LAKES AS URBAN PUBLIC PLACES OF THANE CITY, THANE, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA |
Transforming the Lakes as Urban Public Places
Cities are clear indicators of the culture of a society. The Architectural landmarks, Places of social, cultural, educational and economic importance, active personalities manifest the image of the city and its people. So also its natural attributes like lakes, rivers, seafronts, parks and maidans. They define the visual image and symbolise lifestyle of the city. That’s why the Thames in London, the River ghats of Benares, Marine drive of Bombay cast inseparable images of these cities. These places are mainly used for social congregation, recreation and sacred activities of which our principal memories are made of.
Often natural sites are also public places of the city and are neglected in maintenance, development and planning process. This phenomenon of neglect is common in many cities of India like the Chowpatty’s (Beaches) or Powai lake in Bombay. So is the fate of parks and maidans. Somehow we don’t see the physical deterioration and presume it as part of the urban landscape. These public places are essential and inseparable parts of the machine we call city. Our public realms are our community spaces for interaction and its problems should be addressed as Urban design or improvement problems in a integrated manner. We will discuss this issue of restoring the natural sites and transforming them as public places of a city with an example of Thane City near Bombay and its lakes.
The principal images of Thane is triggered by Gadkari Rangayatan (cultural centre), Masunda and other lakes. Thane had more than 60 lakes and eminent town planner Patric Geddes called it rightly as “City of Lakes”. (Fig.1) However today only 15 are remaining which are deteriorating or encroached upon and just occur incidentally while moving through the city. They are not maintained and are getting reclaimed slowly turning into city dump or wastewater collection ponds – perhaps waiting for an epidemic. Today it’s difficult to call Thane a city of lakes. Is there a way to regain the ineffable quality of a city with lakes and how does one go about achieving it in the present situation? The strategy to be adopted for the crucial renewal is discussed here. Lakes are also used as vehicle to get the attention towards other natural sites and urban form of the city.
Waterfronts are great community spaces of the city as every family member can use it – right from toddler to the elders. Thus they play vital social and cultural roles in our lives, implying our greater responsibility towards them. From immemorial times water bodies have the most revered and also sacred set up in our culture. For they are just not sources of water, they also make practical sense for comfort in our hot tropical climate. To move around water in open-to-sky spaces is a unique pleasurable proposition – a mere look at the seafronts of Bombay at any time of the day will prove this. Masunda (Fig.2)and other lake are as important as Gadkari Rangayatan as a image and cultural symbol of Thane like Marine Drive for Bombay. It is imperative that the lakefronts should be improved and maintained as active useable spaces for the vitally needed social recreation and ritualistic functions and ecological balance. In the process of haphazard urban growth, these lakes and parks are the only natural places left with the city and to ruin them is to squander its great resources.
Often the steps taken to improve the lakes are superficial like beautification i.e. just adding some paving and shrubbery around the edge, like traffic islands (as isolated pieces). If some corrective interventions are carried out then they are piecemeal solutions done in adhoc manner. This is a complete failure of system of use of community spaces and social advantage involved right to the image of city which we are discussing. It is imperative that a holistic approach should be taken in terms of the whole city in relation to these lakes. An immediate strategy needs to be worked right away which we suggested in the form of following major steps:
1. Preparation of Integrated Improvement and Maintenance plan for all lakes of Thane:
- Physical and Environmental improvement: This would involve listing and survey of all existing lakes, physical improvement of lakefronts, steps to maintain urban ecological balance, identification of recreational and social facilities. The improvements should respond and develop a visual character to every lake and form an overall expression of the city. To really revitalize the image of a city of lakes. (Fig.3)
- Maintenance: Evolve a systematic periodic maintenance system and financing program from civic budget or sponsorship's or adoption by local organisations.
- Individual lake Improvement:
- Each lake and its surroundings should be planned as public space, solve its specific problems, provide identified facilities and improvements for natural site preservation according to its distinct context in the city structure in an organised way.
- Identification and solutions for facilities like spaces for social, cultural and recreation like sitting, walking, eating, boating, Ganapati immersion, water sports, etc. The issues to be addressed would be of encroachment, pedestrian and traffic movement, hawkers as well as the environmental aspects of cleaning, diversion of drain/waste lines outlet in the lakes, garbage dumping, etc.
We designed small alcoves in ‘C’ shape to form small sitting spaces for groups. (Fig.4) This will allow people to sit together much comfortably and enjoy conversation. It will also increase the perimeter (sitting area for people) in the same space. Some alcove sizes can be varied to even accommodate hawkers with taps (e.g. Near road junctions) to keep the roads & lake area clean and organised. All this is possible with using the width between existing peripheral low parapet wall and the masonry wall inside the lake. The alcoves spaced about 2 to 3 meters with steps in between, like a Kund facing the lake would be helpful for people to sit together. This space can also have a planter. This pattern of ‘C’ shaped alcoves and steps in stone will give a consistent character to the entire promenade. The elders due to traffic noise and pollution on the road scare to walk around the lake. This can be done by creating another level or pathway between inner edge of lake and alcoves. To circumambulate the whole lake through this inner path would be a pleasurable experience. By creating steps and alcoves in this pattern will encourage going to the lake and make a whole change for the city. Such small yet very crucial interventions would indeed renew the waterfronts. (Fig.5)
This was an overall broad schema to address the issue of improvements of all lakes and then focus on each lake. After the above ideas were published, we were requested by the Municipal Corporation to prepare the plan for Masunda Lake. This was an opportunity to plan and improve the most important lake of the city and a reference for other lakes.
Masunda Lakefront Development
Masunda Lake is located in the heart of the city. It plays a vital recreational and cultural role - and is also the prominent image called as Talaopali – an icon of Thane City. The lakefront and its surroundings were studied as an urban public place to finally evolve an integrated Urban Design Master Plan for the entire lake area. The survey and analysis of the relationship between the lake and its surroundings, its land use, built form, visual character, user patterns, cultural & social functions, problems of traffic & hawkers, the landscape and ecology, lead to identification of the necessity of various public facilities - to finally evolve the improvements required, design and phased execution. The improvements were categorised broadly as reorganising the existing facilities of the promenade, streetscape and spaces for cultural functions. The lake is neglected, blocked at diagonal corners and encroached upon marginally over the years. The principle idea is to open up the lake and its surroundings physically and visually to the city – and transform it into an active open public place. The master plan (Fig.6-10) initiated some of the following crucial interventions:
· Ghats at three corners of the lake: The two diagonal corners at road junctions along Shivaji path (NS) which are almost blocked by hawkers and hoarding are opened up by creating Ghats (steps of a traditional water tank) stepping down into the lake while the 3rd corner (SW) of the existing ghat is reorganised. These will be useful for people to sit in the evenings at the lake and also for immersions during the festival of Lord Ganapati. Thus opening the three corners of the lake would reinforce lake’s three diagonal corners and square plan - right in the heart of the city. The 3rd corner ghat is redesigned with a separate area to dispose the Nirmalya (pooja material of garlands, flowers etc.) without contaminating the lake water. (Fig.11)
· Promenade and ‘C’ shaped Alcoves: As suggested above a series of alcoves and steps along the Shivaji path (NS road) as part of the promenade are provided. Alcoves are also provided for the hawkers near the street junctions, where maximum hawking activity takes place. The repetition of 'C' shaped open seating alcoves as a module, facing the water or the pavement, gives an architectural character in the form of street furniture. (Fig.12,13)
· Promenade and parapet wall: The entire uneven peripheral parapet wall of the promenade is redesigned as uniform low height (45cm high) with stone coping as a sitting bench for the visitors and also thus creating a clear edge to the entire lake. The pavement will be in locally available dressed black basalt stone in this coastal region of Maharashtra. (Fig.14,15)
· Kopineshwar Temple and green spaces around the lake: The 200 years old historical Kopineshwar temple was earlier on the banks of the lake but is today separated by the Shivaji path. By creating the area between temple & Shivaji path as open paved plaza, the temple would be reconnected visually to the lake. The green belt of parks along the Shivaji path is isolated from the lake. These parks will be redesigned to form unified coherent large open space with the lake.
· Lakefront built form and landscape: The buildings facing the lake forms a 'C' shape façade to the lake but has ugly hoarding and inconsistent colors. To create a visual order all the buildings of the lakefront are suggested to be painted in simple white wash except the red stone building of Gadkari Rangayatan. This was to highlight this cultural symbol and create a bold gesture of beautiful white facade to the entire lakefront. The promenade is provided with a ring of Gulmohor trees. In the flowering season an orange strip of trees would create a beautiful streetscape with the white walls on one side while the water on the other. (Fig.11)
· Lake temple and Boat club: The Shiva temple in the centre of the lake is the deity of local fisherman community and is to be redesigned for allowing people to enter the temple. The boating club providing water sports facilities is located below the road level and now designed with footpath extending above its roof at the roof level, creating a deck overlooking the lake.
All these interventions around the entire Masunda lake area would create active and organised coherent identifiable public realm for the city. These improvements would give a visual character to the lake surroundings and rejuvenate it as urban public place for recreational and cultural activities.
All said and done, nothing happened for long time and one day suddenly the municipal corporation started work on the promenade. In one stroke all the uneven height of the promenade parapet wall was revised to uniform 45cm height. In another move the parapet wall of the promenade along the entire 300m long Shivaji path Road (Fig.14,15) was rebuilt with ‘C’ shaped modules for sitting. They are not exactly the shape and size we suggested but earmarked additional space for sitting and increased perimeter length of parapet wall. Later the chairs were added in the ‘C’ shaped parapet wall. This is indeed a positive move which has defined valuable urban space for public use. (Fig.16-20)These architectural ‘C’ shaped alcoves were also added near the Gadkari Rangayatan as well around few other lakes of the city. The simple solution has indeed triggered a spurt of activity. However much is still desired and more steps need to be taken to improve the lakes but indeed a start has been made.
The issue of improving public places and looking after its natural characteristics is important for image as well as humane environment of almost all cities in India as they are turning faceless by concrete jungles by urbanisation. How we preserve these characteristics in the process of growth or just let them enlarge as random monotonous urban settlements will be one of the key issues of planning and development of our cities in future.