ABSTRACT: Changing lifestyle and its various dimensions across social, economic, cultural and psy... more ABSTRACT: Changing lifestyle and its various dimensions across social, economic, cultural and psychological parameters are now driving the change in livability with an increased pace. Planning and designing of residential areas is done by professionals as per their understanding of livability. However, the residents of these areas may have a different connotation for livable residential areas on account of their lifestyle or some other reason. This difference in perception of livability leads to exasperation amongst inhabitants towards the livable conditions of residential areas, despite best efforts of the professionals. The focus of this paper is to understand difference in perception of professionals and inhabitants respectively, in regard to importance of various livability attributes in one of the metropolitan cities of India. For evaluation, a randomly selected sample of 628 inhabitants from 35 residential areas were asked to express their opinion on importance of each ‘livabi...
Man’s unique power to manipulate things and accumulate experience presently enabled him to break ... more Man’s unique power to manipulate things and accumulate experience presently enabled him to break through the barriers of temperature, aridity, space, seas and mountains that have always restricted other species to specific habitats within a limited range. Cities are to be viewed as important nodes in the regional settlement system, and an integrated area development approach would hold out great promise for cities to be manageable in regard to size and function and hence, sustainable. Adapting city to the imperatives of sustainable development requires more than just limiting urban growth, but to look at internal form and structure as well as the management system. As India is a Democratic country, we have variety of individuals controlling the working of political, bureaucratic as well as planning system for a stipulated time period at different tiers. After 73 rd & 74 th Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) drastic change has occurred in working of planning system in India. This pap...
A heat island is an umbrella of air, often over a city or built-up area that is warmer than the a... more A heat island is an umbrella of air, often over a city or built-up area that is warmer than the air surrounding it. In tropical country like ours the summertime heat islands raise air conditioning demand, air pollution levels (particularly smog), and greenhouse gas emissions. They ...
Water-related hazards like floods and droughts are increasing due to climate change. The study ai... more Water-related hazards like floods and droughts are increasing due to climate change. The study aims towards balancing a double edge situation of the inevitable flood and drought. The Soil Conservation Service-Curve Number (SCS-CN) method is used to calculate the rainfall–runoff and the Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) is used for identifying potential water accumulation zones, whereas the Normalized Differential Water Index (NDWI) is used to calculate surface waterbody variations and the Soil Water Index (SWI) is used to identify zones varying in the range of dry-to-wet soil moisture. The study focuses on the use of nature-based solutions (NbS) for achieving mutual flood–drought mitigation for the pilot case of the Banaskantha district, Gujarat, and is validated for the study case of the Muzaffarpur district, Bihar. The application of the developed contingency plan in the form of an applicability rubric agrees to solve the issue by 44.44% for the pilot case and 22.22% for the study c...
In natural, undeveloped areas, a large percentage of relatively uncontaminated precipitation infi... more In natural, undeveloped areas, a large percentage of relatively uncontaminated precipitation infiltrates the ground, thus recharging the ground water; the remaining runoff flows to nearby water bodies or evaporates. Development alters natural systems as vegetation and open spaces are replaced with new areas of impervious surfaces such as roads, parking lots, roofs, and turf, which greatly reduce infiltration and thus ground water recharge. Uncontrolled stormwater runoff develops into Floods, even in normal intensity of rainfall causing loss of water recharge levels. The main carriers of water that is the natural Drainages ar either blocked completely of partially or forced to change their direction, in the process of Urbanization. Thus water availability, water recharge and water Cycle all
The study aimed for optimum use of land resources and mitigating losses due to irrational land ta... more The study aimed for optimum use of land resources and mitigating losses due to irrational land take decisions. A model was developed to identify the land patches that are suitable for land take to accommodate urban expansion by using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) and geographic information system (GIS). FAHP-based matrix was developed, showing the degree of integrated importance of criteria. The matrix was used to develop the Sustainable Development Index (SDI). The SDI showed the categorisation of the good and bad land take decisions for the present scenario. The rational flexibility in decision making was incorporated to develop the Decision Making Rubric (DMR). The DMR followed rational re-classification process for probable mitigation of previous land take losses through appropriate curative measures and accordingly strategise for future land take decisions incorporating preventive measures. Development suitability map for the case city was prepared using developed SDI and DMR, which showed the present land take scenario and mitigated land take scenario, respectively. The study adds a new dimension of trade-off between natural and built environment by incorporating rational flexibility in land take decision making to handle the future land demands. The case city of Lucknow represents category of Tier 2 Indian cities having fast rate of urbanisation. In the exercise it was inferred that due to irrational land take decisions 40.78% of productive agriculture land was lost. Application of the proposed model showed that about 55.45% of the bad land take decisions can be modified to good land take decisions.
ABSTRACT: Water is an important constituent of all kinds of soils. It is held in the soil by adhe... more ABSTRACT: Water is an important constituent of all kinds of soils. It is held in the soil by adhesive forces between water molecules and organic and inorganic particles, and by cohesive forces between adjacent water molecules. Water retention is largely related to the organic matter and clay contents, whereas water movement is influenced by bulk density, porosity, and permeability. Water holding in soil depends on physical properties of soil as well as its hydrogeochemical characteristics. The amount of water held plays a vital link between the precipitation and water content of the soil. This paper is an attempt to correlate the soil and its water holding capacity depending upon its characteristics so as to use these properties as tool for sustainable settlement development.
International Journal of Architectural Research: Archnet-IJAR, 2007
The theme of Vastushastra is hinged on the concept that the surrounding energies as affecting the... more The theme of Vastushastra is hinged on the concept that the surrounding energies as affecting the earth should be optimally utilized in such a way as to be compatible to the laws of nature and functional requirements. Thus it deals with accentuation of positive energies and rejection of negative energies taking into consideration the macroscopic and microscopic effect. The cumulative effect of energies on the built form in the embodied plot has led to specific geometric form with varying energy grids on it which ultimately led to the location theory of different functions. The stipulations through observations, experimentation, which are time-tested and confirms with today’s science ensures conducive energetic environment to both the performer and the function. The implementation of vastu edicts prevents and/or cures the stress conditions and pin-point the saying “prevention is better than cure”.
ABSTRACT: Changing lifestyle and its various dimensions across social, economic, cultural and psy... more ABSTRACT: Changing lifestyle and its various dimensions across social, economic, cultural and psychological parameters are now driving the change in livability with an increased pace. Planning and designing of residential areas is done by professionals as per their understanding of livability. However, the residents of these areas may have a different connotation for livable residential areas on account of their lifestyle or some other reason. This difference in perception of livability leads to exasperation amongst inhabitants towards the livable conditions of residential areas, despite best efforts of the professionals. The focus of this paper is to understand difference in perception of professionals and inhabitants respectively, in regard to importance of various livability attributes in one of the metropolitan cities of India. For evaluation, a randomly selected sample of 628 inhabitants from 35 residential areas were asked to express their opinion on importance of each ‘livabi...
Man’s unique power to manipulate things and accumulate experience presently enabled him to break ... more Man’s unique power to manipulate things and accumulate experience presently enabled him to break through the barriers of temperature, aridity, space, seas and mountains that have always restricted other species to specific habitats within a limited range. Cities are to be viewed as important nodes in the regional settlement system, and an integrated area development approach would hold out great promise for cities to be manageable in regard to size and function and hence, sustainable. Adapting city to the imperatives of sustainable development requires more than just limiting urban growth, but to look at internal form and structure as well as the management system. As India is a Democratic country, we have variety of individuals controlling the working of political, bureaucratic as well as planning system for a stipulated time period at different tiers. After 73 rd & 74 th Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) drastic change has occurred in working of planning system in India. This pap...
A heat island is an umbrella of air, often over a city or built-up area that is warmer than the a... more A heat island is an umbrella of air, often over a city or built-up area that is warmer than the air surrounding it. In tropical country like ours the summertime heat islands raise air conditioning demand, air pollution levels (particularly smog), and greenhouse gas emissions. They ...
Water-related hazards like floods and droughts are increasing due to climate change. The study ai... more Water-related hazards like floods and droughts are increasing due to climate change. The study aims towards balancing a double edge situation of the inevitable flood and drought. The Soil Conservation Service-Curve Number (SCS-CN) method is used to calculate the rainfall–runoff and the Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) is used for identifying potential water accumulation zones, whereas the Normalized Differential Water Index (NDWI) is used to calculate surface waterbody variations and the Soil Water Index (SWI) is used to identify zones varying in the range of dry-to-wet soil moisture. The study focuses on the use of nature-based solutions (NbS) for achieving mutual flood–drought mitigation for the pilot case of the Banaskantha district, Gujarat, and is validated for the study case of the Muzaffarpur district, Bihar. The application of the developed contingency plan in the form of an applicability rubric agrees to solve the issue by 44.44% for the pilot case and 22.22% for the study c...
In natural, undeveloped areas, a large percentage of relatively uncontaminated precipitation infi... more In natural, undeveloped areas, a large percentage of relatively uncontaminated precipitation infiltrates the ground, thus recharging the ground water; the remaining runoff flows to nearby water bodies or evaporates. Development alters natural systems as vegetation and open spaces are replaced with new areas of impervious surfaces such as roads, parking lots, roofs, and turf, which greatly reduce infiltration and thus ground water recharge. Uncontrolled stormwater runoff develops into Floods, even in normal intensity of rainfall causing loss of water recharge levels. The main carriers of water that is the natural Drainages ar either blocked completely of partially or forced to change their direction, in the process of Urbanization. Thus water availability, water recharge and water Cycle all
The study aimed for optimum use of land resources and mitigating losses due to irrational land ta... more The study aimed for optimum use of land resources and mitigating losses due to irrational land take decisions. A model was developed to identify the land patches that are suitable for land take to accommodate urban expansion by using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) and geographic information system (GIS). FAHP-based matrix was developed, showing the degree of integrated importance of criteria. The matrix was used to develop the Sustainable Development Index (SDI). The SDI showed the categorisation of the good and bad land take decisions for the present scenario. The rational flexibility in decision making was incorporated to develop the Decision Making Rubric (DMR). The DMR followed rational re-classification process for probable mitigation of previous land take losses through appropriate curative measures and accordingly strategise for future land take decisions incorporating preventive measures. Development suitability map for the case city was prepared using developed SDI and DMR, which showed the present land take scenario and mitigated land take scenario, respectively. The study adds a new dimension of trade-off between natural and built environment by incorporating rational flexibility in land take decision making to handle the future land demands. The case city of Lucknow represents category of Tier 2 Indian cities having fast rate of urbanisation. In the exercise it was inferred that due to irrational land take decisions 40.78% of productive agriculture land was lost. Application of the proposed model showed that about 55.45% of the bad land take decisions can be modified to good land take decisions.
ABSTRACT: Water is an important constituent of all kinds of soils. It is held in the soil by adhe... more ABSTRACT: Water is an important constituent of all kinds of soils. It is held in the soil by adhesive forces between water molecules and organic and inorganic particles, and by cohesive forces between adjacent water molecules. Water retention is largely related to the organic matter and clay contents, whereas water movement is influenced by bulk density, porosity, and permeability. Water holding in soil depends on physical properties of soil as well as its hydrogeochemical characteristics. The amount of water held plays a vital link between the precipitation and water content of the soil. This paper is an attempt to correlate the soil and its water holding capacity depending upon its characteristics so as to use these properties as tool for sustainable settlement development.
International Journal of Architectural Research: Archnet-IJAR, 2007
The theme of Vastushastra is hinged on the concept that the surrounding energies as affecting the... more The theme of Vastushastra is hinged on the concept that the surrounding energies as affecting the earth should be optimally utilized in such a way as to be compatible to the laws of nature and functional requirements. Thus it deals with accentuation of positive energies and rejection of negative energies taking into consideration the macroscopic and microscopic effect. The cumulative effect of energies on the built form in the embodied plot has led to specific geometric form with varying energy grids on it which ultimately led to the location theory of different functions. The stipulations through observations, experimentation, which are time-tested and confirms with today’s science ensures conducive energetic environment to both the performer and the function. The implementation of vastu edicts prevents and/or cures the stress conditions and pin-point the saying “prevention is better than cure”.
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