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the stakeholders. The steps of renewing old urban residential structures taken by the
KMC are as follows -.
Step I – Formation of expert committee for examining and grading dilapidated
buildings on a severity scale to prepare plans for demolition/evacuation.
Step II – Finding out the stakeholders of those buildings including all the legal owners and the tenants and then sending them legal notice regarding the present status of the building and repair strategies.
Step III – The owners will be asked to repair and renovate the building along with
arranging temporary rehabilitation of the tenants. In doing do, the KMC will
grant the owner 100% FAR (Floor Area Ratio) that means after completion of the
renovation work, the owner will get permission for constructing 100% extra
space (Times of India, October 20, 2016).
Therefore, renovation of a two storied building will eventually make it four storied.
Then the tenants and the owners will all get their share of living space and the
extra space will be sold to other customers to get back the capital to the owner. If
none of the owners or the tenants is financially well-off (which is obvious in most
cases), the KMC will deliver this responsibility to any NGO who will in return
get that extra space for their economic gain (Times of India, May 28, 2018).
Step IV – Only special attention must be given to maintain the historical, architectural and aesthetic values of these old buildings in this city which bear excellent
portrait of the earlier Bengal building structure.
7.7 Conclusion
Like many old cities in India, Kolkata has also started renewing urban space by
gentrifying micro-urban locality by developing infrastructural, socio-cultural, economic and environmental aspects of urban life including local people in a holistic
way. Dilapidated buildings hinder this process which covers a major part of the
entire north and central Kolkata. It is not just the existence or need for demolition of
dilapidated buildings that has to be confronted; rather the main thrust of concern is
effective conservation of these structures while maintaining the well-being of the
residents. Along with repairing the buildings, new water pipes, sewer lines, electrical wiring, telephone cables, road development and societal upgradation are also
required along with maintaining the aesthetic values of these old buildings. The first
step would be proper identification of the dangerous dilapidated buildings and ranking them according to their degree of dilapidation and delineation of localities having high concentration of these buildings. People must be aware about the buildings
and localities and the possible threats they can pose in future. Proper research is
required on architectural, artistic, social, cultural and personal histories of each old
building to decide restructuring procedures accordingly. Many of these buildings
are excellently located which can be further used for effective real estate expansion
at the core city. But that can be done with the amalgamation of the existing residents,
7 Dwelling in Decay: Analysing the Spatio-Psychological Paradigm of Dilapidated…
the stakeholders. The steps of renewing old urban residential structures taken by the
KMC are as follows -.
Step I – Formation of expert committee for examining and grading dilapidated
buildings on a severity scale to prepare plans for demolition/evacuation.
Step II – Finding out the stakeholders of those buildings including all the legal owners and the tenants and then sending them legal notice regarding the present status of the building and repair strategies.
Step III – The owners will be asked to repair and renovate the building along with
arranging temporary rehabilitation of the tenants. In doing do, the KMC will
grant the owner 100% FAR (Floor Area Ratio) that means after completion of the
renovation work, the owner will get permission for constructing 100% extra
space (Times of India, October 20, 2016).
Therefore, renovation of a two storied building will eventually make it four storied.
Then the tenants and the owners will all get their share of living space and the
extra space will be sold to other customers to get back the capital to the owner. If
none of the owners or the tenants is financially well-off (which is obvious in most
cases), the KMC will deliver this responsibility to any NGO who will in return
get that extra space for their economic gain (Times of India, May 28, 2018).
Step IV – Only special attention must be given to maintain the historical, architectural and aesthetic values of these old buildings in this city which bear excellent
portrait of the earlier Bengal building structure.
7.7 Conclusion
Like many old cities in India, Kolkata has also started renewing urban space by
gentrifying micro-urban locality by developing infrastructural, socio-cultural, economic and environmental aspects of urban life including local people in a holistic
way. Dilapidated buildings hinder this process which covers a major part of the
entire north and central Kolkata. It is not just the existence or need for demolition of
dilapidated buildings that has to be confronted; rather the main thrust of concern is
effective conservation of these structures while maintaining the well-being of the
residents. Along with repairing the buildings, new water pipes, sewer lines, electrical wiring, telephone cables, road development and societal upgradation are also
required along with maintaining the aesthetic values of these old buildings. The first
step would be proper identification of the dangerous dilapidated buildings and ranking them according to their degree of dilapidation and delineation of localities having high concentration of these buildings. People must be aware about the buildings
and localities and the possible threats they can pose in future. Proper research is
required on architectural, artistic, social, cultural and personal histories of each old
building to decide restructuring procedures accordingly. Many of these buildings
are excellently located which can be further used for effective real estate expansion
at the core city. But that can be done with the amalgamation of the existing residents,
7 Dwelling in Decay: Analysing the Spatio-Psychological Paradigm of Dilapidated…