Public architecture too, faces an uncertain future. When Arunachal Pradesh recently announced the result of a national competition for the new Secretariat building in Itanagar, it came as a surprise that they chose to award the work to the third prize winner, without assigning a reason for their decision. Choosing to build the third best was as clear a signal from the government that they had no interest or obligation in promoting design quality and standards. Urban decisions, whether in Delhi, Bombay or Bangalore are made by closeted government committees whose thrust is a two-fold form of public appeasement. Beautification for the middle-class, and municipal service for the underclass — vote getting techniques in which city life is an unfortunate victim.

In creating effective solutions out of their own situations, cities abroad have embarked on a range of urban ideals. A project worthy of note is the extraordinarily versatile sidewalk of Hong Kong. Crowded by high rise buildings, the city’s expansion was contained by its island confines. Moving people across narrow streets on the ground was cumbersome. Conventional sidewalks eventually gave way to a 3-dimensional network of pedestrian movement that linked buildings with sky bridges and street escalators. By contrast, in designing the incomplete BRT system for Delhi, designers happily ignoredpedestrian access. One way out of this was the advice of an industrial designer who suggested plying double deckers on the stretch, so passengers could exit from the upper floor to a ramp that would bring them safely to the sidewalk. But since the idea had not been tried anywhere, it was dropped.

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