Eco-Sim City: Norms for Resilience and Diversity

Soni Siddhi Minesh

UR3005

By questioning the traditional forms of development, project ‘Eco-Sim City’ redefines the existing sector model in the city of Gandhinagar. It provides its inhabitants with greater liberty to build on their private plots through an innovative choice-based system. It envisions a lifestyle for its residents with a range of productive landscapes that they can build and maintain themselves. This new system comprises of ecologically driven rules, that aid for a balanced and integrated environment. The project is based on the premise of redefining existing planning strategies of Gandhinagar city, such that it addresses the growing climate crises by also actively involving its citizens.

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At city scale the project aims to build an ecological corridor surrounding the city, with reserved forest area on the Eastern edge, industrial buffer towards the north, farmlands towards the south and diverse productive landscapes along the railway lines and within the vacant plots of the city. Four least developed sectors have been identified in order to test redefined ecology based planning regulations, where these variety of productive landscapes can be introduced.

For the purpose of the Project sector 22 is developed in detail. A base framework is proposed which ensures accessibility, walkability and defined public spaces for sports facilities, parks & gardens and other such public activities. These are the attributes of the sector defined and developed by the city authorities and hence would remain constant.

Keepers are people who are responsible for building and maintaining productive landscapes of their choice within their private plots.Considering the unique purposes of all the keepers, zones have been identified in the sector on which people can build.

Keepers catalogue describes how a plot can be organised with a major portion of land dedicated for the respective productive landscape. It highlights the necessary and optional landscape elements, which provides for a greater flexibility of plot development for each household to exercise their unique preferences

The plot level strategy not only overlooks how the plots are located and placed in a block, but also how and what keepers are building within their plots. This ensures that residents organise their plots in such a manner that it doesn’t hinder socio-economic activities and liveliness of the neighbourhood.

A detailed demonstration of plot development. It shows how food growers may decide to build just build farms or orchards or even combination of both along with several other landscape elements. It also attempts to show nature of plot entrances, plot boundaries, parking availability and access to the backyard spaces.

Gradually over a period of 10 years the sector develops, with a variety of landscapes with ecological, economical and social values, making it a resilient and vibrant place to reside in.

Evolution Visualisation

Plot Level Visualisation

Sector Level Visualisation