Kankaria - An Adaptive Neighborhood

Cities are an emergent phenomenon. A city exists because of the strong interactions among humans and their resulting collective behavior. Surprisingly, however, cities themselves exhibit emergent behavior. (Nichol, 2007) The cities grow very fast and hence societies become increasingly arbitrary, interchangeable and contingent. Adaptability is the quality of being able to adjust to the new conditions and also retaining the self-identity. Kankaria, located in the south eastern part of Ahmedabad with Kankaria lake and Maninagar as the major landmarks. The historic Kankaria Lake has been a part of Ahmedabad since its foundation was laid by its then ruler Ahmed Shah in 1451. It was originally used as the water reservoir, serving as the important reason for the development to happen around it. The Textile mills were established in Ahmedabad during 19th century. People working in textile mills started settling nearby and that is how Maninagar came into existence. The Kankaria and Maninagar area of the eastern Ahmedabad came into existence during the 19th century due to the establishment of textile mills nearby. The area has shaped itself by undergoing many stages of evolution. The settlements here are date back to 1960 when the people working in textile mills settling down here due to the proximity to their work place. So, this led to the development of middle-class residential area which was then considered as the suburbs of the city. Although the area kept evolving over the time, but it didn’t transform itself. The major criteria such as the launch of BRTS, Kankaria lake front development, Gujarat riots and the earthquake witnessed played as major interventions in the evolution of the precinct. However, the area has successfully maintained its self-identity that was conceived from its inception and also it has also adapted the different interventions and developments occurring in the area and striving towards becoming a better urban area. Thus, we can say that Kankaria reflects the concept of adaptive urbanism.

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