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This research is done by Harshita Sharma and Radhika Sarda

The term "urbanscape" is used to describe the natural and built fabric of a urban areas, and it is described as the urban's design quality and visual effect. It includes structures, the street, the fixtures and fittings that make it easier to use, such as bus stops and signage, as well as planting schemes. Urbanscaping is an important part of the public realm (public spaces where people interact), as it contributes to the aesthetic quality, identity, social, health economic activity, social cohesion, and opportunity of a community, not only its mobility. It plays a critical role in enhancing a city’s quality of life and act as a catalyst for shaping urban fabric and fostering social interactions. The creation of a positive visual image of urban space will foster the establishment of positive perceptions and meanings, causing the community to react positively to its surroundings. In particular, the built and unbuilt resources are the fundamentals to shape cities, communities and thus influences identity.

The most extensively spread and frequently frequented urban public places are city streets. Kevin Lynch defines streets or walkways as one of the fundamental forms which create the mental image of the city in the viewer's minds. It has been observed that streets are the predominant city elements, although their importance varies according to the degree of familiarity with the city. It is plausible as it helps the users to experience the urban area as a whole – from the lively street shopping places along business streets to the residential streets and the cultural streets.

Streets can be defined as the stage upon which the drama of urban life unfolds every day. Not recently, but streets have played this role since the inception of towns and cities. They define the character of the cities and make our cities what they are, just like Broadway defines New York, Market Street defines San Francisco. Chicago and Paris would be very different if Michigan Avenue and Champs– Élysées were primarily automobile-oriented roads. Similarly, what would Delh be without the Rajpath, Ahmedabad without Manek Chowk Road or Gwalior without bada?

As communities try to improve their built environment's livability, these urban landscapes transform themselves according to their demands and needs. This has resulted in the gradual retraction and change in the character and visual aesthetic of the urbanscape and streetscape. This article looks at the transformation made in urbanscape at Maharaj Bada in Gwalior to adopt the requirement of a better quality of life for the occupants.

Gwalior, the city of heritage, has experienced a splendid era of Rajput, Maratha, Mughal and British. This ancient capital city has become a symbol of great dynasties and a legacy of living courage. During early 20th century, a highly active zone was redesigned and established as the new hub of the city 'The Maharaj Bada. It was designed by a British architect and Scindia Dynasty in “roman-fora” style consisting of 7 classical office buildings and a central British style garden.

With Maharaj Bada being the single growth nucleus of the city, a gradual concentric growth took place and this central core became a node of the high volume of traffic, congestion and pollution turning into a major circulation route. he broad avenues of Bada which were initially planned as leisure side-street markets for inhabitants and workforce lost their function and course due to lack of administration and proper planning interventions.

The development of Maharaj Bada has caused this core to spread indefinitely in different directions thus leading to unplanned development and management. Initially, being the central civic space, it was very well linked to the city by several roads and pedestrian pathways that start from this square and gets discharged into the city. However, due to the expansion of the city, these pathways have gradually become congested and inadequate as per standards. Moreover, due to development as the Central Business District, the roads got converted into specialized market streets with mixed-used typology which is presently known as Sarafa Bazaar, Topi Bazaar, Daulat Ganj, Bala Bai ka Bazaar, Nazarbagh Market and Subhash Market.

Fig. 1 Plan showing Maharaj Bada

Source 1 Author generated

Sarafa Bazaar Road within the city core opens into the central square of Maharaj Bada. This road which was initially a specialized market street famous for the silver and gold trade. But with the course of time, a cloth market has also been accommodated to ease its customers. It is currently a highly populated narrow street typically residential but has a strip of commercial development alongside. The issues faced along the street are enchrachments by street vendors, on-site parking, and congestion. On Moving Clockwise, the next market is Topi Bazaar which opens near the Town Hall at Maharaj Bada square. Historically, It was built to provide soldiers with their uniforms and patrol caps which was eventually named as ' Topi Bazaar'. Covering the head was believed to be a tradition in the Gwalior region, where no one was allowed to enter the royal premises with a bare head. Presently, it serves as a major market for various daily need items at wholesale rates. It faces the issues of parking and congestion not only for the shopkeepers but also for the customers. Further, the visual aesthetic of proper pavements, buildings and proportions are missing throughout the design.

Figure 2 Existing Traffic movement Maharaj Bada

Source 2 DOA - 17-05-2021 – Gwalior Smart city development corporation

Few meters ahead beside Government Press is another market, Daulat Ganj. It is named after Daulat Rao Scindia. He ruled Gwalior for approximately 34 years. During his reign, Gwalior was attacked by the British and eventually lost its importance. Serving as an important road of Maharaj Bada. It comprises of various shops of decoration items and other small shops of daily objects. It presently is a narrow traffic and pollution creating road with lack of proper parking and traffic provisions. Moreover, street furniture and landscaping are all the more missing. Daulat Ganj also enshrines the 100-year-old Literary Organization " Madhya Bharat Hindi Sahitya Sabha ". The other end of Government Press leads to Bala Bai ka Bazaar. This market was named after the princess of Mahadji Scindia, Balabai who was married to Sardar Shithoule's son Laaduji in 1776. It was built as a structure to immortalize her soul. However, with time, it has just been left with the as a mere piece of her remembrance. It was initially a colony but since it had commercial linkages on all sides, it got developed as a market. Extremely narrow with irregular expansions and development alongside has resulted as a choke for the visitors.

Figure 3 Map showing market areas and activities

Source 3 DOA - 17-05-2021 – Gwalior Smart city development corporation

Walking towards the Post Office from the Gorkhi Gate, the next market lane is Nazarbagh Market. 'Nazarbagh' is an Arabic word which means a 'garden built around a palace or a bungalow'. It was originally a garden around the temple of Gorkhi Palace. Due to developments around Jiyaji Ckowk, small shops started emerging due to which Maharaja Madhav Rao converted the garden into a market of ready-made garments. The other end of the Post Office is Subhash Market. It was named after the Chief of Azaad Hind Fauj, Late Subhash Chandra Bose. It is believed that most of the shop's owners got settled in this area after the partition of 1947. It functions as the major cloth market of the town comprising of around 252 shops. Similar issues of irregular developments and unorganized spaces for shops complemented with illegal parking and ancrachments. From the Jiyaji Chowk, the road on the right side of State Bank of India building further divides into three different streets namely Mor Bazaar, Chawri Bazaar and Datt Mandir road with their specific market regions.

The idea of this urban square was to integrate all six streets within the historic core area as a heritage trail. However, with the course of time, it formed a closely knitted continuous circuit of the vehicular and pedestrian traffic system. Due to its rapidly growing and increasing commercial character, this square witnesses’ inevitable real challenges like encroachment by street vendors and illegal parking around the buildings, intense traffic and irregular market expansions.

In order to create a comfortable and satisfying experience for the community, the visual aesthetic experience in urban settings is critical. Therefore, it is important for planners and designers to have a clear understanding of what makes for good urbanscapes and streetscapes. Building proportions and scale, street furniture’s and proper management which determine the three-dimensional extents of streetscapes, provide long-lasting, basic skeletons.

Sustainable design for streetscapes is one of the ways to achieve sustainable cities. So, to establish a sustainable streetscape, a step towards pedestrianizing the street around the central park needs to be taken. It will help in creating a safe and healthy market space with proper circulation and pedestrian movement. It will also help to organize the informal hawkers, reduce the encroachment on the roads and proper management of traffic and congestion. To promote sustainable transportation and streetscaping, bicycle tracks and stations can be designed keeping in view the greenery and historic aspect of the square. Also, proper multi-level parking spaces and other public utilities can be allocated. To restore the overall functional and visual aesthetic hampering the classical architectural marvels around the streets, some broader steps can be undertaken. There are several characteristics of street life that describe sustainable streetscaping, such as intelligibility, safety, adaptability, and economy, to name a few that needs to be considered within the framework. Also, a single thorough formula for livable streets would be far too complicated, suffocating innovation in detailed design, which is crucial to the attraction of streets as subtly individual locations.

References

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