BUILDING THE COMMUNITY BOND

In a hugely populated city like Mumbai, where towers are touching the sky, a lot of stress is been given to provide amenities for the people within their own premises. Roof top lounges, swimming pool, fitness center etc. all adds to the wellness of people. These undoubtedly help people to get out the groove and also to expand their community bonding. But the time spent in the luxury of ones abode, or in our own kitchen is only a fraction of the time of what we spent outside while traveling, or at our office. The only vision we are witnessing here is the magnanimity of the concrete structures springing from all the street lines. With microscopic green spaces against the humongous structural backdrop leaves us with a monotony of elevated skyline.

Dodging through parked cars, loading, unloading tempos people have no option than to stop by the restaurants and eateries for a cross talk or a palaver. And with this rising population to be catered to, very little space is left for us to be connected with nature, leave aside community bonding. No corner of any development or infrastructure is endured where few moments of pleasantries can be exchanged. This is the case of most of the emerging cities.

Rules are assembled, evaluated, reedited to make way for wider streets; or for the continuously changing fire safety issues; or even ever increasing parking norms. But lesser known spaces within the public infrastructure are clearly overlooked. What streets are lacking today are the street corners or squares where public interaction or communal gatherings can be held. These plazas or squares which are necessity of today, dates back to the times of the historical era of the Roman period. It was called the ‘Piazza’ or the ‘Palazzo’ in those times. It formed a place of rich Architecture and well defined gathering place.

They still have their remains intact today, forging the need for a community gathering then and now. Even today we have the ‘Times Square’ in congested city of New York or the ‘Trafalgar Square’ of London. These unquestionably are spirit uplifting, form a part of entertainment and give a neighbourhood kind of feeling. Such corners or squares invigorate social integration.

In our cities there is an absolute need to shape and carve out a space where one can sit and relax, unwind, or probably munch before continuing the grind of life. With the shift in work culture it is becoming necessary to keep public amenities accessible all day and night. More emphasis to be given to the transitional spaces before reaching our final abode or destination. Some relaxing locations should be chalk marked for community bonding. Just by building Buildings, is going to make cities only robotic and livable and not make it alive.

All we need is area earmarked in the development plan accentuating the need for such squares. For road widening some plots abutting smaller width roads are imperatively made to sacrifice land for better network of road networks; similarly importance of neighborhood planning to be compulsorily done while designing of streets and corners. This will not only connect people with nature; but provide for a green foreground to the tall structures and strengthen the community bond with others and self too.

Ar. Rashmi Phulkar  (Practicing architect, Vile Parle EAST)