Ideas for Bangalore

2 April 2008 - 6:13pm — ssheragu

Segregation of Residential & Commercial Localities: The recent Cabinet decision for mixed zoning is highly deplorable. Occurrence of commercial activities in residential areas and vice versa will spoil the peace, tranquility and greenery of our lovely city and state lead to tremendous noise and dust pollution and disturb the peace of the neighborhood.This decision should be IMMEDIATELY REVOKED.

The sealing drive in Delhi has been done mainly to segregate residential and commercial and transformed Delhi into a beautiful city. In fact, in developed countries like America, Canada and Europe all the residential areas have been maintained exclusively as residential areas and shopping is shifted to downtown areas. Further the main reason for traffic jams in Bangalore is because of the fact that most of the layouts in Bangalore, which start as pure residential areas turn into part residential & part commercial areas, very soon. Landlords think of earning extra income by letting out part of their homes for commercial purposes. The remedy for segregation of residential & commercial areas is to stop the practice of letting out part of a house for commercial purposes prohibit establishment of shops in residential areas construct sufficient number of shopping complexes with sufficient parking space in residential areas and ensure that all shops and businesses function only in these shopping complexes so that all layouts & locations in Bangalore are either fully residential or fully commercial. A classic example of implementation of this concept is DRDO complex in CV Raman Nagar, where there is an exclusive shopping complex, separate from the residential houses & apartments. Thus the traffic flow in DRDO Complex is very smooth & there are absolutely no traffic jams, in spite of the fact that it is a big residential area.

Provision of under-passes for Vehicles in Congested areas:Suitable under-passes should be provided at appropriate places to allow unhindered traffic in any direction. Such an arrangement will eliminate traffic jams thoroughly as there will not be any necessity for stoppage of vehicles on roads in any direction. A classic example for construction of an underpass is Airport Road between Domlur circle and HAL circle and other in between locations. For example, at ISAC junction, one under-pass may be provided to connect the NAL wind tunnel road with ISAC. Four under-passes, two on either side of the junction may be provided for right turns & U-turns of vehicles. Depending upon the topography, the underpass may be completely below the existing ground level, or partly below the ground level & partly above. In order to reduce the height of these underpasses, a majority of these underpasses can be planned to cater to cars, ambulances and police vans. The rest of the underpasses can be planned to cater to big buses and lorries. In fact underpasses like these can be provided at many places all over Bangalore, so that there are no traffic jams anywhere This arrangement may require the acquisition of land on either side, for which BMP / BDA are empowered to do in the interest of public service. A certain amount of judicious planning is required from BDA for the construction & location of these under-passes. It may require the strengthening & reinforcement of nearby buildings. In this connection, it is purposeful to visit IISc in Malleshwaram, where the two campuses have been connected by an underpass, allowing for vehicles to move freely between the two campus without hindering the flow of traffic on the main road. Any required technical assistance may be sought from IISc in this matter. Provision of under-passes for pedestrians:The provision of overhead passes for pedestrians does not serve the intended purpose, as pedestrians would not like to climb up & down to cross a road as it is very tiring. So it is advisable to provide underpasses with suitable slopes for going down and coming up. In fact overhead passes can be provided only at tourist places with escalators as an attraction.

Provision of under-passes for pedestrians: The provision of overhead passes for pedestrians does not serve the intended purpose, as pedestrians would not like to climb up & down to cross a road as it is very tiring. So it is advisable to provide underpasses with suitable slopes for going down and coming up. In fact overhead passes can be provided only at tourist places with escalators as an attraction.

Development of nice parks & gardens on either side of Devanahalli Airport Road: The road from Devanahalli Airport to the city is about 31 Kms long. Already it is noted that a lot of commercial establishments are beginning to spring up on either side of the road, thus leading to rampant & throat
choking commercialization. So it suggested

• that an environment friendly zone be declared for about 2 Kms to 5 Kms on either side of the Devanahalli Airport Road all along the road up to Hebbal flyover
• plant tress and lay nice gardens (with colourful flowers & with suitable night lighting) like Brindavan Gardens on either side of the Devanahalli Airport Road; if possible nice well lit water falls with water
falling in cascades can be created at suitable places on both sides
• completely prohibit any type of Commercial Buildings in this environment friendly zone
Thus any air passenger who is visiting the city will be offered a visible treat of breath taking scenery & beauty immediately on his arrival. This will greatly improve the tourist potential of the city.

Laying of cemented roads:All roads should be cemented roads and only a thin layer of bitumen or fine cement should be used for surface smoothness. Such cemented roads will last for a very long time requiring little maintenance cost unlike bitumen roads which require frequent repairs & maintenance and develop pot holes due to rains and wear & tear.

Laying of cement or grass on sides of roads:It is suggested that in order to maintain a clean environment, the land areas on either side of a road should be cemented or covered with grass. This will prevent generation of dust, which happens when the bare ground is exposed to atmosphere. In fact, the concept of covering all exposed land areas with grass should be implemented everywhere to transform Bangalore into a clean city like Singapore.

[I have merged separate posts into one and have done a bit of formatting -Admin]

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mixed use vs zoning

silkboard - 2 Apr 2008 - 11:55pm

I too have my doubts if "mixed use" urban model will be of help to Bangalore today. I am guessing one driver behind mixed use was current chaotic state of commute time traffic. Planners may have argued that mixed use will encourage "work, live and shop in same area" style of living. And that in turn would shorten average commute distance for Bangaloreans. Other driver for mixed use would have the current hopeless state of area planning and bylaws enforcement by BBMP. City would anyway struggle to enforce separate residential and commercial zones, so why not promote mixed-use and eliminate the need for zone enforcements. If above two were factors that leading our planners to mixed-use, then have chosen to act on symptoms, and shown helplessness that root causes (for commute time traffic chaos, and BBMP's pathetic enforcement record) can NOT be addressed. I see the merits of "mixed use", but those would work well for our city if following can be guaranteed. 1) high profile employers are spread evenly through the city. Job/salary is a bigger criterion for people than commute, so if all good jobs continue to be in Domlur and Elec city (just using as examples), mixed use would only create 2 or 3 super dense job hubs 2) There is separate traffic corridor for moving people over long distances. This would be needed as mixed-use hubs will place a lot of local traffic and parking on regular roads (as is the case in most of Bangalore today - you struggle to pass through mixed-use areas). Also, mixed zone would require better enforcement of living and developmental norms (noise, spaces, air). You wouldn't want a noisy generator to show up in the building next to your residence. Also, what type of industries would be allowed in mixed-use areas? It/Services only, or noisier more polluting, more raw material centric (picture a lot of goods movement) types as well? Basically, using mixed-use as a way to work around BBMP's sad record of planning and enforcement isn't a good idea. mixed-use or single-use (zones), we will fail unless BBMP is made to tighten up.

To have a good feel of BIA

pradeep - 3 Apr 2008 - 4:14pm

To have a good feel of BIA we need to have these rules in place....

we need to keep the airport clean, have good greenery in and out of airport. There should be trees planted on both sides of the road.
There should be no commercial establishment near the airport zone which cause traffic jams, people stopping for eating and other stuff.
There should be no five star hotels or any boarding and lodging facilties since none of the travellers stay near airport and travel towards the city for work.
The airport should be litter free and the most important thing about the toilet ventilation. I had watched in TV news channel that a passenger complaining about the foul smell in the toilet of HAL airport.
We need to have prepaid travel system in place so that none of our guests to our country are cheated.
There should be a divider separating the roads so that it doesnt cause traffic jams.
Proper street light should be there. ( see the ring road near our Airport. its so dark.)
Proper signages should be there.

Regards,

Pradeep

“An act of charity by the citizens questions the worthiness of the government.”

Response to mized zoning by

ssheragu - 3 Apr 2008 - 9:54pm

Response to mized zoning by silkboard

the so called 'merits' of mixed zone is illusory & short lived. the adoption of mized zoning would result in utter chaos and loss of greenery. it will retard the devloopment & transformation of Bangalore to Singapore.

Response to BIA by Pradeep

the suggestions of Pradeep for enhancing the standard of BIA is most apt & welcome

Mixed zone suits our culture

idontspam - 3 Apr 2008 - 10:29pm

From my understanding mixed zoning allows for commercial development only on main roads with a minimum width of 60 feet (or was it 40?) and not everywhere. So it is probably mistakenly assumed commercial activity will mix extensively everywhere including cross streets. Mixed zoning in our cities I believe will not only reduce commute but will encourage especially small retail enterprenuers who are being overshadowed by the gaints. Small kirana stores will benefit by catering to their catchment areas and provide speedy access to esential goods and services.

The community center concept as practiced in DRDO and cities like Noida I believe severly restricts growth as space in the community center is limited and quickly becomes crowded. The development model of western contries encourages large retailers and chains with muscle power to cater to the large catchment area and put an end to high street entreprenureship. This model will also be tested going forward once travel becomes expensive (time & cost) and environmentally unviable.

will need more enforcement

silkboard - 3 Apr 2008 - 10:47pm

Today when we struggle to prevent shops from showing up on every other road inside residential zones, mixed zone without enforcements will lead to utter chaos. BBMP and us - both need to first prove that we can follow community construction and development norms. Or else, the benefits of mixed zones can't be realized. The point about mixed zone drastically reducing commute isn't true, many prefer better jobs to shorter commute (ask those who spend 2 hrs going to E-city everyday). But mixed zone would reduce the numbers that drive to shops. Those folks would walk instead. But where exactly would they walk? How are Bangalore's pavements? Especially in the commercial areas, how much of pavement area is encroached by retailers and vendors? Mixed zone coupled with high FAR seems like a dangerous proposition for Bangalore/BBMP. Again, thats not because the model isn't good, or doesn't fit us culturally, its because BBMP has a poor track record recently of managing growth and enforcing norms.

Zone mixing with vision is OK

shas3n - 3 Apr 2008 - 10:50pm

I am not against mixed use zones as a concept. In fact I would prefer mixed use if it is done with sufficient insight and to the best interest of citizens. (It is anybody's guess as to how realistic my expectation is but let me elucidate my etopian thoughts). A lot of apartment complexes in Singapore have shops and food courts in their ground floors. Similarly, in UK you can find a lot of areas with mixed commercial and residential usage. But the critical aspect here is that the people in charge of allotting permissions need to be careful. For example as idontspam says above, a kirana store or a HOPCOMS would surely be welcome whereas supermarkets and car showrooms need to be kept at bay. And of course you have to allow for suitable parking or banning of motorised traffic altogether. That is how it is done in UK/Singapore and it is indeed beneficial. -Shastri

-Shastri

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