[sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for comments

[Carlos F. Pardo]

Hi,

I would say Mr Richmond had a bad day (or days!) in Chennai and he 
didn't think his description would be too strong and even hurting when 
he wrote it. I would also like to note that, if you would like to talk 
about other "dumps", you can look for pictures of Bogotá in the decade 
of 1980 and even 1990, especially the areas of San Victorino and El 
Cartucho (which still remains, though 5% of what it was), where you 
could not go because you would just end up robbed, violated, dead or all 
of the above. If you would have been there, maybe you would have also 
said that planning of that city was impossible (what ever happened 
there?). Though the point about institutions can be rescued, I think you 
didn't provide the best introduction to your proposal.

Pictures of San Victorino (before and after) are in some of SUTP's 
presentations and documents. Feel free to browse or to ask me for copies 
of them.

Best regards,

Carlos F. Pardo
Coordinador de Proyecto- Project Coordinator
GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC)
Cl 93A # 14-17 of 708
Bogotá D.C., Colombia
Tel/fax:  +57 (1) 236 2309  Mobile: +57 (3) 15 296 0662
carlos.pardo at sutp.org   www.sutp.org 



Pendakur wrote:
> I wish Dr. Richmond would list his favorite cities and tell us the
> attributes which make them great.  Also, before we characterize any city,
> with serious problems, as a "disgusting dump", I would suggest that Dr.
> Richmond look up the meaning of his attributes and then evaluate, from a
> planning perspective, what he would suggest to improve Chennai.
>
> His diatribe below is neither positive nor should it belong in a sober
> discussion among professionals.  SUSTRAN network is meant for professional
> discussion, promoting learning and exchange of ideas and knowledge.
>
>
> Cheers.
>
> Setty 
> Dr. V. Setty Pendakur
> Professor Emeritus, University of BC 
> Honorary Professor, China National Academy of Sciences; 
> Director, ITDP (NY) & Secretary, ABE90-TRB
>
> President, Pacific Policy and Planning Associates
> 702- 1099 Marinaside Cresecent, Vancouver, BC
> Canada V6Z 2Z3
> 604-263-3576; Fax: 604-263-6493
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca at list.jca.apc.org
> [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca at list.jca.apc.org
> ] On Behalf Of Jonathan E. D. Richmond
> Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 10:44 AM
> To: Eric Britton; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport
> Subject: [sustran] Re: Second Master Plan for Chennai. - request for
> comments
>
>
> I am in Chennai right now. I would be amazed if anything close to planning 
> were ever to be possible here.
>
> The city is a disgusting dump -- in fact, the whole place appears to be 
> one big public urinal as far as I can see! The city cannot even plan 
> public toilets: the few that exist are so sickening that people piss on 
> the outsides of them as well as in the street everywhere.
>
> Almost everything in this city is a mass of unplanned ugliness. I don't 
> know if there is a city bus system, as no information is available (as is 
> usual in Indian cities, nothing is done for the consumer). There is a 
> small rail system, served by filthy trains whose doors stay open at all 
> times. I got off one such train last night to be landed in a deserted 
> station with no information and filled with people sleeping rough in 
> the middle of piles of garbage: the smell was so bad that I could hardly 
> walk to the main road to have the opportunity of being ripped off by one 
> of the many rickshaw wallahs who refuse to use their meters.
>
> So, how does one plan in this environment?
>
> My answer is that there is no point in planning at all, because the plans 
> will not come to reality until institutions have changed. The existing 
> house must be put in order before anything new can be realized -- and that 
> is a very hard job amidst the mismanagement, corruption, and dirt that 
> constitutes Chennai today.
>
>                                 --Jonathan
>
> -----
> Jonathan Richmond
>
> 1 (617) 395-4360
>
> e-mail: richmond at alum.mit.edu
> http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/
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> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). 
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