Is this a part of the unwritten agenda by the Union Government to urbanise
Goa rapidly and reduce it to 3 City Corporations?
Destination Goa is increasingly becoming popular among research students so
that it can be mixed with a holiday and fun.
Outcomes of these studies a forgone conclusion. Is Mapusa a village for it
to be considered to be similar to Panjim? Closely observe who is the
reporter and researcher.
Goa:
Interspersing rural and urban
The debate over Goa over its urban future, the fight to preserve its
biodiversity and for inclusive development will be the subject of a year
long by Mejan Arc of the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm.
SHRUTI KHAIRNAR [email protected] PUNE: Goa has always been an
idyllic weekend getaway for the middle classes of Mumbai and Pune but few
know or want to acknowledge that the state is in the midst of an intense
debate concerning its urban future. However Goa's fight to preserve its
biodiversity and for inclusive development like rejecting SEZs can be an
example for other cities and states in the country.
This issue has been selected as a subject of a year long study by Mejan Arc
which is a forum of The Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm that investigates
issues relevant to the general public. Arc students will be assisted by the
Mumbai based Institute of Urbanology that organizes participatory workshops,
designs adaptable structures and develops web tools for urban communities
and practitioners.
Founding partner, Institute of Urbanology, Rahul Srivastava said, "There has
been no strong ideology of urbanism in Goa as the life in towns associated
with an economic function is not very different from the surroundihg
villages;for example Mapusa is a market place and Panjim is the
administrative center. Hence we will explore Goa as an example of an urban
system where different economies can exist together." Can Goa show the way
for the rest of the country in a transformation from a rural to an urban
economy, thereby offering a convincing urban alternative to the mega-cities
and can Goa's biological and cultural diversity contribute to a resilient
urban complex are the questions that the study aims to find answers to.
Srivastava's argument of rural and urban over-lap is interesting. "India,
China and Africa have an overwhelming rural population. What we are saying
is that the idea of villages is much more complicated while government
policies make distinct divisions between the urban and rural. There is a
simplistic understanding of villages that needs to change."
With the study of Goa the Institute of Urbanology is moving away from the
metropolis and challenging the notion of urbanism.
"We will be opening an office in Goa soon. We had a workshop with Mejan Arc
last year and are in a process of conceptual shaping of the programme,
arguments and getting together activists and other groups," said Srivastava.
(GT, 4th july 2010)
