A History Forgotten in India

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=wJwZ0lD06NM

The Legacy of Patrick Geddes • Narayani Gupta, AG Krishna Menon, Partho Gupta and Helen Meller in conversation with Prem Chandavarkar • Jn 8, 2021 • https://bangaloreinternationalcentre.... • Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) was a Scottish polymath whose contributions covered the fields of biology, sociology, geography, ecology, civics and urban planning. He has been called “the father of modern town planning” and was ahead of his time on issues such as ecology, heritage preservation and the sociology of cities. • India was fortunate to receive dedicated attention from this seminal figure. He spent a major portion of his time in the country from 1914 to 1925, authored close to fifty town plans for Indian cities, some lengthy volumes and some of a few pages, and held a position in Sociology and Civics at Bombay University from 1919-1925. He eschewed the use of superimposing preconceived ideas, such as a gridiron plan, on existing cities, advocating an approach of “conservative surgery” that was founded on a careful survey of physical, cultural and natural conditions. • This history is largely forgotten in modern India. Urban planning has adopted other paradigms, with Le Corbusier’s plan for Chandigarh being a dominant influence. The discussion will explore the value of the legacy that Geddes offers us, speculate on what the Indian city might have been if our urban planning was based on this legacy, and reflect on how we might restore lessons from Patrick Geddes within contemporary discourse on India’s cities and towns.

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