Entrance to Shahpur Jat, one of Delhi’s many urban villages

The phrase “urban village” sounds like a juxtaposition. But in India’s capital Delhi, they’re an increasingly discussed part of the megacity’s urban landscape. In Delhi, the government purchased the agricultural land surrounding these villages for urban development, but left the residential areas untouched to preserve their cultures. That means as the city expands, it often engulfs formally rural villages. The result is an urban village — a structural reminder of the city’s rural past. 

The government of Delhi imposed completely different by-laws regarding land use and infrastructure in these urban villages for cultural preservation. They are largely unregulated and exempt from the urban planning and infrastructural requirements expected of other areas in Delhi. These residential areas are now called lal dora (red thread) lands in Delhi due to their legal and cultural separation from the rest of the megacity’s landscape. 

Ujan Ghosh has a clear perspective on the future of urban villages. “When planning city expansions or new cities, urban villages should be accounted for. They’re doing a great job for the service industry,” he explains. In his view, protecting urban villages means ensuring that they remain affordable to lower-income residents, many of whom work in Delhi’s service sector. In order to do this, these areas cannot be forced to follow the same urban planning guidelines as the rest of Delhi. 

As an architect for over 35 years, Mr Ghosh has worked on several urban expansion projects including college campuses, single-developer housing developments, and tourism facilities. He is a former President and founding member of the Institute of Urban Designers-India. Mr Ghosh currently teaches urban design at the University of Delhi’s School of Planning and Architecture, where he has taught since 1983.

His work in urban design at higher institutions has been central in shaping his perspectives on the future of Delhi’s urban landscape. “My teaching and academic work gives me the platform to discuss urban development issues,” he says smiling. He attributes his beliefs regarding urban design to one of his own professors during his time at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Jon T. Lang. “He pioneered the idea of human behavior affecting design.”

Through his professional background and as a long-time resident of Delhi, Mr Ghosh has found that a lack of regulation led to the development of buildings and other infrastructure that were seemingly urban, yet do not meet the regulations required of the rest of Delhi’s urban areas. Lal dora lands now possess banks, post-offices, and other infrastructure common to other zones in Delhi, but they often lack needed sanitation infrastructure and reliable water access.

Today, lal dora lands are home to Delhi’s large population of domestic staff, construction workers, and other migrant workers from India’s rural communities. They serve as a site for small-scale manufacturing businesses. “When we need to fix our pressure cookers, where do we go?” Mr Ghosh asks, “Or when we need to tailor clothing?” It is evident that urban villages are the pulse of Delhi’s service industry. 

Imagining a ‘planned’ urban village

“[Urban villages] need to be planned, not incrementally developed.” For Mr Ghosh, this means incorporating the commercial, industrial, and residential features of lal dora lands into these new plans. Mr Ghosh stresses that Indian residents cannot hold the immediate needs of these communities to the same standards expected of higher-income areas in Delhi. Government subsidies and other intervention methods have had little success. Instead, he believes that it is important that urban planning must reflect the needs of the area’s population in an affordable and economically sustainable manner. “We have to be tolerant. They know that they can’t afford everything.” 

To do this, he believes urban villages need to be given special consideration on several counts:

Population density. This is usually controlled in Delhi’s urban areas. Only certain numbers of people are allowed to live in a house or room. These figures are determined by the size and accessibility of the space. Mr Ghosh affirms that density guidelines cannot exist the same way in lal dora lands if they hope to provide affordable housing that accounts for the area’s rising population. 

Remaining mixed-use. Most cities in India (such as Mumbai) have buildings that are ‘mixed-use,’ which incorporate both commercial and residential facilities. However, colonial Delhi developed differently. It possesses strict zoning rules, such as a central financial district, residential areas, and industrial areas that are clearly segregated. In order to preserve the residential and commercial aspects of urban villages, Mr Ghosh believes they must remain mixed-use, unlike Delhi’s other urban areas. 

Mixed-use buildings in Shahpur Jat with stores on the ground floors, and residential housing above. 

Leniency with infrastructure. In order to preserve the spatial needs of the population, Mr Ghosh believes that urban planning requirements in lal dora areas must be different from the greater city. For example, he believes that vehicular roads must remain at a minimum. “They’ll satisfy emergency requirements and some automobile access.” This need exists because urban villages do not currently meet Delhi’s urban planning requirements. If these areas hope to continue remaining financially accessible, spatial compromises are necessary. 

From the classroom to the city

Mr Ghosh’s love and belief in the importance of urban design shone through his discussion of his work. To him, urban design is ensuring that the socio-cultural needs of a community are being met. In regard to the lal dora lands, Mr Ghosh explains that while urban planners will find out how to accommodate half a million people in a given area, urban designers will account for the population’s needs. These may include considering how commercial zones may affect residential life or accounting for public spaces that foster community. 

‘Planned’ urban villages can only be actualised in areas facing urban sprawl or in newer cities. Existing urban villages have more of an upwards battle as, although the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has released numerous plans for developing lal dora lands, Mr Ghosh believes that besides improving access to energy and putting in sewage treatment, there is not much that can be done. Nor does he believe that lal dora lands are top priority for the DDA. 

Instead he looks to a future that will be defined by urban sprawl and growing urban populations. “We need to find a self-sustainable idea for the urban poor.”

“As an architect, I teach lots of things that I don’t practice,” he says with a chuckle. But by providing an academic space to discuss how to mitigate the future of urban development with his students, combined with his professional expertise in rural-to-urban architectural development, Mr Ghosh’s work is critical to India’s future.