Envisioning cohesive urban transformation through studentification: a case of old core of Pune

Abstract

The education sector in India is one of the booming economies, attracting large number of national and international students. With many of our cities emerging as educational centers in the recent years, studentification is seen as a contemporary urban phenomena having unprecedented growth and effects in the host towns and cities. The physical setting of the place starts catering to the needs of this transient young population from outside leading to further overcrowding of students. This form of gentrification significantly transforms the urban fabric in terms of social, economic, physical and cultural impacts. Thus the high concentration of students community may lead to either urban blight or urban renewal depending on the context. Most of the studies related to geographies of studentification concentrate on the urban changes brought about due to the presence of formal institutes of highereducation. However some Indian cities have also seen major growth in allied coaching classes, which being informal sector, has a wider impact giving rise to a chain of informal activities, thus altering the urban fabric. The thesis therefore selects one such city having education as its major economic sector historically and has witnessed changes for these transient young residents. Pune - Oxford of the east - has been an educational hub for international and national students for past many years. Along with the formal institutions the city has many coaching classes for competitive exams - M.P.S.C., U.P.S.C, C.A. and entrance exams - JEE, NEET,etc,. Maximum of these private coaching classes, around 4000, are cloistered in the Peth areas of the old city. The study area hence selected is part of the old core of Pune consisting majorly Sadashiv peth and other peths like Narayan, Shaniwar, Budhwar and Shukrawar. The site is marked with heritage structures of national importance, old wadas and chawls having distinct Peshwa style architecture. It also has some first educational institutes of the city, present since British era, which attracted students from other cities. But it was the emergence of competitive exam classes since 1996 that triggered the major process of studentification in the locality. This changed the use of old buildings, gave rise to new typologies and brought a different lifestyle and activities to the area. Yet one can see the traces of the original architecture, culture and urban context retained in certain parts of the peths. Along with studentification, the study area also faces the pressure of urbanisation in the form of plot amalgamation, new buildings and the most major and recent being the under construction metro proposals along two sides of the site. The thesis therefore documents the present and predicts the future urban transformation of the said peth areas through the lenses of heritage, studentification and metro. Also it tries to understand the relation between the two communities - the town and the gown. The final outcome is the proposal for a cohesive urban transformation that retains its sense of identity yet becomes a vibrant contemporary urban form addressing the needs of students, locals as well as dependent economic activities. The broader strategies include using of existing assets of the site along with the urban metro proposals to ensure an equitable transformation.