the heterotopic space of chirag delhi
TRANSCRIPT
SELINA ABRAHAM
The Heterotopic Space
of Chirag Delhi B. ARCH DISSERTATION 2012-2013 Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Kashmere Gate, New Delhi
Image Source: Author (2010), Chirag Delhi
B. ARCH DISSERTATION 2012-2013
The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi ii
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
Kashmere Gate, Delhi
RESEARCH PAPER, 2012-13
THE HETEROTOPIC SPACE OF CHIRAG DELHI
A Study of an Urban Village
Selina Abraham
00890701609
Fourth Year, 2012-2013
GUIDE
Rekha Bhaskaran
B. ARCH DISSERTATION 2012-2013
The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi iii
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND
PLANNING
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
Kashmere Gate, Delhi
APPROVAL
Research Paper title: The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi: A Study of an Urban
Village
The following study is held by approved as a creditable work on the approved subject,
carried out and presented in a manner sufficiently satisfactory to warrant its acceptance as a
pre-requisite to the degree for which it has been submitted.
It is to be understood that by this approval, the undersigned does not necessarily endorse
or approve any statement made, opinion expressed or conclusion drawn therein, but approves
the study for the purpose of which it is submitted and which satisfies the requirements laid
down by the Research Paper Committee.
Date: January 2nd
, 2013
Submitted by:
Selina Abraham
00890701609
2012-2013
Guide: Rekha Bhaskaran Research Paper Co-ordinators
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The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi iv
A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S
A lot of thought and work has gone into this dissertation and would have not been
possible without the input of many persons and the availability of certain resources.
The following have been instrumental in this dissertation:
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my guide Prof. Rekha Bhaskaran for
her inputs and the discussions that we had have been quintessential for the development
process.
I would like also to thank Prof. Archana Gupta for many reasons, firstly for
introducing the urban village of Chirag Delhi into my coursework and for introducing me to
the works of Michel Foucault and Henri Lefebvre. Also for her constant encouragement and
support without whom this dissertation would not have been possible.
I would also like to thank Prof. Rajiv Bhakat for the wealth of information that he had
to offer, his insight has been of great help. Discussions with him have been highly thought
provoking and enlightening.
In addition I would also like to thank my college USAP and the Prof-in-charge Rajat
Ray for giving me the opportunity to undertake this research project. I would also like to
thank Dr. Suptendu P. Biswas for his initial encouragement to continue the topic.
I would also like to thank the residents of Chirag Delhi for their enthusiasm and their
willingness to help my dissertation with their cooperation, this paper would not have been
possible without them.
Also, I would like to thank former Architecture students of TVB School of Habitat
Studies, School of Planning and Architecture (New Delhi) and the London Metropolitan
University whose work on Chirag Delhi and Urban Villages provided as a base for my study.
The work done by the INTACH in this field has also been crucial as the base for this
dissertation.
I would also like to mention the coordinator Prof. Taniya Sanyal for her role in this
studio.
And most importantly I would like to thank my family and friends for their support
and guidance.
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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
APPROVAL
ACKNOWLEGEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES
1 ABSTRACT
2 INTRODUCTION
2.1 Overview
2.2 Research Questions
2.3 Background and Significance
2.4 Site Justification
2.5 Methodology
2.6 Limitations of Study
2.7 Preliminary Findings
3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
3.1 Heterotopias – ‘Other’ Spaces
3.1.1 The Origins of Heterotopias
3.1.2 Heterotopias in Social Space
3.2 Third Wave
3.2.1 The Three Waves
3.2.2 Chirag Delhi: A Clash of Waves
4 Chirag Delhi: The Lal Dora Effect
4.1 ‘Urban Village’
4.2Inverted Character
5 Physical Morphology
5.1 The Settlement
5.2 The Street and the Chowk
5.3 The Dargah
6 Social Morphology
7 Conclusion
Annotated Bibliography
APPENDIX-A APPENDIX-B
References and Bibliography
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L I S T O F F I G U R E S
Fig 1. Relationship between Chirag Delhi and the city of New Delhi
Fig 2. Chirag Delhi and its Surroundings
Fig 3. Representation Diagram of the Expansion of Urban Limits
Fig 4. Chirag Delhi: Urban Morphology
Fig 5. Saomi Nagar: Neighbourhood Study
Fig 6. Chirag Delhi: Street Morphology
Fig 7. Saomi Nagar: Street Morphology
Fig 8. Chirag Delhi: Past Introverted Character
Fig 9. Chirag Delhi: Present Extroverted Character
Fig 10. Transformation of Landuse and Physical Morphology
Fig 11. Section through Main Village Chowk
Fig 12. Section through Main Bazaar, Chirag Delhi
Fig 13. The Dargah of Sheikh Naseeruddin Chirag-i-Dilli, Plan, Section
Fig 14. Chirag Delhi Dargah
Fig 15. The Streets of Chirag Delhi
Fig 16. Unemployment: Playing Cards
Fig 17. Chirag Delhi: Land Use Distribution main axes
The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi
A B S T R A C T
In the last few decades, the cityscape has been transformed by modern
urban needs drastically changing city’s urban form. Delhi has witnessed rapid
urbanisation that has resulted in an urban sprawl. This dissertation proposes
to study the urban morphology of an urban village – with reference to its
heterotopic character with respect to the rest of the city. In order to study
this heterotopic phenomenon, the urban village of Chirag Delhi has been
chosen as the object of this case study. Chirag Delhi is an urban village in
Delhi’s South District. Like most urban villages it is seemingly chaotic and
vaguely organic but at the same time intricately structured in its own right.
The dissertation will primarily use the framework of Michel Foucault’s Other
Places to understand the concept of Heterotopias. The dissertation will also
study impact of Chirag Delhi’s Heterotopic character on its social structure
and how it differs from the mainstream city. It also aims to study the relation
between the physical structure and the social structure of Chirag Delhi.
Further, it will address role of the Dargah as a Heterotopic space in Chirag
Delhi.
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The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi 1
O V E R V I E W
“Space is a social morphology: it is to lived experience what form itself is to the
living organism, and just as intimately bound up with function and structure”.
(Lefebvre, 1991:94)
Chirag Delhi is an Urban Village, one of 135 such settlements in Delhi. Some may
understand ‘Urban Villages’ as an urban design concept in the late 1980s, born in Britain
under the late Urban Villages group.1 In Delhi however, urban villages are a phenomenon, a
product of rapid urbanisation marked by a large increase in population. (Refer Appendix - A)
Since India’s Independence in 1947, Delhi has been expanding its boundaries and has
engulfed smaller adjoining villages into its territories, thereby transforming rural areas into
urban areas. As a result these villages are forced to adapt to urban needs and have undergone
rapid transformation. This has resulted in an uncontrolled invasion of non-compatible land-
uses and elimination of traditional interrelationships by external superfluous forces leading to
the disintegration of the community. Without proper development controls, the village is
subjected to speculative development.
(Agarwal 2003)
Modern city planning may be seen as an attempt at 'expressing a series of utopias'
which aims at providing order to society through ambiguous spatial arrangements.
Heterotopias on the other hand are spaces of alternate ordering. Heterotopias organize their
social world in a different way as compared to what surrounds them. (Hetherington 1997)
1 It was in the late 1980s that the Urban Village Concept was born in Britain with the establishment of the
Urban Villages Group. Ever since the ideals of urban villages have been applied to new fields of green
developments, housing experiments and urban renewal projects all over the world. According to this, an
urban village is an urban planning and design concept at work within the urban limits. It refers to a planned
space in an urban area which has certain characteristics of a village, with typical features like mixed use
zoning and good public transit and promote pedestrianization. It seeks to reduce to car reliance and
promotes walking, cycling, transit use and provide spaces for people to live, work and recreate in the same
area.
Source: Gangmei G (2009) “Delhi Urban Villages: Reality or Gem of a Sham”, M.A. Students of Journalism,
Jamia Milia Islamia, Fotonix, Blogspot, New Delhi
Available From: http://fotonix.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/delhi-urban-village-reality-or-gem-of-a-sham/
[Accessed 18 December 2012]
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As Delhi grew in importance, its boundaries expanded and new residential areas
sprung up, simultaneously leaving behind pockets of difference in the form of ‘urban villages’
and ‘abadi’ areas.
Amongst a series of modern spatial arrangements, Chirag Delhi is the other space -
characterized by difference. This spatial difference is marked by the physical morphology of
the city and the social structure. As an urban village, rent is cheap in Chirag Delhi, making it
favourable for new immigrants. This property allows it to stand out against the less affordable
communities of Panchscheel Enclave, Malviya Nagar and Saomi Nagar. The unique character
of Chirag Delhi's social spaces stems from this heterotopic difference.
(Refer Appendix B)
As with all of the city’s urban villages, Chirag Delhi remains physically isolated from the rest
of the city (by a buffer area called the phirni) but integrated to the city’s functions. This
character is comparable to what Foucault calls heterotopic spaces - as in it shares
relationships with the rest of the city but remains in isolation. Despite this difference it
maintains a symbiotic relationship with the rest of the city.
This dissertation aims to
understand the difference
of Chirag Delhi and establish
its heterotopic character. It
also aims to understand the
impact of this heterotopic
space on the social
morphology of the
settlement. This dissertation
will further explore
Foucault’s framework by the
study of this phenomenon.
Fig. 1 A Representative
Diagram of the Relationship
between Chirag Delhi and the
city of New Delhi
Image Source: Author (2012),
New Delhi
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R E S E A R C H Q U E S T I O N S
- What are Heterotopic Spaces and what makes Chirag Delhi a heterotopic space?
- How does this heterotopic character affect the social space of Chirag Delhi and the rest of
the city?
- What is the spatial relationship between Chirag Delhi and the city of Delhi? How is space
socially produced in the Chirag Delhi? What are the signifying elements that constitute a
socially active space?
- What role does the Dargah play in this heterotopic character?
B A C K G R O U N D A N D S I G N I F I C A N C E
Topic Significance
Most of Modernist architecture has been criticized for being independent of its
context. The last few decades have seen a series of buildings that stand alone, each choosing
out of convenience to disassociate itself from the urban context. Modernist cities have reduced
the concept of typology to repetition. Settlements like Chirag Delhi create more organic space
and respond primarily to a social need as opposed to a functional need. They belong to a
different era, built according to different needs and requirements.
"The fundamental purposes of modern architecture are thus
limited to such right quadrant concerns as shelter, security, function and
so on − all of them important, but not enough for a truly sustainable
architecture because they ignore what sustains us psychologically and
culturally." (Buchanen 2011)
Similarly Modern-day cities have similar characteristics where roads are about
transportation and not about street life. Open spaces are statistically determined according to
master plans as green spaces. Development of cities is determined by statistical requirements
for shelter, function, security etc. Delhi is one such city that has forgotten about our old cities
leaving them as heterotopias – pockets of history and culture in its rapid growth. Delhi has
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The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi 4
chosen to treat these urban villages as problems instead of using them as a contextual
parameter.
Furthermore, the Heterotopic character of these urban villages has left them in a grey
area. Without a solid identity, one must ponder the future of these villages. This dissertation
will study its virtues as well as its negative characteristics. It will also try to understand what is
it that sets it apart from the rest of the city and whether one must celebrate this difference or
abolish it altogether.
B A C K G R O U N D: C H I R A G D E L H I
Chirag Delhi is an urban village south of the Outer Ring Road. On plan, it has a
distinct square form which is enforced by status as a Lal Dora2 area. Under the Lal Dora, it is
under only partial jurisdiction of the Delhi authorities and offers very attractive rental rates
for the city’s immigrants. (Refer Appendix B) As a result, it is very densely packed with
irregularly shaped buildings, and a network of narrow streets. It retains its shape from an
ancient fort, a neat square whose gates still remain. The fort walls were built around the
Chirag Delhi Dargah which houses the Dargah of Naseeruddin Mahmud or Chirag-i-Dilli3 (c.
AD 1274 – AD 1556) which continues to be a religious pilgrimage, but perhaps not as popular
as the Nizamuddin Dargah. The wall was built under the rule of the Mughal Emperor
Mohammad Shah ‘Rangeela’ (r. AD 1719 - 48).
(World Monuments Fund, INTACH 2008)
2 Lal Dora - The metropolitan town of Delhi has grown on agricultural lands acquired from the villagers.
Initially, in building up of Lutyen's Delhi, the villages were relocated; later only their agricultural lands were
acquired and the residential areas were circumscribed by a red line and that is how the term Lal Dora came
into use. The process of urbanisation over the years has been engulfing the villages. Urban Delhi grew fast
around them while the villages remained within the confines of their Lal Doras.
For more details refer Annexure-I 3 Roshan Chirag-I-Dilli roughly translates to ‘The Illuminated light of Delhi’. The story is that during the
building of Tughlaqabad there was a shortage supply of oil for lamps for the worker to build the Sheikh
Naseeruddin Mohammad’s residence. The saint is said to have turned water from the nearby stream into oil
for his workers. Thereby, earning the title ‘Chirag-I-Dilli’.
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Site Justification
In terms of this dissertation topic, this is an appropriate site particularly because of
its location and its Lal Dora status. This Lal Dora status makes it stand apart from the rest of
the city. The village is bordered by two very busy roads, to the north – the Outer Ring Road
and to the East – B. R. Ambedkar Road infamous for its BRT system. The village also
neighbours fairly newer districts like Saomi Nagar, Panchscheel Enclave, each with their own
social and physical morphology contrasting that of Chirag Delhi. The square village is divided
by two axes – with the Dargah in the centre. One of the axes lead to the Dargah, and the
other is a more commercial stretch. The streets open up to small public chowks at certain
intervals which act as social hubs. By virtue of its narrow streets, Chirag Delhi is
predominantly a pedestrian dominated village. Its streets and chowks are predominantly
social spaces as opposed to a passage for vehicular movement. Hence, the social activity
contrasts that of a newer settlement which has wide traffic oriented roads.
Fig. 2 Chirag Delhi and its Surroundings
Image Source: ed. Author (2012), Chirag Delhi: Aerial Imagery, Google earth 2012, Google
Inc. [Accessed 29th October 2012]
Considering its context and its own unique character, it seems an appropriate site
for the study in question.
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M E T H O D O L O G Y
To pursue this topic, one must first understand the physical morphology of Chirag
Delhi, in order to get a grasp of its relation (if any) to its social morphology. This can be
studied by the following methods.
First-hand Observations
The study will use first-hand experiences of the author and observations of usage
patterns and social activities. It will also include documentation of experiences of other
visitors and the residents of Chirag Delhi. A lot of research data is available as many
architecture students have used it as the base for a project. The primary step would be to
research and collect this existing databank.
Figure Ground Drawings, Street Sections and Sketches will be used to explain the
character of these spaces and their usage. To understand the spatial morphology, a
framework needs to be developed based on an extensive study of existing material on social
space and spatiality.
Furthermore, in order to grasp the heterotopic character it is important to study the
cultural and historical evolution of the community of Chirag Delhi. This will help understand
the factors that shape the social structure of Chirag Delhi.
L I M I T A T I O N S O F S T U D Y
Although this research was carefully prepared, I am still aware of its limitations and
shortcomings. First of all, the research was conducted in a span of 3-4 months and justice was
not given to potential of the topic. Second, research data available on Chirag Delhi are dated to
the late 1990s and more current data was unavailable. Time restrictions did not allow for the
upgradation of this data. Also, most interviews were the viewpoints of small portion of the
village residents and may not accurately depict the entire picture. Lastly, it is unavoidable that in
this study, certain degree of subjectivity can be found. Many viewpoints are those of the author
and may considerably vary amongst my peers and seniors.
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P R E L I M I N A R Y F I N D I N G S
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The site can be approached by the Outer Ring Road or the Lal Bahadur Shastri Road.
The entry to Chirag Delhi however, is further inside and is accessible only through the
internal road network. What used to be a walled city is now reduced to a city with four
crumbling gates – a gate at each side. The fort walls have now been replaced with a different
interface – a commercial street that spills out onto the roads. These are mostly hardware
shops with a few dhabhas. The entry into Chirag Delhi (from the Outer Ring Road) is graced
with what seems to be an ancient gate. The crumbling gate makes one sceptical of the entry,
covered with advertisements for local amenities; it leads into a narrow street way.
First impressions of Chirag Delhi are of the narrow streets and of the general urban
decay. The streets are not the cleanest – bits of garbage are strewn at places. The smell of
food wafts into the street from the nearest dhabha. There are people shopping, walking by
performing their daily routine. Traffic Movement is restricted by virtue of the small roads,
though there are still cars and small tempos passing through. Apart from these occasional
vehicles, the streets are mostly pedestrian. As one accustoms to the maze-like character, the
streets become more ‘friendly’ and navigable.
As the road widths reduce the streets vehicular movement, the primary function of
a street – its circulation, is reduced to a degree. The streets now cater to the spill out of
commercial and household functions. The narrow widths of the streets also facilitate
communal interaction, as there are always eyes on the road. So there is not only social
activity at the base of the streets but at the upper floors as well.
Considering the density of Chirag Delhi, the streets compensate by opening into
chowks, these chowks are the dense centres of social activity. Usually formed around a
tree(s), they display both commercial (trade) and social exchange. The Dargah also plays an
important role in the social production of the streets.
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T H E O R E T I C A L F R A M E W O R K: H E T E R O T O P I A S
HETEROTOPIAS: Origins
Michel Foucault introduced the concept of heterotopias in the field of cultural
geography at a lecture for architects in March 1967. It was later published under the title Des
Espace Autres (Of Other Spaces) by the French Journal Architecture /Mouvement/ Continuité
in October, 1984. In his lecture Foucault describes institutions and spaces that disturb the
everyday normality of ordinary spaces. He called these spaces heterotopic spaces. He gives
examples of mental institutions, prisons, old age home, brothels, museums, holiday resorts
implying the vast adaptability of the concept. (Deheane 2008) Though the vastness of term
has also been criticized, it has been vital to the understanding of spaces of specialized
character. For instance, cultural geographer Edward Soja describes the article as ‘frustratingly,
incomplete, inconsistent, incoherent’ but nonetheless devotes an entire chapter to it, in his
book Thirdspace. (Cenzatti 2008)
The term ‘heterotopia’ however has its origins in the medical and biological
contexts. It essentially implies a phenomenon in an unusual place indicating the spatial
displacement of normal tissue by an abnormal structure. In medical terminology it implies a
phenomenon that usually occurs as non-pathological heterogeneous condition that is present
in a heterogenic composition of tissue that is not normal to the part. (Sohn 2008)
Medical heterotopias have no known causes, no secondary effects and do not
affect the normal functioning of the overall organism in which they appear. (Sohn 2008)
Heterotopias as Social Space
Before proceeding further, it is essential to understand ‘space’ as fundamentally
bound with social reality as opposed to physical definitions of space contained by
quantitative parameters. This theory follows that space in itself can never serve as an
epistemological starting position. Space does not exist in itself, it is produced. (Lefebvre
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1991:6) Everyday discourse serves to distinguish particular spaces, and in general to describe
a social space. They correspond to a specific use of that space, and hence to a spatial practice
that they express and constitute. This theory deviates from the common understanding of
space thoroughly only its physical characteristics such as shape, form and colour. According
to Lefebvre space is created by human beings by their sensitivity and imagination, their
thinking and their ideologies; human beings who enter into relationships with each other
through their activity and practice. (Schmid 2008:29)
“A spatial code is not simply a means of reading or
interpreting space: rather it is a means of living in that space, of
understanding it, and of producing it.’… These codes will be seen
as part of a practical relationship, as part of an interaction
between 'subjects' and their space and surroundings. “
(Lefebvre 1991:16)
Lefebvre explains space as a three dimensional product or a ‘spatial triad’. A space is
determined by its spatial practices (perceived), the representations of space (conceived) and
representational space (lived). (Lefebvre 1991:33) He sees space as these three moments
that co-exist, interact and producing a relationship with one and another.
Heterotopias can be seen as a representational space, based on a set of specific
relations in space. ‘As soon as the social relation and the appropriation of physical space end,
both space of representation and heterotopia disappear.’ (Cenzatti 2008) This spatial
difference becomes very evident in post-Fordist cities like New Delhi, where the city is
compost of different granules of smaller units.
Chirag Delhi is a space, whose structure can be understood by a set of spatial
relations that it maintains with the rest of the city. Its social space can be understood as the
notions of its residents as opposed to those of the residents living newer neighbourhoods.
The heterotopic character represents a boundary that separates the city
For further information refer to Annotated Bibliography
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T H E O R E T I C A L F R A M E W O R K: T H I R D W A V E
The Third Wave is a theory by cultural anthropologist and futurologist Alvin Toffler
in 1960. It is the second in a trilogy preceded by Future Shock published in 1970. The book
identifies the advancement of the human race as three waves. The first wave was the
transformation of the human civilization from nomads into an agrarian society.
The First Wave economy was of an agrarian society where there was no
differentiation between producers and consumers, with little or no trade between them. The
land was the basis of economy, life, culture, family structure and politics all organized around
a single village unit. Goods were predominantly hand-crafted and made and distributed at a
custom scale. There were trade and commerce between different places, but they were
primitive. The societies of the First Wave world were predominantly primitive; women had no
say in major decisions of the community and were patriarchal in nature.
(Toffler 1980)
The Second Wave was brought on by the Industrial Revolution and immediately
accelerated the economy. It inclined toward a new technological and economic structure with
a false illusion of the finite nature of these resources. This shift however allowed the mass
production and trade of products. This brought about the divorce of consumers from
producers.
Industrialization also required mobility from its workers. Workers could no longer
be held behind by a large extended family. The nuclear family became an identifiable feature
of all Second Wave societies which were built on a factory model, mass standardised
education. Schools, hospitals, prisons, government bureaucracies and other organizations
took on the characteristics of a factor – the division of labour, its hierarchical structure and its
mechanic impersonality. Even in the field of arts, artisans were no longer working under a
patron but to sell their products in a “market” to a sea of anonymous consumers. While the
first wave civilization was based on fixed permanent settlements, industrialization allowed its
workers mobility to move from place to place. Industrialisation also saw the coming of
women into the fore-front, the women’s rights moment picks off with the second wave.
(Toffler 1980)
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The Third Wave civilization is the post-industrial society. Most major cities today
are post-industrial cities. Toffler says that since the 1950s most countries are moving away
from their industrial roots and moving to an information age. The new technologies of the
Third Wave will give rise to new industries based on quantum electronics, information theory,
molecular biology, oceanic ecology and the space sciences. The Third Wave also opens up the
field of space exploration. This impact is underestimated by the general public but it is the
next frontier in the advancement of human civilization. The key to a Third Wave civilization is
flexibility. People can work where they want, when they want and for whom they want all by
virtue of the advancement in information technology.
(Toffler 1980)
For further information refer to Annotated Bibliography
CHIRAG DELHI: A CLASH OF WAVES
In terms of Toffler’s framework we can understand Chirag Delhi’s origins as a First
Wave settlement. It was primarily an agrarian settlement with centric focus around the
Dargah of Sheikh Naseeruddin Chirag-i-Dilli. It is mostly functionally independent of its
neighbouring villages except the Nizamuddin village whose namesake Hazrat Nizamuddin was
the mentor of Sheikh Naseeruddin Chirag-i-Dilli.
(INTACH 1996)
New Delhi is a typical post-Fordist city, made up of smaller multiple towns or cities.
Its features broadly identify it as a Third Wave city building up on information technology.
Chirag Delhi on the other hand is still experiencing the Second Wave since its acquisition into
the city half a century ago. Still many of its customs and morphology reflect those of a First
Wave City. Simultaneously the rest of the city is a undergoing the symptoms of the Third
Wave. Immigrants entering the city through urban villages like Chirag Delhi are also from First
Wave and Second Wave Settlements where each migrant looks to make their mark in the
Third Wave City of New Delhi.
The difference in these types of settlements is not just their physical characters or
their economic status. They differ also in social status, women have yet to find their place in
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society, and education is still a matter of opportunity or status as opposed to a norm. A
survey by the INTACH revealed that the level of education the wife of the head of the
household (56.2 per cent illiterate) to be much lower than that of the head of the household.
A large number of residents considered female education as a lower priority to male
education. Education itself is dependent on the income of a particular household. In India, the
quality of education comes with a price, a lot of families in Chirag Delhi are unable afford a
higher standard of education.
(INTACH, 1997)
For more Information Refer Appendix B
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C H I R A G D E L H I: T H E L A L D O R A E F F E C T
Chirag Delhi, like many other rural villages was at one point completely dependent
on agriculture and predominantly an agrarian economy. But, with the advent of Delhi’s urban
sprawl Chirag Delhi and other urban villages have been swallowed into an urban fabric,
completely transforming the villages’ morphology. During the colonial era, the city swallowed
nearly 50 villages and another 50 post-Independence.
Under the 1961 Master Plan for Delhi-1961, rural villages that were located within
urban areas of Delhi were declared as Urbanised Villages labelled as urban development.
There were 20 Urbanised Villages in 1961 in Delhi, and at present there are about 135 urban
villages and 52 census towns which form part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi
(NCTD). Since the late seventies, schemes have been hatched to improve the civic services,
initially by DDA and later transferred to the MCD. Since 1979-80, an amount of Rs. 366.09
crore of plan funds have been provided to the DDA/MCD and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for
development of these urban villages.
(Sehrawat, 2011)
Fig. 3 Representative
Diagram of the
Expansion of Urban
Limits
Image Source: Narayan S. (2001), Study of Lal Dora as a Concept, TVB School of Habitat Studies,
Unpublished B. Arch Thesis, New Delhi
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During their reign, the British cleared away entire villages for the construction of
New Delhi, at times leaving behind only street names like Malcha and Raisina. The post-
Independence government however expanded Delhi’s borders around these villages. So while
Chirag Delhi might be an urban village, its immediate neighbours are posh, planned
settlements like those of Saomi Nagar, Panchscheel Enclave etc. These villages have been
stripped off their agrarian economy and forced to merge with city’s urban economy. While
the streets of the urban villages may be narrow and its houses small and cramped, there isn’t
a stark difference in wealth between Delhi’s urban and rural sprawls. However, there is a
stark social difference felt in this ‘status-driven’ metropolis.
(Soofi, 2008)
So an urban village may be defined as a traditional rural settlement which has altered
and merged with the urban areas, change being actuated by industrialisation, migration and
shifting paradigms. (INTACH, 1996) The Chirag Delhi village agricultural land was notified and
acquired in 1953 by the Delhi government for the resettlement of Punjabi refugees. (Gupta
1993:36)
Chirag Delhi, like other urban villages, is an Administrative Heterotopia as the
government has isolated it from the mainstream city. With this isolation of sorts comes other
forms of heterotopias that will be discussed in further chapters.
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P H Y S I C A L M O R P H O L O GY
The Settlement
The Chirag Delhi Settlement grew around the residence (and later Dargah) of Sheikh
Naseeruddin Mahmud along the Satpallah tributary of the river Yamuna. And was originally a
part the Jahanpanah Forest Area. The village grew along the stream with the main bazaar
passing through it. (Gupta 1993) The Dargah is enclosed in a rectangular rubble-masonry
fort built by Muhammad Bin Tughlaq (1325-51). The gates were built to emphasize the axis
of the bazaar and the stream. The village grew along this axis and as it densified, the
remaining areas became built area. After Independence the government acquire the
remaining farmland for urbanisation.
The Chirag Delhi village slowly grew around the Dargah for two reasons – disciples
of the saint and the fort acted as protection from the surrounding wildlife. (World
Monuments Fund, INTACH 2008) Originally the enclosed are contained only a few scattered
havelis (private mansions) and hujuras (small single rooms) of the Khadims of the Dargah.
(INTACH 1996)
As the settlement grew, one story house slowly added more storeys and extended
retail shops on the streets, as a result of which the streets narrowed, changing the original
morphology of the street. Now to increase opportunities for rent many have increased their
houses up to four or five storeys. Hence, the quality of life is reduced in such places.
Inverted Character
Roughly till Independence, Chirag Delhi grew as a traditional settlement – around a
central core within a restricted or perhaps protective shell. The core of the settlement was
the Dargah and the settlement grew around it and the axis created Muhammad Bin Tughlaq
within the fort walls. However, with the Urbanisation of the village, the core of the village
has inverted. Chirag Delhi is now defined by the through roads that flank it – the Outer Ring
Road and the BRT Corridor. It no longer has a central core, the village now looks outward.
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Fig. 8 Chirag Delhi – Past Introverted Character
Fig. 9 Chirag Delhi: Present Extroverted Character
Image(s) Source: Author (2012), New Delhi
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Fig. 10 Transformation of Landuse and Physical Morphology
Image Source: Author (2012), New Delhi
Base Information: Gupta, M. (1993) Chirag Delhi: A Case Study of Urbanisation, Unpublished B. Arch
Dissertation, School of Planning and Architecture, IP Estate, New Delhi
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Fig. 4 Physical Morphology of Chirag Delhi
The grain of Chirag Delhi can be compared with that of Saomi Nagar shown below.
Base Image Source: Mitchell, M. (2010), Namaste Delhi – Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources: Chirag Delhi, London Metropolitan University London, pg. 17
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Fig. 5 Saomi Nagar Neighbourhood Study
Image Source: Bhatia, S. (2011) Neighbourhood Study: Saomi Nagar, Housing Studio, Studio Co-ordinator: Gupta, R., USAP, New Delhi
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Fig. 6 Chirag Delhi: Street Morphology
Fig. 7 Saomi Nagar Street Morphology
A comparison of the street morphology of Chirag Delhi with that of its more modern counterparts – Saomi Nagar. Image(s) Source: Author (2012), New Delhi
The comparison of street morphology reveals a similar plotted typology but largely
differing in scale. And typically, Chirag Delhi’s modern counterparts are planned, its open areas
defined and designed on the basis of the city’s Master Plan. Chirag Delhi however displays an
organic character. This has resulted in narrow streets, encroachment and poor lighting. But at
the same time it creates a more interactive environment, the streets are predominantly active,
open spaces are used to their full potential. These characteristics are not apparent in the
neighbouring colonies.
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The Chowk
The chowk plays a very important role in the production of social space in Chirag
Delhi. They are usually created at the intersection of two streets. Morphologically, they open
up the streets, creating a contrasting environment as opposed to narrow inward character of
the streets.
In order to identify socially active chowks, I identified five different spaces that
showed characteristics of a chowk on the base plan and proceeded to observe these chowks.
Of the five, two were formed around a tree and could be classified as moderately active
mainly because of commercial activity. One was the backyard of a car workshop and two
were the centres of a social activity.
Many chowks if not encroached by new construction, are used for parking or as
garbage dumps. They also act as spill-over spaces because of the high density of people living
in the area.
The Street
Over the last century, the traditional urban structures of our cities have changed
drastically. And it is important to study this morphological transformation of our historical
cities to understand the cultural and social implications of space. The modern city produces a
functional street, which caters to elementary needs of movement. But it does not create
space bound by volume. The significant meaning behind the street is lost to function of
movement.
The streets of Chirag Delhi follow a hierarchical pattern. The primary streets are
along the main axes of the village and are important commercial centres. There is partial
vehicular movement on these streets. The secondary streets allow less or vehicular
movement and predominantly pedestrian. Some streets barely allow light to enter because
of the encroachment by adjacent houses.
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Fig. 11 Section through Main Village Chowk
The village chowk is the biggest chowk in Chirag Delhi after the Dargah Chowk. It is a part of the main
axes, and activity observed here is predominantly economic based. This was the main central chowk
of the village when the Panchayat was still intact.
Fig. 12 Section through Main Bazaar, Chirag Delhi
Image Source: USAP (2010), Chirag Delhi Study, II Year Design Studio, USAP 2009-2014 Batch, USAP,
Kashmere Gate, New Delhi. Studio Coordinator: Gupta, A., USAP, New Delhi
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The Dargah
History
The Dargah is the shrine of Sheikh Naseeruddin Mahmud, a 14th century saint-king,
a disciple and later successor of Nizamuddin Auliya who was regarded as the ‘Lamp of Delhi’
– ‘Roshan Chirag-e-Dilli’. The Dargah complex encloses smaller tombs, a prayer hall and a
masjid and has a gated entry.
(World Monuments Fund, INTACH 2008)
“Perhaps the most charming aspect of the dargah complex is its relatively
untouched, non-commercial nature: it’s quiet and tranquil, with shady trees dotting the
irregular rectangle of the compound. Worshippers come and go, but mostly in silence, and
there’s a serenity that would probably have appealed to Chirag-i-Dilli himself.”
(World Monuments Fund, INTACH 2008)
Observations and Analysis
To reach the Dargah complex one must navigate through a series of narrow chaotic
streets to arrive at a chowk bordering the complex. To enter the complex, one must cover
their head and remove their foot-wear. Compared to the rest of Chirag Delhi, the Dargah has
a calm and peaceful ambience which is contrasted by the busy streets outside. This
difference or contrast in spaces helps further sanctify the space of the Dargah.
The Dargah could possibly be understood in terms of Foucault’s heterotopic spaces
or the ‘other’ spaces. (Foucault 1967)The Dargah is a contrasting space; its value is in fact
derived from this difference. It acts as an ‘other’ space that acts along-side existing spaces. It
is an object that exists in time, while at the same time it is reminiscent of a past time when
the Dargah was more popular visited by many Sufi patrons. While Chirag Delhi continues to
internally densify, the Dargah retains its immediate walls making it frozen in time. It also falls
into the category of a religious heterotopic space. While it is a public space, it is not truly
‘public’ as its entry is restricted. The ritual of removing one’s footwear or covering one’s
head must be preceded before one’s entry.
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In the same sense, perhaps Chirag Delhi could also be categorized a heterotopic space.
Morphologically, its fabric differs from surrounding areas where it shows organic growth as
opposed to a planned settlement. As a Lal Dora area, it does not fall under standard
government regulations. Because of this character, the rent is cheap and Chirag Delhi is
home to many of the city’s immigrants. Hence, Chirag Delhi is in itself a space of difference.
The Chirag Delhi Dargah could possibly be described as heterotopic space within a
heterotopic space.
Fig. 13 The Dargah of Sheikh Naseeruddin Chirag-i-Dilli, Plan, Section
Plan and Sectional view of the Chirag Delhi Dargah, the Mausoleum of Sheikh Naseeruddin Mahmud,
Chirag Delhi, New Delhi
Image Source: USAP (2011), Chirag Delhi Study, II Year Design Studio, USAP 2010-2015 Batch, Studio
Coordinator: Gupta, A., USAP, New Delhi
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Fig. 14 Chirag Delhi Dargah Complex – The Mausoleum of Sheikh Naseeruddin Mahmud
Fig. 15 Generic Street of Chirag Delhi
Both images show the contrast between the quality of space in the Dargah and in the
streets of Chirag Delhi.
Image(s) Source: Author (2010), Chirag Delhi, Delhi
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S O C I A L S T R U C T U R E
The total population of the Chirag Delhi District according to the 1991 AD census is
around 12,97,000. (INTACH, 1996)This figure however takes into account the entire district,
which also includes neighboring areas such Greater Kailash, Khirki village, etc. The actual
population of Chirag Delhi is 25,000 according to a MCD Electoral document. (Gaboli, 2012)
INTACH has done intensive documentation work in Chirag Delhi and have produced a
publication under their Process for Historic Development project.
According to the survey conducted by the INTACH team and personal interviews
showed that the community has a wide spread problem of unemployment. INTACH’s case
study shows that more than half the population (59.3 percent) belongs to the age group 18-
60 years. However quite of them are unemployed.
Personal interviews with the residents revealed that unemployment is major issue.
Many fall in to the trap of gambling, alcoholism and drugs. A primary cause for
unemployment is a change in the major change in occupation as farmers due to the
acquisition of farmland in 1953. Due to the loss of the traditional occupation, the villagers
now survive on earnings from rented properties or seek jobs in the city. (Gupta 1993:36)
From interviews with the residents, it was observed that since many of the owners
already have a fixed source of income by the rent they needn’t look for jobs. Many of these
men can be found playing cards in the main chowks throughout the village.
According to its residents there are many social evils in Chirag Delhi ranging from
rampant unemployment, excessive alcoholism and gambling. Domestic abuse is also
common here as well abuse of the elders. The residents feel that such an environment is
not conducive for the upbringing of their children.
(INTACH 1996)
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Fig. 16 Playing Cards – Unemployment
The widespread unemployment is because of alternative sources of income (rent) and
lack of job opportunities in the city.
Image Source: Author (2010), Chirag Delhi, New Delhi
In Foucault’s understanding of Heterotopias, many of these spaces are assigned to or
identified with individuals who do not fit into modern social order. (Cenzatti 2008) While
Foucault talks about heterotopias in terms of prisons or mental hospitals, a similar trend can
be seen here as well. The nullification of the agrarian settlement has left many without a
secure source of income or income through rent. Such a phenomenon has left the occupants
in isolation within their chowks, playing cards, gambling, resorting to alcoholism. The urban
sprawl of Delhi has left villagers in and isolated realm; forcing them to abandon a culture and
a way of life in order to merge with the city, making them anomalies in the “normal” social
order. Therefore this represents a social heterotopia.
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C O N C L U S I O N S
F I N D I N G S
It is apparent from the information gathered about Chirag Delhi and a comparative
study with that of Foucault’s framework of Other Places is that Chirag Delhi displays
characteristics comparable to that of Heterotopias. It also needs to be mentioned that most of
these characteristics are generic to those of most urban villages in Delhi.
Typically, observations and statistics lead to the conclusion that places like Chirag
Delhi are slums.4 Furthermore it needs to be understood that Delhi is a city of migrants. The
Delhi Master Plan predicts a 30% population increase from 182.0 lakhs in 2011 to 230 lakhs in
2021. (Refer Annexure-I) Most slums today are identified with urban decay. Amongst
politicians and policy-makers, urban development correlates to “slum-free” cities.5 People
tend to focus on the poor living conditions of the slums and urban villages. It is apparent that
there is a static view of these urban conditions, a standard western interpretation. But these
urban villages must be viewed as stepping stone to the city purely in terms of the city’s
migrators.
“…when property rights are clear, slums can upgrade themselves.
Delhi’s Lal Dora villages are good examples. As the city has expanded, the
farmers living in surrounding villages sold their land but continued to own
their homes in the former villages. These were usually converted into slums
for construction workers. When the construction activity drifted away, a new
population of drivers, security guards and domestics moved in. Over time,
4 Chirag Delhi was declared as a slum under the DDA in 1976
Also, in this particular case, the term ‘slum’ is defined as a – ‘Compact area of at least 300
population or about 60-70 households of poorly built congested tenements, in unhygienic environment
usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water facilities’
5 This refers to the Delhi government’s goal to make the capital a slum-free city by the year 2014. This has
however led to unpopular displacement of slum dwellers over the last decade.
Source: Bhatnagar G. V. (2012) “Delhi Govt. Displaces Slum Dwellers Mindlessly”, THE HINDU, New Delhi
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this population too got absorbed into the general urban landscape and we
saw yet another wave of new residents— students, salesmen and store
clerks. Eventually, some villages became home to expensive boutiques, cafes
and art galleries (as happened in Hauz Khas), clusters of cheap hotels (as in
Mahipalpur) or a warren of small offices (Shahpur Jat).The point is that these
“villages” have proved amazingly nimble and Delhi could not function
without them. Since property rights were clear, the former farmers steadily
invested in their property and became quite rich. Along the way, they routed
thousands of migrants and created innumerable jobs.”
(Sanyal 2010)
So it is important not to consider these areas as static areas but, as Sanjeev
Sanyal says (Sanyal 2010) “property ladders”. There remains the possibility that Chirag
Delhi might in the future, become a rental accommodation hub with hostels and dorm
rooms. Or even the possibility of becoming the epitome of small scale industries.6
Amongst industries the garment industry is the most prominent. The Dargah also plays
an important role with the potential of historic and cultural hub
The leading trend is that the demographic and economic structure continues to
change as younger financially sound families are being replaced by economically
weaker, male labour population migrating from neighbouring states looking for work as
cheap labour. These residents contrary to their older counterparts do not have a strong
emotional connection to area. Like the rest of the city they are in a hurry moving on
with their live. As they move up economically they will move out of Chirag Delhi looking
for a better quality of life. This leaves the older residents in a static heterotopic state.
The Heterotopia of Chirag Delhi also represents certain nostalgia. It signifies a
time in history but at the same time looking to the outside. The older residents are
nostalgic and reluctant to leave but their children like the dynamic migrants are looking
for possibility outside.
6 According the INTACH Report on Chirag Delhi, The Role of Chirag Delhi is – 1. Provision of low budget rental
accommodation. 2. Small-scale industries attracting its workforce from other parts of Delhi. 3. Building Material and
supply shops along the periphery which serve the neighbourhoods around the area.
For More Information Refer Appendix - B
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F U R T H E R S T U D Y
In the process of its urban expansion how should Delhi react to the small pockets of
history in its path?
Currently Delhi has approached these anomalies by building boundary walls around
its historic centers or tying metaphorical red threads around them (Lal Dora). Thereby, visibly
distinguishing places like Chirag Delhi as the odd one out as opposed to integrating it to the
city’s functioning. And over the last few decades the MCD and the DDA have sought to bring
these ‘urban villages’ into the main stream urban condition.
But by virtue of its physical and social morphology Chirag Delhi would always
remain out of place from the main stream city. So perhaps the best way of integrating a place
like Chirag Delhi into the city is to celebrate its difference.
Urban planning should bring about building development controls that work
specifically for Chirag Delhi and not standard controls the work for the rest of the city, or even
standard controls for all urban villages. Building development controls must be identified
recognizing the unique nature of each urban village, its surrounding context and its historic
value. Developmental controls must determine or adhere to the traditional typology of the
area appropriating for more habitable living conditions.
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.
Fig. 19 Landuse Plan of Chirag Delhi Main Axes
Image Source: USAP (2010), Chirag Delhi Study, II Year Design Studio, USAP 2009-2012 Batch, Studio
Coordinator: Gupta, A., USAP, New Delhi
Base Information:
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A N N O T AT E D B I B L I O G R A P H Y
1. The Production Of Space, Henri Lefebvre
Henri Lefebvre, a French Philosopher, was born in 1901. His intellectual consciousness was
shaped by his experience in the First World War, the Russian Revolution and an intellectual change,
which he describes in his book. The Production of Space, around 1910 where a certain space, the space
of common sense, knowledge, social practice and political power was shattered.
By Production Lefebvre does not strictly mean the economic production of things but also the
larger philosophical concept, the production of oeuvres, the production knowledge, of institutions, of
all that constitutes society.
Lefebvre posts a theory that understands space as fundamentally bound up with social
reality. It follows that space “in itself” can never serve as an epistemological starting position. Space
does not exist “in itself”, it is produced. He proceeds from a relational concept of space and time.
Space stands for simultaneity, the synchronic order of social reality, and time denotes the dichronic
order, thus the historic process of social production.
In his book he explains that (social) space can be analysed in relation to these three
dimensions. In the first, social space appears in the dimension of spatial practice as an interlinking
chain or network of activities or interactions which on their part rest upon a determinate material basis
(morphology, built environment). In the second, this spatial practice can be linguistically defined and
demarcated as space and then constitutes a representation of space. This representation serves as an
organizing
Schema or a frame of reference for communication, which permits a (spatial) orientation
and thus co-determines activity at the same time. In the third, spaces of representation the material
“order” that emerges on the ground can itself become the vehicle conveying meaning. In this way a
(spatial) symbolism develops that expresses and evokes social norms, values, and experiences.
2. Of Other Places – Utopias and Heterotopias, Michel Foucault In this article, Foucault introduces the concept of Heterotopic spaces or ‘other’ space. These
spaces are created by contrasting character. They represent spaces that exist in isolation.
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Foucault identifies six principles that can be used to determine heterotopic spaces. The first
principle identifies crisis heterotopias - there are privileged or sacred or forbidden places, reserved for
individuals who are, in relation to society and to the human environment in which they live, in a state
of crisis: adolescents, menstruating women, pregnant women, the elderly, etc.
The second principle identifies the heterotopia of the cemetery. The cemetery is certainly a
place unlike ordinary cultural spaces. It is a space that is however connected with all the sites of the
city, state or society or village, etc., since each individual, each family has relatives in the cemetery. In
western culture the cemetery has practically always existed. But it has undergone important changes.
The third principle identifies the heterotopia that is capable of juxtaposing in single real place
several spaces, several sites that are in themselves incompatible. ‘Thus it is that the theatre brings
onto the rectangle of the stage, one after the other, a whole series of places that are foreign to one
another; thus it is that the cinema is a very odd rectangular room, at the end of which, on a two-
dimensional screen, one sees the projection of a three-dimensional space, but perhaps the oldest
example of these heterotopias that take the form of contradictory sites is the garden.’
The fourth principle talks about the heterotopia of time. They are most often linked to slices
in time—the heterotopia begins to function at full capacity when men arrive at a sort of absolute break
with their traditional time. He gives the example of museums to support this principle as they
represent an accumulation of time. Heterotopias of time can be explained by fleeting spaces like that
of a fair ground.
The fifth principle talks about heterotopias of restricted places. Heterotopias always
presuppose a system of opening and closing that both isolates them and makes them penetrable. In
general, the heterotopic site is not freely accessible like a public place. Either the entry is compulsory,
as in the case of entering a barracks or a prison, or else the individual has to submit to rites and
purifications. To get in one must have permission and make certain gestures or perform a ritual.
The sixth principle talks about contrasting spaces. The last trait of heterotopias is that they
have a function in relation to all the space that remains. This function unfolds between two extreme
poles. Either their role is to create a space of illusion that exposes every real space, all the sites inside of
which human life is partitioned, as still more illusory. To illustrate this principle, he gives the example
of a brothel.
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3. Third Wave: The Classic Study of Tomorrow, Alvin Toffler
The Third Wave is a book by cultural anthropologist and futurologist Alvin Toffler in 1960. It
is the second in a trilogy preceded by Future Shock published in 1970. The book identifies the
advancement of the human race as three waves. The first wave was the transformation of the human
civilization from nomads into an agrarian society.
The First Wave economy was of an agrarian society where there was no differentiation
between producers and consumers, with little or no trade between them. The First Wave civilization’s
population could be divided into two categories – the primitive and the civilized. The land was the
basis of economy, life, culture, family structure and politics all organized around a single village unit.
Their main source of energy was human and animal muscle power of direct energy from the sun, wind
and water. Goods were predominantly hand-crafted and made and distributed at a custom scale.
There were trade and commerce between different places, but they were primitive. The societies of
the First Wave world were predominantly primitive; women had no say in major decisions of the
community and were patriarchal in nature.
The Second Wave was brought on by the Industrial Revolution and immediately accelerated
the economy. These societies derived energy from irreplaceable fossil fuels from the earth’s energy
reserves. It inclined toward a new technological and economic structure with a false illusion of the
finite nature of these resources. This shift however allowed the mass production and trade of
products. This brought about the divorce of consumers from producers. The second wave brought
machines under a synchronized system. Industrialization also required mobility from its workers.
Workers could no longer be held behind by a large extended family. The nuclear family became an
identifiable feature of all Second Wave societies which were built on a factory model, mass
standardised education. Industrialisation also saw the coming of women into the fore-front, the
women’s rights moment picks off with the second wave.
The Third Wave civilization is the post-industrial society. Most major cities today are post-
industrial cities. Toffler says that since the 1950s most countries are moving away from their industrial
roots and moving to an information age. The new technologies of the Third Wave will give rise to new
industries based on quantum electronics, information theory, molecular biology, oceanic ecology and
the space sciences. The Third Wave also opens up the field of space exploration. This impact is
underestimated by the general public but it is the next frontier in the advancement of human
civilization. The key to a Third Wave civilization is flexibility. People can work where they want, when
they want and for whom they want all by virtue of the advancement in information technology.
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APPENDIX – A
The following is an extract from the Report of the Expert of the Lal Dora Committee.
Source: Shrivastav P. P (2007) Report of Expert Cte. On Lal Dora in Delhi (ECLD), Union Ministry of Urban
Development, New Delhi
THE BACKGROUND
2.1.1 As per the 2005-06 edition of the Economic Survey of Delhi, the total population of Delhi (2001
census) stood at 138,50507 out of which the urban population was 129,05780 (93.18%). Out of Delhi's
total area of 1483 sq. km, the urban area was 924.68 sq. km. Thus the area of rural Delhi stood at
558.32 sq. km and the population was 9,44,727 (say 9.5 lakh) in 2001. Draft Master Plan 2021 has
projected Delhi's population in 2011 at 182.0 lakh and 230.0 lakh in 2021.
2.1.2 While Appendix 1 of the Delhi Land Reforms Rules, 1954 lists 358 villages in the UT of Delhi, the
Tejendra Khanna Committee Report has put the number of villages at 362. Possibly some Revenue
Estates created subsequently by the Lt. Governor of Delhi have been included in the list of villages.
135 villages out of these have been declared as urbanized villages and thus the remaining 227 remain
as rural villages. 15 out of these 227 villages stand recommended by MCD (since the year 2000) to the
Govt. of NCT of Delhi for being declared as urban u/s 507 of DMC Act. The notification to this effect is
yet to be issued by Govt. of NCT of Delhi.
2.1.3 The metropolitan town of Delhi has grown on agricultural lands acquired from the villagers.
Initially, in building up of Lutyen's Delhi, the villages were relocated; later only their agricultural lands
were acquired and the residential areas (abadi deh) were circumscribed by a red line and that is how
the term Lal Dora came into use. The process of urbanisation over the years has been engulfing the
villages. Urban Delhi grew fast around them while the villages remained within the confines of their Lal
Doras. The close layouts and narrow lanes of old village abadis were conditioned by old (now
outdated) historical compulsions of collective security, considerations of mutual interdependence and
availability all-round of vast open agricultural fields. Now with agricultural fields (that provided the
open environment) having been acquired by DDA or grabbed/colonised by market forces driven by
skyrocketing land-values, on the one hand and with natural increase in village population on the other,
the village abadis have become intolerably cramped. It has not been possible to extend even the
basic-most civic services like water-supply and sewage-disposal in the narrow twisting streets and
haphazard layouts within Lal Dora in all the 135 urbanized villages as on date. Most of the dwelling
units are inaccessible to ambulances and fire-tenders to attend to emergencies.
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2.1.4 What is still worse is that the villagers have been deprived of their principal, if not the sole
means of permanent sustenance - their agricultural fields and space to maintain cattle. A farmer's life
is as inextricably linked with Report of Expert Cte. On Lal Dora agricultural fields as a tribal's is to the
forests that have sustained his past generations. One-time compensation at government rates for land
acquired tends to go as fast as it comes. It is hardly an adequate recompense for land (with ever-
escalating value in the urbanization process) that is a permanent and perennial source of sustenance.
Deprived of agricultural land and facilities for keeping cattle, the villagers were driven to opening
shops, start small industries wherever they could; renting out their premises for godowns, offices and
the like. With urban Delhi hard-pressed for dwelling units to house the flood of in-migrants from
elsewhere, and consequent sky-rocketing of value of vacant land, many villagers were tempted to sell
off their lands to colonizers and builders. The areas covered by extension of Lal Dora and agricultural
fields around the villages - both acquired and unacquired - became favourite hunting ground of the
middle-class - lower and higher - to satisfy their need of cheap housing. Thanks to the alleged collusion
between colonisers and enforcement agencies, highly sub-standard unauthorized colonies
mushroomed in these areas. A big list of 1432 such colonies is slated for regularization as of date and
reportedly, a proposal to add 88 more to this list is under consideration.
2.1.5 In the shadow of these developments and with their age-old traditional means of sustenance
taken away from them, can one blame the villagers for the shops and industries, godowns and show-
rooms that have come up in violation, technically speaking, of the laws and bye-laws, rules and
regulations? In the struggle for survival and sustenance, it was either this technical violation or taking
to violence and crime.
2.1.6 The solution to the problems of rural villages lies in finding ways that would inspire the villagers
themselves, at least the younger generation, to demand that they be permitted to enhance the value
of their property by making as intensive use of their lands as feasible through redevelopment. The
Committee also feels, very broadly at the macro-level, that with our rural brethren (6.82% of Delhi's
total population) living in 37.64% of the total land area of Delhi, it should not be difficult to adequately
meet not only the present but also the future needs of our villages. Creation of good modern housing
and commercial areas in multi-storey complexes would mean substantial enhancement in the value of
their property. It would not be necessary for anyone to move away from their original area: all their
non-residential activities could also be met in the vicinity itself. In fact, new markets could be created
for fresh commercial and trading activity adding to the prosperity of the villages. That would also
relieve the acute scarcity of commercial premises in Delhi which is causing so many problems for the
traders. Further details of this strategy will be discussed elsewhere in this Report.
B. ARCH DISSERTATION 2012-2013
The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi 37
The following is an
extract from the INTACH
Report: Process for
Historic Site
Development: Chirag
Delhi, 1996
Source: INTACH (1996),
Process for Historic Site
Development: Chirag
Delhi – A Case Study,
INTACH, Lodhi Road,
New Delhi.
B. ARCH DISSERTATION 2012-2013
The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi 38
B. ARCH DISSERTATION 2012-2013
The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi 39
B. ARCH DISSERTATION 2012-2013
The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi 40
B. ARCH DISSERTATION 2012-2013
The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi 41
B. ARCH DISSERTATION 2012-2013
The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi 42
B. ARCH DISSERTATION 2012-2013
The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi 43
B. ARCH DISSERTATION 2012-2013
The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi 44
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The Heterotopic Space of Chirag Delhi 45
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