Ecological approach towards shaping urban peripheries: case of Chennai city

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and uncontrolled growth, which marks the evolution of cities on a global scale, has led to changing dynamics in the ecological and socio-spatial transformation of the peri-urban areas. Increasing urbanization has to lead to rapid expansion in the city boundaries, making changes in the peri urban areas and adversely impacting urban ecology, making the cities vulnerable. Urban peripheries accommodate the spill over activities and population from old core characterized by fragmentation, heterogeneity, transformative nature attributed to social, morphological and ecological changes in the peri-urban interface. Metropolitan fringes have become key locations Informal practices of the elite in the form of gated communities, educational campuses, townships, high rise apartments in a fragmented, unplanned, and unregulated manner. Different cities differ in terms of major drivers of urbanization but face similar threat to urban ecology in peripheries making the cities vulnerable. Peri-urban neglect is prevalent in cities around the world, though its constant transitions and rapid haphazard growth without a proper planning has in most of the cases led to deteriorating conditions of the ecology that once marked the identity of those areas. One such classic example is the capital city of Tamilnadu, Chennai which is a case of growing core and growing periphery. Chennai city has rapidly expanded its boundaries in the last few decades due to the proposed IT corridor (known as Old Mahabalipuram road) in the southern direction. Post 2000 the city has rapidly expanded its boundaries at the cost of city’s critical wetlands, waterbodies, floodplains etc. losing a considerable amount of ecologically sensitive land making the city vulnerable to severe impacts of urban flooding. Thus, this thesis endeavors to throw light on peri-urban dynamics that leads to ecological and socio- spatial transformations of urban peripheries caused by rapid urbanization that has led to severe deterioration of urban ecology by doing a detailed study of the southern periphery of Chennai. Post analysis of various issues of southern periphery of Chennai, an ecologically sensitive approach is taken towards framing a vision for this precinct and various strategies to achieve the same. The careful analysis and case studies shows that urban peripheries are areas that accommodate spill over population form the core, highly dynamic and transitional in nature holds a great potential for a holistically planned intervention to decongest the old core areas in Indian cities, but are often left unplanned leading to haphazard growth causing adverse impact on the urban ecology of these peri urban areas. Hence, sensitivity should be there towards planning for these dynamic peri urban areas with a holistic ecologically sensitive approach to have a resilient tomorrow. Hence, a holistic ecological approach and creating a water based narrative for the precinct for a strong urban identity can help deal with the issues of peripheral urbanization and make the precinct resilient to urban flooding. The fact that what is peri urban today would be urban spaces tomorrow makes arouses a significant need for planning with an ecological approach to make these future spaces resilient.