**5. Collaborative planning project: T. Nagar redevelopment plan—experiences**

Understanding society is an important step towards formulating and undertaking measures to direct growth and change in the physical form and social harmony. Consultative process recognizes the importance of creating opportunities and facilitates the people to involve and participate in the planning and development of their local area.

The urban redevelopment is a process of controlled development of urban activities in an area which is experiencing growth and change in a haphazard manner in terms of land use, infrastructure availability, vehicle movement, and community activities. The redevelopment strategies set for the area could follow either retaining the structure and functional character of the area or creating a multifunctional character which is set forth by the market force, planning and design norms, and community interest. The existing structure and functions of buildings and streets with the movement of people and vehicles where the residential buildings and roads and streets attract to house trade and commercial activities result in congestion, crowd, environmental destruction, social tensions, etc. The redevelopment efforts should focus on the physical form and patterns of the area, the social, economic, and environmental concern of the community living in it. So the consultative process is important and considered to understand the social acceptance and responsibility of the local community in the redevelopment.

#### **5.1 Innovation in planning profession**

The corporate sector and academic sector involvement in making a redevelopment plan for T. Nagar, Chennai, is a very new attempt and first of its kind in India. In academic language as per Anna University, Chennai, the university-industry

**313**

intracity bus service.

by many as East Mambalam.

*Integrated Approach towards Participatory Development of Urban Neighborhood Spaces…*

collaboration in demanding and doing social-oriented innovative development plan for the redevelopment of an area in a city is a new chapter in the history of the university-industry collaborative planning. Here to mention that, my experience with the corporate sector JLL in association with TOWNLAND Consultants from Hong Kong is very unique and encouraged to initiate the participatory planning in preparing a redevelopment plan for T. Nagar as Social Development Expert. The motivating factor from my side and the JLL team regional head and other members are my students of M. Plan Housing and urban planning during 1994–1996 Session (from the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi, where I was a faculty member in the Urban Planning Dept from 1990 to 2003). As per the invitation from the team on seeking to work as a team member in the project, it was a unique experience in involving many stages of the project to specifically devise a new method of conducting the consultative meetings at various stages. It is by evolving "Makers-Users Centered Approach" (MUCA) to the consultative process [9].

**5.2 T. Nagar: a residential area to retail business place in Chennai City**

Until the early 1900s, the villages to the west of Mount Road of Chennai City formed a part of Chengalpattu District. A residential suburb was conceived in the middle of this reclaimed land by the Justice Party government of the Raja of Panagal; a park was developed at the center of this new locality and was named, in honor of the then Chief Minister, as Panagal Park. Soon afterwards, the Pondy Bazaar began to make its existence. The broad roads in this new locality were treelined, as were other parts of the city, and were named after stalwarts in the ruling Justice Party then. Nalli's showroom was the first prominent shop to establish in the area during the year 1935. From the 1950s onwards, Thyagaraya Nagar has steadily risen as the most preferred shopping centers in Chennai city. The place is an important center for shopping and entertainment and also a major hub for the

T. Nagar is a foremost commercial hub in the city of Chennai. Chennai City is the capital of the Tamil Nadu State (**Figure 1**). T. Nagar is located in the southern precincts of the city and has been named after a distinguished leader, P. Thyagaraya, of the Tamil Nadu State. The adjoining regions of T. Nagar include Teynampet, West Mambalam, and Azeez Nagar. In fact, the place has been referred

at traffic improvement and were implemented on a piecemeal basis.

T. Nagar provides some of the best shopping centers, business establishments, accommodation, and other commercial enterprises. The location of T. Nagar is shown in **Figure 2**. Apart from being an important center for shopping and entertainment, T. Nagar is also a major hub for the intracity bus service. Historically, it was planned as residential neighborhood with roads and streets radiating from Panagal Park for the movement of the residents and developed into an exclusive shopping area which attracts visitors from various parts of the country for shopping. T. Nagar has shed its original character and has huge stand-alone shopping centers as well as a sizeable informal business sector. This has paved way for the present traffic and congestion problems. Despite better bus and rail facilities, people see a lack of integration especially when the pedestrians face problems to move around. The shopping during festivals, like Deepavali (during November), Navaratri (during October), Ramzan, Bakrid, and Pongal (during January), brings additional traffic and people movement to the area due to the heavy discounts and reductions offered by dealers. So far, all development projects have looked primarily

T. Nagar area have three major parks like Natesan Park, Panagal Park, and Jeeva Park as major green and lung spaces in the locality. Due to the vibrant residential

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90832*

*Integrated Approach towards Participatory Development of Urban Neighborhood Spaces… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90832*

collaboration in demanding and doing social-oriented innovative development plan for the redevelopment of an area in a city is a new chapter in the history of the university-industry collaborative planning. Here to mention that, my experience with the corporate sector JLL in association with TOWNLAND Consultants from Hong Kong is very unique and encouraged to initiate the participatory planning in preparing a redevelopment plan for T. Nagar as Social Development Expert. The motivating factor from my side and the JLL team regional head and other members are my students of M. Plan Housing and urban planning during 1994–1996 Session (from the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi, where I was a faculty member in the Urban Planning Dept from 1990 to 2003). As per the invitation from the team on seeking to work as a team member in the project, it was a unique experience in involving many stages of the project to specifically devise a new method of conducting the consultative meetings at various stages. It is by evolving "Makers-Users Centered Approach" (MUCA) to the consultative process [9].

#### **5.2 T. Nagar: a residential area to retail business place in Chennai City**

Until the early 1900s, the villages to the west of Mount Road of Chennai City formed a part of Chengalpattu District. A residential suburb was conceived in the middle of this reclaimed land by the Justice Party government of the Raja of Panagal; a park was developed at the center of this new locality and was named, in honor of the then Chief Minister, as Panagal Park. Soon afterwards, the Pondy Bazaar began to make its existence. The broad roads in this new locality were treelined, as were other parts of the city, and were named after stalwarts in the ruling Justice Party then. Nalli's showroom was the first prominent shop to establish in the area during the year 1935. From the 1950s onwards, Thyagaraya Nagar has steadily risen as the most preferred shopping centers in Chennai city. The place is an important center for shopping and entertainment and also a major hub for the intracity bus service.

T. Nagar is a foremost commercial hub in the city of Chennai. Chennai City is the capital of the Tamil Nadu State (**Figure 1**). T. Nagar is located in the southern precincts of the city and has been named after a distinguished leader, P. Thyagaraya, of the Tamil Nadu State. The adjoining regions of T. Nagar include Teynampet, West Mambalam, and Azeez Nagar. In fact, the place has been referred by many as East Mambalam.

T. Nagar provides some of the best shopping centers, business establishments, accommodation, and other commercial enterprises. The location of T. Nagar is shown in **Figure 2**. Apart from being an important center for shopping and entertainment, T. Nagar is also a major hub for the intracity bus service. Historically, it was planned as residential neighborhood with roads and streets radiating from Panagal Park for the movement of the residents and developed into an exclusive shopping area which attracts visitors from various parts of the country for shopping. T. Nagar has shed its original character and has huge stand-alone shopping centers as well as a sizeable informal business sector. This has paved way for the present traffic and congestion problems. Despite better bus and rail facilities, people see a lack of integration especially when the pedestrians face problems to move around. The shopping during festivals, like Deepavali (during November), Navaratri (during October), Ramzan, Bakrid, and Pongal (during January), brings additional traffic and people movement to the area due to the heavy discounts and reductions offered by dealers. So far, all development projects have looked primarily at traffic improvement and were implemented on a piecemeal basis.

T. Nagar area have three major parks like Natesan Park, Panagal Park, and Jeeva Park as major green and lung spaces in the locality. Due to the vibrant residential

*Sustainability in Urban Planning and Design*

detailed project reports for many cities in India.

**plan—experiences**

their local area.

The shift was evident from the academic-based planning practice to corporate sector both as national- and international-based making of plans for cities and towns. But the implementation part of the plans is with the government. The planning education play an important role in importing knowledge, training, research, and consultancy work in the field of town and country planning and development. In practice, the emergence of local and multinational corporate sectors venture into preparation of development plans/master plans is due to the slow growth of academic and learning environment in planning schools in India. Also the organizational climate in planning schools in India both in terms of administrative and academic activities changes the planning practice as corporate and academic collaborative activities. The joint ventures, that is, the academics joint with the corporate sector and practice planning profession as consultative mode is more prevalent in India. This is evident from the program implementation of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission such as preparation of city development plans and

Participatory planning in the wake of globalization and invention of information and communication technology that facilitates the people involvement in planning is easy as well as saves time and cost. The creation of opportunity by the planning agencies and local government towards public participation is essential and important. In this process the planning education should integrate the people collaborative efforts in educational exercises as well as take actions towards local area development. In this regard the following sections state the practical experi-

Understanding society is an important step towards formulating and undertaking measures to direct growth and change in the physical form and social harmony. Consultative process recognizes the importance of creating opportunities and facilitates the people to involve and participate in the planning and development of

The urban redevelopment is a process of controlled development of urban activities in an area which is experiencing growth and change in a haphazard manner in terms of land use, infrastructure availability, vehicle movement, and community activities. The redevelopment strategies set for the area could follow either retaining the structure and functional character of the area or creating a multifunctional character which is set forth by the market force, planning and design norms, and community interest. The existing structure and functions of buildings and streets with the movement of people and vehicles where the residential buildings and roads and streets attract to house trade and commercial activities result in congestion, crowd, environmental destruction, social tensions, etc. The redevelopment efforts should focus on the physical form and patterns of the area, the social, economic, and environmental concern of the community living in it. So the consultative process is important and considered to understand the social acceptance and

The corporate sector and academic sector involvement in making a redevelopment plan for T. Nagar, Chennai, is a very new attempt and first of its kind in India. In academic language as per Anna University, Chennai, the university-industry

ence in doing collaborative urban and regional planning exercises.

**5. Collaborative planning project: T. Nagar redevelopment** 

responsibility of the local community in the redevelopment.

**5.1 Innovation in planning profession**

**312**

**Figure 1.** *Location of Chennai in Tamil Nadu.*

**315**

**Figure 3.**

*The consultation stages in the overall methodology of the project.*

*Integrated Approach towards Participatory Development of Urban Neighborhood Spaces…*

and commercial activity in T. Nagar, there is a presence of good number of banks,

The redevelopment plan follows strictly the concept of inclusive planning, on land and building acquisition. Inclusive strategy is used to the redevelopment of buildings, streets, foot paths, parks, market streets, bus stand, flyover, and public places including the inclusion of street venders and business activities. Placemaking, walkability, a sense of open realm, and raising tress are considered as very important elements of redevelopment plan. The methodology followed in the preparation of redevelopment plan showing the different stages of consultation

Placemaking has been for years at the forefront of redevelopment projects in (sub) urban city centers, particularly the USA. The core objective of this planning principle is to create memorable public places that have character and spaces that make people want to stay and visit again and again. The public realm in many city centers had over the years been taken up by traffic and commercial uses and been efficiently designed around the flow of cars. Placemaking is not just about pedestrians staking back a claim on the public realm but moreover about how to create spaces that entice people to interact, to meet others, to enjoy the outdoors, and to feel part of a community. Different aspects of implementing placemaking are, e.g.: walkability—is ensured through the re-establishment of pedestrian-friendly pavements and public spaces, walkable block distance, and building orientation and landscaping to enhance shading and ensure comfort for the pedestrian. A safe, open realm—a well-lit, open public space is essential to reduce crime and further encourage the growth of a strong community. Introduction of more trees and low

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90832*

healthcare units, and renowned schools.

**5.3 T. Nagar redevelopment strategies**

meeting conducted is shown in **Figure 3**.

**Figure 2.** *Location of T. Nagar in Chennai.*

*Integrated Approach towards Participatory Development of Urban Neighborhood Spaces… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90832*

and commercial activity in T. Nagar, there is a presence of good number of banks, healthcare units, and renowned schools.
