Abstract:
After the introduction of economic globalisation policies in early 90s, a lot of capital
influx and investment impetus started pouring in India. Economic activities reached
new scales owing to international trade networks. The investment then started to
find places with resources to pour in. The influx was so high in potential that it had
certain areas and regions grow exponentially at a rate which could never have
been achieved through the local economies. As huge capital was available, some
cities started expanding rapidly and those who could not grow further, started
pouring development impetus to the nearing towns and settlements. A situation
consequential to this huge change in economy can be seen in those areas
developed with this international influx of investment, more specifically in areas
within big cities and around the smaller towns lying in proximity to a bigger metro
city. The economic globalization introduced a new urban form through various
developments for fulfilling new demands. Soon, these new patterns started taking
over the existing activities and areas and spread to isolate the indigenous fabric.
In the wake of vast investments, the public agencies responsible for urban
development started ignoring this cause and instead only thought of settling more
global trade centres in cities. Citing the example of Gurugram, a city known for
housing centres of more than half of Fortune 500 companies of the world,
developed in a similar manner. The city isolates various villages as it sprawls
continuously, simultaneously leaving wide gaps of conflict between the villages and
the urban areas. Since the local development authority acquired the agricultural
lands for urbanisation, the village Abadi’s were left untouched. Looking at the
degrading conditions of the physical as well as social relations of the Abadis with
the surrounding region, this study is an account of how through finding spatial
interventions on the scale of villages, we can create platforms for achievement of
certain goals. The first one would be to form a place for negotiation between
diverse communities and secondly to strengthen the communities in themselves
through supporting their livelihoods and economies and providing spaces of good
social value. This is done by studying various characteristics of the built and social
fabric of the Urban Village and then carefully planning out zones of intervention for
maximum impact
