"We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far"- Swami Vivekananda
Putting it in to the context of Thiruvananthapuram, it could be like "Our city is what our thoughts and actions have made it; so take care about what we think and do. Personal gains are secondary. our actions have consequences ; they travel far and wide and finally backfire on us"
(A brief note on the Proposal for Smart City, Thiruvananthapuram from Transportation Point of View)
Why smart city
With passage of time every city would become congested, and less livable, thanks to the growing traffic, depleting resources, and inadequate infrastructure. Development is a must, but is associated with several constraints. Smart city, a recent concept is fast evolving and is highly relevant in this context. Our city Thiruvananthapuram is now having dreams of a smart city in her cards.
What is smart city?
While there are many definitions and requirements for smart city as the mission statement and guidelines state, it is region specific, there can't be a universal definition. So let us look at the smart city in a Kerala context.
We will first look at what we have (or rather, had during the royal era):
Thiruvananthapuram is known as land of seven hills (image courtesy: http://www.thehindu.com, c/o Dr. Achuthsankar S Nair) What ever be the fact, the topography of the land was well utilised by our erstwhile maharajas to provide the city with a wonderful conglomeration of roads, water bodies and buildings, with vast greenery.
In essence we had
1. Abundant natural resources.
2. Room for development.
3. Technical know how.
4. Green environment (parks, other recreational spaces).
5. A long coastline, and beautiful beaches.
6. Once navigable inland water bodies and wet lands.
7. A wonderful storm water drainage and sewerage system.
7. A reasonably good connectivity and public transport.
But what have we done?
1. Depleted and wasted resources.
2. Polluted the air.
3. Congested available land space.
4. Unscientific, unsafe and underutilised infrastructure development.
5. Violations of rules and regulations in every walk of life.
6. Destroyed waterbodies and wet lands by encroachment, mining, dumping sewage and wastes.
7. Clogging drains with wastes.
8. Destroyed ecosystems on hills in the name of development, converting them to canyons.
9. Replaced greenery by infrastructure and artificially brought in cool, fresh air.
The main purpose of this note is to examine the possibilities of Thiruvananthapuram developing in to a smart city and to provide some suggestions for the same.
Smart city viewed from Transportation angle
Simply put, a smart city is one having such a network of infrastructure, by virtue of which a person leaving home would reach a destination using public transport, with the best possible comfort, convenience and safety and get his or her business accomplished to satisfaction. It is one where the nature and humans co-exist, wherein every loss of green due to infrastructure development would be compensated by a green network as closely as possible. The road network of Thiruvananthapuram City in comparison with Chandigarh is shown in figure 1.
Fig. 1. Comparions between road networks: Thiruvananthapuram and Chandigarh
The road network in Chandigarh is a well planned grid system, with lots of open spaces, and green belts. Our road network is haphazard, with a few patches of grid patterns here and there (fort area, manacaud, kowdiar) and vanishing greens. We have to start from here; let us now see what we need.
A. Requirements of Smart city
1. Hubs
2. The three complementary networks: Grey, Green and Blue.
3. Transit oriented development.
4. Retrofitting : Squares (community spaces and pedestrian friendly areas)
5. Integrated Intelligent Transport system.
6. Humans that use the system exactly as it is supposed to be.
Let us see these one by one, and possibilities for implementing the same in Thiruvananthapuram.
1. Hubs
The smart city envisions two hubs: Mobility Hub and Logistic Hub
i) Mobility Hub
We have already an on-going mobility hub project at Vyttila. Before we propose a similar one in Thiruvananthapuram, we need to ensure that the one at Vyttila is performing at best levels. Comparing Thiruvananthapuram with Kochi is not logical, given the location and strategic aspects.
What is and why do we need a mobility hub?
The mobility hub (anchor hub) is a concept which acts like a central place for public to get a transit (bus, train, air, water etc) to their desired destinations, with least amount of effort. It should provide basic amenities along with shops, banking, police aid post and other establishments. Hence the location of hub is one of the key factors to be considered. The new terminal building for KSRTC at thampanoor was designed to international standards, and it seemed to have been expected to perform like a Mobility hub. But the result? Why it failed?
The most important reason: location.
Despite its close proximity to the central railway station, and being well connected to the corners of the city, space constraint has put a noose on the neck of this ambitious project. Even before it started fully functioning, reports of fatal accidents started pouring in from inside and outside the terminal. The situation was like enlarging one room inside a house thereby constricting the other rooms. Even though the terminal was well built, there was no connectivity to the opposite railway station building. Public were forced to move across a wild stream of traffic.
Solution: Shift the terminal to another, less congested, but still accessible location; not physically, but operationally. Since East fort is another place that recently hit the headlines as ahazardous location, a shift of city transport bus service to Thampanoor and shifting of interstate transport to Eanchakkal or even Venpalavattom can be thought of. No, demolishing a government school and building a bus terminal with shopping complex won't help. A smart city can't be achieved by compromising green patches. More traffic will be attracted to this shopping centre, and where will the vehicles park? Now, how accessible are places from the centre of city? Our recent study (figure 2) indicated that accessibility of many places near block panchayat limits is very poor.
Figure 2. GIS map of Thiruvananthapuram City, showing public transport accessibilty
The farther we move towards coastline, less accessible these places mentioned would be. So, by simply shifting the Bus terminal to near Kochuveli/Eanchakkal will not be succesful, unless there are feeder services with satellite terminals along with the main terminal. Advanced technologies like ATIS (advanced Traveller Information Systems) would help the city bus network becoming more and more smart. Kochuveli is best suited for the Mobility hub as it is well connected to roads, rail, water transport, and air transport. There are a lot of similarities between Kochuveli and the Vyttila hub sites; but Kochuveli has definite advantages over vyttila, in fact, the undeveloped land available at Kochuveli is more than 6 times that at vyttila (figure 3.).
Fig. 3. Comparison of mobility hub sites: Vyttila and Kochuveli (not to scale)
Hence the patch of land between kochuveli station and by-pass may well be developed in to a mobility hub (highlighted in figure 4). Satellite (gateway hubs) may be provided at selected paarts of city.
Fig. 4. Proposed location for Mobility Hub
ii) Logistics Hub
The upcoming International Port at Vizhinjam would put a lot of burden on our roads, as transshipment is necessary. Development of logistics hub is essential. A logistic hub is an integrated centre for transshipment, collection, storage and distribution of goods. The question is where to locate it. But before we discuss logistics hub, let us look at how truck traffic plys in Thiruvananthapuram. Location of chalai bazar is crucial here. The trucks that come from Attingal side park alongside the attakulangara eanchakkal killippalam by pass which carries heavy traffic. We have a small truck parking area near powerhouse, alongside a congested road; all the while Erumakkuzhi remains a dumping yard for garbage. If Erumakkuzhi can be developed in to a satellite truck terminal (figure 5), connectivity to vizhinjam and kaliyikkavila can be established with much ease.
Fig. 5 . Proposal for new satellite truck terminal
The main logistics hub may be located close to the the new port (Fig 6) alongside the by-pass, between kovalam and edayar island; utilising abandoned quarries for land and source of water, where connectivity to railway, waterways and city are guaranteed. This hub would be hardly 4 km from the truck terminal of Vizhinjam Port. Use of alternate route to link Vizhinjam to the NH 66 through thiruvallam-maruthoorkadavu-kaimanam road is also suggested. Special geometric treatments are necessary at Kovalam and adjoining road junctions.
Fig. 6. Locations for Logistics Hub
2. The three networks, Grey, Blue and Green
Grey: Rail Transport: Kochuveli Railway Station
Currently origin and destination to many long distance services, and prospective for bullet train services in future, Kochuveli is a strategic location for transport sector. It is interesting to note that while KSRTC offers connectivity to city from kochuveli, people find cabs more reliable. Hence Locating a hub near this station, should along with offer high quality service to the rail passengers in order to effect a shift. The roads connecting to Kochuveli railway station should be as well developed as the upcoming 4-lane by-pass.
Road network
Smart city needs smart roads. The roads should be well designed, strictly as per standards, with wide foot paths, medians, intelligent signals (ATCS), lighting and above all, drainage, cleanliness and pre-formed cross ducts and underground cables. Safety should be a primary concern. Bus bays/sheds shall be eco friendly, and safe. Ribbon development, encroachments in to bus bays (as seen in NH by-pass) and multiple unauthorised access points shall be prohibited at any cost along the by-pass and the new grey/blue networks. Besides, the new shopping Mall and establishments coming up near the four lane by-pass would add to traffic plying in this corridor, and such factors need to be considered for future development.
Geometric designs
Development of Chackai junction in to a fly-over is planned, but a better solution would be a rotary interchange. Development of the intersections near sankumukham is unscientific and unsafe. It is necessary that they are be re-designed. It goes without saying that geometric improvements (islands, roudabouts, median, curves) are a must in almost every part of the city.
Coastal drive
Linking the discontinuous coastal roads from Kovalam to the sankhumukham beach road and continuing further to connect with the perumathura road can help in development of coastal regions as well as the fishermen family residing along the coast. It would also help ease traffic on by-pass and promote tourism.
Parking
Off-street parking as multi-storied systems are a must, but with sufficient land a two-tier (surface and basement) parking may be attempted. On-street parking should be prohibited as far as possible. Smart parking systems would be a viable option here.
Air transport
We have a well-designed terminal for the International Airport, but how about the accessibility? The parallel ramp constructed alongside by-pass only adds to the misery of road and air passengers alike. An interchange is absolutely necessary here, with one way single or multi-lane ramps (figure 7.). Cargo transfer from airport to other destinations also need attention. Proposal for shifting of cargo terminal to the present domestic terminal area, and bringing domestic terminal to chackai is believed to be in process. This would result in extreme congestion in front of the second access to international terminal (from chackai bridge). A thorough redesign of the airport road here is necessary.
Fig. 7. Proposed Interchange at airport entrance
Water Transport (Blue Network)
(a) (b)
Fig.8 a) GIS map of Parvathy puthanar, showing bridges and b) foot bridges
Blessed with abundant waterbodies, we have failed miserably to make use of them. Parvathy puthanar, which once had found place in the Theerapatham project need to be developed in to a navigable waterway, both for passengers (tourism) and freight. It can be connected then to National waterway 3. This would necessitate prohibiting waste dump in the canal, akkulam lake, and kadinamkulam lake as well as karamana river. It could be used as a cargo transfer facilty from air port too. It has huge potential, but the project requires demoilition of several bridge structures, and acquisition of land, as we had observed in a recent study (figure 8,9). There need to be a system to properly dispose off domestic wastes and sewage, thereby preventing these waterbodies from becoming dumping yards.
A blue network connecting all the thodus (pazhavangadi, kannammoola, pattom, ulloor), after evicting encroachments would provide the city with fresh air and a navigable waterways, while washing out floods from roads (figure 9). The two roads alongside the parvathy puthanar can be developed in to two-way two-lane roads with footpaths, cycle tracks, restaurants, commercial establishments and recreational facilities. High level bridges across the canal are required, but bascule-type/ retractable floating bridges/ ferries may be provided where necessary. Making Karamana and Killi rivers navigable in stages could also be part of smart city project.
Fig. 9. The blue network of waterbodies (thodus)
3.Transit oriented development (TOD)
A highly sought for approach in sustainability, this is essential for a congested city like ours. TOD means providing facilities at a walkable distance from a terminal (bus or rail). City roads are rather narrow and most of road space is underutilised by traffic due to haphazard parking and encroachments. While radial pattern as followed in New Delhi could be utilised here, a hybrid (radial and grid type) development is better. The cental portion should have a green patch (parks) and surrounding the patch should be the terminals/establishments. The radial routes emanating from the hub may end in rectangular grids of residential/commercial/educational/recreational zones. Green belts may be provided along side the radial and grid roads. Walkable distance, as far as possible from the centre should be made vehicle free, the rest may be made in to woonerfs (vehicle-pedestrian track) with battery operated vehicles plying. The entire area should be enclosed by another wide green belt.
4. Retrofitting (yes, we destroyed those beautiful places; now we need to get them back)
Urban area retrofitting include improving existing public transit, promoting urban infill (as opposed to urban sprawl, the spread out) and promoting pedestrian activities through reinhabitation and redevelopment. Reinhabitation is reviving existing but underutilised community spaces, whereas redevelopment is converting one facility in to another, more required facility. It can also be implemented by converting the abandoned quarries/ soil borrow pits in to parks, or meadows. These areas can also be used as green parking spaces. Places for social gathering are either diminishing or are not utilised for want of proper parking facilitites. A park-and-walk culture need to be developed in the smart city for the retrofit to be fully functional. Road dieting: reducing traffic and increasing pedestrian mobility is another area to be focused on.
Squares
Square is a concept in town planning for providing an open space in a built up area. This area is generally free of vehicular traffic. Considering the haphazard patter of our city, only two places are suitable for squares: East Fort and Palayam. On shifting the city bus terminal from east fort, the adjoining garage on either sides of MG road can be shifted too, thereby providing us with more space for a square. The garage near Gandhi Park can be converted in to an open or two-level parking area. The region inside east fort shall be made vehicle free (battery-operated vehicle service may be started from the parking areas near Putharikkandam. Any vehicle entering through the Vettimurichakotta should park in the space in front of Ironvilla park. The white shaded area in figure 10 below is to be considered for square. Alternate option is putharikkandam maidanam and adjoining spaces.
Fig. 10. Proposal for square (East fort region)
The second option for square is palayam (figure 11), with Rakthasakshi mandapam at centre, the church and mosque diagonally opposite and in a similar fashion the market (with parking) and stadium. The parking space near saphalyam complex can cater to the requirements of people coming to these places. The space can be made in to a parking complex as well.
Fig.11. Proposal for square (Palayam region)
5. Integrated Intelligent Transport System
Integration is the need of the hour. All the systems: hubs, satellite terminals, roads, rail, air, water systems should be integrated with an ultimate goal of one-ticket-for-all. Imagine a scene where one can get down at bus station, walk across to railway station, and check in to a train to airport (a typical example is CAT: city-airport-train/bus, Vienna, Austria and the Airport Bus/Train, Athens).
Fig. 12. Proposed Kochuveli- Airport Rail Link
Connectivity through sky-walks/ subways should be there for all terminals. A rail link from Kochuveli to airport through the hangar site could also be considered. The concepts of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is to be brought in for control over traffic and public transport operations, as highlighted in various sections above.
B. A word about humans, the end users
No matter how smart we make the system, unless people are educated to use it properly, it would fail. The widened portions of NH between Karamana and Kaliyikkavilai and between kazhakkuttam and Mukkola have started hitting headlines with road safety issues, mostly stemming from rash and negligent driving with certain contributions from improper designs.
Hence people should be ensured to
1. Travel/drive properly
2. Obey rules and regulations
3. Not encroach/ vandalise
4. Not litter
An old public participation technique can be attempted here, wherein people may pay for constructing a small stretch of road or piece of facility in their vicinity or they provide a portion of their property for development. Once they invest, it becomes their necessity to conserve the facility. In a similar fashion, an advance littering/vandalism charges may be collected along with fare/visitor's fees, which will be refunded (through bank) if the person does not litter or damage the facility. Strict surveillance is a must for implementing these.
i) Parking space regulations
Building
permits shall be issued only on providing sufficient parking space.
This rule can be made more strict if the new vehicle registrations
are permitted only if proof for permanent parking space is produced.
It may be
noted that many commercial establishments acquire permits by
displaying parking spaces, which once permit is granted disappear
forcing people to park on road in front. This is similar to the case of rain water harvesting. Such issues need to be
tracked down and cess may be collected along with due penalty .This
revenue can be used to fund smart city projects.
ii) Congestion pricing
The vehicles who use congested zones may be charged for the same and the revenue collection can be effected through RFID/other sensor system. This revenue too can be used for funding/maintaining the project.
A few notes on sustainability and energy
The roads, foot paths and other transport facilities may be used to generate energy, and utilise the same for lighting, signal operations etc. Recycling plants are a must for every hub/satellite terminals, along with waste management techniques, as the hubs will have close proximity to water bodies.
C. Concluding remarks
Smart city is a wonderful idea, and transportation is the back bone of this system. Blessed with abundance in terms of greenery, water bodies and topography, backed by a great transport and water supply-drainage network by our erstwhile kingdoms, all we need is a focussed and coordinated approach. Transport and environment are two sides of a coin. Hence, all necessities and constraints from various transportation and environmental sectors for a smart city in Kerala's context should be assessed before submitting a proposal for the same. An integrated approach involving public participation is the key aspect. Safety, Mobility, Cleanliness and Energy efficiency shall be the goals.
Fig.13. Smart city suggestions: At a glance
Acknowledgements
I sincerely acknowledge the contributions of my PG students Ms. Aneena Elizabeth Jacob (accessibility mapping) , and Ms. Surya K and Mr. Sanjay Kumar VS (my student and scientist NATPAC) (Parvathy puthanar studies). I also gratefully acknowledge the suggestions especially on bus terminals, roads and waterways by Mr. Viju Raveendran, my batch mate of B. Tech. at CET.
I duly acknowledge Mr. K. Murukesan (Former employee, Corporation of Tvm.) of Chackai ward, who had interacted with me regarding this matter with his ideas on parking regulations, cycle tracks and other aspects and gave me an opportunity to present my views.
Courtesy for satellite images: Google earth.
This note was sent to the smart city project web site, and also given at a ward level meeting at Chackai and is now updated and kept as a blog for public views. This blog will be continuously updated. Your suggestions are most welcome.
A few of my observations on issues in Thiruvananathapuram city are available in the following web sites: http://betterroadsforkerala.blogspot.com/, http://rpkcet.blogspot.in/2015/05/are-we-safe-on-our-roads-if-not-why.html, http://rpkcet.blogspot.in/2015/05/gods-own-country.html
For any queries: rpadmakumar@gmail.com
