TOWN PLANNING

PRESENTATION

C O L O N I A L P L A N N N G I N I N DI A

ADEEM YUSSEFF ALI

S9
ROLL NO 2
 Colonialism

 As colonialism often played out in pre-populated

areas, sociocultural evolution included the creation
of various ethnically hybrid populations.
Colonialism gave rise to culturally and ethnically
mixed populations such as those of the Americas, as
well as racially divided populations as found in
French Algeria or Southern Rhodesia.
 In fact everywhere where Colonial powers
established a consistent and continued presence
hybrid communities existed.
 History of colonialism

 Colonialism has a long history, which starts with the

pre colonial African empires which lead to the
Egyptian, Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans who all
built colonies in antiquity.
 The word "metropole" comes from the Greek
metropolis , which meant "mother city".
 The word "colony" comes from the Latin colonia—"a
place for agriculture".
 History of colonialism

 Modern colonialism started with the Age of

Discovery.
 Portugal and Spain discovered new lands across the
oceans and built trading posts or conquered large
extensions of land.
 For some people, it is this building of colonies across
oceans that differentiates colonialism from other
types of expansionism.
 These new lands were divided between the
Portuguese Empire and Spanish Empire.
 BRITSH -ERA

 While British supremacy did not change the fact that

India was becoming rapidly urbanized, it did lead to
new alignments and priorities, since the controlling
power was now different.
 A number of new towns and new suburbs were built
to house the British, and the pattern of new town
planning changed. India was still divided into
administrative districts as under the Mughals, and
the towns which functioned as district headquarters
were the ones where most of the new architecture
was built.
 BRITISH ERA

 In the main the effort was to physically and socially

separate the Europeans from the indigenous populace –
the so-called ‘White’ and ‘Black’ towns of Madras being
an example. This being done an effort, though sometimes
belated, was also made to enforce sanitary and
developmental guidelines on the old towns, though these
had little effect as in the main they failed to take into
account traditional ways of community life.
 In some cases new urban design smacked of retribution
– Delhi and Lucknow in particular, being the centers of
the Mutiny of 1857, lost large parts of their historic areas
to new British planning and city-core demolitions.
 BRITISH ERA

 The army was accommodated in a nearby area called the

cantonment or camp.
 The British lived mostly
inside the fort area,
including the actual fort
and the strongly defended
area around it, sometimes
called the civil lines.
 Here they built their homes,
shops, and churches as well
as their commercial and
administrative headquarters,
with some variations, since Fort William had few residential
settlements while Fort St George was a veritable city in itself.
 BRITISH ERA

 In some cities, where the British presence was great,

very large areas of cantonment and civil lines were
established alongside pre-existing Indian cities.
Delhi, Bangalore, and Secunderabad, (adjoining
Hyderabad) are examples.
 In other cities where the British presence was
minimal, (e.g., Ahmedabad) the cantonment was
proportionately smaller and it housed civilian as well
as military personnel.
 PORTUGUESE ERA

 Tangasseri is a city located along the coast of Ancient

malabar.
 The portuguese were the first Europeans to appear in
this port of Malabar.
 In the following years Coullam became an important
centre for trade of pepper.
 PRESENT CONTEXT

 The Bombay Town Planning Act of 1915, the first town

planning legislation in India, gave the Bombay Municipal
Corporation powers to prepare Town Planning Schemes
for urban development or redevelopment and present
them to the Governor in Council of the City of Bombay.
 It called for zoning, building regulations, acquisition of
land for public purposes, and the collection of funds for
local improvements. The need was felt especially strongly
because of the chaotic growth of Bombay’s textile mills
and the workers’ housing that surrounded them.
 PRESENT CONTEXT

 The town planning schemes for restructuring and

bringing electricity and increased water supply and
sewage lines to Jamalpur and Kankaria, areas just
adjacent to and outside the walls of the old city, were
generally popular and passed easily.
 On the west bank of the Sabarmati River, however,
farmers objected to new development plans that took
away their land.
 Depression in the 1930s and then World War II
brought about a pause in Indian planning, as
elsewhere.
 Types of Colonialism

 Historians often distinguish between two overlapping forms

of colonialism:
 Settler colonialism involves large-scale immigration, often
motivated by religious, political, or economic reasons.
 Exploitation colonialism involves fewer colonists and
focuses on access to resources for export, typically to the
metropole. This category includes trading posts as well as
larger colonies where colonists would constitute much of the
political and economic administration, but would rely on
indigenous resources for labour and material.
Prior to the end of the slave trade and widespread abolition,
when indigenous labour was unavailable, slaves were often
imported to the Americas, first by the Spanish Empire, and
later by the Dutch, French and British.
 PRESENT CONTEXT

 Town planning emerged in England as a response to the

problems posed by the industrial city in the 19th century.
 In India, the construction and reconstruction of cities for
reasons of governance, and to reduce threats posed by
epidemics, was more piece meal and partial, hampered by
indifference to the problems of indigenous zones of the city,
inadequate finances, and ineffective legal measures.
 By the 20th century, the influence of professional town
planners, the growing nationalist interest in municipal
politics, and the interventions of indigenous elites altered the
scenario.
 Many Indian cities, however, continued to bear the marks of a
legacy of cities divided on racial and class lines, and planned
(or not planned) accordingly