But are we underutilizing its potential?
Lata and Prashant met at the University
of Pennsylvania where she was studying regional planning
and he had returned to do a project, having previously studied
landscape architecture there. In those days, this university
was something like the Holy Grail for people like Lata and
Prashant who were interested in environmental issues, for
the head of faculty, Ian McHarg, was regarded as the “father of ecological planning”.
“During the first semester,” remembers Lata, “we didn't design
anything. Instead, we were given a landscape which we had to
study and understand. First of all we studied the natural resources – the
topography, hydrology, soils, vegetation, wildlife etc. – and
then we studied the human ecology – the people who lived there
over time, their occupations, socio-economic condition, demography,
the transportation network. Then we were given a land use,
like sanitary landfill, and we had to find the location for
it which would do least damage to the ecology and to the inhabitants
of that landscape.”
One of the key tools they were introduced
to was GIS or Geographic Information Systems.
“GIS,” explains Prashant, “is any system
of computerized information that has a spatial component to
it. In other words, the information is linked to a specific
location on the surface of the earth.” GIS allows many different
kinds of information – ecology, land use, transportation system,
electrical connections – about a specific location to be stored
in such a way that a multi-dimensional image of that site emerges.
Backed by powerful computer programmes, GIS then allows high-speed
presentation and reorganization of that data according to the
needs of the user. “GIS can and is used in many different fields,” continues
Prashant. “It can be used to predict natural disasters, to
find oil, to monitor the effects of pollution. McDonalds use
it to determine the best location for a new restaurant! However,
the effectiveness of GIS depends upon the accuracy of the data
collected and upon the ability of the user to ask the right
questions of it. The more precise the question, the more useful
will be the answer.”
After graduating Lata and Prashant
became GIS specialists. They worked for environmental groups
and also for the biggest maker of GIS software in the world,
ESRI. In 2000 they visited Auroville. “I'd stayed here between 1984-6 as an architect
trainee, and later as an Aurovilian,” says Lata, “and I'd always
promised myself I would return. But in 2000 we came with a
specific object – to see if we could help introduce GIS to
Auroville for we saw tremendous potential for its use here.” As
a first step, they enabled an individual working in Auroville
to attend training courses in California , from which he returned
with GIS software donated by ESRI's Conservation Programme.
However, when Lata and Prashant returned to Auroville two
years later they were disappointed at the lack of progress.
The intention had been that the individual who had been trained
would, in turn, train others so that a community of GIS professionals
would come into being. This hadn't happened. Moreover, the
groups which were using GIS were not clear about the questions
they wanted answered. In other words, a powerful tool was being
underutilized.
Lata and Prashant looked for opportunities
to use their GIS skills. Pashi Kapoor and Joss asked them
to assist in a projected Biosphere Reserve project and they
started working in the Town Hall. After some months Lata
and Prashant made a presentation of GIS to Roger. “He liked it,” remembers Prashant. “As he
was leaving he said something like, ‘Why not overlay the Galaxy
and see how it works on the township site?' We never did this
as the galaxy was still not geo-referenced at the time. What
we did do was a rough and limited analysis: we looked at the
locations of the proposed radial roads and green corridors
in relationship to the topography of the township area.”
“When you look at topography,” explains Lata, “the first thing
you look at is the water situation. Where is it? Where is it
flowing? Then you try to ensure that these areas are afforested
in order to check the water-flow and improve percolation and
water quality. Roads are definitely not a good idea, but we
saw at once that some of the proposed radial roads are located
on water-sensitive sites. Three or four of the radials only
require minor adjustment in their alignment to solve the problem.
However, two radials – the Aurodam and Prayatna radials – are
entirely in the wrong place from an ecological point of view.” “Aurodam
is a particularly sensitive area,” continues Prashant, “because
it contains the only water-body in the Auroville township area
which exists for almost the whole year. So we were very concerned
when we also noted that the Master Plan locates this water-body
in one of the highest density residential areas of the future
Township.”
One of the basic tenets of ecological
planning is that you don't examine things in isolation. Consequently,
Lata and Prashant also widened their lens to include the
immediate bioregion. Specifically, they looked at the route
of the proposed access roads to the township, two of them
connecting to the old Madras road, two to the new East Coast
Road . “When we looked at the
latest satellite images we noticed there were problems,” says
Prashant. “Two of these access roads would run through villages,
another very close to a canyon. When we pointed this out to
the planners, it was obvious that they hadn't realized this.”
So how did Auroville's Future respond
to these findings? “While
there was a certain openness to make minor adjustments in road
alignment,” says Lata, “We got the impression that larger changes
were not so welcome. When we wanted to understand why, for
example, there were twelve radials or why the parks were located
where they were, we had to be really persistent to get answers.
We were quite prepared for the “Mother said” sort of answers
but sometimes these were also not forthcoming. This was frustrating
because we feel that people should be aware of the basis upon
which town planning decisions are being made in Auroville.
“We believe that planning is an integrative process. It involves
the collection of a lot of different information which is then
looked at and discussed by those holding different perspectives.
If we look at the Town Plan, for example, the data would include
the topography, the present patterns of habitation and communication
as well as the Galaxy concept, which is a very powerful occult
perspective. All these different perspectives are known in
Auroville, but they are held by individuals or groups who don't
come together at present. This means that the present planning
process is not integrative; on the contrary it seeks to impose
a particular concept – the Galaxy – without considering other
factors.”
“This is very much a 1960s approach to planning,” adds Prashant, “this
is how Chandigarh and Brasilia were built. It reflects one
of the tenets of Modernism – of the supremacy of Man over Nature.
But times have changed and planning today is more evolved.”
“I believe that with goodwill we can embark upon a collaborative
planning process which will result in a solution which optimises
all the perspectives,” concludes Lata. “For example, the spirit
of the Galaxy can be preserved while making it more sensitive
to environmental factors. But the goodwill, the willingness to
sit together and consider other perspectives is the first prerequisite.
GIS is a very powerful tool for understanding different views
and for experimenting with different scenarios, but without goodwill
even sophisticated tools like GIS can be of little use.”
