Reviving the Urban Core: Ludhiana City, Punjab, India

The urban cores are considered as the most crucial clusters of the contemporary urban cities as they are the foremost economic growth poles that cater to the needs of the city population. These clusters are facing urban development issues like congestion, longer travel distances and time, pollution, etc., hence, transforming into a non-livable environment. Smart development has been identified as a world-wide solution to the existing urban development issues which focuses on promoting a sustainable and livable environment with the integration of ICT; acts as an implementation tool. Ludhiana; regarded as the Manchester of India, is the most industrialized city of the northern India. The city has a strong economic base due to the presence of commercial hub and small and large manufacturing industries which have acted as a catalyst for rapid urbanization. The city has witnessed immense population growth over the last 5 decades which has led to issues such as pollution, environment degradation,, emergence of slums and failure of physical and social infrastructure; thus failing to be a livable city. The paper intends to identify the urban development issues in Ludhiana city core and provide appropriate strategies based on the Smart Development principles.

garments and leather items. Also, over the years the city has witnessed growth of motor parts industries which are exported across the country.
The above phenomenon on one hand has facilitated the economic growth but on the other hand has a lot of negative implications on the city. The city is witnessing a high rate of urban sprawl due to the polluted environment caused by the small and heavy industries located within the city; all the waste generated from these industries are disposed into the Buddha River. Only about 1.32% of the city area is utilized for recreational purpose which is far below the Indian city standards for open areas. Also, over the years, there has been an immense growth of slums all around the city (around 209 slums with 15% of the total population). The city also faces issues related to physical infrastructure in terms of water supply (degraded quality), sewerage (coverage and disposal management), drainage (coverage) and solid waste management.
The majorly affected regions within the city as per the various government and private stakeholders are Ludhiana City Core, Jawahar Nagar, Sarabha Nagar, Ghumar Mandi, Janta Nagar and Focal Point (Industrial Area). Though these locations have similar density development pattern which is towards the higher side as compared to other parts but each has its own unique character associated with them like Ludhiana City Core is dominated by mix land-use, Jawahar Nagar witnesses urban issues due to the presence of ISBT (Inter State Bus Terminal), Janta Nagar has a predominant industrial and residential land-use etc. For this particular paper Ludhiana Core has been chosen as the study area on the basis of secondary data and city pilot study where it was evident that the region experiences major share of the urban development issues.

Figure 2. Types and Numbers of Samples for the Primary Surveys in the Study Area
Also, the samples were chosen on the bases of land-use; evidently as the core is dominated by mixed-use character, maximum samples were taken from the same category, followed by commercial and then residential.

Schedules
Specific schedules were prepared for the primary survey in order to understand the urban development issues from the local population's perspective; as to promote public participation in the planning process. To achieve the above mentioned goal, 2 schedules were prepared with different concepts.
The first schedule aimed at collecting data related to the individual sample that consisted Locational

Introduction
The oldest settlement of the metropolitan city Ludhiana that originated at the banks of Budha River (now, Budha Nala) expanded to the west and south direction due to occurrence of natural barriers like river on the north and west and the natural slope towards east. As the city was spatially growing towards the west direction, the foundation of the Ludhiana Railway Junction was laid on the immediate side, hindering the further growth of the city towards that direction. Further, establishment of the railway junction laid the foundation of a new planned residential colony for the railway staff, known as industrial activities had facilitated a live-work culture; people living in surrounding neighborhoods like Gandhi Nagar, Madhopuri, Prem Nagar, Harbanspura, etc., generally seeked employment in the commercial or manufacturing activities in the core.

Major Nodes and Sectors
The study area consists of various nodes and sectors that have emerged over the time. Various sectors like Chaura Bazaar, Dal Bazaar and Karimpura are the commercial dominated sectors whereas G.T.
Colony and Naya Mohala are residential denominated sectors. Commercial activities taking place in these sectors mainly consists of clothing retail shops, restaurants, offices, hotels, guestrooms, etc.
Chaura Bazaar is famous for hosiery retail shops, eatery joints and religious and institutional nodes.
Though Dal Bazaar is famous for similar activities but has a specific market for jewelry and cosmetics.
Karimpura has seen growth of hotels and guestrooms with mechanic shops along all the major roads. In some of these sectors major identified nodes are Ludhiana Railway Junction (Utility), MCL Office (Municipal Corporation of Ludhiana) (Utility) and Government Senior Secondary School (Institutional) in Chaura Bazaar and Raikhy Cinema (Commercial) in Karimpura. Government School (Institutional) in Chaura Bazaar constitutes a considerable amount of open and built land area in the respective zone.

Administrative Division
The area identified for the study lies between the following roads; G.T. Road (Clock Tower Road) on the west, Field Ganj on the south, Wool Market on the east and Chaura Bazaar on the north side. The study area is about 67 hectares with population over 14,000 (2011). The population density is about 210 person per hectare. Administratively, the zone lies in the wards, i.e., 35 (48.9% area of total ward), 36 (66.9% area of total ward) and 37 (16.4% area of total ward).

Activity Pattern
As no such specific land-use map has been prepared for the identified study area by the urban local authorities (the zone has been declared as mixed commercial land-use), land-use activity mapping was conducted. The intention was to locate the different typology of activities performed in the study area that influence the urban development pattern. The exercise included demarcation of land-use activity for each plot in the sectors on the understanding of reconnaissance survey. The study area is dominated by mixed land-use character where commercial, institutional and small scale industries are part of the residential land-use. The economic growth of the population is due to this transition from residential to mixed-use character. It was evident from the survey that all the major road edges are dominated by commercial activities, i.e., retail shops, restaurants, hotels, etc.
The Ludhiana Junction on the west direction has accelerated the development of hotels and restaurants on the Clock Tower Road and Karimpura Road; being adjacent to the junction. Even a commercial mall has been constructed on the same road for leisure activities for the visiting and local population. A general trend was identified for the city core, where all the edges of the sectors are either of mixed character or of commercial use, whereas the inner part of the sectors are residential.   About 10 major roads serve in regulating the traffic. As discussed the layout of the road network is based on north-south and west-east axis; north to south axis are Clock Tower Road, Lakkar Road, Sarafan Bazaar Road, Lalu Mal Street, Wool Market Road and Shahpura Road; and the east to west axis are Chaura Bazaar Road, Gokal Road, Brown Road and Field Ganj Road.

Traffic and Transportation
Being the economic hub to the city and in vicinity to Ludhiana Railway Junction has resulted in heavy traffic movement in and around the study area. The study area witnesses all types of transport modes from auto-rickshaws to cargo trucks. The heavy amount of vehicular traffic hinders the pedestrian movement and also due to lack of adequate road infrastructure, the condition is worsening.
In order to understand the existing traffic movement around the city core, the roads were divided in various categories, i.e., Public Bus Routes and Mixed Traffic, Mixed Traffic, Pedestrian dominated Mixed Traffic and Residence approaching roads; mixed traffic has been categorized as all private vehicles ranging from cycles to cargo vehicles. above problem. IPT is the mode choice of the tourists approaching the study area, whereas public transport is chosen by the working population traveling from other parts of the city.  Parking is a major issue prevailing in the study area. With major share of parking on the streets, roads are insufficient to handle the present traffic demand. Currently, the off-street parking demand is catered by 3 parking spots; multi-level parking near LMC (it is in deteriorating condition due to low maintenance), paid informal parking area at the Chaura Bazaar and on the Gokal Road. Though, some private plots have been converted into parking areas and charge on hourly basis, but are inadequate to handle the overall demand.

Road Sections vs Land Use vs Plot Size
Land-use and road widths are witnessed to be in direct relation to each other. The change in land-use is evident from the road width as more of commercial character is observed along the roads having RoW of 15-18 m; the commercial activities are retail shops, restaurants, hotels, guest houses, shopping complexes, etc. The roads having RoW of 9-12 m have a combination of commercial and mixed use land-use. And as the road width decreases, the transition in land-use is observed from mixed use to purely residential due to lack of accessibility. The roads with RoW 1-3 m have high density residential development.

Figure 15. Road Sections with Relation to Land-Use and Plot Sizes within the Study Area
Entire core has organic development with high intensity of activities and heavily built up areas.
Buildings are constructed on plots ranging from 30 to 300 sqm and ground coverage is homogeneous (close to 100%). They are constructed adjacent to each other, sharing walls and their heights vary from

Physical Infrastructure
The city core faces issues related to degrading physical infrastructure; though the demand and supply gap is of satisfactory nature. The operations and maintenance are under the supervision of MCL which includes water supply, sewerage disposal, storm water drainage and solid waste management.
Water Supply: The demand is fulfilled by the MCL by various tube wells and overhead tanks.
Ground is the source of water supply. Due to degrading ground water quality (mixture of industrial waste that seep down the aquifer), there has been dissatisfaction among the residents. Also, there is a gap in demand and supply in some of the sectors.
Sewerage: The waste is directed towards the STP's located along the stretch of Budha Nala, through underground pipes constructed and maintained by MCL. All the pipes have been laid beneath the road and not on footpaths; also manholes are generally on the carriage way.
Due to clogged sewerage lines, water gets collected on the roads Drainage: No drainage network has been laid out till date, thus affecting the core at peak monsoons. The natural drainage slope is towards Budha Nala. Also, no water harvesting techniques has been adopted by the residents to conserve water and recharge the ground water levels.
Solid Waste: All the solid waste generated within the study area is collected and disposed of by MCL. Composition is dominated by waste based on textile and packaging. No segregation is done at the source level; conducted at disposal nodes.

Figure 17. Physical Infrastructure Services within the Study Area
To understand the people's perception of the physical infrastructure scenario within the study area, survey was conducted through schedules where specific issues were identified. About 94% of the sample size has adequate supply of water, but the issues lies in the non-satisfaction of the residents towards the quality of water. Sewerage network is better off in terms of coverage and quality. Absence of storm drainage network promotes unhealthy living environment. Solid waste though collected and disposed by MCL, does not get segregated at the source.

Social Infrastructure
The study area has adequate facilities related to social infrastructure, though there are objections towards the quality. Degrading infrastructure is the major reason for the above issue; also the core lacks adequate open spaces for the residing population. The social infrastructure has been divided into Education, Healthcare, Utilities and Services and Religious Nodes. Another dimension to the study is walkability to these facilities with a distance of of 600 m.

Educational Facilities:
The city core consists of 10 schools and 4 colleges providing education from primary to college level. 90% of the study area is within the walkable distance of these facilities. and 3 hospitals and 70% of the study area is within the walkable distance of these facilities.

Road Based Identification of Issues
Based on reconnaissance and inventory surveys, urban development issues were identified along the major roads in the study area. This exercise provided an in-depth understanding of the issues. The roads taken up for the survey were Clock Tower Road (G.T. Road), Chaura Bazaar Road, Wool Market Road, Books Market Road, Lakkar Bazaar Road, Sarafan Bazaar Road, Brown Road and Gokal Road.

Clock Tower Road
The main access road to the city core which bifurcates the core and the Ludhiana Railway Junction.
The road is divided into 2 levels; the elevated road is the Ambala-Jalandhar Road (G.T. Road) that carries the through traffic of the city and the lower one is the Clock Tower Road which provides accessibility to the study area and the railway junction. The establishment of the railway junction led to the rapid development of immediate areas, thus, presently, the road is dominated by high density commercial activities like retail shops, hotels, restaurants, etc., attracting both visitors and people around the city. The issues identified as per people's perception are mostly related to traffic congestion and lack of street services and utilities.

Chaura Bazaar Road
One of the major east-west axis within the study area which acts as the backbone for the economic development of the region. The street witnesses mixed traffic, dominated by two-wheelers and pedestrians, creating traffic congestion at various nodes. The predominant land use is residential use with formal and informal commercial activities; ranging from textile, jewelry shops to restaurants and informal eateries. The major issues identified as per people's perception are mainly related to congestion, non-availability of parking spaces, not pedestrian friendly and lack of public amenities like toilets, information kiosks, etc.

Wool Market Road
Another major north-south axis within the study area which boosts the economic development of the region which is famous for woolen clothing retail shops. Narrow streets with on-street parking (two-wheelers) discourages pedestrian movement along the road. Predominant land use is commercial within the residential use; textile retail outlets dominate the commercial activities. The major issues identified are congestion, unhealthy street environment and lack of street services and utilities like footpaths, street lights, etc.

Books Market Road
Road within the study area which is famous for books and stationery wholesale shops; often visited by students forming the primary footfall of the road, but is incapable to handle the present traffic demand.
The predominant land use is formal and informal commercial activities within residential use. The deteriorating infrastructure services and utilities does not promote favorable environment in terms of safety. The major issue is of the packaging material and waste coming from these commercial activities which are not properly disposed off and thrown on the street creating an unhealthy environment.

Lakkar Bazaar Road
It is the north-south axis road which serves the major traffic flow within the study area. Its incapacity to handle present demand of activities is primarily due to encroachments, on-street parking, commercial shop spill overs, etc. The predominant land use is commercial within residential use; hardware and sewing machine shops dominate the commercial activities. The road has best in class road to building height ratio; providing an example of appropriate density development. The major issues identified are congestion, lack of public amenities, non-availability of parking and unhealthy street environment.

Sarafan Bazaar Road
Another, north-south axis road that is dominated by pedestrians and two-wheelers traffic. The road is famous for woolen clothing retail shops witnessing heavy traffic, due to on-street parking, the street is congested in nature and is not able to handle the current traffic demand. The waste coming out from the commercial activities, i.e., packaging material is not disposed of and is thrown on to the streets. This

Brown Road
East-west axis of the road hierarchy which carries through traffic from the Clock Tower Road towards the western located residential sectors in the study area. The road has a mixed character; from retail shops to hotels. The street towards the Clock Tower has more retail shops and as it passes through Karimpura, the transition is towards hotels and workshops. The plot sizes are much larger and planned as compared to Chaura and Dal Bazaar. Even the road width facilitates the traffic movement, but due to the informal commercial activities and on-street parking, there are huge amount of encroachments along the road.

Gokal Road
One of the gateways to the study area (other than Chaura Bazaar Road) which is also known as Raikhy Cinema Road due to existence of a very old cinema house. Recently a mall has been constructed on the opposite side of the road which attracts high footfall. The road is dominated by commercial activities within the residential units. The road also has the only public park which is situated at the junction of Gokal Road and Sarafan Bazaar Road.

Local Perception of Smart Development
The objective was to get an idea about smart development and its strategies in the city core through the perception of the local and visiting population. This also helped in understanding the priority of urban development issues that needs to be catered based on the response.

Figure 41. Understanding of Smart Development Based on People's Perception
Secondly, as for sustainability, 97% and 73% of the respondents consider environment and equity, as the two important dimensions towards achieving sustainability. Economy aspect has not been considered essential due to competiveness in businesses among the people.

Results and Discussion
Based on the above analysis, it is evident that urbanization had a positive impact on the study area as there has been an immense growth in economic profile; but with this there has been negative impacts too. Areas like Chaura Bazaar, Dal Bazaar, etc., have seen high density development over the years due to transition from residential to commercial. Due to rise in population, the infrastructure services and utilities are inadequate and as no measures has been taken for the up-gradation and maintenance, these facilities have deteriorated over the time. Currently, these two sectors have the maximum footfall for the commercial activities. But failure towards the physical infrastructure the scenario is not livable for the residing population. The later developments towards the south are more planned as compared to the above sectors. The variation can be measured through the road widths, plot sizes, density, etc. These prevailing conditions will worsen over the years, suggesting urgency towards taking appropriate measures towards urban development. Based on the above study and analysis the major findings identified are briefly described below.

Economic Growth Pole
The commercial streets of the core attract a huge footfall all over the year, as they are famous for their wholesale business of hosiery, garments, jewelry, restaurants etc. From the past, the study area has been famous for its small scale industries and further, the establishment of the railway junction accelerated the economic development of the zone. The core attracts buyers, business people, etc., from all over the state for its cheap rates of goods and services. Hence, the core can be regarded as the first and stil the major contributing economic growth pole to the Ludhiana City.

Medium to High Density Development
The current density development pattern is very typical; Chaura and Dal Bazaar have the highest density development with buildings reaching floors up to 6 due to its mixed land-use pattern, whereas the later developed sectors like Naya Mohalla and Karimpura are too of mixed use character but the density is towards lower side, as plot sizes, road, etc., are planned. The development along all the major roads is either of commercial or mixed-use character with high density; floors reaching to 5.

Traffic Congestion
The road network within the study area has developed organically resulting in being narrow but were able to serve the traffic demand; but with urbanization there has been a significant growth in the vehicular traffic which has added further load on the existing road infrastructure. The core is witnessed by almost all type of modes of transport ranging from cycle rickshaws to cars, though are dominated by two-wheelers. The commercial streets are the source for traffic congestion as the narrow streets are not capable to handle the present traffic. The informal commercial activities and on-street parking are the two major factors for the congestions along all the major roads. The multi-story parking at MCL is not able to fulfill the parking demand because of its deteriorating condition. Also, the people do not prefer to use this facility as there is almost no accessibility options at nominal rates to their respective homes.

Lack of Open Spaces
Due to unplanned and haphazard growth of residential units in the study area has resulted in shortage of opens spaces for the residing population; over the years the scenario has been the same. and tube well are constructed at the site. This clearly indicates that the core lack opens spaces and the existing streets are utilized for recreational activities.

Lack of Sense of Space
There is an unsaid confusion among the people to remember the places they visit in the study area. Like, Chaura and Dal Bazaar are known for their commercial activities but there is no distinct character in terms of sense of space. None of the streets have its own unique character; though each is known for their goods and services they provide. Even it has been noticed that places where there is maximum footfall like the commercial nodes, no public amenities have been provided for the convenience of the visitors. Few locations were identified were the services were not needed; a public paid toilet is located at the end of the street whereas open toilets are provided in the main commercial sectors. Hence, it is evident the sectors within the study area have no unique identity and there is a major lack of sense of place.

Deteriorating Condition of Physical Infrastructure Services
Over the years as the population grew, the load on the infrastructure services kept on increasing. As no proper measures were taken, the present infrastructure is inadequate for the residing population. The water supply has not been an issue but the source has been. The study area receives it water supply from various water extracting units located within and around the core. The quality of water has been degrading over the years due to ground water pollution. The study area lacks a storm water drainage system and during monsoons the study area is generally flooded. Sewerage from the study area is disposed into the Budha Nala. The network has not been planned as all the manholes are on the carriage way and further hinders the vehicular movement. Solid waste management is best in class, as daily all the waste generated is collected, segregated and disposed to the nearest treatment plants; but all this work is carried out by the MCL staff and no public participation is involved. Also, street furniture like light posts, electricity poles, benches, etc., along all the major roads are either absent or are of degraded quality and needs to be retrofitted.

Strategies Identified by the Local Population
A survey was conducted to understand what people perceive of the existing urban development issues in the study area and as per them which require urgent rectification. It was observed that decongestion was the prime focus towards achieving a livable environment in the study area. On-street parking was identified as the second most important issue that needs improvement. Also, as most of the sectors are of mixed used character, people tend to walk to avoid traffic congestion but further due to lack of pedestrian infrastructure, the same is also an inconvenient transit mode choice.
Further, unhygienic environment within the study area was considered a major issue for which proper measures need to be introduced. The lack of public amenities and sense of place were the other issues identified by the local population surveyed.

Recommendations
Based upon the identified issues, the recommendations that can be adopted to tackle the existing urban development issues are presented in this section. Use of ICT has been integrated in order to achieve similar approach as the smart development. Strategies that have been developed are context specific, and are applicable only in the applied specific zone. 5 major identified dimensions that involves Scarcity Method: this method can be adopted along all the major roads like Clock Tower Road and Lakkar Bazaar Road where high density commercial development can be promoted whereas low to medium density to be promoted in the rest of the core.

Mobility Plan
As it is evident that the study area is facing major traffic congestion along all the major roads and nodes.
In order to facilitate smooth flow of traffic, a mobility plan needs to be implemented to achieve smooth and safe movement of various modal shares. The mobility plan prepared for this scenario includes, i.e., Traffic route management, parking, pedestrianization and redevelopment of street sections.

Traffic Route Management:
On the basis of the survey conducted, the traffic route management plan has been prepared. The roads are divided into a hierarchy that consists three type of modal shares; Public Transit Routes (priority towards public transit modes), Mixed Traffic (priority to all transit modes) and Pedestrianization. The basic concept adopted is to divert the through traffic with an outer ring and further to improve the pedestrian experience.

Cultural Street Development
One of the major interventions is the cultural development of the streets, i.e., Chaura Bazaar, Wool Market and Sarafan Bazaar Road. These streets witness the maximum footfall of population all over the year due to the goods and services provided by these streets. Each street has a different perception among the user; this difference in perception needs to be generalized and unique identities need to be provided to each street. Also, sense of place is an important dimension to this street development initiative. Sense of place is generally achieved by providing the required services and utilities based on the road typology. For example commercial streets are generally crowded with people that require basic amenities like public toilets, dustbins, etc.; these facilities need to exist adjacent to the related function.
Further, streets can be retrofitted by developing similar faç ades with standard billboards sizes and wall color templates, therefore, providing a unique character to the roads.
Another dimension to this cultural dimension can be renovating the old dying structures. These residential units are now either left vacant or are under mixed-use development. The structures form an important part to the core's old heritage and can attract footfall, if converted into public-semipublic functions such as museums, exhibition centers, etc. This would not only generate revenue for the administration but will also generate employment.
Further, heritage walks can be organized regularly linking all the retrofitted heritage structures, old commercial nodes and religious nodes within the sectors through dedicated routes. This would generate awareness among the residents and the tourists regarding the heritage importance of the study area and further will be a revenue generating source for the urban local bodies.

Physical Infrastructure Services
The quality of physical infrastructure is in deteriorating condition and needs to retrofitted. Each of the infrastructure services have been described briefly below: Water Supply: In the city core, quantity is the not issue, quality is. Strategies need to be adopted by the governing authorities to supply potable quality of water. Also, rain water harvesting techniques to be adopted at local and sectoral level in order to conserve water and recharge the ground source. Strategies can be formulated on the basis of plot sizes and water tanks to be added by the population to store the runoff water for which concessions can be provided by the local authorities.

Sewerage:
No major issue has been identified other than existing degraded infrastructure. With redevelopment of the roads, manholes can be shifted to the footpaths with a common underground duct system.

Drainage:
The study area lacks a drainage system and urgently needs to tackle the issue of water clogging in the months of monsoons. Again, drainage network can be integrated under the footpaths in a common underground duct system. segregation of waste by residents at the generation source to minimize the wok and maximize the efficiency of the whole system. For this specific public awareness programs can be conducted by the local authorities.

Electricity:
No issue related to electricity supplied by the MCL has been identified. But, the infrastructure is of degraded quality and is unsafe for the residing and visiting population. The electricity lines can be shifted underground along the roads having RoW less than 18 m whereas on rest of the roads, the lines can be retrofitted.

Role of ICT (Information and Communication Technology)
ICT can be an integral tool to the proposed urban development strategies. It can be integrated in various dimensions such as Public Service & Governance, Urban Administration, Urban Infrastructure, Environment and Energy, and Public Health and Safety. For this particular case the dimensions that has been considered are Mobility and Public Utilities. The strategies are as follows: Integrated Operational Control Center: A centralized operational center to control and manage the traffic within the study area can be introduced. It will store all the data at a single location easing the use for urban authorities for efficient management of traffic.
Junction Electronic Eyes: A surveillance system that would monitor the traffic scenario at major traffic junctions. This system would capture real time data and send it to the operational center, from where adequate measures would be taken. Further, the system can aid in improving the safety within the study area.
Parking Guidance System: This system would provide real time information on parking space availability at the various identified parking lots. This aids in avoiding long waiting periods at single parking location and would distribute the traffic among the other lots.

Activity Identification Application:
A software application can be developed that marks all the activities within the study area related to commercial, hospitals and various social infrastructure services in order to provide easy accessibility to the desired activity with the shortest approach.
Also, the application will aid the population to identify the nearest parking spots with their respective destinations. The application would also showcase the availability of parking spaces within the core to divert the incoming traffic to other nodes to avoid traffic congestion. This application will be a holistic approach for accessibility within the core for the visiting population.