cities are a complete mess, literally. When do we see them graduate to some sort of orderliness, if ever ? The reasons for this pathetic state of roads, heavy congestion & poor transport infrastructure are many. Most of us believe that the authorities alone are responsible & lack expertise. However, apart from this, there are many other reasons :

1) City officials are unable to acquire land uniformly throughout a street for maintaining width symmetrically because there are numerous establishments & private parties or individuals that contest such acquisition in courts - army land between Mekhri circle & Rajgopal rd & on ORR on the northwest (near Peenya) are examples, as is the traders agitation along CMH rd.

2) Where roads are of uniform width, 'No Parking' is difficult to enforce or indiscriminate parking is allowed due to the nature of activities on the road, or private vehicles park anyway & usually obstruct movement of traffic - examples are Sampige rd & Margosa rd in Malleswaram, 80ft & 100ft roads in Indiranagar & Koramangala that have numerous retail outlets.

Town Planning –Principles Summary

Urban DevelopmentGovernance

 Town planning principles are age old. Sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) who visited Bangalore in his days, classified the towns in three main categories depending on three stages of development:- 

  1. Primary
  2. Secondary
  3. Tertiary 

Here is a Lewis Mum ford book  “The city in history: its origins, its transformations, and its prospects” review :- 

The upcoming BMR bill - draft

Urban DevelopmentGovernance

Continuing from the mention of two clear asks post BBMP elections, here is a regional governance reform proposal being prepared by Abide. The close to final draft of Bangalore Metropolitan Regional governance act is attached. Here are some mention worthy points. Detailed review will be very much appreciated by those who may be looking for them. Talk sense and less-rhetoric as much as possible please.

Elections over, time for Regional bill, and State Finance Commission

Urban DevelopmentGovernance

Good riddance. With the local election drama over, it is time to focus on things that will really empower a local government for Bangalore. And they are?

BBMP Elections - Who could be in the driver’s seat?

Urban DevelopmentGovernance

 When there is a low turn out the party in power looses. So BJP may be facing the music. This is the conclusion of the TV News-9 program that had in the days evening live. This was done by “CVOTER” for the TV-9 channel. Mr. Prakash, Narayan swamy of JDS BJP and Cong were in the debate along with two more participants, whose name I could not get. 

Out of 229 seats the magic number to win is 150. The forecast is 

  1. BJP 89-91
  2. Cong 68-76
  3. JDS 14-22
  4. Other  17-25 

So is it that Operation Lotus part II will be enacted? 

 The exit polls gave the following result. Politics 

Town Planning - Ribbon and Ring development

Urban DevelopmentGovernance

 Towns existed many centuries before the Industrial revolution. The pre industrial towns were glorified villages in short for obvious reasons.  The degree of urbanization increases sharply as industrialization increases. Even with an inherent flaw in the urban mechanism as opposed to nature, the urban way of life has definite irresistible advantages. 

1.      Man is a social animal

2.      Economic drivers

3.      Easy access to goods and services

4.      Education and seat of learning

5.      Safety 

Sakrama scheme

Urban DevelopmentGovernance

SAKRAMA SCHEME WILL COME IN NEXT 10 DAYS OR 4 YRS.  Ten days since govt needs money. Four yrs since their will be objections (Carlton Fire Bangalore / Park Street fire Kolkata). But you cant just wish it away. Unauthorised Bldgs are there for ages. Penalising BBMP is not a possibility. More practical sol would be to read  Bldg Bye laws , chapter on Fire Safety. Let the users of the bldg be aware of the issue.  Any better suggestions .. Courts maybe...

Praja.in comment guidelines

Posting Guidelines apply for comments as well. No foul language, hate mongering or personal attacks. If criticizing third person or an authority, you must be fact based, as constructive as possible, and use gentle words. Avoid going off-topic no matter how nice your comment is. Moderators reserve the right to either edit or simply delete comments that don't meet these guidelines. If you are nice enough to realize you violated the guidelines, please save Moderators some time by editing and fixing yourself. Thanks!



about seo