Urban Planning

My hometown is Jaipur. It is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan in Northern India. It has a population of 6.6 million people living within the area of 249.2 square miles. Its housing areas match Automobile suburb perfectly but has similarities with the streetcar suburb as well, as even though there are not a lot of sidewalks and the main way of commuting for people is through automobiles but most houses there are built with up to two car holder garages, but on average there are more than two drivers living in the house with their personal car, which allows rest of the cars to be parked on the streets outside the house. Also, not all of the houses have a garage, therefore those cars are also parked on the street. Personally, I feel it has elements of both automobile and street car suburbs as cars ae their on the street, but people use those cars to travel as well. The cars make the area look busier; also you see a lot of new faces and so many people make the city lively. I relate it to University Park campus as well, as even though not a lot of people use car to commute but campus is crowded and the area is always lively.

Jamaica Plain, Boston is the first city from the module that that also falls under the category of streetcar suburb. Both cities have sidewalks in residence areas, as well as have bus services provided to them by government, though Jaipur has a lot of people using cars as well. I think, Jamaica Plain has almost a similar population to Jaipur, like in the picture houses are congested, they are built right next to each other leaving no space for backyard or front garden; also the roads are broken, making it very similar to Jaipur. This way I personally do not think that Jamaica offers a lot of  ideas to make Jaipur more sustainable, but both need to take similar measures, such as better planning and better roads for safety of the residents living there and cleaner actions  for reducing the amount of pollution caused by the automobiles and households in the city, making the city more sustainable. But one thing is there, Jamaica plain is way cleaner than Jaipur, therefore Jaipur can adopt some cleanliness procedures from the city and take a step toards sustainability.

Another city from the module is Venice, Italy. As we know, boats are the main transportation source in Venice; but still I could relate to it. Because if I walk around in my neighborhood in Jaipur, I will see cars coming and going as well as parked outside of every house; and people walking around. And then if I walk around in neighborhood in Venice, everything will be the same except boats instead of cars and water instead of roads. Insights from Venice have a lot of ideas to offer to Jaipur, in order to make it more sustainable. First of all, Venice attract a lot of tourists because of its landscape, and still maintains the cleanliness in the neighborhood; so this way Jaipur being one of the topmost tourist cities in India attracts a lot of tourists but still there is way less cleanliness in the neighbourhood. Also, Venice has really good public health and urination system, and Jaipur can integrate that in its development plan, making the city more cleaner.

One thought on “Urban Planning

  1. Hi, my name is Ben Ceci and I found your post to be very interesting. I thought my town of 65,000 people was big, but 6.6 million people and 249.2 square miles is a huge place to grow up. Having been to Venice many times, I agree with your comments and would love to learn more about your hometown because it seems to be a place that attracts tourists. Your recommendation about using Jamaica Plain as an example so that Jaipur can adopt some cleanliness procedures was great. Here is the link to my post. http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/19/greenwich-ct-urban-planning/

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