Kolkata : Experts at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, have launched a Rs. 25 crore project aimed at transforming and enhancing living conditions in cities through inter-disciplinary research and new technologies.
Christened ‘Future Of Cities’, the mammoth project, supported by the ministry of human resource development, involves 59 key researchers and 32 research modules.
Currently underway in cities like Kolkata, the venture has identified four actionable areas – planning and policy, design and development, habitation and maintenance and governance.
Through design innovations, data collection and research, experts are seeking solutions to issues like road safety, transport, buildings, waste management, and optimum use of space, among others. All this would be done in sync with the surrounding environment.
The famed Boi Para (Colony of Books) – College Street – is one of the four stretches identified in Kolkata.
Some of the thrust areas in the busy street in north Kolkata include creative economy, availability of walkable space and easing congestion through urban design regeneration.
“The project has been accepted by the urban development ministry and the ideas of two students who are working on this project will be implemented soon,” Joy Sen, professor in the department of architecture and regional planning, IIT-Kharagpur and the principal investigator of SandHI (Science and Heritage Initiative) which encompasses the urban design regeneration aspect, told IANS.
The other cities include Varanasi, said Sen during the launch of the SandHI journal here.