Urbanism as a Cure

Urban living is having an impact on our health. The city itself is being damaged by our actions and it’s damaging us back. If you try to fix health with short term solutions, most of the time you can only reduce symptoms while the body attempts to repair itself, and a similar reaction can be seen in short sighted government decisions Calicuts infrastructure has directly influenced lifestyle and as the city has spread out, key destinations have become harder to reach without cars. In turn this is creating health issues of physical inactivity and air pollution.

. As the middle class in Calicut has risen, more people are attracted to the prospect of private transport, reducing the profits of public transport providers, subsequently reducing the efficiency, capacity and quality of public transport and leading to more purchases of private vehicles, creating congestion on the roads, pollution in the air and stress in the people. One of Calicuts transport services, the train line, runs North to South dividing the beach community and the urban city centre.

The government have declared intent to develop a metro line to serve the city, running directly parallel to the existing railway line, further fragmenting the city. As part of my urban strategy, I propose alignment of the two services, placing the metro over the railway and elevating the existing rail in the city centre to increase permeability and improve walkability. This will utilise decommissioned flyovers to establish a new pedestrian domain, and prevent the government from trying to solve traffic issues by adding a new flyover. The catalyst project focuses on one of seven metro stations. Each station will have a distinct personality and purpose, for example stations further away from the urban core will focus on park and ride schemes, and closer ones will look at green corridors, footpaths and cycle routes. I have proposed a station at the Francis Road Flyover, a decommissioned flyover used to cross over the existing trainline. This places vehicles at two levels.

My proposal would convert the flyover into a green corridor and by elevating the railway, cars can cross freely below, reducing congestion. The station will become a hub for social activity in Calicut, with a garden space, offices and hotel rooms above, creating a viable commercial opportunity to develop a self-sufficient station and development below."