Abstract:
Landscape can be seen as a gathering ground between nature and people, past and present, and tangible and intangible values and where, there is a continuous interaction between natural processes and human activities that both shape and are formed by one another. "Places, localities, landscapes and seascapes enable cultural practices to occur, but are also created through them”. These interconnections between natural and the cultural significance of the landscape have foregoing. Thusly, appreciating the topography and its landscapes is certainly not another idea in nature preservation despite the fact that it has established a way back ever, got from the idea of nature protection. That is the reason geo-heritage and geo-tourism are two huge pieces of human excitement for the World's geographical resources. Geo-tourism traverses an extent of visitors' interests, from the expert geo-tourist to the broader traveller. This thesis aims in designing a geological park as an open space focusing on appreciation of the landscape and the natural process of geo sites. And also, to interpret the story and celebrate Nagpur’s rocky landscape.
Nagpur city of Maharashtra State, lies in the Deccan Plateau and displays rocky landscapes with rocks and rocky hills. These are not ordinary rock formations; they are geologically based on Precambrian rocks. It encompasses metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary rocks. Examples include gneiss, greenstone, granite, graywacke, iron-formation, schist, basalt, gabbro, and anorthosite. Even some of the oldest rocks in the world up to 3.5 billion years old found in the Precambrian rocks. In the last few decades Nagpur has developed rapidly and creates a major danger to the city's natural heritage and the irreversible change in the Deccan landscape. Therefore, there is a need to preserve/conserve the rocks and appreciate the landscape character of the Deccan.
Rocks are not the biotic components which we want to save instead of getting extinct. But these are the remnants of early history and planet earth formation. They help to learn and enrich how our earth evolved and transformed into inner and outer forces over time. They also tell us how they support millions of other forms of life and people; how certain forms of life have been lost, and how those who survive have kept the relay.
This thesis aims at promoting Nagpur's natural heritage and also the cultural association of the people with the Ghogra rock sites. And to include them as public open spaces in city and promote their preservation as rock sites, as an integral part of development.
