Strengthening the public realm around enclaved precincts: a case of Pune

Abstract

Observing the current development in cities, one can notice the shift from the core areas to the fringes of the cities. Due to the increasing population and lack of available land for construction, there is an exponential growth of the city extents in the peripheral urban fringes. The fringes are witnessing a boom in the construction of business parks, shopping malls, gated enclaves, and commercial complexes. This kind of urban fabric completely differs from the core fabric of cities. There has been an enormous rise in the construction of gated enclaves on the fringes. Suburban developments tend to create exclusionary spaces - gated clusters and individual spaces resulting in a diminishing public realm. The emergence of walled urban enclaves is giving rise to patches of segregated spaces, leading to fading community spaces and interactions. Peri-urban developments promise a safe, comfortable, and ordered environment, but it hampers movement flows and patterns, co-presence in public space and accessibility. Each time a new piece of the urban fabric is created, it adds to the value of the real estate but subtracts from the socio-cultural life of the suburban area. In this age of highly zoned urban space, some of the causes of the decline of the public realm in fringes can be observed as dead edges, an increase in social isolation, lack of pedestrian and open space network, and disconnect from the surrounding areas. The upsurge of enclaves has given rise to new aesthetics of security: walls, gates, and virtual surveillance. Enclave urbanism has given the cities a new emerging form that is devoid of the public realm as a place for everyday urbanism. The site for this study is in Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra. The city is developing in the sprawling suburbs with a high concentration of business parks, shopping malls, gated communities, and commercial complexes. The development in the eastern suburbs of Pune city has been guided by upcoming IT parks and industrial areas. This thesis is seen as an opportunity for restructuring the fragmented fringes and create spaces for coexistence and interactions. The thesis intends to minimize the negative effects of enclave urbanism and develop inclusive design strategies to create a comprehensive and open urban environment in peri-urban areas.