The Capital got its share of expert opinion on alternative urban planning at the recent Urban Habitat Summit, held at the India Habitat Centre. Newsline spoke to three experts and asked them to identify the single-most important issue in Delhi that bothers them, and how best to deal with it.

Over to the experts

Phillipe Rode, executive director, Dept of Urban Age, London School of Economics and Political Science
Even the short distance between India International Centre and the India Habitat Centre is an ordeal for Rode. “There are no proper pavements and signal meant for pedestrians don’t seem to work.”

The BRT corridor, he says, is the answer to the city’s traffic woes, besides fulfilling the need to have proper pedestrian and cyclist pathways. Rode says Connaught Place is the ideal model that upcoming city centres and private developers should emulate. “It is comfortable to walk around the area; it is an urban space that welcomes even those who do not have cars.”

Rode suggests stringent laws for private developers while giving out land: “They must ensure there are walkways or lawns for the public around the property, as in London.

“But they must ensure that ownership of this space lies with the government, which unfortunately is not the case in the UK.”

Manit Rastogi, managing director, Morphogenesis
Fed up of Delhi’s stinking drains, Manit Rastogi decided to deal with the issue head on. And what emerged is a “sustainable urban blueprint”, or the Nullah Project.

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