The pattern of Indian town

At giving tangible meaning to the concept of postmodern urban form

Understanding morphology , the physical complexities of various scales, from
individual buildings, plots, street-blocks, and the street patterns that make up
the structure of towns helps us to understand the ways in which towns have
grown and developed.

Madurai

 Some of our most significant urban problems of the last century

have arisen in cases where new urban and architectural forms
have been developed at speed and to a large scale, but with little
or no reference to existing urban form and context.
This includes the great swaths of modernist post-war urban
redevelopment, criticized by so many commentators, and the
tower block, many of which are now being demolished in the
name of urban regeneration.
Conversely, there are places now recognized as being of high
quality that also paid little heed to their predecessors: Georgian
Bath and Edinburgh, for example. Yet many of these were urban
extensions, rather than remodeling of existing built-up areas.

MORPHOLOGY??
Urban morphology comprises the structure of a city and
pattern or plan of its development. It is actually the
layout of a city both in its historical as well as
geographical contexts which gives it individuality.
Therefore, the internal pattern or structure of each city
is unique in its particular combination of details.

INDIA
Morphology of towns in India therefore has distinct phases like
ancient, medieval and modern layouts including sprawl with the rapid
increase in population after independence.

For a systematic study of the urban morphology of Indian cities, a historical perspective is most appropriate.

 In the Vedic period, the town plans and their

morphology represented 'rectangular layout' with its
sides oriented to the four quar-ters and intersected by
two avenues terminating in four gateways, the centre
being occupied by a temple, palace, tank or garden.The
cities like Ayodhya, Kanchipuram, Lumbini, Madurai,
Mathura, Rajgir, Varanasi, Vaishali, and Ujjain represent
such morphology of India cities.

 Morphology of the Medieval Towns: The medieval towns

adopted the grid-pattern of the ancient towns and
added the forts, city walls, Bazars (markets), mosques,
chowks, tanks or water-bodies. The cities of Agra,
Ahmadnagar, Ahmadabad, Aligarh, Aurangabad,
Bijapur, Bulandshahr, Chittorgarh, Delhi, etc. are the
representatives of medieval urban morphology.

 Modern Development and Changed Pattern of Urban

Morphology: The rapid industrialisation and urbanisation
of the second half of the twentieth century has changed
substantially the morphology of the India cities. The
process of migration from the rural to the urban areas
has made the old cities more crowded and rich people
from the old cities constructed their houses in the
peripheries.
Most of the Indian cities, even after about six decades of
planning, display a duality in their morphologythe
indigenous pattern as well as the alien pattern.

 At present in India, 'a city unit', including areas around

its nucleus, form the indigenous oriental type of
common patterns visible in its uncontrolled growth and
provide a mixed land use. They consist of numerous foci
of activity flanked by irregular streets, nearly from all
side by narrow tortuous, and at places, blind-curves,
and lanes. The indigenous city unit is deeply influenced
by phenomenon of caste and community, and living
quarters in separate localities or residential areas. The
central parts are mostly occupied by higher castes and
business communi-ties, while the lower and poorer
people are largely confined to the outskirts.