Bombay:
Bombay was one city that grew in importance during the nineteenth century. The East India Company developed their settlements, offices and factories mainly in and around port cities as it facilitated their commercial activities. Bombay was an important port city as half of India’s imports and exports passed through this city. Thus, Bombay grew in importance and became the commercial capital of colonial India. Opium trade with China had created an Indian capitalist class in this city.
Delhi:
Delhi was the political capital of India during the Mughal era. But as the Mughal Empire declined, the city of Delhi also lost its importance. As it was not a port city, the British took no interest in its development. Moreover, traders, artisans and officials of the Mughal era migrated to newly developed regional capital cities like Lucknow, Hyderabad, Seringapatam, etc. in search of employment and patronization.
Modern town planning began in the colonial cities. The layout of the entire urban space was prepared and urban land use was regulated. Planning was usually done by a vision of what the city should look like, how it would be developed and the way in which spaces would be organised and ordered. Exercise of state power over urban lives and urban space was clearly visible in the development of cities.
After the defeat of Sirajudaula in the battle of Plassey, defence considerations played an important part in town planning. The English fortified their settlements to remain safe from attacks. The Indians, who had commercial dealings with the British, had their settlements outside the fortified areas.
Health was another consideration in town planning. After the outbreak of epidemics like cholera and plague, densely populated areas were seen as unhygienic as they stopped sunlight and air circulation. The huts of the poor population became the target of demolition to clear the densely populated areas. Open spaces like parks were created for hygiene.
By the late nineteenth century, official intervention in the city became more stringent. Town planning was no more a task to be shared by inhabitants and the government. Instead, the government took over all the initiatives for town planning including funding. This opportunity was used to clear more huts and develop the British portions of the town at the expense of other areas.
The existing racial divide of the “White Town” and “Black Town” was reinforced by the new divide of “healthy” and “unhealthy”. With the growth of their empire, the British became increasingly inclined to make cities like Calcutta, Bombay and Madras into impressive imperial capitals. The grandeur of the cities had to reflect the authority of imperial power.
Town planning had to represent everything that the British claimed to stand for rational ordering, meticulous execution, and Western aesthetic ideals. Cities had to be cleaned and ordered, planned and beautified.
Public buildings in colonial cities followed three main architectural styles –
Neo-Classical or New Classical:
Neo-Gothic:
Hybrid:
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