Review—urban planning from last week

1. Review—urban planning from last week

2. Chandigarh Assembly Building

3. Chandigarh, rock garden

4. The Vision, some Issues • Notion of a “public” space and “green” space run into problems of social access • Class issues of “leisure time” and transport • Some designs not suited to the ecology of the regions in which they are placed • Problems with cooling systems/resource use • Notions of cultural comfort zones • In green spaces, issues of irrigation, imported species and daily care • Disregard for the “low-tech” or geographically adapted, but devalued forms of building

5. Green Revolution and Social Change Indian and Pakistani Punjab, c.1960s-90s

6. Green Revolution in S. Asia • India and Pakistan both welcomed Green-Revolution technology soon after Independence • Attempt to reach food security at a time of rapid population growth and food scarcity following independence • Major site for each country was the former province of Punjab-due to its historical profile • Already had been a site for such governmental agricultural experiments such as the canal colonies • Large presence of “peasant” castes and tribes believed to be entrepreneurial • Consistent supply of irrigation water and good roads

7. Northern Pakistan

8. Northern India

9. Inputs necessary for G-R crops • Consistent availability of irrigation • Nitrogen-heavy chemical fertilizers • Soil with good drainage • High-yielding varieties of dwarf wheat (from Mexico) and rice (Philippines) • Use of machines such as tractors, threshers, electric pumps • Bigger farms

10. Punjab v. other areas as sites of G-R • In Pakistan, Punjab is the only viable choice due to issues of irrigation/water • In India, Punjab is also considered ideal, Bhakra Nangal dam project underway • Uttar Pradesh is also seen as viable area • Problems of small-size holdings • Gujrat emerges as a possible third choice by the 1970s • Operation “Flood” or the “white revolution”

11. Government local investment • Other than irrigation projects to ensure the needed water supplies, India and Pakistan also invest in the following: • New ag. Universities with programs in genetics, crop development • Gov. lending schemes to provide money for mechanization, seeds, fertilizers • In India renewed interest in Co-operative societies to provide micro-finance and harvest sale, distributions • Better roads and storage facilities

12. Initial Success • At first the pay-off from both projects appeared to be substantial • Food grain yields increase by some 48% • India and Pakistan become food self-sufficient and even make modest exports by late 1980s • Rural and urban incomes in G-R areas climb • Per capita caloric intake increases by 20% 1980s-2000s • By 1990s yields begin to decrease from averages of 2.7 % to 2% • Issues of land quality and fluctuating water supplies • Prices of agricultural goods and inputs become unaffordable for many farmers • By early 2000s economists and other scholars begin to question the mixed results of G-R changes

13. Roots of Problems in Indian Agriculture • Small farm size, population pressure on land • 50% of farms less than 3 acres (avg. 5 acres) • 1/3 of peasants are landless laborers • 3/5 of crops are food grains, farmers retain 60-70% for their own use • Water table dropping to dangerous levels due to over-tapping of aquifers past re-chargeable levels • Rising level of agrarian debts drives out smaller farmers, w/o inputs productivity declines • Competition from subsidized industrialized farmers in US,Europe, Latin America

14. In Pakistan, similar problems • Although the Pakistani gov. under Gen. Ayub, Zulficar Bhutto, and Gen. Musharaf has attempted to break down large farms, larger estates have survived and smaller farms continue to disappear • Problems with drought and water supplies • Worsening problems with soil alkalization • Rural unemployment and underemployment remain large concerns

15. Water logged soil (l), salinization (r)

16. Political structures and G-R • In both areas, local governments have committed to subsidizing electricity and water • Local parties seek agrarian votes in India, good relationships with rural magnates in Pakistan • New wealth in both countries associated with new political formations and sometimes with political instability • Punjab militancy of 1980s-90s (India); ethnic tensions in Pakistan—Punjab v. Sind • Prosperity for the mid-to-top level of farmers obscures worsening debt and income situation of majority of poorer farmers • Remains unclear if gains will be sustainable

17. Issues to Consider for the future: • Growing population continues to be an important concern in both countries—land is already under heavy population pressure • Water scarcity in both countries growing— • aging canals/dams have less capacity due to silt build up • S. Indian rivers have less flow • Growing drought concerns in Pakistan • Ground water scarcity growing in both countries • Even if food production can be sustained, affordability and access lead to food insecurity for poor • Rising fuel costs a concern even for wealthy farmers