“The contempt of motorists for pedestrians is so ironic, because no matter how many cars they have, they are also pedestrians, biologically. Unless they fly to the doors of their cars.”
Source: Dystopia: How The Tyranny of Specialists Fragment African Cities
“the presence of buildings around a park is important in design. They enclose it. They make a definite shape out of the space, so that it appears as an important event in the city scene, a positive feature, rather than a no-account leftover.”
Source: The Death and Life of Great American Cities
“There is danger that someday the farm land will be gone, the Downtown will be deserted, and the middle class living outside the city boundaries. If it is done intentionally, then that is our choice, but if it is allowed simply to happen without purpose, then that is ignorance. Indianapolis contains fantastic elements to become a vital city, but frequently our heritage has been destroyed in favor of cheap development and easy profits. Architects are not perfect, and many chances to improve our city have been lost. They allow the client to build structures without concern for what that building will do to the surrounding environment. The matter of conscience falls prey to the matter of making a living. A desire to improve our quality of life on the part of the client and profession will provide the best solution for all. Readers of this book, be inquisitive, explore your city, question its growth, let your feelings be known if your city is faulty, speak out if it is praiseworthy. Talk to your architects, politicians and developers; they are professionals, but they are also your servants. Use them to make your city better. Enjoy Indianapolis. It is a city to be lived in and can be taken to heart if one tries.”
Source: Indianapolis Architecture
“A city without some form of a transect is like a country without a constitution; It is a breeding ground for spatial anarchy.”
Source: Dystopia: How The Tyranny of Specialists Fragment African Cities
“Probably the most important element in intricacy is centering. Good small parks typically have a place somewhere within them commonly understood to be the center—at the very least a main crossroads and pausing point, a climax.”
Source: The Death and Life of Great American Cities
“Use every opportunity of humbling yourself before your fellow-men as a help to abide humble before God.”
Source: Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness – Classic Devotional Meditations on the Character of Christ
“To increase density in a rat population and maintain healthy specimens, put them in boxes so they can't see each other, clean their cages, and give them enough to eat. You can pile the boxes up as many stories as you wish. Unfortunately, caged animals become stupid, which is a very heavy price to pay for a super filing system!”
Source: The Hidden Dimension
“Urban planning is a scientific, aesthetic and orderly disposition of Land, Resources, Facilities and Services with a view of securing the Physical, Economic and Social Efficiency, Health and well-being of Urban Communities. As over the years the urban population of India has been increasing rapidly, this fast tread urbanization is pressurizing the existing infrastructure leading to a competition over scare resources in the cities.
The objective of our organization is to develop effective ideas and inventions so that we could integrate in the development of competitive, compact, sustainable, inclusive and resilient cities in terms of land-use, environment, transportation and services to improve physical, social and economic environment of the cities.
Focus Areas:-
Built Environment
Utilities
Public Realm
Urban planning and Redevelopment
Urban Transport and Mobility
Smart City
AMRUT
Solid Waste Management
Master Plans
Community Based Planning
Architecture and Urban Design
Institutional Capacity Building
Geographic Information System
Riverfront Development
Local Area Planning
ICT”
“Cities are humans' shoddy attempts at making ecosystems.”
Source: Human Nature: How to be a Better Animal
“The urban planner Donald Sean has argued that an ‘urban blight’ metaphor led planners to treat crowded neighbourhoods as if they were diseased plants, which had to be extirpated to prevent the spread of rot. The result was the disastrous urban renewal projects the 1960s.”
Source: The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature