“You can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea.”
- Pearl S. Buck (American author, 1938 Nobel Prize for Literature)Rubanisation is a conceptual and architectural model developed by Tay Kheng Soon, distinguished architect and thinker. It's borne out of his deep insights into the nature of the beast called Urbanisation.
Mr. Kheng Soon reconceives the current Western Developmental Model and destructive lifestyle of over production and consumption and recounts the horrors that it has unleashed in much of Asia. Without a Rubanisation concept, he believes, the existing non-urban life in Asia is characterized by marginal existence in the form of ribbon settlements that can be found everywhere in Asia along roads leading out of the urban conurbations. These create road congestion and compound marginal living.
A practicing architect he is also an adjunct professor at the National University of Singapore's School of Architecture. He was formerly president of the Singapore Institute of Architects and founding member and Chairman of SPUR, the Singapore Planning and Urban Research Group. A creative, out-of-the-box ideas person, he meticulously sees through to reality via his architectural practice, Akitek Tenggara, which he founded in 1976.
In another way, Rubanisation is also a redressal to the excesses of urbanization as well as a response to the depleted rural areas. It blends and carries forward ideas of PURA (Provision of Urban amenities in Rural Areas) as envisaged by Abul Kalam Azad, former President of India and Mahatma Gandhi’ vision of Gram Swaraj.
Young & Ruban
For some reason, I didn't feel any pain when I was first introduced to the concept of Rubanisation by the master himself, who also helped me think Asia, beyond the artificially contrived boundaries of modern day India. With my own research in development models for integrated transport and land use planning, I had a fair idea that the unabated growth of cities, some gorging into unending megapolis, is counter-productive. Yet, there could be such a simple and elegant solution to this hydra-headed problem skipped my imagination. Rubanisation hit me like an idea that I was long waiting for. All its newness embraced with a warm hug and a smile.
The secret to not feeling the pain, when stuck by this new idea is also an art of how to born again and again every morning. That later.
In the meeting with Mr. Kheng Soon, we struck a chord within a few minutes of our meeting. I followed up studying his architectural renditions of how Ruban settlements would look like and more in the form of a masterly article here. By the end of our meeting, I was quite sure that this is what I was looking for.
The crux of his Rubanisation construct, as I would like to put it, is that however good urbanisation might have been for the west, this is the wrong, dead horse that Asia has been flogging hard, thinking that we were riding it. Rubanisation is the new horse that's lots more likely to take to the right places.
There is a new opportunity, he says, to shift the developmental agenda to include the rural and the urban as a single space — not two spaces, as is now the case. This is the opportune moment for Asia to take center stage in the field of ideas.
This is just the beginning though. There is a long way ahead...
The woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have many promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep.
Welcome to the Rubanic Era. An idea whose time has finally come...with the stars smiling and the sun rising in the East.
Mr. Kheng Soon reconceives the current Western Developmental Model and destructive lifestyle of over production and consumption and recounts the horrors that it has unleashed in much of Asia. Without a Rubanisation concept, he believes, the existing non-urban life in Asia is characterized by marginal existence in the form of ribbon settlements that can be found everywhere in Asia along roads leading out of the urban conurbations. These create road congestion and compound marginal living.
A practicing architect he is also an adjunct professor at the National University of Singapore's School of Architecture. He was formerly president of the Singapore Institute of Architects and founding member and Chairman of SPUR, the Singapore Planning and Urban Research Group. A creative, out-of-the-box ideas person, he meticulously sees through to reality via his architectural practice, Akitek Tenggara, which he founded in 1976.
It's a way forward for both urban and rural development that doesn’t see the two as distinct divides but only as degrees of differences in how they reflect the needs and aspirations of people in different areas.
Young & Ruban
For some reason, I didn't feel any pain when I was first introduced to the concept of Rubanisation by the master himself, who also helped me think Asia, beyond the artificially contrived boundaries of modern day India. With my own research in development models for integrated transport and land use planning, I had a fair idea that the unabated growth of cities, some gorging into unending megapolis, is counter-productive. Yet, there could be such a simple and elegant solution to this hydra-headed problem skipped my imagination. Rubanisation hit me like an idea that I was long waiting for. All its newness embraced with a warm hug and a smile.
The secret to not feeling the pain, when stuck by this new idea is also an art of how to born again and again every morning. That later.
In the meeting with Mr. Kheng Soon, we struck a chord within a few minutes of our meeting. I followed up studying his architectural renditions of how Ruban settlements would look like and more in the form of a masterly article here. By the end of our meeting, I was quite sure that this is what I was looking for.
The crux of his Rubanisation construct, as I would like to put it, is that however good urbanisation might have been for the west, this is the wrong, dead horse that Asia has been flogging hard, thinking that we were riding it. Rubanisation is the new horse that's lots more likely to take to the right places.
There is a new opportunity, he says, to shift the developmental agenda to include the rural and the urban as a single space — not two spaces, as is now the case. This is the opportune moment for Asia to take center stage in the field of ideas.
Younger and Ruban at heart
Katyayini Kabir Kakar is a fresh engineering graduate who joined in the same organisation, where I met with Mr. Kheng Soon. I hardly knew her. Yet, when I walked upstairs after meeting him in the basement meeting hall, I sent in Katyayini and another colleague as I intuitively felt that if this idea were ever to fly, it needed such young and fresh wings.
She lapped up and within two days, setting aside her career as an engineer, she committed herself to work on promoting and nurturing Rubanisation. She has deep insights into the nature of people and is herself a person of nature. She identifies 3 nodes where the idea of Rubanisation resonates with her as : environment sustainability, cultural preservation and livelihood generation.
With all my other liabilities, I would otherwise be weighed down to start a new venture right away (after about an year long of stuck in the deep political activism as one of the early flag bearers of the anti-corruption movement). As a partner in this new venture with a cherubic smile and a spirit to-die-for, she did fit the bill perfectly to give Ruban India Foundation a rock solid start that it has got.
Within a few days of our setting up, we have got a rich network of patrons and experts in place. Mr. Gokul Patnaik, Chairman - Global Agri Systems has offered us office space in a key location with all the administrative and other support. Mr. JS Rajput, educationist and former Director of NCERT and Mr. Ram Bahadur Rai, eminent journalist and former Editor of Jansatta have been very helpful with their advice.
With Mr. Suresh Chugh as a sponsor with his keen interest in the education and upliftment of the girl child in India, we are scouting for a site in Uttarakhand for a pilot settlement and will be meeting with the Chief Minister in coming weeks. Social media such as Facebook and blogs and our prior networking experience there is helping us reach far and wide. Mr. Arvind Singhal, Chairman - Technopak has expressed his interest to join the Advisory Board from mid of next year.
Yesterday, we had a soulful meeting with Vineet Narain ji, legendary journalist and Founder-Chairman of Braj Foundation. We will soon start working together on Ruban pilots in the Braj Area that spans across three States of modern India; Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, portions of Bharatpur district of Rajasthan and Palwal district of Haryana.
She lapped up and within two days, setting aside her career as an engineer, she committed herself to work on promoting and nurturing Rubanisation. She has deep insights into the nature of people and is herself a person of nature. She identifies 3 nodes where the idea of Rubanisation resonates with her as : environment sustainability, cultural preservation and livelihood generation.
With all my other liabilities, I would otherwise be weighed down to start a new venture right away (after about an year long of stuck in the deep political activism as one of the early flag bearers of the anti-corruption movement). As a partner in this new venture with a cherubic smile and a spirit to-die-for, she did fit the bill perfectly to give Ruban India Foundation a rock solid start that it has got.
Within a few days of our setting up, we have got a rich network of patrons and experts in place. Mr. Gokul Patnaik, Chairman - Global Agri Systems has offered us office space in a key location with all the administrative and other support. Mr. JS Rajput, educationist and former Director of NCERT and Mr. Ram Bahadur Rai, eminent journalist and former Editor of Jansatta have been very helpful with their advice.
With Mr. Suresh Chugh as a sponsor with his keen interest in the education and upliftment of the girl child in India, we are scouting for a site in Uttarakhand for a pilot settlement and will be meeting with the Chief Minister in coming weeks. Social media such as Facebook and blogs and our prior networking experience there is helping us reach far and wide. Mr. Arvind Singhal, Chairman - Technopak has expressed his interest to join the Advisory Board from mid of next year.
Yesterday, we had a soulful meeting with Vineet Narain ji, legendary journalist and Founder-Chairman of Braj Foundation. We will soon start working together on Ruban pilots in the Braj Area that spans across three States of modern India; Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, portions of Bharatpur district of Rajasthan and Palwal district of Haryana.
This is just the beginning though. There is a long way ahead...
The woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have many promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep.
Welcome to the Rubanic Era. An idea whose time has finally come...with the stars smiling and the sun rising in the East.
No comments:
Post a Comment