site an al

y si s
Thes t
atehasan areaof38, 863 km2 (15, 005 s qm) The soilconsist
s mai nl
y ofrecent sediment s
Keralaishomet o3.44% ofI ndia'
spopulation;at819 pers onsper (All
uvium,Teri ’
s,Brown s ands etc.
).Hydro-
km²,itsland isnearlyt hreetimesasdens elysettled astheres tof morphi csali
nes oi
lsarealsofound i
nt heareas
Indi
a, whi ch is at a popul ati
on densit
y of 325 pers ons per surroundi
ng t he backwaters
.The maj or rock
km².Kerala'scoastalregionsaret hemos tdens elyset t
led,leaving typesareArchaean-bas i
cdykes ,Charnockites
theeastern hil
lsand mount ainscomparat i
velys parselypopulated. and Gneisses
.
Ital
sohashi ghes
tl i
teracyamongt hest
at esofI ndia.

Kochi ’
scl imat ei sgeneral lyt ropical ,wi th no
hars h ext remi ti
es.Theci tyf eaturesa t ropical
Kochi( pronunci at i
on-Kocci ;f ormer Cochi n)isa ci tyl ocated on mons oon cl i
mat e.Surf acet emperat uresrange
t hes out hwes tcoas tofI ndi a,i nt hes out hern st ateofKeral a.the bet ween 20–35 °C ( 68–95 °F) .Thecurrent
Indi an s tat eofKeral aint hedi s
t rictofErnakul am. Formanycen- record hi gh t emperat urei s38 °C;t hel owes t
t uriesup t oand duri ngt heBri t is
h Raj ,t hecityofKochiwast he is17 °C.Heavyrai nsaccompani edbyt hunder
s eatoft heeponymouspri ncel ys tat e.Today t heci tyi sknown as arecommon f rom Junet o Sept emberduet o
t hecommerci alcapi taloft hes tate.Theci tyl i
esatt hes eamout h the Sout h-Wes t mons oon.Li ght showersare
ofs even maj or riverswhi ch s t
artf rom t he Wes tern Ghat sand experi enced from Oct obert oDecemberduet o
t ravelt hrough Keral a’smi dlands ,l owl andsand coas t alareas ,to theNort h-Wes tmons oon.Theaverageannual
drai nouti nt ot heArabi anSea.Earl ier,Kochiwasus edt oref erto rainf alli
sabout350 cm wi than average132
t he regi on encompas sing Mat tancherry,Fort Kochi ,Pal l
urut hy rainy daysannual ly;t he bulk oft he rainfall
andThoppumpadi .Today,Kochicompri sesthemai nlandErnaku-
Thef loraoft heregi oni spredomi nant l
yt rop- s tems f rom t he Sout h-Wes t mons oon. The
lam,ol d Kochi ,Kadavant hra,t hes uburbsofEdapal l
yand t heex-
ical
.Common veget at ion i
nt heregi on i
ncl ude wi nds are moderat e, wi t h slight i ncreas e
urbi aofKal amas seryandKakkanadt ot henort heas t;Tri puni thu-
Launaea, I pomoea, Port ulaca, Hydrocot yle,duri ngs ummerand t hemons oon s easons .
rat ot hes outheas t;andagroupofi slandscl oselys cat t eredi nt he
Spinifex,Li ppia,Moni era,Cynodon,Di gi tari,
Vembanad l ake.
Cyperus et c.Mangrove f ormat ions are al s o
common.Though much of t he cityi s ur-
banised,t heci tyret ainsan ecological
lys ens i
Kochil iesatt henort hern end ofa narrow neck ofl and,about t ivearea ri ghtati tscent re— t heMangal a-
19 km l ong and l es sthan 1. 6 km wi dei n many pl aces ,and i s vanam.I ti sanes ti
ngground f oravas tvari -
separat edf rom t hemai nlandbyi nlet sfrom t heArabi ans eaand et y of mi grat ory birds and s upport s many
byt hees t uariesofri versdrai ningf rom t heWes t ern Ghat s.Asa vari etiesofmangroves .Thisrareecos ystem i n
res ult,Kochii sa nat uralharbour. Much ofKochil i
esatt hes ea t he heart of t he ci ty has helped mi tigat e
level,and t heent ireci t
ys pansan areaof87. 5 km² .Theci t
yhas Kochi ’
spol luti
on probl ems .The Mangal avan-
as eacoas tofabout30 mi les.Wi ll
ingdon I sland isal ar geart ifici
al am i sal soaprot ected bird sanctuary.
island,creat edbydredgi ngt heVembanadLakeundert hedi rec- The backwat ersal s
o harbourmany di f
f erent
tion ofLord Wi lli
ngdon.Theci tyhasari ch networkofbackwa- t ypesoff ishes.Aquat i
cmammal slikedol phins
ters ,whi chhasbeen decl ared asNat ionalWat erways . areapl entyi nt hebackwat ersofKochi .
site an al
y si s
Mangal
avanam

Kochi
'sl
iteracyrat
eis94.
3%.Thefemal
elit
eracyratel
agst
hat
Rai
nbow bri
dge
ofmalesby1. 1%,amongs
tthelowes
tsuchgapsinIndi
a.

Aspert hes t
udiesmadei n cases t
udi esand l iteratures tudiesi t
isaptt hatt hes i
teislocat ed within an urban area.TheNMNH
Delhiat tractsmorecrowd t han itscount erpartRMNH Mys ore
becauseofi tscentrallocat i
on.On t heot herhand t hel at terhas
M.
G Road
thes cenics etti
ng to makeoneawareofnat ure.Theref orei ti s
idealifthes i
teiswi thi
nt hemai n cit
yand s til
li sendowed wi th
thenat ure’sbount y.TheNagaryamaandParcDel aVi ll
et tewere
done asa urban redevel opmentt o bring back f unctionst ot he
oncebus tlingcent resoft heci ty.Thes i
tes hould beeas ilyacces -
sibl
es hould be wel lconnect ed to publ i
ct ransports ystemset c.

THESIS 2011
Thel ocation should bes uch thatt herei senough popul ation for
Wes
twat
erf
ront
theproj ectt osurvive.
Shanmugam Road

Isint hecoreoft hecity( withi

nt hecorporat i
on l i
mi ts)and i s
easil
y accessiblet hrough publ i
ct rans port s ystems .The pl ot is
behind theHi gh courtofKeral aand wast hes iteoft heOl d Er-
nakulam rai lway s t
ation.It hasbeen l eftl argely unus ed s i
nce Bol
gat
tyPal
ace
1960s .Overt heyearsi thasbecomeahomef orl arget reesand
some ani mall if
e.On i tsnorthi st he cit y’
sbi rd s anctuary and
mangrove f ores t(Mangal avanam) .Ass uch t hes itehast here-
quiredscenics etti
ng.Thes iteissurroundedmai nlybyres idential
buili
ngs,somecommerci alareasandi nstitutions.Iti salsoinclos e
proximityt ot he maj ortouristdes ti
nat ionsoft he cityl i
ke the
Bolgatty Palace(km)and mari nedri veboat ing area.Thepres - Thes itehasgood accessibi
li
tybyroad rai l
wayn wat erway.300m from main road (
Banerji
enceofl argenumberofres i
dentialuni ts
,i nstituti
on,t ouristdes- Rd)att heforkofMat haiManj ooran road & Sal
im AliRoad.Wi
thi
n 800 metresofitsradi
us
tinanti
on commerci alareasens urest hatt herewi l
lbean opt iu- istheNH47 t hebolgatt
yPal ace.TheErnakul am Northrailways
tat
ionis1.
3km f rom thesi
te.
mum numberofpeopl eus i
ng thef acil
itiesatany gi ven timeof I tis400m awayf rom t heboatj ettyt hatconnectstothenearbyisl
andsand Fortkochi(a
theday. pri
met ouri
stlocat
ion)and 270m f rom t hebusstop.
site an al
y si s
The s it
e has a vi brant surrounding wi t
h a vari ety of
buildingsand f unct i
onsi ni tsimmedi ates urroundings.
Themos tdomi nantbui l
ding,t heKeral ahi ghcourtan 8
storeyeds tructurel iestoi tsSouth.OnSW nextt ocourt
ist heOf fi
ceoft heAdvocat eGeneraland t heFisheries
offi
cecompl ex.On t heWes tarei nsti
t uti
onsl iketheNa-
tionalI nsti
tute of Oceanography ( N.I.
O) and Cent ral
Mari neandFi sheriesInstitute(C.M.F.R.I)
.Tot heNort his
thebi rd sanctuary and mangrovef orest( mangal avam)
an ecologicall
ys ensiti
ve area and a f ew s troage st
ruc-
tures.And f inally on theeas tareres ident i
alarea wi th
structures that range f rom G t o G+2 and f ew s mall
shops .

THESIS 2011
Thes iteis263 m f rom t heBanerj i
road thatconnect sShunmugam road t o
NH47 ( MG road) .Ass ucht het raf
ficon
thisroad isdens e.A road 10 m wi de
(Mat haiManj uran road)connect sthe
si
tef rom itssout ht oBanerj iroad and
Winds are hi ghl
yi nfl
uenced by land and s ea breezes
.cont inuest otheNE.Thi sroad alsoleads
From Oct ober– May,wi nd di
rection changesfrom NE t ot hehi ghcourt ,residenti
alet c.and
inthemorni nghourst oWes tduri ngt heafternoon and hasamoderat et raff
icdens ity.Dr.
eveni
ng.Duri ng the SW mons oon,( June- Sept ember)Sal i
m Al iroad (10. 7 -9.4 m)runson
theeffectoft heland and sea breezesisnotdomi nant theSout hoft hes i
teand cont i
nuest o
and thewi nd directi
on remainspredomi nantlySW. it
sWes t.Traffi
cdens i
tyon t hisroad is
site an al
y si s
The site hasroadson 3 s i
deswhi ch are each of7. 5m wi dt
h.I tis
wider on t he south and narrowsdown t ot he nort h.The site has
moderat econt ourshi ghestpoint(9m)i sont heSw cornerandgrad-
uall
ys l
opesdown ( 6m)t ot hecentre,gent el
yri sesand slopesdown
againt otheNort h.Thehasabundantveget ati
on,t hedoni nantbei ng
Raint reesand Toddy Pal ms .Wild herbs
,creepers ,wild cast
orand
grassareal sofoundhere.Thel ushgreens urroundi ngsprovideanapt
sett
ingf ort heproj ect.Thepresenceofas hallow nat uralpond adds
tot hebeaut y oft hes i
te.Thevas texpans eofl and allowst os pread
outt hes truct
ures ot hati tdoesnotdomi natet hes i
te.

THESIS 2011