A Laboratory of Sustainability

Auroville

"It is meant to be a universal town

where men and women of all countries

are able to live in peace and progressive harmony,

above all creeds, politics and nationalities."

(auroville.org)

(Image 1: Auroville Vision model)

Located near Pondicherry in south India, Auroville is an experimental township with global mix of residents. Based on Sri Aurobindo's vision of a perfect society with higher consciousness; his spiritual collaborator, Mirra Richard, founded Auroville in 1968 with a purpose to create a sustainable city based on spiritual understanding.

Design Overview: With maximum of 45% of allowed built environment the township itself is about 1.25 km in radius. A green belt of 1.25 km width with organic farms, dairies, orchards and forests, surrounds the settlement.

Designed by Roger Anger, various zones within the township were separated in the master plan. However, the master plan was never frozen in order to allow flexibility for experimentation. Though the researchers have begun living close to their work places, zoning predominantly remains as seen in the Image 2.

(Image 2: Conceptual zoning at Auroville)

The land belongs to no government. As a result no formal government can legally facilitate amenities and infrastructure in side Auroville. The community members are discouraged from participating politically so as to retain Auroville's autonomous status. It is only the sustainable practices and contribution of knowledge and labor from people from various regions in the world have helped Auroville sustain itself.

Researchers and the beneficiary

From the conceptual stage till date the settlement has been open to everyone who is inclined to learn or contribute towards a greater good of life on earth. Researchers from over 32 countries in the world have contributed in various researches at Auroville. Various colleges and universities from all over India are invited to participate in the educational workshops and research programs at Auroville. In 2003 I had an opportunity to visit this township as a student of architecture and environmental studies. Like most students from urban India, I was awed by the environmental practices and their positive effects in this region.

Auroville has had a big impact on neighboring cities. The green industries in Auroville (furniture making, handmade paper and articles production ) offer employment opportunities, and various levels of schools offer education to the neighboring villages. Auroville has helped neighboring villages set up small enterprises and provided a link to market their finished product.

Successful experiments:

(Image3: Early Auroville Image) (Image 4: Auroville in 2008)

As a result of extreme weather conditions, population growth and unsustainable farming practices; the region had lost its rain forest and faced drought conditions in 1960s. Early Auroville residents observed two extremes in availability of water: flooding and scarcity. As an immediate solution earth bunds and dams were built to capture and percolate rain water into the ground. Though, Earthen dykes, built forming stepped land on existing sloped surfaces, proved to be more successful way of capturing and retaining water. The region suffered from sand storms until the dykes and damns helped recharge ground water table and increase humidity in the atmosphere.

Geographic information system helped researchers locate existing aquifers and device a method to tackle saline infusion. Thousands of trees were planted to create a canopy that supported the growth of secondary trees. With the help of botanical surveys, the residents of Auroville collected seeds and propagated plant species, creating a green reserve for migratory birds and a reserve of healthy gene pool for future development (Thompson-Smeddle, 2007). Research and experiments in forests, ecology and water harvesting continue till date.

Government of India founded the Auroville Earth Institute in 1989. This institute investigated sustainable building materials and architectural forms. A variety of sustainable architectural features can be seen at every building in Auroville.The building are designed to provide natural light and ventilation in each room of the building. Most buildings have solar panels for lighting after dark. One can observe interesting experiments in architectural forms using combinations of stabilized compressed earthen blocks and concrete. In 2003, some single family homes built in earthen blocks were being experimented on for roof top run off catchment.

One of the strikingly sustainable building in Auroville is the common kitchen, known as the Solar Kitchen; for it houses a large bowl of mirrors that supplies the heat/steam required for cooking in the day time. In 2003, it used to serve 3 vegetarian meals daily to about 200 residents and 500 outsiders including surrounding schools. The Kitchen served a wide variety of healthy salads which need zero power consumption and used solar energy for most of the cooking. Community members and ladies from neighboring village volunteered to cook these large meals. Today the solar bowl supplies only a quarter of the required energy. The dining hall is lit by natural light filtering through the etched glass windows in the roof.
(Image 5: Solar Kitchen)

Typically a cluster of ground level housing or a single multi story residential building forms a community. Being an experimental settlement, most communities house a combination of sustainable living experiments. Some of the communities have had an impressive success in their experiments.

A community called Vikas, with multifamily housing, is one such community. It is built completely in earthen bocks with one underground residential floor. Since the underground part of the building is inhabitable in monsoon due to high level of subsoil water the residents have converted it into a bicycle parking space. Residents on the floors above ground enjoy the benefits of earthen building for its thermal properties. The houses remain cool during the day and warm at night.

Residents are supplied with solar power stored through the day. Power from a wind mill draws water to a over head tank at 35 feet height. In 2003, Vikas was the only community that did not require any supplementary power to operate appliances or motors of daily use. This community also has an experimental reed bed system for water recycling and a percolation pit that charges a well supplying water to the community through out the year.

(Image 6: Vikas housing)

Transport in Auroville is underdeveloped. The road network is actually only the stretches where no trees were planted. Roads as well as a mass transit system is being planned for the community, however presently two wheelers (bicycles, motorbikes) are the predominant modes of transport.

Please watch the following video created by a university student in south India (2009)

Recommending the world:
Auroville is a sustainable community in real sense. Its an example and inspiration not only for architects, planners and researchers, but every human being. I peruse it as a laboratory that tests traditional practices and tries to improve upon it. It addresses the spiritual need of human mind, though, to most, it appeals because of its scientific approach. It is a laboratory dedicated to research towards human survival.
Today, there are many green initiatives all across the world; but there is no other experience like the one in Auroville. There is something to learn from every aspect of Auroville. All the experiments in sustainable planning and architecture are available as case studies. The community building model can be repeated anywhere in the world.
UNESCO published a resolution in 2008 that stated- Auroville is a successful and unique model project, proving the capacity of an international community, after 40 years of existence, to continue to live up to its initial founding ideals of peace and international harmony and within the spirit of mutual respect and sustainable development. In my opinion, keeping the politics out of the settlement has helped it retain its integrity from the very beginning. It may not be possible to have such a settlement in any other part of the world for political reasons.
Most visitors would agree that Auroville has changed many of their daily practices, because the experience got embedded in their sub conscious mind. I recommend everyone in the world, irrespective of their field of study or work, to visit Auroville to contribute with your knowledge, if not with labor, in this laboratory of sustainability.

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Reference:

• Study tour 2003, Green Architecture lecture series, Kamala Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental studies, Mumbai
  
• Thompson-Smeddle Lisa , February 2007, Auroville: Toward a Sustainable Agricultural, Architectural, Social and Infrastructural Development (URL: http://sustainabilityinstitute.net.www8b.your-server.co.za/newsdocs/documents-mainmenu-31/doc_download/290-auroville-case-study-lisa-thompson-smeddle, Last accessed: November 15th 2009)
• URL: Auroville.org, Last accessed: November 15th 2009
• URL: Wikipedia.com Last accessed: November 15th 2009

Please note: clicking on the media will show it from its original source

Image URL:

• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Auroville_master_plan_4.jpg, Last accessed: November 17th 2009
• http://www.auroville.org/gallery/index.htm, Last accessed: November 17th 2009

Video URL:

• Amrita, 2009, (Name of the university not specified), http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8450886864846711562, Last accessed: November 17th 2009

Bicycle Sharing

In the United States of America (USA) the dependency on cars is an upsetting reality. However with growing awareness of environmental deterioration and learning from the European cities, many American cities are taking steps towards planning non motorized transportation.

Two planning problems that complicate the development of non motorized transport in USA are-

• Existing land use and transportation pattern is not suitable for walking or cycling.
• Auto oriented attitudes and ideas embedded in minds of decision makers, planners and general people (Tolley and Untermann 1990, page 176)
  

However, urban areas such as downtowns and universities have developed the density and attitude to support non motorized transport. Planners are focusing on ideas of new urbanism to develop pedestrian and bicycle networks. There are many successful programs that promote use of non motorized transport: Eco pass, bike renting, bike sharing. All the these programs present a possibility to reduce adverse effects on environment and economic benefits. In this essay I discuss some aspects of bicycle sharing.

Bicycle Sharing

The concept of sharing bicycles in a community is about two decades old. In recent years, use of technology in the bicycle sharing programs has revolutionized bicycle sharing. In an attempt to meet the transportation demands and to reduce adverse environmental impact, bicycle sharing is implemented in 78 cities of 16 countries in the world. (Midgley 2009, page 23)

Unlike the traditional bicycle renting, bicycle sharing allows citizens to borrow and return a bicycle, from various locations of the same sharing system. Normally, a bicycle sharing program takes a deposit from the user in order to issue a smart card to access bicycles. On borrowing a bicycle the user has half hour uncharged use of his bicycle. A network of bicycle stations across the city, allows the user to return it at any station within first half hour. The charges apply and grow incrementally every half hour, after the first half hour is over. The parking stations are either powered by the city’s electric grid or by solar power. To avoid vandalism and for maintenance purposes, electronic chips are installed in the bikes. In order for the bicycle sharing program to be successful, it needs to be easily accessible within short traveling distance, through out the community.

An article; “The Role of Smart Bike-sharing Systems in Urban Mobility,” by Peter Midgley (May 2009, page 23) compares various examples of bicycle sharing. One of the programs discussed in this article is Velib from Paris.

Velib is the first successful large scale bicycle sharing program that inspired cities all over the world to adopt this environment friendly alternative mode of transportation. As per 2006 census; population of Paris was 2,181,374 on an area of 105.39 km² (data source 1).

The city, in partnership with an advertising company, JCDecaux, launched the bicycle sharing program in July 2007. A total of 10,648 bicycles were positioned in 750 stations at about 300 meters apart. Today a total of 20,600 bicycles are available for the citizens and visitors at 1400 Velib stations. (data source 2)

The users have to deposit 150 Euro to subscribe to the service to have unlimited 30 minute journeys. The charges apply and grow every half hour after the firth half hour is over.

Please watch the video at streetflims

Since the implementation Paris has noted following numbers: (data source 3)

• Annual reduction in carbon dioxide emissions: 32,330 tons
• Annual financial savings: €33.4 million (public), €60 million (private)
• Initial investment: €80 million (private)
• Running cost: Min. €3.4 million (private – excluding staff costs)

Peter Midgley, in his article, refers to another article – the Niches project- that discusses three stages of bicycle sharing programs: preparation, implementation and operation

Deriving from both the articles I mentioned above -

• A city with minimum of 200,000 inhabitants can have a bicycle sharing program. (Buhrmann)
• Flat terrain and a steady climate is best suited for use of bicycles.
  
• Stakeholders’ involvement is necessary for program implementation and operation and for political and financial support. (Midgley 2009)
  

• Total time of planning and implementation is less than 2 years (Buhrmann)
  1. Prepeparation period: Few months to a year
  2. Implementation period: Few months
  3. Operation period: varying based on planning
  
  
• Costs: (Midgley 2009) In most cases financial backing is needed as most of the schemes are not financially self-supporting. Most bike-sharing schemes need to be financially backed by a large transport operator or by public resources, either through direct funding or indirectly through Public Private Partnerships
  
  1. Cost of preparation:
     
     1. Cost of developing a network or bicycle lanes;
     2. Cost of information, marketing and education.
  2. Cost of implementation:
     
     • Cost of bicycles;
     • Cost of installation of racks and service terminals.
  3. Cost of operation:
     
     • Cost of employment
       
     • Cost of maintenance.

• Design considerations:

• identifying target group and location,
• developing bicycle infrastructure and a car free network,
• providing enough parking space and enough number of bicycles,
• integrating bicycle sharing with other modes of transport.

Benefits of bicycle sharing:

Instead of providing a bicycle per user, a sharing program provides a bicycle per trip. Factors such as bicycle ownership do not remain as constrains. Time of the day and weather may affect one's choice of using a bicycle. Bicycle sharing program offers a choice of using a bicycle only when you need it. Bicycle sharing program may solve some of the urban problems. It would -

• provide a network of alternative transport;
• reduce expenditure on human transport/ limited goods transport;
• possibly reduce required motor vehicle parking area;
  
• reduce carbon emissions;
• promote health and social interaction.

Expecting bicycles to replace cars is wishful thinking, however, the the European models, especially Velib, presents a possibility that automobile dependency around the world could be reduced dramatically. Some cities that are considering implementation of bicycle programs are facing speed breakers, such as the economic downturn and law suits, but we should hope for the change to happen in a few years.

(picture scanned from: The Pedestrian revolution, page 90)

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Reference list:

Buhrmann Sebastian.New Seamless Mobility Services: Public Bicycles, Niches, URL-http://www.niches-transport.org/fileadmin/archive/Deliverables/D4.3b_5.8_b_PolicyNotes/14397_pn4_public_bikes_ok_low.pdf, Date accessed: 5th November 2009

Breines Simon and Dean William. 1974. The bicycle as urban transport, The pedestrian revolution. New York: Vintage books, a division of random house.

Midgley Peter. 2009. The Role of Smart Bike-sharing Systems in Urban Mobility, Journeys, URL- http://www.gtkp.com/uploads/public/documents/Knowledge/IS02-p23 Bike-sharing.pdf, Date accessed: 5th November 2009

Untermann Rich. 1990. Improving the pedestrian environment in the USA, The greening of urban transport. London: Belhaven press

Other URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris, Date of access: 5th November 2009

http://www.c40cities.org/bestpractices/transport/paris_cycling.jsp, Date of access: 5th November 2009

http://projectevie.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/velib-map.jpg

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See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_sharing_system

Bicycles at San Jose State University

(This write up is in support of a photo essay at this link
http://picasaweb.google.com/kirti.k3/EnvironmentalPlanningEssay?feat=directlink)

San Jose State University (SJSU) campus is a bicycle and pedestrian friendly zone. Many students in San Jose state university already use bicycles. Besides the protected bicycle parking spaces at five locations on campus, there are small stands fixed to the ground, near every department building. With the sustainability drive raising awareness at SJSU it’s not wrong to assume that many students, staff and faculty members would want to shift to this environment friendly mode of transport. In that case university would have to develop bicycle stands at strategic points across the campus.

As of today, users park their bicycles in convenient places, which usually are not the designated bicycle parking spots. Some bicycle stands are away from the building entrances. As a result there are more bicycles parked out side than at the bicycle stands. The stands which are close to the building entrances are congested with bicycles. Whereas in some places park benches are preferred bicycle locking spots than a bicycle-stand hidden behind trees. In short the parking stands are additions made without any adjustments to the design of the campus. The bicycle stands need to be strategically placed at visible spots, within 10-20 feet from the building entrance. Buildings of higher use such as the King Library and the Student’s Union should be provided with more bicycle parking stands.

Now that Mineta Transport Institute and the city of San Jose have initiated a dialogue about bike sharing program in San Jose, SJSU stands a chance to remodel the existing practice and introduce an improved program for the benefit of community and environment.

In my opinion a bicycle sharing program would benefit only San Jose residents, whereas a bike renting program may benefit students who live farther. With a Bike renting program, those of us who live over 4 miles from the University could be given an option of renting a bicycle per semester, so that they could use the bicycles in combination with a mass public transport. It is possible to provide people with an environment friendly option that they may get inspired from and replace cars by bicycles in daily life even after passing out of the university.

I am sure with such measures in place; San Jose State University could become an exemplary model for others to follow.