There is this urge now to convert pockets of Bangalore into cultural spaces. There is a desire to give the city an identity that is different from the IT tag it has come to assume. Many books are being written about the city.
Development has changed the landscape of the city and there is a constant analysis of it. Architect, urban designer and activist Naresh V. Narasimhan is one among the prominent voices that attempts to recreate the city in a new way. He has been regularly advising the local government on urban design.
The architecture and design firm Naresh works with has been involved, in terms of design services, in the revamping of KR Market, locally known as City Market.
“With the urban renewal of K.R. Market, we want to bring back the lost centre of Bangalore,” explains Naresh, who was a speaker at the recently-concluded TEDx Bangalore event.
From the leisurely city it once was, Bangalore has now become fast-paced, leaving little time for people to reflect on or come to terms with the many changes happening around. Naresh agrees that there is disenchantment with the city.
But he says that for any progress to be made, it is first important to have a modicum of awareness.
“We suffer from urban amnesia. Urban memory of Bangalore goes back at the most to 20 to 30 years. What is the urban experience we are talking about? I believe it is a combination of time, of memory and of imagination.”
And it is imagination, Naresh believes, that will help us understand what kind of a vision we must have of the city. “When we think of planning for the future, we think of 2050. That goal, however, is conveniently just out of reach. My talk Past Forward at TEDx Bangalore was about this. I asked how do we use the past to inform us of the future? What if we went back to see the future? Bangalore was wonderful in the 1990s, so what steps can we take to make the city as good as it was back then? The indicators are air quality, pollution levels, traffic density, easy availability of services to the people, availability of housing. At that time, the city was excellent in all these aspects.”
Naresh believes that engaging with past images of the city is a powerful way to fire our imagination.
He agrees that Bangalore is a city of hope, of opportunities. He says that it has always been a cosmopolitan city.
“It is nothing new. The city was always open and welcoming to migrants. There were people of various ethnicities, from the Chinese, Armenians and Anglo-Indians to Bengalis, Marathis and Tamilians. Auto drivers here know five languages!”
He adds that Bangalore is a city of citizen activism. “If you are going to live here, learn about it. Get involved by volunteering. Become a custodian of the city. Public spaces are not for the government, it’s yours.”
