[Reader-list] Apologies for late posting

[mmdesai]

Posting VI: Women and their Spatial Narratives in the City of Ahmedabad

 

By: Madhavi Desai

 

One of the main realizations of this project for me is the sad truth that much needs to be done at the level of physical planning in the city of Ahmedabad as well as most other cities of India. Not being from the discipline of Planning, this had not struck me with such a force till now. I have been talking to planners in the process of completing my work. Before introducing the gender angle, I tried to find out about the mechanisms of people's participation in the city. It seems the structures for this are inadequate in the present system and the scale is too huge. The fist level of physical planning is done through the Development Plans (these include major services, road network, zoning regulations, etc.) that generally cover a decade or two. There is a feeling among planners that shorter-term plans may make more sense. The second level is the Town Planning Scheme level that is not always there in all states of India. Here they have reservation of certain economically weaker section of the society, provision for commercial and local market spaces, and rules about location of us stops. The problems are not found in the rules but in the implementation due to corruption and bureaucratic processes. From the Master Plan scale to the individual building design, there is a tremendous gap that needs to be bridged. For example, there is a lack of local area plans or area specific byelaws, an experiment to evolve these has just begun in Delhi.

 

As far as people's participation is concerned, they are not very active. An exception was found in the planning of Bhuj (in Kutch) after the earthquake when a lot of interest was generated and several groups participated in the discussions. Generally, the plans are displayed in offices and an announcement is made in newspapers, inviting objections, which I personally do not think is a very open or positive approach. In any case, the analysis of how the physical decisions affect women as a group is not there.

 

On a positive note, I was very pleased to come across a publication from Janaagraha, a citizens' movement in the city of Bangalore. It is called, "Shaping Vibrant Cities: Neighbourhood Vision Campaign 2003: A Citizens' Platform for Participatory Ward Planning". The ward is the smallest administrative unit in the municipality. Janaagraha used this unit for participatory planning initiatives at the local level where it matters the most. (Perhaps the ward unit is also too large to effectively make an impact on the core of citizens' lives but that is the best we can do at the moment.) Though excellent efforts have been made by this organization (that should be emulated), I was a little disappointed not to find the mention of women as a special group in their campaign.

 

The question is why do private citizens and non-governmental organizations have to make such efforts? Why cannot the government also bring about certain changes as we move forward in the 21st century? I totally empathize with Sudeshna Chatterjee's experience in Delhi dealing with the Basti Nizamuddin.

 

Though things are changing in the last decade due to globalizing pressures, we still have a long way to go. I think it is time to root for transparency in all planning processes and respect for the individual citizen, whether male or female.

 

 

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