Kavya Suresh

Urban Transformations & Sustainability: Urban Fabric

Transformation of the public realm - Metro station square

[RE]Shaping urban environments in Chennai City - Urban transformation through an integrated densification process to facilitate liveable environments

Chennai is in a situation of increasing vehicular congestion, disappearing public space and forgotten ecological networks, due to the mismanaged urbanisation process that predominantly prioritises economic growth in the city. Over time, this has amounted to a city that neglects the pedestrian, and lacks many opportunities for social interactions, opportunities to sit, walk or just wander.

This project finds potentials in the ever changing and densifying city, to facilitate a liveable public realm for those who inhabit it. The notion of public space in the context of Chennai is understood. The process of densification and urban growth is redefined, through the evaluation of its synergies and conflicts with the mobility network and the ecological systems in the city. This results in a trans-scalar design and planning strategy that facilitates urban transformation in a holistic manner, taking into account ecological impacts, mobility networks and daily life patterns of people.

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