A.
SOCIAL UTOPIAS Environmental and social conditions of the liberal period
of capitalism in the 1. half of the 19. century - industrial development,
migrations from the countryside to the towns, new industrial cities and
unprecedented urban extensions; - miserable environmental and social
conditions: pollutions from factories, pollution of the ground, water, air and
natural landscape, inadequate sanitation, lack of refuse disposal, cholera
epidemics, exploitation of the workers; - decline of traditional handicraft for
industrial mass production; - the estrangement of the worker from its work and
production; - disorder and overcrowding,, traffic congestion; - uncontrolled
development of the cities because of the private ownership of land; - a general
impression of a dead end of civilisation (a similarity to the reports of the
Roman Club in he 1960-s) Controversial attitudes toward the industrial society:
- the beginning of an radical utopianism (A): no way out of the crisis, we have
to build up human civilisation from the very beginning somewhere out of the
industrial society; preference for a radically new foundation for ideal social and
environmental conditions; modernism; - a believe in the possible improvement
of social and environmental conditions through legislation and large-scale
public works (B): the beginning of an urban tradition realised int he
transformation of existing cities urbanism - a believe in the continuity of
tradition and the predominance of handicrafts and aesthetics (C) culturalism
Imagine a city free of crime, poverty, money, government, and hardship.That's the
utopian vision for Auroville, a township in India that's dubbed "the City of Dawn."
Founded in 1960, it was originally envisioned as a peaceful, anarchic community free
of strife. It's not quite there yet.
Pictured below, the city plan looks like a massive spiral of homes, public buildings,
farms, and forests. "The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity," reads the
city's site.
The city
plan for
Auroville,
India from
1965. Visit
Auroville
Auroville
centers
around the
Matrimandir, a two-story spherical chamber made from gold plates. Inside, there's
enough room for about 100 people to pray and meditate.
In 1965, Mirra Alfassa, a spiritual leader known as the "Mother" of Auroville, drew
the first plan for the town, which was mostly uninhabited at the time. She divided
Auroville into four zones: industrial (organic farms), cultural (shops and businesses),
residential, and international (areas for visitors), which French architect Roger Anger
turned into the spiral masterplan that same year.
Planning for Auroville's "International"
zone. Outside organizations have started
projects to further Auroville's original
vision.
Acclaimed architect Anupama Kundoo,
for example, has designed Lego-style
houses for residents. The architects
from the Auroville Design
Consultancy have also designed over 20
public spaces for the town, including
kindergartens, libraries, resorts, and
homes. Though only some are built, the
projects all focus on human connection
and environmental sustainability.
As writer Maddy Crowell note s in Slate,
Auroville is dealing with some serious
issues in spite of its optimism. For the
last few years, it has struggled with
reports of robberies, sexual assault, and murder. And although alcohol is discouraged,
on her visit, a taxi driver told her that "no one follows this rule." Many shops and food
markets still prefer cash over the Aurocard too, and it's uncertain who controls the
local committee's finances, Crowell says.
In practice, Auroville's utopian city plan may not be working out as planned, but it
certainly is an idealistic vision.
Alternative utopias of the future
Taking four contrasting cities – Varanasi, Chandigarh, Navi Mumbai and Nashik
– this project explores how alternative utopias to top-down planning visions are
envisioned at the grassroots. Grassroots imaginations of urban futures are often
silenced as illegal, illegitimate, dissenting and anti-developmental. Yet at the
same time, they can radically transform the rationalist planning visions that are
often out of sync with everyday life at street level. Grassroots visions of urban
futures are not necessarily against the city – they have different visions of urban
utopias based on citizenship rights, justice and democracy. These visions are
shaped by their historic, social and political engagement with city spaces and
urban environments. We call these ‘alternative utopias’. We argue that these
alternative utopias are key to the planning of future cities in India, at a time when
it stands poised towards a radical shift to smart urbanism.
