Open Spaces Development- As a Parameter for Sustainable, Smart City

Abstract

Our world today, under the influence of urbanization, may be described as a surrounding of steel and concrete built, with numerous positive and negative spaces, which also serves as the active and passive fabrics of the society. Open spaces, described deliberately as areas, not enclosed by walls or covered by roofs; are one such types of voids that are open to sky, and serve as an essential part of our urban society. With various other reported definitions, open spaces are naturally occurring areas in various scales and sizes, sometimes also termed as leftover spaces; or need to be artificially created, so as to positively benefit the society. Smart city concept is defined as the urban development vision, integrating the ICT and IoT technologies in a manner to mentor the assets of the city. Managing the resources of the city for optimum utilization by its appropriate management is the need of the hour. The paper discusses the interaction between the open and built spaces of the heritage city of Varanasi, where there remains a constant influx of tourists and pilgrims throughout the year. The religious events such as kumbhmelas, puja’s etc. are some of the reasons that crave the floating population to the banks of the holy Kashi, but along with this are created various temporary structures on playgrounds and other open spaces for shelters, which further create havoc in the city by mismanagement of traffic, inadequate supply of amenities and most prominently, dumping of garbage and creating pollution in the environment. Thus, an efficient framework with strategies for open spaces development is required for a healthy sustainable, smart city.