Reconstructing the heritage city
A. SRIVATHSAN
BHUJ — Art, Architecture and History: Azhar Tyabji; Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., in association with Environmental Planning Collaborative, 31, Somnath Road, Usmanpura, Ahmedabad-380013. Price not mentioned.
How would one rebuild a beautifully crafted city after a devastation? This is the core question the book under review asks about the heritage town of Bhuj. A severe earthquake in 2001 severely damaged the 450-year-old city. Planners and organisations are busy rebuilding it ever since. How should the reconstruction proceed? Should the city's heritage be completely reconstructed or should the damage and devastation seen as an opportunity, asks the author. The book pursues this question and simultaneously explores the tool of ethnography as an instrument to understand the social needs of the people. Tyabji is of the strong belief that ethnography will allow planners to immerse in their field of action and help prioritise reconstruction agenda.
Urban development
The book has six sections. It begins with an overview of the early urban development and its political connections. The relationship between the city and art development is subsequently explained and the emergence of unique neighbourhood units like the falias is discussed. The photographic archives are deeply explored to look at many iconic buildings and spaces in the next two sections. The fifth section deals with the gradual changes of Bhuj and the instantaneous devastation caused by the earthquake. The last section is about rebuilding, public participation and organisations involved in the reconstruction.
The book is more than extensively illustrated; it is a riot of photographs. At times this excess helps to cathartically release the sense of loss and the desire to get nostalgic. However, much to the credit of the author , he refrains from proposing a total reconstruction of the past. The economic change, disconnect between art, craft and craftsmen, the loss of well-knit neighbourhoods and the necessities of the present provide the restraint. The first person stories it is interspersed with are not only rich in detail but reflect the lingering memories of the past as also the present aspirations of the people. It is also consistent with its avowed objective to create a collaborative canvas.
Ethnographic accounts
The bulk of the book is about the development of the city and ethnographic accounts of various communities of Bhuj. The information it documents is a significant and welcome addition to Indian urban history. In particular, the section that explains the symbiotic relationship between urban development and art is insightful. The historical accounts contrast well with the present situation where crafts and craftsmen have disappeared and are not available for reconstruction. In this context, the book draws attention to the issues of community association, rebuilding and difficulties involved in it.
Research informed by ethnography has been around for a while in different disciplines. The challenge that still daunts these disciplines, including planning, is to find ways to convert the local information and knowledge into a visible and useful participatory act. How much has participation changed the course of decision-making and development in Bhuj?
The last two sections on planning and rebuilding is where the book brings the ethnographic details and active planning together in an attempt to make historical and ethnographical field research relevant to planning. It is probably here that it falls short. Many questions and anecdotes appear to be insufficiently pursued.
The book makes a brief mention of the new city project and the introduction of town planning scheme. It records that early in this planning process, the residents were opposed to these projects and were concerned about the loss of distinctive character of old falias. How were they negotiated and what consequences did it have on the plan? What was the final form of the plan and how consensus was built? What projects were taken up and what were abandoned? Rather than pursuing the threads rigorously, the book often takes to describing the responses of the town planning authorities and the NGOs.
The book is convincing when it argues that the urban planning needs to move away from the data-driven and top-down approach. The mobilisation of interviews and personal accounts to state the unstated aspirations and memories are the strengths of the book. However, at the end, it tries to cover the vast ground of participatory planning rather hurriedly and in short space.
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