City and the water's edge: enabling the transaction of people and water

Abstract

Watercourses, rivers streams and water channels represent multiple values of urban structure. Location of settlements is related to water issues since early times. Water has influenced development of villages, rural areas, cities, towns and metropolitan areas, has influenced development of housing, commercial, or industrial production. However the requirement towards the use of water and towards the role of watercourses in the urban structure is changing during the history. Watercourses formally used as source of water, source of energy for production purposes, as transport communication corridors, or as sewage effluent recipient, often changed and lost their former historical functions. The change and loss of functions in many cases caused that their corridors disappeared from urban structure; the water courses were rechanneled, piped or covered, reflecting new land use requirements.Today the watercourses are often transformed and rehabilitated to fulfill their new contemporary role in urban environment, most often to fulfill recreation, aesthetic, and ecological functions. The contemporary landscape design approaches towards the utilization of water elements in urban structure require understanding of the relationship between human needs and use of water. The holy city of Ujjain is a popular religious centre, well known for its temples. The city of Ujjain is shaped by geographical factors river Shipra, Mela ground etc. and has developed into two parts: old city having Mahakaal temple and the newly developed area. The pressure on core area is high due to several factors including high density of population and the violation of the bye-laws. The strong religious and heritage image of the city has yet not been fully exploited .Ujjain has got a very high tourism potential and the local economy can get a boost if proper strategies are adopted. The city also has a strong relationship between the waterbodies and the people. Their interrelationship is as sacred as the city. The different lakes in the city have different functions associated to them and their surroundings.Processional paths and rituals are carried out throughout the year.