Spaces beneath the flyovers- a Lost opportunity!

If one whizz past on the city’s flyovers, one can feast his eyes on inviting hoardings,get lost in the haze of high-rises and get a high on life in the fast lane. But the underside of these flyovers tells a very different story. Encroached by squatters, littered with filth and dumping grounds for garbage, that’s the sight under most of the over bridges across the city.

Conditions such as transportation facilities like the railways, road networks, flyovers and high ways form the basis of contemporary Indian urbanism. They mark the nature of city’s progress and observe the need of the public. However, there are vast amount of urban spaces which appear in various scales, intensities and forms which are abandoned due to such kind of urbanism. Very common examples of such residual spaces are Railway tracks precinct, subways, skywalks and spaces below the flyovers. The flyover itself was proposed as necessary civic infrastructure. Why can’t this idea be extended below as well? What better place to open up a little room for the citizens of the city?

Although sometimes included in plans, they often constitute the indirect result of planned building and exist in the outmost periphery of architects and planners intentions. They are phenomena that exist beyond what architects and planners normally define as their professional domain. Thus they are not the results of direct design processes, but rather secondary consequences of planning and building. They often are simply neglected, become inaccessible and eventually rupture the sense of community.

But as they are not programmed spaces created to be used in a certain way, at specific times, by certain types of people, for a limited set of purposes they also offer opportunities to withdraw from the formal and informal control of public space to a less controlled territory. Spaces which often appear as distances to cross when taking a bus, going to the shop, school or work. It is a space to rush through on your way from train to bazaar. Thus we see the space under the flyover as having wonderful potential. The uniqueness of flyovers lies in its character of an overhead shelter with its generous underneath space that is longitudinal and barrier free. It is sheltered from the rain and from the heat of the sun. Amazingly, it is also free of much of the politics, land tenure disputes and real estate speculation that plague much of the developing cities today. Thus, the negative effects produced by flyovers can be reduced through careful design and more important the incorporation of the spaces below into their surrounding urban environment.

Both flyovers and skywalks have become a highly visible feature of recent rapid urbanization. Many more projects are ongoing and proposed. Hence the construction of flyovers, however, needs to be seriously analyzed.

From planners and designers it is an appeal for :consciousness before a responsible design process can start and to work out a well thought out catalogue of what is considered to be part of an urban open space network. For concerned citizens and community groups its a request to take an active and informed part in the planning and design of urban spaces criteria with which to assess the qualities of both existing urban spaces and the design proposals for new ones.

NEGATIVE EFFECTS CAUSED BY SUCH PLANNING PROCESSES:

With the construction of highways in urban areas, empty spaces result. The spaces along and under elevated highways affect the way we experience the city. They disconnect neighbourhoods, produce undesirable views, and act as physical and psychological barriers making the pedestrian experience unpleasant (Trancik, 1986). Furthermore, the unclear territoriality of these spaces sometimes leads to land misuses such as dumping debris, abandoning of cars, or illegal activities. The inappropriate use of the vacant spaces under elevated highways can lead to social and economic problems in addition to being unsightly and lowering the value of adjacent properties (Halprin, 1966).

Flyovers, may solve traffic problems but in general, are considered as pretty negative elements within the urban fabric. The average traffic/civil engineered flyover is no elegant thing, and when inserted clumsily into existing urban fabric, can wreak far more havoc to communities and the general sense of place than we might initially think.

They have a tendency to perceptually cut of communities, or even parts of communities from each other. There are issues in terms of getting school kids to and from the school. It is a particularly difficult area to access by vehicles, and more importantly, when we consider the vulnerability of school kids, via cycle and pedestrian modes. Typically, flyovers have also been responsible for cutting off cities from waterfronts and recreational spaces. Such is the case with most of the flyovers in the city. The residual spaces under the flyovers and the buffer spaces around them, instead of acknowledging and exploiting these characteristic kinds of space we make them into parking lots or feeble patches of grass-no-man’s lands between the scale of the region and the locality. By citing examples showing the scenario all through the flyovers of Mumbai these effects could be illustrated.

The residual spaces under the flyovers and the buffer spaces around them, instead of acknowledging and exploiting these characteristic kinds of space we make them into parking lots or feeble patches of grass-no-man’s lands between the scale of the region and the locality. Here are examples showing the scenario all through the flyovers of Mumbai. Here is a listing done in order to show that how many of them are in such a condition.

MSRDC 35 odd flyovers in the city

Pay and park facility: Following are the 16 flyovers out of 37 which have a pay and park facility.
Mumbai city roads , JJ hospital –Bhendi bazaar junction flyover, SB Marg - Elphistone
junction, SB Marg –NM Joshi junction, SB Marg – Fergusson junction, SB Marg – connection, western express highway, Eastern express high way, Sion junction, Cheddha Nagar junction, Mitin casting junction, Cadbury junction , Golden oyes junction ,Western express high way ,Data Pada junction ,Kalina Vakola junction ,Santacruz airport junction ,National park junction ,Sion Panvel high way , and Vashi junction.
Police chowkies under: Mahim flyover, Prabodhan Thackery, Kalina Vakola, National park
flyover AGLR, SARC Sion Panvel flyover, and Aarey road flyover.

And For so called Greening purposes only 6 of them qualify in the list:
Love grove junction, Western express highway, Kalina Vakola, Mahim junction, Sion Panvel, Vashi junction.

The process of planning and implementation of a flyover system results in unexpected negative consequences in entire urban areas. Some of which includes: divisions of well-established communities, disconnection of neighborhoods, isolation of residential areas, relocations of entire families, excessive noise, and unwanted views, shadowing, and overpowering effect produced by the magnitude of the structure, which drastically change the urban landscape.

There are some general effects produced by the introduction of a flyover into urban areas. The different types of impacts that might be produced by the development of a flyover can be classified as:

• Physical: includes wall or barrier effects produced by highways, increase in noise or vibrations, and shadowing effect.

• Social and psychological: this category includes changes in population (i.e., such as redistribution of population and loss or increase in population), changes in the interactions of persons or groups, isolation or separation of certain people, changes in social values, and perceived impact on the quality of life.

• Visual and Environment: this category includes changes in the aesthetic character of communities.

• Land Use: includes the creation or loss of land as the result of the development of a highway, and changes in land use and density.

• Economic Conditions: the introduction of a highway in an urban area may encourage new businesses to establish in the area or cause the relocation of existing ones. It also may affect the local economy in a short-term during the construction activities or produce a long-term impact by blocking the access to businesses. Other introduced changes could be the increase or reduction of visibility to the commercial area, and changes in property value.

•Displacements: this category includes the number residences, businesses or any institution displaced within the same neighbourhood and the changes produced in the neighbourhood’s character due to the displacements.

• Safety: this category is includes the positive or negative changes in crime levels, accidents and emergency response in the area where the highway is located.

HOW CAN THESE LEFT OVER SPACES BE PUT TO USE?

Undeveloped spaces below elevated highways have the potential to be transformed into major corridors, gathering areas or recreational spaces that integrate the elevated highway and their surrounding environment. Generally, they shape the ground level where they are constructed. Sense of intimacy could be felt at which distance between the ground level and the roof are close where else openness and freedom could be felt when the distance are far apart. These diverse volumes stimulate different activities to happen mostly due to limitation in height clearance. The finishes under the flyovers varies in terms of the ground covering which include interlocking block pavement, paved road, earth and natural landscape. Under the flyovers, lies an existence of a space that might differ from the rush of the above, a loose space with uncertainties and endless possibilities. Some of the examples are stated as under: