Redevelopment of Gol Bazar as a Socio-Cultural Hub, Chandrapur ( MS )

Abstract

This thesis bases its need on the degrading liveability of urban cores due to unsustainable stress of increasing density and the resultant congestion. Which advocates the dire need for renewal of these urban cores by reviving the public life in such contexts which were once a manifestation of diverse sociocultural, recreational engagement and now have transformed into exhaustive commercial cores. The diverse user group along with the location and accessibility of bazaars in the context of settlement give them a higher potential of being redeveloped as a socio-cultural hub by incorporating other dimensions of a great public space like recreational and cultural exposure while retaining its inclusivity and sociability. Thus, reviving public life in the urban cores. Bazaars here are perceived as a sociable, inclusive and accessible public space, and the thesis stresses on the need of retaining the logics and spatial flows of Bazaars so as to integrate the existing manifestations of sociability. It also focuses on informality as a key factor in defining the sociability of public space. Given the prevalent gentrification due to scarcity of spaces, high land costs and the applied development models in the current approaches of redevelopment, the thesis also aims for a more inclusive and accessible approach for redevelopment through Shared Use. An approach based on the emergent urbanism of Indian cities and cities of the global south at large which builds upon the hybrid and ephemeral nature public activities and emphasises on time based designing of public space as a centre for dynamic and diverse engagements. This thesis intends to achieve the aforesaid through the case of Gol Bazar, Chandrapur (MS). A century old marketplace centrally located in the fort city area which once was a site of diverse public engagement has now turned into an exhaustive commercial core fueled by the increasing density and congestion, has resulted into a degraded public life of the city area. It aims at redevelopment of Gol Bazar as a socio-cultural hub on the lines of an ecoplis through shared use, rooted in the existing sense of place of Gol Bazar. It also tries to address the various issues related to aiding infrastructure, scarcity and inaccessibility of land/space, loss of green cover along with anonymity with the local heritage