• In Indian cities and towns nowadays, there is a lot of discussion regarding sustainable development. Sustainability guarantees sustainable growth without becoming overly centralised.

• India is unique in that it features a hierarchical network of urban settlements of different sizes, including metropolises, cities, and towns.

• They resemble "urban galaxies" because of their naturally created scales between entities, connectivity, and convenient locations.

• Based on regional resources, climate, and available land characteristics, these networks have distinctive lifestyles and habitat patterns.

• The links and dissemination of the advancements suggest a "biological" growth, complete with adaptation, mutation, and reproduction.

Sustainable cities in India

• We are depriving the smaller towns in the region of their small-scale industries due to our development strategy, which mainly  centres around one place/city, where  all the institutions, and employment prospects. This also encourages migration and overburdens the megacities.

• Greater distances and longer commutes require more time and effort spent on daily activities like living, working, or spiritual and mental development.

• Sustainability guarantees sustainable growth without becoming overly centralised.

• Megacities and metropolises can operate much more effectively by upgrading their infrastructure.

• Habitats that are organically produced and interconnected will necessarily contain features like empty tracts between entities, shorter distances connected by locally developed transportation networks, and a limited number of entry points to major motorised traffic.

Obstacle to achieve sustainable city

Missing the Point

• Although its infrastructure can be improved, the quality of life may not necessarily be raised.

False Model

• Our development efforts are centred on a single region or city. By doing this, we are robbing the smaller towns in the area of their local small-scale industries and crafts.

• By doing this, we are also promoting migration and overcrowding the megacities, which will eventually collapse under the weight of their own complexity, management, and affordability.

False Idea That Larger Is Better

• Megacities that are now expanding can only afford to sell branded and mass-produced items to more people.

• More production facilities, industrial complexes, a wider network of transportation infrastructure, etc., are required for this. As a result, enormous urban centres like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru were formed.

Key planning lessons for conventional planning:

• Planning takes into account not just physical development but also spiritual and cultural development, both of which are reliant on the availability of resources.

• Many studies show that each region had unique culturally oriented laws that defined its needs and controlled the use of resources for those purposes.

• Around the nation, one may observe the distinctive and honourable talents of the native inhabitants. Decentralization and letting human energy to pursue its own paths of exploration within the regional context of resources and values are key to achieving this.

• Instead of focusing on single, enormous banyan trees that can grow indefinitely, absorbing smaller entities along the way and weakening their advantages, planning must consider multi-nodal conglomerates.

• Planning must prioritise protecting and expanding a natural network of significant water bodies, woods, and animal life that includes irrigation systems and a water supply.

• Non-motorized transportation promotes quieter, cleaner, and greener environments.

• Hence, "appropriacy" has served as a virtue that has influenced the sizes and life-enriching features of each habitat in India. This has been the key to their long-term existence, despite hunger and floods.

• It will be possible for other villages and smaller habitations to learn, earn, and develop without having to spend time and energy on communication and travel if smaller towns with a population of around one lakh are developed as growth centres and developed as magnets. By choosing to stay close to our parents' region, we can enrich both family and individual life in the community.

Way Forward

• To be freed from our innate egocentrism, we must cultivate our talents and abilities, work together with others, and serve others.

The rural and hinterland have been supported for generations by microfinance and the sharing of frugally multifunctional attitudes about life and lifestyles.

Introduction

•    As part of the Central Vista Renovation Project, the three-kilometer Rajpath from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate will be renovated, a triangular-shaped Parliament building will be built adjacent to the current one, and the Common Central Secretariat will be built.
•    It also covers the creation of Central Vista Avenue and the transformation of the North and South Blocks into museums. 
•    Buildings with 87 storeys will be constructed for the Common Central Secretariat to house the offices of numerous ministries.
•    It was created by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker to serve as the capital of the British Raj, but on August 15, 1947, India became an independent nation and claimed it as its own.

Challenges and Opportunity

•    As a brownfield project, the Central Vista Redevelopment Project required careful retrofitting and rehabilitation to preserve the historical sanctity and integrity of the monuments while also modernising them for use in the twenty-first century.
•    There is a little window of time in which to complete the project.
•    A more simultaneous project execution method was established in order to speed up a linear project execution strategy.
•    Here, the project's next step is conceptualised before the prior stage's approval is provided.

Need for the Redevelopment

•    Rajpath and the surrounding districts of Central Vista Avenue have seen pressure from escalating visitor traffic over time, placing stress on its infrastructure. It lacked the bare necessities.
•    There was also a need to plan the Republic Day parade and other national events in a less obtrusive manner with less constraints on the public's ability to travel. 
•    The reconstruction was completed while keeping the architectural character's integrity and continuity in mind.
•    Kartavya Path: it  represents a change from the former Rajpath serving as a symbol of power to now serving as an illustration of public ownership and empowerment.

Introduction

• India is proud to have a long history of architecture and a vibrant culture that is reflected in its ancient architectural crafts. It may be time to consider a truly Indian strategy to conservation in the twenty-first century, one that enables using our historical riches to better the socioeconomic circumstances of people of our historic cities.
• The monuments of India are priceless and important assets for the country and its people, having a range of values linked with them, including emotional, religious, economic, historical, architectural, and archaeological ones.
• Craftsmen are required to use historic materials, equipment, and building processes as part of their conservation efforts, and they have the potential to become substantial employment.
• The craft traditions of India have persisted to the present, and it is advised to place a strong emphasis on both contemporary public structures and a craft-based approach to conservation.

Conservation Approach

• The Indian approach to conservation enables utilising our historical resources to enhance the socioeconomic standing of citizens living in our ancient cities.
• The Archaeological Survey of India is adopting a number of measures to guarantee the long-term, sustainable preservation of our country's legacy in a way that is based on improved public awareness of the importance of our heritage and enhanced civil society involvement in the preservation effort.
• There is a greater understanding of the importance of our sites' urban settings in preserving their historic identity.
• As a result, guidelines were published in 1992 and the National Monument Authority was established, with the task of developing regulations for new construction in the vicinity of each protected monument in the country.

Benefit of this Approach

• Conservation efforts have included local area development by creating jobs, promoting regional crafts and arts, constructing infrastructure, protecting the environment, and landscaping.
• Residents of the many historic city centres in our country stand to gain from a better integration of development plans and public policies with conservation and preservation activities.

Conservation Based in the Community

• India's monuments are at danger due to urbanisation pressures.
• Local communities, academic institutions, civil society organisations, and government agencies must work together to achieve conservation and development goals.
• It has been established that any resources put towards such an endeavour yield multiple returns and serve multiple government goals.
• In many of our historic cities, our monuments are located amidst large metropolitan populations. However, the neighbourhoods around the monuments in these congested metropolitan centres are frequently impoverished and lacking in even the most basic urban infrastructure.
• The Nizamuddin Urban Renewal's success serves as an example of a successful community-based conservation strategy.
• Numerous protected monuments in the congested Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti have not only undergone conservation, but the effort has also been paired with other initiatives like: Providing education, health services, vocational training to open up employment opportunities for local women and youth, sanitation,
• Improvements to the urban environment include street and neighbourhood park beautification, the revival of a 700-year-old living culture centred on Sufism and Qawwali, and the creation of performance venues, among other things.

Conclusion

• As more of their future generations transition to other trades, the craftsmen should once more take an active role in the preservation effort by passing on their knowledge to them.
• Examples from throughout the world show how significant modern architecture may boost the economy and increase visitor interest in historic locations.
• The interests of both conservation and development should coexist, but for any development to be long-lasting, conservation interests must always come first.

Introduction

•    The Brihadeeshwara Temple (The Great Temple) in Thanjavur is a magnificent structure that speaks volumes about the Chola era's architectural ability.
•    One of the country's biggest Shiva Lingas is located in this Shiva Temple. Above the shrine is a magnificent Nandi (bull). It is made of a single stone and is the second-largest Nandi in all of India.
•    It is situated in Thanjavur on the Cauvery River's Southern Bank.
•    Dakshina Meru is another name for it. Together with the temples from the Chola era in Gangaikonda Cholapuram and Airavatesvara, the temple is a part of the "Great Living Chola Temples" UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Historical Perspective

•    The Kaveri delta region's ancient city of Thanjavur (also known as Tanjore) serves as its cultural epicentre. When the town was taken over by the Vijayalaya Cholas at the beginning of the ninth century, the Cholas claim to have recognised it as a potential political centre.

Regarding Thanjavur

•    The Kaveri delta region's old city of Thanjavur serves as its cultural epicentre. The Cholas, the Vijayanagar, and the Maratta rulers were three dynamic kingdoms that controlled this region of Tamil Nadu throughout the past millennium, leaving behind the city and its cultural legacy.
•    When the town was taken over by the Vijayalaya Cholas at the beginning of the ninth century, the Cholas claim to have recognised it as a potential political centre.
•    Rajaraja-I, who participated in a number of military campaigns, was inspired by the exquisite temple construction favoured by the Pallavas, his forebears, and his ancestors, who were devoted Saivites and had a hand in the creation of numerous well-known Siva temples.

About Brihadeeshwara Temple

•    The temple complex, which is located inside what is known as Sivagangai tiny fort, measures around 244 metres on the east-west and 122 metres on the north-south. Rajaraja-I undertook this enormous work of construction.
•    During Sevappa Nayaka's renovations in the 17th century, this fortification was added.
•    Visitors are welcomed by a beautifully sculpted archway with stucco representations of several gods that was constructed during the Maratta period.
•    After passing through the Maratta entrance, guests are greeted by Keralanthakakan Thiruvasal, a famous gopuram from the Rajaraja era.
•    A cellular ambulatory may be found on either side of this five-tiered gopuram. Rajarajan Thiruvasal, the second gopuram, is about sixty metres away.
•    Massive monolithic dwarapalakkas, also known as door guardians, can be seen on this gopuram's eastern side.
•    The stone base of this gopuram also features bas-relief panels with scenes from puranas.
•    The majestic, artistically beautiful panorama of the Sri Vimanam and the sub-shrines greets visitors as they enter this gopuram.
•    The 13-story, 66-meter-tall pyramidal vimana is embellished with the proper motifs, architectural elements, and sculptures of different deities.
•    The 12-foot-tall, gold-plated kalasam is perched atop a shikhara that resembles a spherical dome.
•    Two-story cloistered halls had been built to serve as multipurpose space all the way around the perimeter of the compound wall.
•    Between these walled-off rooms, sub-shrines have been constructed that house shrines for the temple yagasalai, Ganesha, and the ashtadikpalaka (gods who watch over the eight directions).
•    The Rajaraja-era shrine, known in the inscription as Parivara-Alayattu Pillaiyar, was vandalised, therefore the Maratta monarch had a new building constructed for him.
"Nandhi Pavilion"
•    The enormous monolithic Nandi, the sacred bull, in front of the main shrine is an equally fascinating aspect of the temple.
•    The pavilion itself is a later construction, as is the platform on which the Nandi is located. To replace the previous nandi installed by Rajaraja, the monolithic nandi from the Nayaka era was brought in.

Engineering Wonder

•    It is very amazing to see the vimana perched atop the two-story sanctum sanctorum. The structural load sharing has been meticulously and wonderfully planned.
•    Pushing the subsequent layers a few inches closer together inside the structure created the pyramid's very mild slope.
•    The shikhara on top of this pyramid serves as a counterbalance to keep everything in place.

Conclusion

•    The temple is a magnificent display that reflects the sophisticated sense of aesthetics and planning that the region and its inhabitants had attained a millennium before.
•    The temple, which Rajaraja referred to as Rajarajeshwaram, was regarded as the culmination of a single man's life's labour that several millions of people put a lot of effort into.
•    The goal of commissioning a huge sacrifice to the almighty without sacrificing traditions was accomplished millennia ago, and the idea of temples acting as the hub of civilization has been tried and proven to work.

• Brutalist architecture was the offspring of a school of thought that, in accordance with its own interpretation, sought to rid structures of their pointless intricacies, embellishments, extraneous decorations, and coverings by using a variety of concealing materials and finishes that hid the building's fundamental structure and character. This is acknowledged as a distinct branch of modern architecture.
• This avant-garde movement, which had its start about 1950, asserted and practised architecture as strong, straightforward, undisguised, and even a little threatening in its imposing and austere presence.
• This is recognised as a particular branch of modern architecture. The term "brutalism" refers not to the style's harsh aesthetics but rather to the widespread use of plain and reinforced concrete in the construction of such structures.
• The development of brutalist architecture can be attributed to the post-World War II rehabilitation of British society.

The construction of brutalist structures is characterised by a kind of volumetric minimalism that purposefully emphasises the structural features and raw building materials over false decorative design manipulations.

Introduction

•    The Statue of Unity honours the life of Sardar Patel, a symbol of cooperation and statesmanship. The world's tallest statue is situated 3.2 kilometres distant, opposite the Sardar Sarovar Dam, in a breathtakingly beautiful setting.
•    This enormous statue is located on the isle of Sadhu-Bet in the River Narmada in the Indian state of Gujarat, in Ekta Nagar, District Rajpipla, with the spectacular Vindhyachal and Satpura Mountain Ranges in the background.
•    The monument, built by Indian sculptor Ram V. Sutar, holds the record for height with its nearly 50-story height and three-tiered foundation.
•    On October 31, 2018, the 143rd anniversary of Sardar Patel's birth, it was dedicated to the country.
•    The statue is known as the "Statue of Unity" because it is credited for bringing together more than 560 princely states in pre-independent India to become the Republic of India.

Statues of Liberty and the Statue of Unity

•    The statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which is twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty, seems fitting at this moment for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that India is currently experiencing an economic expansion that is comparable to that experienced by the US at that time.
•    It's crucial to remember that they were developed by people who were worried about living in a world where everyone followed the same religion and spoke the same language—two of the most compelling forces that have the power to unify or split nations.

Feature of the Statue

•    At 182 metres from the road entry and 208.5 metres from the river entry, it will be the tallest statue in the world, surpassing China's 153-meter-tall Spring Temple Buddha and being almost twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty in New York.
•    The statue is made to appear as though it is walking on water by having its left leg slightly in front as it goes towards the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
•    The structural design process used because the 8 mm bronze coating has a two-layered component of the statue. At the lowest layer, there are two 127-meter-tall towers made of reinforced cement concrete. These towers rise above chest height.