DO ALL THINGS URBAN HAVE TO BE UGLY TOO-A Proposition Cities today have been swept up by a wave of globalization.

For better or for worse we have learnt to imbibe its qualities into our lives. Changes in our life styles, socio-cultural values, the way we produce and consume our resources all has its bearing on this era of electronic revolution. Thus cities today are at a precarious state trying to find a balance its traditional roots and yet absorb these growing modern facilities. MODERNISM AND THE CITY: Architects of the modernist era shunned the ideas of the complexity of the city and sought to describe it as a machine which provided work, shelter, leisure etc. They compartmentalized the various activities of the urban environment into discrete zones thereby inhibiting the rich layering that existed in the traditional city. They glorified these modern facilities and sought to insert and work along with them. In this process, what has gone wayward is that the so called elements of the modern era have been growing unchecked. As technology advances there is an increased strain to constantly keep upgrading which adds to further chaos. The notion of the collective memory of the city with urban form as a repository of culture from generations past and from generations to come1 is one of the important factor because we need to question if this generations memory of the urban form is going to be dominated not by monuments but instead by cell phone towers and electric posts. The visual cues that one has today are those of these so called facilitators of the modern conveniences. These become more acute in the older areas of the city where the traditional architecture struggles to absorb these elements into its existing physical infrastructure, hence very often one comes across instances where a building has been modified in order to make way for some modern contraption. WHERE HAVE WE GONE WRONG? Aping a lot of techniques and practices from the West is a disease plaguing the cities today. There is little thought put into mindlessly mimicking designs or techniques without keeping in mind the climatic, social and cultural factors that bind our built fabric. Our cities have a rich mix of street life, a permeable association between the built form and the open space which were in essence important public spaces in the city. The street thus becomes a stage where a myriad of activities occur. The identities of public spaces today are associated with those of air conditioned shopping malls and generations of users are being denied the healthy interactions of the outdoors. By closing of the entire building providing little interaction between it and the streets is creating increasing introverted components. The globalization has brought along with it a sense of standardization; the building components manufactured large scale and merely fitted into where required. This has put an uneasy end to the valued craftsmanship indigenous to that area. Increasingly cities across the world are beginning to look the same. This has been promoted on a large scale by the real estate developers aided by the government. The idea of
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Aldo Rossis the Architecture of the City, 1989

a foreign label has always in the minds of the people occupied a special place because they consider being of a higher quality and workmanship. Unfortunately in the recent decades, in zeal to develop the modern cities and property oriented approach of development, the treasure of our traditional urbanism has often been trampled upon. Borrowed concepts of urban aesthetics have overlooked the historic, cultural and symbiotic contents of the traditional urbanism. The consequence is evident in overall decay of the traditional settlements.2

The needs of the modern society today are growing manifold due to improvements in technology. To cater to these there has to be certain infrastructural development that needs to be done. But unfortunately these developments are neither planned nor regulated. The governing authorities vested with the power of regulating these developments turn a blind eye toward their influences on the urban fabric. Most often one comes across cases where the cell phone towers or hoardings have fallen over buildings causing a lot of public damage. Most often hoardings are constructed haphazardly with poor structural stability occupying so called economically strategic points in the city.

The need for regulations regarding the control over such structure lie in the hands of the local government who more often for the economic benefit dont consider the aspects of a legible and aesthetic urban form. New Delhi has an urban arts commission in-charge of regulating the urban form but apart from that no other Indian cities have any such organization despite their rich mix of traditional and modern built fabric that needs to be carefully managed. However the Urban Arts Commission too is an advisory body alone having not too much control over what is eventually built. Thus however concerned the architect or an urban planner might be their voices seldom are able to rise over the developers or the governing authorities. WHAT CAN BE DONE? The first step would be to understand that these utilities are required for the cities and thus evolve a better framework for regulating them. The government shall play an active role in understanding the cultural context of the cities and thereby planning any new developments to suit the existing and thriving socio-cultural context of the urban fabric. This shall ensure not only an incorporation of the necessary amenities and also at the same time preserve the identity of the city which is its uniqueness and that the people are familiar with. There shall be regulations guiding the construction of cell phone towers in highly dense traditional settlements. Advertisement hoarding are now being banned in cities across India given them being structurally weak and causing much damages. Wherever possible the use of underground cabling can be done to prevent ugly electric wires hanging everywhere.

Interface between traditional urbanism and legislative framework-A.K. Jain(Commissioner (Plg.), Delhi Development Authority)

CONCLUSION: As architects it is within ones capacity to be sensitive to the structure of the urban fabric and create edifices that do not merely mimic anything that is western but understand the local context and at the same time imbibe the better aspects of western practices like sustainable material and construction practices. Lack of public awareness to needs to be addressed to make them understand that what foreign is needs not necessarily rank lower than what is local. The dying craftsmanship too needs to be addressed for it to grow with the growing times. Eventually we may arrive at a stage where all things urban need not necessarily be ugly.