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INTERNATIONAL MARKET AND ITS UNDERMINED NETWORK

Guided by: Ar. Tara Singla

Submitted by:

Johnson J J

11712214

Bachelor’s in Architecture

Lovely school of Architecture and Design

Lovely Professional University, Phagwara

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Abstract

The fast-paced urbanization of the city of Madurai, constricted by the grid iron layout and the

permitted building heights in the central commercial hub is a challenge for the similar

exponential growth in the logistical sector of the city. The commercial/ trade hub ONE WORD

in the city hosts the highest export record among the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, with the

irony being that there’s no accessibility to the trucks that transport these goods. The paper

suggests remedial strategies for the above-mentioned issue.MENTION AIMS AND

OBJECTIVES INCREASE WORDS ..WORD LIMIT 150

Keywords: Grid iron, Commercial hub, Accessibility

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INTERNATIONAL MARKET AND ITS UNDERMINED NETWORK

The city of Madurai is an ancient one. Located almost at the center of the state of Tamil

Nadu, the city is famous for its rich heritage and its proximity to both the sea and the mountains.

With Geographical topography and political dominion extremely favoring the onset of trade, the

city has been indulging in trade and export since the Roman era. Trade relations were very strong

between Madurai and Rome, historians write that Roman coins were minted in this very city.

Moving ahead in time, when looked at the city under the Nayaks, the commercial hub of the city

started getting a framework with the inner peripheries of the hub marked by the Meenakshi

Temple and the pathways leading up to the “Gopurams” – The gateways to the temple itself. The

city – post Meenakshi temple, did not see much infrastructural growth in the commercial hub.

There were growths in economy, in trade but the shops and space allotted in the city for this very

purpose did not grow. In this decade, when analyzed, shops are haphazardly constructed with no

organized market structure to the commercial areas. There are a thousand shops and more in the

hub that export their goods to the international market. Oddly, there aren’t any direct access to

the transport sector to these shops. Madurai’s market, also called as “puthu mandapam” is the

leading exporter of spices, sculptures and handicrafts, and Jasmine flower. However, the

logistical side to this story is very weak. The trucks aren’t regulated well by the authority, nor do

they have the space to park and wait for loading and unloading goods. The market is located in

the city as the commercial and touristic center of the city. But this space of the city is not

accessible by trucks or buses or any heavy vehicle as the roads are very narrowly constructed –

some of which date to the times of Rani Mangammal a queen before the Pandiyan kings, hence

are just wide enough for a horse drawn carriage. With shops and revenue taken on one side of

this unbalanced equation, and logistics and access on the other, the results are alarming as the
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city is yet unaware of the situation at hand. The research paper is aimed at giving an insight to

the city’s reach well beyond the saturation limit of “development” and understand the intensity of

the “space” problem at hand. The research will also include case studies of cities nearing

saturation and measures taken in them to prevent the city from dying.

GOOD EFFORT JOHNSON

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