Competition Winner (Contracted by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit)
Status: Completed (Dr MGR Wholesale Market Master Plan, Detailed Project Report for Pilot)
Client: Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) and GIZ India
Collaborators: Bala Nagendran, Ganesh Babu, Mona V, Preetika B, Rohit Lahoti and Yash Gogri
A replicable and scalable urban circularity model is proposed to leverage the flows of PEOPLE, WATER, FOOD, and ENERGY in response to the challenges and assets at macro and micro scales in Koundampalayam, a ward in Covai. The Circular framework comprises four loops, each with four guiding actions and 48 tool blocks that form the "Circularity Toolbox". Each tool block is mapped with the nature and scale of intervention and representative ecological, social, and economic values that cumulatively represent the circularity coefficient. Careful selection and sequential nurturing of the tool blocks are required for the real benefits of circularity to be enjoyed.
The Ward plan for the Koundampalayam site is a framework developed through the strategic assemblage of the tool blocks covering all four flows. The five subsites of the Koundampalayam ward have distinct spatial characters and urban forms with contextual assets that are leveraged to strategize circularity. The Framework Plan for the neighbourhood and the subsite design set the vision for Phase 03 with identified pilot catalysts - Park rejuvenation, Community retrofit, Market development, Neighborhood renewal, and Service & utility plug-ins covering each subsite respectively - that can accelerate change and enhance visibility. The connecting networks and system outputs are dynamic and adaptive in nature. This proposal complements the United Nations sustainable development goals and Coimbatore SUD-SC vision and aims to foster integrated ward planning in Koundampalayam by leveraging the existing assets. Living in uncertain times, the Covid-19 global pandemic has emphasized the need to co-create resilient, adaptive, and livable communities. The idea of engendering Microsystems as PEOPLE, WATER, FOOD, and ENERGY loops in the site can gradually scale up across all wards to embed Circular Covai as a collective sustainable vision for the future.
