Sprawling city and central business district 

New Delhi (/ˈdɛli/, Hindi pronunciation: [dɪlliː] Dilli), the capital of India - is the seat of power of the largest democracy. This city has been continuously inhabited since the 6th century BC. Throughout most of its history, Delhi has served as the capital of various kingdoms and empires. It has been occupied, demolished and re-written several times, particularly during the medieval period till the last century. But today, as New Delhi is identified more by a larger territory called the National Capital Region, the scale at present is beyond comparison to the past kept in context. 

This region is now a host of sprawling built masses and various emerging megacities. The history of Delhi as the political capital of the country has been highly dynamic. And the way the city looks today was much much different from its projected future in the last century. 

British Raj 

The new city of Imperial Delhi was constructed by the imperial British Empire exactly 100 years ago, whilst shifting the capital from Kolkata to Delhi. This was hands down the largest real estate development project conceived by any government at that time. Architect Edwin Lutyens was endowed with the responsibility to plan and construct this new capital, and several buildings within it. 

The plan was 5 times the size of the original Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi), with a visionary idea of housing the imperial capital. They constructed several buildings like the President’s House, Parliament, Race Course, India Gate, Parks, Memorials and Various avenues. 

Out of the many buildings and plans that were made., the heart of public life then and now was called as CP. Connaught Place, fondly called “CP”, practically forms the City Centre of Delhi. Conceived as a commerce hub or CBD by the British it has been constantly growing and becoming one of the most vibrant recreational and institutional space attracting local, regional and international visitors throughout the year. 

CP then slowly became a hub of many things - Social (Circus, Events, Protests, etc.), Political (Rallies, Parades, Road Shows, etc.), Cultural (Celebrations, Festivals, etc.), Economic (Workplaces, Business Centers, etc.) and Accessibility (With all the national highways passing through CP).  

Present scenario 

Connaught Place, today is popular as a public market that is built in Colonial style architecture. The building forms two concentric circles. Seven roads connect the outer circle and inner circle. The outer circle holds hotels, shops, and restaurants. 

The middle circle has banks, exchange houses, offices and other corporations. Inner circle hosts various shops, eateries and entertainment spaces, with a gigantic park in the center. CP now is much much more than a market to the people of New Delhi. When it came into being, the sprawling circular market was the largest of its kind in India. 

The structures have been continuously transformed by the inhabitants/tenants/shop owners while keeping the external skin the same. The market has been consistently trying to keep up with the information age by providing many digital services/facilities to keep people hooked. This has kept the CP relevant reflecting its compatibility to the needs of today. This exhibits one of the key properties of New Delhi, being the city of change.

Change in Aura of New Delhi

As 2020 approaches, the perceived image of the city has been constantly changing, due to the air quality, traffic, crime, reducing pedestrian friendliness and many more. The increasing rates of urban issues in the central business district mushrooming up are slowly outnumbering the positive aspects the city could offer. A visible indicator of this can be seen on the Ease of Living index, (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs) where New Delhi has slipped considerably in past few years. (Source) The stated urban issues are caused by various complex problems that are heavily interdependent on each other and are aggravated by the gradually increasing population. 

There is no go-to solution to these issues, but the city finds itself struggling with these problems for the past two decades and getting worse every day.

Img: Different scales of Delhi put in perspective 

New Delhi has reached extreme limits of it’s sprawl and is now surrounded by upcoming urban centres at its periphery, which are growing at rampant speed. New Delhi serves a much larger population which it was intended to, compared to its 1912 master plan. From being one of the best places to live in the country, Delhi now is perceived far negatively because of the urban issues it can’t avoid. Every Indian city, which aspires to be growth led today, is now showing these preliminary signs of problems Delhi found itself in a few decades ago which went ignored. 

As we trail towards more GDP benchmarked societies, cities in India are slowly becoming more and more unlivable. Is this future impossible to escape?

Where does CP find itself today? 

The cost to afford a space in CP is still a luxury, only a handful can afford it. Its skyrocketing costs and rising demands are a clear indicator of the value of the place. The value has been created by its Social, Political, Cultural, Economical, Ecological and Accessibility properties, which have been outstanding in the last century. But with the increasing value, the pressure has followed. 

The structure already has started to crumble because of losing strength and usage violations by its tenants. A series of maintenance activities have to be done every day to make sure the market is still in shape. But the insides are decaying considerably making it impossible to ensure 100% safety of its occupants. 

Being the CBD, it’s lack of performance/innovation/growth/scalability is also hindering the primary purpose of the place. But its heritage ties and nostalgia make it impossible to even think of a different outcome that will change its existing image in any manner. 

How would the next century of this place be, under such an existential question?

Neo-Delhi: The next wave of micro-rewrites

If Imperial Delhi (as seen today) is a design written in 1912 conceiving the imperial capital only, it is impossible to completely rewrite the city again for the capital of India at this scale. What it really needs today is a wave of micro-rewrites that have the ability to alleviate it from its urban issues. 

By micro-rewrites, we mean smaller pieces of the built environment that are ready for the population capacity it realistically will serve in the coming decades, but keeping the relevance of the place it serves. 

This new wave of micro-rewrites is conceived as Neo Delhi. The design brief here is to propose a re-design/re-think of the central business district and the heart of public life Connaught Place, based on a city that is more prepared for its inhabitants of tomorrow.

Objectives

Analyzing CP based on its  1. Social, 2. Political, 3. Cultural, 4. Economical, 5. Ecological and 6. Accessibility aspects dealt together in the next century and kept it the heart of the city. Design question: Should the legacy design of CP be maintained with its current use? If Yes. How do we see it in the next 50 years with the issues that are developing (pollution, population, political stability, maintaining cultural aspects in the digital age, transportation of the future and contributing significantly to the economy as well.)

If No, how will it be defined as the heart of the city in the next century? Define possibilities/cases/applications supporting the same. 

Ties

Out of all the major concerns outlying - what makes this rewrite authentic are its three preliminary ties that should be considered upon before an action: 

• Historic Ties: The place belongs to the Lutyens Region of New Delhi, which has been significant in shaping the face of modern Indian Architecture. How will the new CP would stay true to its Historic ties when it looks ahead in the next century? 
• Commerce Ties: With the place being intended to be the CBD of the capital since the beginning, the economic identity of Connaught place will be a key factor even today and tomorrow. The change here is the kind of commerce that it will be serving, which transforms every day. Eg. Reducing the needs of shop fronts because of webstores, Changing the type of office spaces here because of changing work structures, etc. How will these ties transform yet stay? 
• Inclusivity Ties: While this evolution is considered, what has been one of the most consistent elements of Connaught Place is inclusivity. Connaught place still serves a vast demographic, central business district and even if the prices to afford this place is skyrocketing. What are these ties and how can these be preserved? 

Outcomes

The outcome should be a solution at the planning level of the central business district, from one or more aspects from these 6 aspects

1. Social, 2. Political, 3. Cultural, 4. Economical, 5. Ecological and 6. Accessibility) stated.

Participants are encouraged to produce 3D generated visualizations to show Massing and Solutions that support the issues, through sketches or diagrams. 

As the scale of the challenge is too vast, the ideas are expected to be conceptual. No measured drawings or detailed drawings are required as submission. 

 

The sprawling circular market was the largest of its kind in India. The structures have been continuously transformed by the inhabitants/tenants/shop owners while keeping the external skin same. The market has been consistently trying to keep up with the information age by providing many digital services/facilities to keep people hooked. This has kept CP relevant reflecting its compatibility to the needs of today.

This exhibits one of the key properties of New Delhi, being the city of change.

On the flipside, the structure already has started to crumble because of losing strength and usage violations by its tenants. A series of maintenance activities have to be done every day to make sure the market is still in shape. But the insides are decaying considerably making it impossible to ensure 100% safety of its occupants. Being the CBD, it’s lack of performance / innovation / growth / scalability is also hindering the primary purpose of the place. But its heritage ties and nostalgia make it impossible to even think of a different outcome that will change its existing image in any manner.

How would the next century of this place be, under such an existential question?

Learn more about the full details of the challenge in the brief.