This project is an initiative of the Lt. Governor, and has been taken up by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), as a consequence of the impact of the Metro Line.
The site is surrounded by possibly the most diverse topography imaginable, with the Yamuna to the east, the ridge to the west, the low-density Colonial era Civil Lines to the north, and the dense medieval walled city of Shahjanabad to the south.
The proposal encourages mixed-use development and community-compatible real estate opportunities. It rationalizes various modal transports, with emphasis on pedestrian movement. The site’s inherent potentials are exploited to generate forms and textures true to their functional attributes, and to reflect the multiplicity of the traditional, the informal and the modern.
The various interests groups are seen as elements to be woven into a collage, forming a coherent whole yet retaining their original character. New elements will emerge out of the disused sites. The transitions between them are seamless and fluid.
The exercise has been treated as not merely catering to the needs of existing communities with their sectarian interests or to the real estate market with its colossal appetite for everything that comes its way, but rather as an opportunity to reconcile these interests and those of the city in a globalised context.