Dwarka is a new sub-city planned under the burden of providing growing population in 1990. It is strategically located close to the airport in South West Delhi and is planned for a population of one million-plus (primarily middle-class) inhabitants. From observations at the site and discussions with experts it is vident that development does not come off the ground, in part due to speculation, in part due to severe water shortages. Sizeable areas still stand vacant, and apartment buildings are only partly occupied. This is remarkable, given the fact that many areas much further from the center, the airport and the business-hub of Gurgaon are developing rapidly.
Water is key to a future development of Dwarka. As an essential building-block of any future vision or scenario for Dwarka, the water issue needs to be addressed first.
The aim is to develop strategies, projects and tools for addressing the (urgent) water. It is a parallel process where there are no fixed set of solutions but the idea is to test out to make Dwarka a more self-sustainable sub-city with alternate scenarios and by asking fundamental questions, spreading awareness for the urgency of the issue and at the same time demonstrating with appropriate action plans/concrete projects.
A site in size of 900m x 900m is identified around the station of Delhi metro for further study and strategy testing. Several proposals are put forward to solve current problems and bridge the gap between water consumption and supply. The designs aims to close water loop by increasing water-holding capacity, recharging groundwater, treating wastewater locally, implementing water design into landscape and architecture designs. The new road system aims for slow traffic and giving the space back to pedestrian. Meanwhile, roads are narrowed down in order to save more space for water management. Stormwater management system will be implemented into green structure for ecological and landscape value. The testsite will be a demonstration for other cases in the sub-city or in other areas of Delhi or India.
Status: Unbuilt
