By Raka Choudhury
There is an important relationship between urbanization and the economy, particularly as more and more Indians move to cities and economic growth stalls. While the focus of this connection is generally limited to the lack of urban infrastructure such as water, sewage, electricity, roads, and public transport, the infrastructure that affects of the quality of life in urban centers is often overlooked.
Public parks, playgrounds, and open space (accessible to all income groups) are integral for establishing a sense of community and promoting healthy lifestyles for all age groups.
In Delhi, thanks to numerous historic monuments and their associated grounds, as well as the Delhi Ridge, we are fortunate to have the highest percentage of green coverage among all Indian cities. According to the Forest Survey of India’s 2011 report, 20% of Delhi’s land was under forest cover in 2011. Indeed, Lodhi Gardens and the park around the Hauz Khas reservoir are fine examples of equitable open spaces in Delhi, although disability access is still problematic at both.
Gurgaon also has a number of large parks. Friends who occasionally visit with their families tell me that the 40-acre Leisure Valley Park in Sector 29 and the Tau Devi Lal Park in Sector 56 are clean, well-maintained open greens. I live not too far away, but I must confess that I have not visited either. In a place where crime against women is exceptionally high, being alone in a large park — where much of the area is not visible from adjoining buildings, public roads and sidewalks — just doesn’t seem like the best place to get my exercise or fresh air. This lack of perceived safety makes these Gurgaon parks unsuccessful, at least in my eyes.
So what does make an urban park successful? Enrique Penalosa, former mayor of Bogota, is renowned for his inspired vision of making the Colombian capital more sustainable, with a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system and miles of bicycle paths and greenways. He was recently at the International Parks Forum in Adelaide, Australia, where he commented: “The way to measure if a park is good, or better, is how much does it attract and retain people? Parks are for people; we’re not creating forests for monkeys, or koalas or kangaroos… We are talking about urban parks and the whole design should be around what will attract and retain the most people.”
While large parks are required and welcomed, Gurgaon also needs urban plazas and pocket parks (that are not within gated communities and can be accessed by all), preferably connected by a system of sidewalks and bike trails. Transparent edges that improve visibility help make these parks and plazas safe.
Within Sector 29 in Gurgaon, there’s an example of a space that could have been a hugely successful urban park. A rectangular plot of land, about 2.5 acres in size, is surrounded by restaurants, bars and a big grocery store, while hotels and residential neighborhoods are within walking distance. However, the only view that patrons sitting at the windows of these up-scale restaurants are “treated to” is a public parking lot. What a wasted opportunity, both socially and economically.
Turning a parking lot like this into a park isn’t really that difficult. The nearby businesses could get together, have the space designed and constructed, and pay a monthly fee to have it cleaned and maintained. The increased footfall from creating a more attractive place would more than adequately recover the cost of these improvements. In an ideal world, the local government would pitch in and provide matching funds. Cities like New York have plaza programs where they work with non-profits to create neighborhood plazas and transform underused spaces into social public places. But that may be too much to expect in Gurgaon, just yet.
On the drive to Gurgaon from Delhi, along MG Road are a couple of big traffic roundabouts. The larger oval roundabout is the site of a power substation; the second, triangular in shape, is an improvised soccer field used by local teenagers. This spontaneity, integral to creating a vibrant and successful urban space, is what urban planners crave, but it also highlights the inadequacy of playgrounds in Gurgaon and other cities in India.
Fortunately, India’s Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Ajay Maken, appears to share this concern and has identified a rather progressive solution. Last month, he convinced Minister for Urban Development, Kamal Nath, to instruct local schools in Delhi to allow children living within a three kilometer radius to use their playgrounds after school hours. Gurgaon schools, however, have expressed reservations about adopting this policy, citing safety and maintenance of their playgrounds as their primary concerns.
The policy recommendation of converting school yards to playgrounds is reminiscent of a similar initiative undertaken by the City of New York. Implementing the recommendations of New York’s open space plan, 69 schoolyards were ready for use as community playgrounds within the first year of the plan. By 2030, some 254 sites will provide play space for over 300,000 children. Mr. Maken’s initiative is a great idea that has worked in other places, but it needs some refinement, especially to ensure that the responsibility for implementation is not single-handedly shouldered by the schools; in New York, public-private partnerships fund the redesign, improvements and maintenance of these parks.
A recent Gallup study found that 31% of Indians see themselves as “suffering,” up from just 8% in 2008. Could quality of life factors such as parks – where you can play or just escape the chaos of city life for a brief respite — be a factor?
The United States’ Trust for Public Land developed an approach to measure how well U.S. cities are meeting the need for parks. Factors such as the median park size, park acres as a percent of city area, spending per resident, playgrounds per 10,000 residents and percent of population within a 10-minute walk of a public park were taken into account. Indian cities do not have the same financial capability as U.S. cities, but even as we prioritize basic infrastructure improvements, it is important to simultaneously start thinking and incrementally implementing some quality of life improvements.
Our economy, especially now, can’t really afford to lose people because they want a better quality of life for their children.
Raka Choudhury is an urban planner with a decade’s experience in Washington, DC. Since her return to Asia, she has worked on projects in Singapore, Malaysia and India. The views expressed here are her own. You can follow her on Twitter @rcrc201.
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