Old markets, new ideas : revitalization for Aminabad, Lucknow

Several cities in Asia are facing the same dilemma faced by Europe in the early twentieth century and the United States in the fifties. This dilemma is how to improve the 'blighted ' old city that got left behind with its narrow streets and old ways. The symptoms and diagnosis are similar but the prescription will vary. In the light of old precedents; the background information of current urban theory; a different economic and demographic situation; and the addition of new parameters like sustainability and good community life; a new strategy needs to be devised. This thesis addresses the historic core of the city of Lucknow. Lucknow is the capital of the largest state in India, a secondary level city. Its old city is, at once, the vibrant commercial center and the point of discontent with the low quality of life it offers. This thesis shall analyze the current forces of change and the problems it faces and work out a strategy for its redevelopment.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

1999

Author dc:creator

• Prakash-Dutta, Mamta, 1969-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Julian Beinart.The goals of this project are to improve the quality of life and to preserve the special characteristics of this area like heritage, diversity and density while pursuing the ideals of efficiency, ecological soundness and social equity in the planning. The idea is to retrofit the old c ity to accommodate contemporary living and working while retaining the positive characteristics. The strategy tries to direct market forces to create a change in the area. For the revitalization of Aminabad, this thesis explores a methodolgy that uses five classic revitlaization strategies which suggest different priorities, modes of implementation and sources of funding. These include - conservation planning, tourism planning, residential community planning, mercantile community planning and a transit oriented plan. This thesis then develops an integrated plan which considers the congruencies and conflicts of the different strategies. It also explores implementation and management strategies for this plan. One of the concerns of this thesis is to arrive at a strategy which can be replicated in other Indian cities and locations. In real terms, this refers to the revitalization of an average c ity center with almost no external funding.

• Architecture.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/69422

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/69422