Degree of neighbourliness in Indian urban neighbourhoods : a case study of New Delhi

Abstract

The planning practices which are presently practised in India and the standards which are being followed to great extents disregard the social needs of planning, which are very essential for the people. It has caused the planning practices, even residential planning to act as extremely functional and technical where in quality is determined just by the amount of spaces and facilities that can be adjusted. People living in Indian neighborhoods have mostly been living there not as each other’s neighbours but merely as individual residents, rarely interacting with one another. This has led to eventually dying of neighbourliness amongst residents. Consequently this thesis will comprehend the level of neighborliness in three private neighborhoods of Delhi and how the residential physical planning influences it. Neighborliness can thus, be defined as the extent of interaction between the different occupants and neighbours of a specific neighborhood. It is about getting to know neighbours in the area. Accordingly, neighborliness is a sentiment closeness and vicinity with neighbours, making all inhabitants inside a neighborhood feel welcome and upbeat, wherever the particular home for any family possibly inside this place. There is a wide range of sorts of communications between neighbours in the neighborhood, proposing the distinctive sorts of connections that exist among occupants. These communications and connections can shift over the diverse time of day, diverse spaces and places in the area on various occasions. All of these interactions and connections that frame between the neighbours all constitute as the neighborliness of a neighbourhood. People today living in the gated communities/townships have largely been living there not each other’s neighbours, but only as individual residents. Residents do not look out for eachother and sometimes the people leave their present houses as they don’t feel comfortable, homely and connected. Today’s neighborhood planning focuses just on the quantity of infrastructure and ignores the quality of life and comfort. Urbanisation has led to change in the urban settlements. They are growing and diversifying, at a rapid pace with a larger and more diverse population along socioeconomic and ethnic lines. Lifestyle and degree of neighborliness in the neighborhoods has been constantly changing with the diversifying population. The main aim of neighborhood is to inculcate a sense of neighborliness and belonging. Through this thesis I would like to assess whether these neighborhoods can still converge as a neighborhood in the traditional sense and are these neighborhoods helping in establishing good relations and connections with each other. Thus, this thesis aims, “To understand the degree of neighborliness in residential neighborhoods in Indian context.” To achieve the desired aim I would carry out the following objectives, •To understand how neighborhood planning affects neighborliness. •To compare neighborliness between traditional organic neighborhoods and contemporary planned neighborhoods. •To measure the degree of neighborliness in the selected neighborhoods through factors affecting neighborliness. •To provide recommendations to increase neighborliness based on neighborhood planning. Thus, a detailed literature review based on neighbourhoods in the Indian context, neighbourhood planning principles and neighbourliness had been conducted. It was understood, what factors from the neighbourhood enhance neighbourliness and what lead to decrease in neighbourliness. Based upon the literature studied, a few case studies were also reviewed to understand, how neighbourliness has been assessed in the other foreign nations. Through the case study of three neighbourhoods of New Delhi, from unplanned organic colonies to planned well developed neighbourhoods of the city have been chosen to understand and determine the degree of neighbourliness. Paharganj, an organic unplanned neighbourhood, Rohini; a modern semi-planned neighbourhood and Dwarka; a 21st century planned neighbourhood have been chosen to see how neighbourliness changes both over time and planning practices. Upon conducting a thorough primary survey of these three neighbourhoods of New Delhi, they were compared on the basis of the factors chosen to determine neighbourliness in the Indian scenario. The list of factors, parameters, its indicators and measures were compiled on the grounds of literature review, public opinion and expert opinion. A scoring mechanism was devised on the basis of the indicators and its measures and weightage to each of the parameters were given by experts and ranked to prioritize the list of factors. Based on the framework, neighbourliness in each of these neighbourhoods has been scored and calculated. As the score determined the extent to which neighbourliness in present in these neighbourhoods, a detailed comparison was done to analyse what factors were responsible for higher degree of neighbourliness in these neighbourhoods. Finally, upon analysis recommendations are given, as per the ideal scenario of enhanced neighbourliness in neighbourhoods to provide the lost sense of human interaction and relations and re-introduce social planning within physical neighbourhood planning. Therefore, a thorough analysis of how neighbourliness and neighbourhoods affect quality of human life has been studied through this thesis. Recommendations shall eventually help in designing and planning Indian neighbourhoods in the coming future without losing the basic essence of neighbourhoods which is healthy interactions and a lively, safe and comfortable environment for all age groups, genders and residents alike. Neighbourliness, is what keeps a neighbourhood successful. It is what makes people attracted towards their place of residence and in a happy state of mind. Without the peace of living in a healthy community one can never be truly happy. As happiness of the family is what matters the most to everyone, neighbourhood planning must always be done, in consideration to the neighbourliness aspects.