Cultural Hub, Old Bhopal

Abstract

In moving towards a sustainable future, there is a pressing need to utilize land more efficiently and to its optimum potential and this must first and foremost be realized in the urban public realm. The city requires us to see the publicly-owned assets as a single network – civic commons – so as to expand their individual and collective capacities in doing public good. With the constant threat of demolition for urban renewal, historic inner cities have often been preserved in isolation without integrating them into the broader context of their urban surroundings. These parts of cities very often lack presence of everyday life. The future agenda for urban heritage management relies on an allinclusive approach that embraces transition and change. This thesis provides a new ‘lease of life’ to the Sadar Manzil precinct of Old Bhopal by developing onto the cultural life of the city. It is the synthesis and design of an urban insert in the fraying heritage fabric of the city.