Urmil Ahlawat

4669-7

 Two cities of Gujarat stood among the first round of top twenty smart cities which is exemplary. Ahmedabad being one of them. The city showcases immense growth rate, with new urban centers sprawling up along the periphery, owing to the development of expressways and national highways. These quick access transit routes have lead to the growth of different parts of Ahmedabad, which further act as counter magnets for the core. The study tries to understand and analyze one such area, i.e. Thaltej, with the help of different parameters, like the study of its history, evolution, street design, land use, built form, public spaces, infrastructure, households, income of the residents, job centers and livelihood of the residents. Thaltej is located on the periphery of Ahmedabad. In terms of its character, it developed and transformed from peri-urban area to a suburb to now an urban center, located off the city center.  PERI URBAN AREA : The area constituted characteristics of both rural and urban spaces. The farmlands were later cleared for development purposes.  SUBURB: Over the course of the study, several factors draw one’s attention and exhibits a different character, peculiar to the selected area. The precinct has a very strong hold on the residential nature of the area throughout. The residents belong to different communities that have either migrated from the different districts of Gujarat or have crawled out of the core of Ahmedabad. The core-periphery relationship is thus prominent and can be observed in the precinct. This peri-urban area has gradually become a suburb, giving its residents a chance to settle in large bungalows and have access to basic amenities at the same time. URBAN CENTER : Thaltej first developed in the 19th century, as one of the earliest suburbs of Ahmedabad. However, the distance from the core lead to very slow growth of the area. It was only with the introduction of the development plan and town planning schemes that the snail speed growth achieved a fast pace in the precinct. S.G. Highway soon opened doors for a variety of commercial activities, thereby increasing job centers in the vicinity and eventually taking the shape of an urban center. The precinct houses such vibrant sections of the society, in terms of their way of living, livelihood, household, public spaces, etc. that lead to a beautiful journey which was unfolded over the weeks. The following chapters try to capture this pulsating growth and define the character in a more meaningful way.