Hi guys. This is my first post. I'm so glad I stumbled on to this forum - its amazing, especially since I live in Canada, and am physically disconnected from the developments India.

This thread is about, as the title implies, imagining a brand new city somewhere in India. Where would it be situated? What kind of infrastructure would be needed. Etc.

Now, I am aware there may be small-scale cities being built, but this one would have to be quite a bit larger.

Some requirements:

-must be a large scale city
-must be designed to grow quickly
-should be energy efficient and as green as possible
-should have all the hallmarks of a modern city

This thread idea came to me when I was reading the Urban Planning Issues thread. We have to try to identify the issues such a city would face, and find solutions.

A major issue would, of course, be land procurement, which we should probably avoid. Let us assume this won't be a problem for now.

Step 1: identify a suitable location. We are aiming to create a major city, so the location would have to allow for robust economic development.

Am excitedly awaiting posts!
-Unity_Asia

Are you really gonna build a city? If so then I'll help.... :D

Are you really gonna build a city? If so then I'll help....

Oh I'd love to build a city! Only problem is that I'm here in Canada lol.
Actually, I was very impressed by some of the posters on this board, and it occurred to me that it could make for a very interesting discussion. Its all fantasy, of course, unless one of the Ambanis or Tatas stumble onto this forum, and are inspired, or whatever :banana:.

haha, was hoping you might have been a Ambani or Tata :D

Anyway on a serious note, a good location would near the Delhi - Mumbai Industrial Corridor or Ludhiana - Delhi - Kolkata Industrial Corridor. I think LDKIC would be better than the DMIC since there is already many cities coming up along it. Also I think it should be on the banks of a river. It's always nice to have a riverfront.

haha, was hoping you might have been a Ambani or Tata :D

Anyway on a serious note, a good location would near the Delhi - Mumbai Industrial Corridor or Ludhiana - Delhi - Kolkata Industrial Corridor. I think LDKIC would be better than the DMIC since there is already many cities coming up along it. Also I think it should be on the banks of a river. It's always nice to have a riverfront.

Right. Any concerns about proximity to Pakistan though?
Here's a map of Rajasthan:
http://maps.newkerala.com/Rajasthan-Travel-Map.jpg

I'm looking more towards the eastern side of the DMIC, however, the route of the LDKIC is definitely interesting. So somewhere i Eastern Rajasthan, or in Uttar Pradesh?
The city would defiantly need to be placed ideally between major cities. Too close, and it would start to compete for resources, ppl, etc. Too far and it may become irrelevant.
Rivers are good!
It would be nice to place the city with the help of a satellite map, or with elevations.

there is a term called Integrated business hubs(IBHs)(i use in IIM for this new concept) and any nation who wants to develop in current geo economics has to have an IBH.India as of now does not have a primate IBH.....its a tax free open zone.....suitable to do some banking and financing......it generally stand's out of the country's economy and behaves as a center for easy commerce throughout the mainland and a gateway for the investments in the region.Generally in India you have distributed business hubs....with service industry divided amongst Bangalore,Bombayi ,Chennai and NCR.....thus there is no solid index where a company can easily do economics....it is best that a IBH is separate from a nation's economy with separate currency and high economic freedom...but mostly there are not so distinct in economical nature....some examples are...
best example...world's only true IBH...
Hong Kong for PRC.
others
singapore,dubai,london,frankfurt,paris,new york,tokyo,milan,barcelona,miami,seoul...

What I plans for India is to have a IBH some where on the east coast north of chennai...pondicherry is the best location.......it should be
1.separate from the nation....some what another nation.
2.mainland should invest $10 billion on the first year and then invest for coming 20 years increasing the amount at a rate of 10% yearly.
3.create a standard CBD,Airport(50 million),Port(500 million) and other structures.
4.policy a free open democratic economy that is tax free with high degrees of civilian freedom,center for innovation and technology..
5.award citizenship to important scientist and intelligence pool and some leading industrialist on case by case basis..........invite some foreign intellect for citizenship.
6.every year some top 500 IIM,IIT and top medical studs should be awarded citizenship.
7.create an open and harmonious environment for innovation.
8.create industrial hubs within the semi country and in mainland like shenzhen for hong kong.
9.separate curreny but common military.

............let the region develop........such IBH will provide huge investment nd revenues for the mainland.

http://www.*******************/asia/china/images/s/china-hong-kong.jpg
.........i ve tried to go easy on terminology.......hope you all get it!

some place which can be developed as major cities are generally our fellow UTs........daman diu,dadar nagar haveli,puducherry...............but also at ernakulum,between lucknow and kanpur,indore,north of delhi near chandigarh,port blair....

I was just about to say between Kanpur & Lucknow. Between two 3m cities on fertile land.

And I also had pakistan on my mind. BUt I doubt that will be much of a problem. It's luckier of us since most of our cities are far away from the border but for them Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Islamabad & other cities are all really close to their border with us.

^^ Delhi is also too close. Let us shift the capital to the center of India. Near Nagpur?

Nagpur's pretty close to Hyderabad. But I guess central India needs it's own hub.

^^ Delhi is also too close. Let us shift the capital to the center of India. Near Nagpur?

let make shimla the capital..........its safe and cool!

He just said Lucknow-Kanpur is too close, Shimla is heaps closer.

He just said Lucknow-Kanpur is too close, Shimla is heaps closer.

it is really stupid to think that capital should be in the center of the country......as far shimla is concerned it is protected by mighty himalayas!

...but saddi delhi is the best!

it is really stupid to think that capital should be in the center of the country......as far shimla is concerned it is protected by mighty himalayas!

...but saddi delhi is the best!

Its not at all stupid....Ideally speaking Nagpur would make the second capital of India.

They must plan a Supreme court and get all prime public -Govt offices opened at Nagpur.

Shimla's on mountains. Not a very good spot to start a city. And the beautiful scenery around the city would be ruined if a new city came up.

How about a world class city near my city- between Bhopal and Indore. Indore and Bhopal both are located the center of the country and are well connected to Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, nagpur, UP . Besides this, Bhopal has some picturesque locations and Indore has relatively moderate climate as compared to Delhi or Mumbai . almost as moderate or a bit warmer than Pune.

hey guys, first time poster but i have been thinking a lot about this on my own just a few of my ideas from my imagination,

--the city would be called Ipras- short for official name indraprastha
==it would be carbon neutral-fully public transport accessible
--it should be in the heart of India, in vidharba, near Nagpur
--for the soul of the city it should be modeled after the Mahabharata and all the characters and events should be represented whether in stone or some art, like florence or rome
--it should have one major all india university with a college for all subjects like iit, iim, aiims, arts etc. and a competing private one as well
--there should be a river front and at least one lake
--lots of greenry and zero waste, zero pollution targets
just some ideas lets at least agree on the name it sounds cool :-)

hey guys, first time poster but i have been thinking a lot about this on my own just a few of my ideas from my imagination,

--the city would be called Ipras- short for official name indraprastha
==it would be carbon neutral-fully public transport accessible
--it should be in the heart of India, in vidharba, near Nagpur
--for the soul of the city it should be modeled after the Mahabharata and all the characters and events should be represented whether in stone or some art, like florence or rome
--it should have one major all india university with a college for all subjects like iit, iim, aiims, arts etc. and a competing private one as well
--there should be a river front and at least one lake
--lots of greenry and zero waste, zero pollution targets
just some ideas lets at least agree on the name it sounds cool :-)


the weather of vidarbha sucks!! Plus less rains have been driving farmers for suicide

the weather cant be worse then dubai, or any gulf cities, or rajasthan, the farmer suicides have a got more to do with bad economics then water shortage, the city will have to be in center my first thought was orissa but you cant plan a big city there cause of cyclones. nagpur is quite green and full of lakes.

IDEAL LOCATION OF A CITY::

1. Near Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan) Reason:
within 400 km of delhi, within 150 km of Jaipur and Agra, Within 200 km of Gwalior and Kota, lying on DMIC, Lying on Chambal river, Rawatbhata atomic power station is close, Gandhisagar lake is also close (270 km away), Sri Ganganagar is existing rly station, new rly lines like mathura-achnera are being built..

2. Warangal, AP (or Gadchiroli)
Reason: proximity to hyderabad, Nagpur (within 300 km), godavari river, pranhita river, nearby. Problem: Naxalite-infested area.

3. Kadiri, A.P. (anathpur dist) dis is already planned) within 250 km from chennai, bangalore, hyderabad. Penneru river. All arid land.

4. North alibaug (rewdanda)- Reason: proximity to Mumbai, konkan area (business in products), port.

5. Orissa (Baleshwar)(bhadrak) reason: port paradweep, river mahanadi, 150 km from bhubaneshwar, NH5 (4laned), 250 km from Kolkata, land is cheap, people are not.

6. Sagar (M.P.) rason: 100 km from bhopal, 200 km from Jabalpur, 300 km from Gwalior, geographical centre of India, Ken river, land cheap, no agriculture, only pasture land.

7. Ahmednagar, maha. reason: 300 km from mumbai, 200 from Pune, 140 from nashik, land cheap,

IDEAL LOCATION OF A CITY::
2. Warangal, AP (or Gadchiroli)
Reason: proximity to hyderabad, Nagpur (within 300 km), godavari river, pranhita river, nearby. Problem: Naxalite-infested area.

Also majority of the rail traffic from south india to delhi passes through warangal.. Proximity to Red Belt is a big downside

3. Kadiri, A.P. (anathpur dist) dis is already planned) within 250 km from chennai, bangalore, hyderabad. Penneru river. All arid land.

Hindupur is already being projected bu GoAP for proximity to Banagalore..
There was if u remember a proposal for ' Odyssey Science City' in the Anantapur district.. think its scrapped now


But i think a perfect city would be one on a BIGGGG island using desalinated water and all the electricity produced by wind,tidal and geothermal energy:yes:

Nice thread, heres my take on it:

I think the closest answer will be Dholera in Gujarat (SSC Thread) (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1008531)

GIFT is another one that most ppl on SSCI should be familiar with, although its a not really true city in its own right. (SSC Thread) (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=552518)

But forget those!!!, another contender from Gujarat to watch out for is Gujarat Vittal Innovation City (GVIC) which is proposed to come up surrounding Maroli Port near Vapi, close to the Maharashtra border and the UTs of Daman as well as Dadra & Nagar Haveli in the South. (GVIC Overview - with other links) (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=50227311&postcount=568)

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/5451/gvicoverview.png

But hold up, theres one more...

Personally, the location that excites me as much as any of these isnt exactly a completely new city, but rather the re-emergence of an Ancient one.

Bharuch on the Narmada River, located between Vadodara and Surat on the Delhi-Mumbai NH8, has all the ingredients needed to be a major urban and economic centre. Ankleshwar, on the southern side of the Narmada is home to one of Gujarats largest and most established industrial area, the area is rich in Natural Gas and had many Hindu and Parsi fire temples, the Parsi name "Broacha" is a reference to the British name for the city. In historic times Bharuch was a major trading port, known even as far away as the Mediterranean, but eventually lost importance to Surat, which in turn gave way to Mumbai.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/8613/bharuchregion.png

Even now, Bharuch district is the most industrialised in Gujarat (trust me, thats saying a lot!) The major industrial zones at Ankleshwar, Panoli, Jhaghadia as well as Bharuch itself have seen massive investments, as well as terrible pollution due to the fact that the area specialises in various industrial chemicals.

Dahej Port meanwhile was recently ranked as one of the top 25 Industrial Zones in the world. Dahej was the only Indian entry on the list. (Link) (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-company/corporate-trends/Gujarats-Dahej-among-top-25-global-economic-zones/articleshow/6029558.cms)

The area will also soon get a domestic Airport near Ankleshwar. (Link) (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=56487999&postcount=658) Also Japanese major, Hitachi are interested in setting up an eco-friendly smart city at Dahej (Link -2nd Article) (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=55814465&postcount=643)

Seizing on this, there is a PCPIR (Petroleum, Chemicals & Petrochemicals Investment Region) due to be set up along much of the stretch between Dahej and Bharuch. Gujarat Govt have already secured a massive landbank for the project (yep that big pink area on the map!) Investment in the region is expected to cross Rs 50,000 Crore, current investment of 22,930 Crores of which 13,000 Crores is from ONGC, the anchor tenants for the project. (Link) (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=49727369&postcount=564)

Aladar is destined to be the Eastern end of the Kalpasar project, linking the region to quicker than ever to Bhavnagar, Dholera and Saurashtra/Kutch. Meanwhile, the uninhabited island of Alia Bet is being considered as an "entertainment region" (amusement park, film city, watersports, golf course, etc) after the recommendations of Mott MacDonald, appointed as consultants, by the state Govt. Link (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Golf-course-film-city-in-Aliabet/articleshow/5695774.cms)

Falling right along the DMIC with all these other projects proposed for it, along with the continuing growth of the cities of Surat, Vadodara and the state as a whole, the Bharuch-Ankleshwar region could very well end up being that next major city that nobody outside India had ever heard of (well, for a few thousand years anyway! :cheers:)

ok I think some of you are jumping the gun

Firstly lets look at a few things for a large scale city if we have to plan it.


(1) What is large scale? It seems like a vague parameters. Is 10 million pop large scale? Is 20 million? Including urban areas an all.

(2) Lets look at the basic amenities. Water is one of the key elements in the past of any city settlement. On the banks of a river. Are the places you have selected in the posts in this thread thus having access to plentiful fresh water within say a 50-70 km distance from the dead centre of the city. Will the annual rainfall be enough if rain harvesting occurs.? Will it be able to provide large number of people 150-200 litres of water per day?

(3) Does the city lay in a flood plain? You dont want to build cities of that scale in a flood plain.

(4) In what earth quake zone is it?

Points 3 and 4 can be undertaken through investment in barriers and building code regulation. But since this is SIM city, why not just select the best place which is suited naturally for it?

(5) Distance to ports and other commercial centres in the country. Ideally should be centrally located.

^^ Cities have to be there in best places and also in worst places like deserts. We have not decided where this city should be located. Now what we can do is to define set of rules depending upon terrain and other conditions. With the help of these rules we should be able to simulate a city in any of the terrain including earthquake zones, any specified capacity of population, etc. The applicable rules for a city will vary according to the terrain conditions.

Moving on let us now define a few rules for lifecycle mangement of the city from design, maintenance, etc. I am not aware of any quality standard being defined exclusively for Urban Planning or City Planning. Anybody any idea? Can we borrow from already existing ones like TQM, ISO, etc? Important thing is we should be able to monitor things like schedule, cost, etc. The quality process should also cover various aspects like safety, security, etc.

Here are quotes from Public/Civic Issues- Karnataka (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1037767) thread where a need for a planning knowledgebase was identified.

Yahoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo,Krishnamoorthy things are materializing check below article

Road concreting to be an integrated package

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangalore/Road-concreting-to-be-an-integrated-package/articleshow/6029347.cms)


^^ Congratulations!

We need a knowledge base of 'best practices' and 'lessons learnt' so that same mistakes are not repeated. The knowledge base should be shared across corporations, muncipalties and panchayats.

I agree with the cities have to be everywhere part. But clearly you cant expect say a desert to support a city of 20 million people? with no major lakes around.

Dont think the proper middle east arabian peninsula (desert) has a single large scale city (more than 10 million)

But in general yes i agree with you.

Cairo metro area has more than 10 million people...but yeah its situated on the Nile

Cairo metro area has more than 10 million people...but yeah its situated on the Nile

the nile Delta may i add.

thats like a big ass source of fresh water.

If there is any delta in India which is not occupied already by a city then by all means form a city there.

http://thecityfix.com/files/2010/06/Guangzhou.jpg

Urbanus Architecture & Design re-imagines the city of Guangzhou by transforming the highway into an elevated bicycle and pedestrian promenade, integrated with a bus rapid transit corridor below. Illustration via Our Cities Ourselves media kit.

The City Fix (http://thecityfix.com/our-cities-ourselves-ten-architects-re-imagine-urban-transport-in-2030/)

How about a world class city near my city- between Bhopal and Indore. Indore and Bhopal both are located the center of the country and are well connected to Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, nagpur, UP . Besides this, Bhopal has some picturesque locations and Indore has relatively moderate climate as compared to Delhi or Mumbai . almost as moderate or a bit warmer than Pune.

I support u buddy