Should India Follow Japanese Model of Street Development?

[Bhairav]

Should India follow the Japanese model for developing its streets in its unplanned/existing cities?
I am asking this question because of following reasons:
1) Population density of India and Japan is very similar. Population density of Japan is 347 km2 and Population density of India is 464 km2.
2) Traditional Japanese cities follow the mixed-used zoning system, which is predominant in Indian cities also. It means they also allow people to run small scale businesses and workshops from their house. the Japanese houses (not the traditional or ultra modern ones) and Indian houses also have similar designs.
3) Streets of Japan and India are narrow and under-ground wiring is not possible in every area.

If you look closely, you can find a lot of similarities between Indian streets and Japanese streets.

(People are running small shops from their houses, Streets are narrow but walkable, No Footpaths)

(People running vegetable and fruit shops from their houses, narrow streets, but walkable and excellent drainage system)

(this streets look very much similar to the streets of Varanasi and many other traditional Indian cities, roads are narrow but clean)

(this is similar to residential colonies in Indian cities, no shops but narrow streets)

 

[Bhairav]

Please write your valuable thoughts/suggestions

 

[pankaj nema]

Should India follow the Japanese model for developing its streets in its unplanned/existing cities?
I am asking this question because of following reasons:
1) Population density of India and Japan is very similar. Population density of Japan is 347 km2 and Population density of India is 464 km2.
2) Traditional Japanese cities follow the mixed-used zoning system, which is predominant in Indian cities also. It means they also allow people to run small scale businesses and workshops from their house. the Japanese houses (not the traditional or ultra modern ones) and Indian houses also have similar designs.
3) Streets of Japan and India are narrow and under-ground wiring is not possible in every area.

If you look closely, you can find a lot of similarities between Indian streets and Japanese streets.
View attachment 110066
View attachment 110067
View attachment 110068
View attachment 110069

The 2 biggest problem with All Indian cities
Are Drainage and Potholes

Just 3 or 4 inches of rain and all cities have rivers flowing inside cities

And I seriously believe potholes are one of the reasons , people want to migrate

Potholes make even senior citizens Abusive -- It is very funny to see BC and MC from Senior citizens

Potholes make Traffic jams even worse

 

[Bhairav]

The 2 biggest problem with All Indian cities
Are Drainage and Potholes

Just 3 or 4 inches of rain and all cities have rivers flowing inside cities

And I seriously believe potholes are one of the reasons , people want to migrate

Potholes make even senior citizens Abusive -- It is very funny to see BC and MC from Senior citizens

Potholes make Traffic jams even worse

Yeah but i think Japanese would also have faced these problems in the beginnig, but with some effort they managed to overcome lot of these issues. If you look closely, the drainage system in Japan in these photo looks very similar to what we have in India (atleast in my city), the roads are also narrow and electricity/telephones wires are hanging on the poles, which we can also find in India.

 

[afako]

The problem in India is the administration is to much decentralised and there is conflict between various stakeholders.

Let me give one example of Mumbai. The BMC, Maha Govt, Central Govt have stakes over various parts of the city via their institutional framework. In addition there are autonomous bodies floated by each of these Govts. There is conflict of interest primarily due to opposing parties controlling the Govts at diff points of times.

The CG is represented by PSUs, Railways, Air India, RBI, SEBI, ED, Mumbai Port etc. The state Govt by Mumbai Police, Mantralaya, State Civil Administration. The BMC is the ground force in the city.

The roads of Mumbai are also constructed and maintained by various parties like MIDC, BMC, State Govt, even Railways. There is no standardization, no common goals, coordination among these stakeholders. That is why corrupt BMC roads are always full of potholes. The Maha Govt is even more corrupt, their work is even more shoddy. The CG has certain standards.

How do you bring all of them to work together and have one administration for Mumbai?

I recall one example during UPA time, BMC wanted to widen roads and one small parcel of land belonging to Railways was the need of the hour. It was the most crucial piece of land acquisition. But the approval never came from Delhi and local people suffered.

 

[Bhairav]

The problem in India is the administration is to much decentralised and there is conflict between various stakeholders.

Let me give one example of Mumbai. The BMC, Maha Govt, Central Govt have stakes over various parts of the city via their institutional framework. In addition there are autonomous bodies floated by each of these Govts. There is conflict of interest primarily due to opposing parties controlling the Govts at diff points of times.

The CG is represented by PSUs, Railways, Air India, RBI, SEBI, ED, Mumbai Port etc. The state Govt by Mumbai Police, Mantralaya, State Civil Administration. The BMC is the ground force in the city.

The roads of Mumbai are also constructed and maintained by various parties like MIDC, BMC, State Govt, even Railways. There is no standardization, no common goals, coordination among these stakeholders. That is why corrupt BMC roads are always full of potholes. The Maha Govt is even more corrupt, their work is even more shoddy. The CG has certain standards.

How do you bring all of them to work together and have one administration for Mumbai?

I recall one example during UPA time, BMC wanted to widen roads and one small parcel of land belonging to Railways was the need of the hour. It was the most crucial piece of land acquisition. But the approval never came from Delhi and local people suffered.

This is the biggest road block in India's development. but hopefully it will change and UP has taken a lot of initiatives in this area, especially in Ayodhya they are implementing this model. The roads and drainage are being constructed in the similar way that you see in Japan. they are also building a rainwater drainage canal in Ayodhya where the water from the roads will be released in that canal to prevent flooding. Dholera is also doing the same.

 

[Bhairav]

This is what other traditional cities should learn from Ayodhya. A city which is developing but not by losing its culture.
1) Road to Hanumangadi Mandir. Shops have been painted in same color and banners are standardised. Roads are narrow but pothole free and clean.

2) Roads have proper drainage system

3) The infrastructure has improved but not at the cost of the Culture of Ayodhya.

4) Some other images which show what a government can do if it is determined to improve the condition of a city (Jai Shree Ram! Jai Ho Yogi-Modi Ji)

Again, I know these roads arent as shinny as the roads in Gurugram or Mumbai, but this is what a traditional Indian city needs to attract tourists and improve per-capita income.

You can watch this video here

 

[HawkisRight]

@Bhairav watch this U might find it useful.. sanjeev sanyal talks bit on urban planning vis a vis garbage clearance, drainage, roads, urban management..

 

[SKC]

This is what other traditional cities should learn from Ayodhya. A city which is developing but not by losing its culture.
1) Road to Hanumangadi Mandir. Shops have been painted in same color and banners are standardised. Roads are narrow but pothole free and clean.
View attachment 110082
2) Roads have proper drainage system
View attachment 110081
3) The infrastructure has improved but not at the cost of the Culture of Ayodhya.
View attachment 110083
4) Some other images which show what a government can do if it is determined to improve the condition of a city (Jai Shree Ram! Jai Ho Yogi-Modi Ji)View attachment 110085
View attachment 110084

Again, I know these roads arent as shinny as the roads in Gurugram or Mumbai, but this is what a traditional Indian city needs to attract tourists and improve per-capita income.

You can watch this video here

This is quite amazing work in Ayodhya.
I heard similar work is being done in streets of Varanasi also.

 

[Bhairav]

This is quite amazing work in Ayodhya.
I heard similar work is being done in streets of Varanasi also.

Not just that but one of my friend who visited Ayodhya few months back told me you cant find a single pothole on roads in Ayodhya and all roads are regularly repaired and Temples and Ghats are being renovated or redeveloped

 

[Bhairav]

Not just that but one of my friend who visited Ayodhya few months back told me you cant find a single pothole on roads in Ayodhya and all roads are regularly repaired and Temples and Ghats are being renovated or redeveloped

Ayodhya is truly following the Kyoto model or to be more accurate the "Ram Rajya Model"

 

[Vishalreddy3]

I am glad that, I wasn't the only one who thinks that Japanese streets resembled Indian streets in narrowness and how cramped it was, but its 10000 times more cleaner and developed than Indian streets, we really need to develop and modernise our urban planning which I discussed in another thread!!

 

[Bhairav]

I am glad that, I wasn't the only one who thinks that Japanese streets resembled Indian streets in narrowness and how cramped it was, but its 10000 times more cleaner and developed than Indian streets, we really need to develop and modernise our urban planning which I discussed in another thread!!

Not just they resemble Indian streets but the Japanese cities also follow the mixed-used zoning policy and the houses and shops also resemble India houses. our Gulli/Mohalla culture is also very similar. Nice to see another person who was also able to identify it.