Andhra Pradesh

’a city is more than a place in space, it is a drama in time.’

-Patrick Geddes

A city is not only about its inhabitants but also about its old streets, gardens and old historical footprints. A city is as much known for its markets, famous food culture as for the people who live there. With every new construction the city builds up its history & culture. This is distinctly visible in the urban planning of any metro city. For example, when we talk about Delhi, the first thing that comes to many minds is the old town of Chandni chowk and its famous Paranthe-wali gali. And in case of Lucknow, its Tunde kabab or chikankari cross our mind first. These popular trademarks of cities have left imprints on its identity. No one knows how & when.

Most of the Indian metro cities are more than 500 years old. There are few evidences available that point to any historical urban planning in these cities, however major portions of area are planned as per usage. In any case, if we get chance to design a city from scratch today, it would give us immense control over city planning. With so much knowledge & so many tools available today we can design the new city for future while also keeping it sustainable.Too good to be true? Turns out, we could witness this in not so distant future. I was reading a Dezeen article recently about the new Indian capital of Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh, a state in India, is located in the southeastern part of the subcontinent. It is surrounded by the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha and Telangana. Telangana was a region within Andhra Pradesh for almost six decades, but in 2014 it was carved off to form a separate state. Hyderabad is the temporary capital of Andhra pradesh till a new capital is in place. There are many big urban planning companies pursuing to be part of this historical opportunity of designing this new city. I found out that one of my favorite architectural firm Foster + Partners won the concept prize and working on the new capital planning.

So, how will the new city look like and what is it called?

    

Photo by Foster + Partners

The new capital of Andhra pradesh will be called Amravati. As per Foster + Partners, the new city’s masterplanning is set on the banks of river Krishna. The new city of Amaravati will cover 217 square kilometres and is set to be one of the most sustainable cities in the world. Surrounded by a freshwater lake at the centre of this "green spine", the legislative assembly building will be crowned by 250-metre-high conical roof, above a rippling overhanging canopy that will provide shade and allow cool breezes to move through the building. The centre of the city will be stretching 5.5 kilometers long and 1 kilometre wide, with ribbon-like lakes weaving around tree-lined boulevards. Over 60 per cent of this core area will be occupied by greenery or water, with cycle paths, water taxis and routes for electric cars providing green transport options. Shaded streets and squares have been designed to encourage people to walk.

The urban grid and central expanse of greenery are inspired from both New York's Central Park and Edwin Lutyens’ designs for Delhi.This new city’s planning will be starting soon and will take some years to become reality. Till then we could wish this would be a new Chandigarh of India. This city will definitely make a mark on history soon.

-By Ranu