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With the School of Urban and Regional Planning and the Center of Geographical Information systems, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, USA for conducting a major workshop on a) Smart Infrastructure and b) Community logistics networking for sustaining livelihood in the historic City of Varanasi.

https://cspav.gatech.edu/students-experience-first-hand-challenges-working-developing-region-0

Grounded tangibles for world’s most ancient and sustainable Habitat

The workshop forwarded a smart urban design plan for:
  • The Assi Ghat Zone is a recently renovated tourist attraction receiving an increasing number of local visitors and international travelers alike. The mouth of the Assi River meets the Ganga here, creating avenues for pollution and solid waste collection.
  • The Transit Hub Zone is the region composed of the Varanasi Cantonment Railway station and the Varanasi bus stand. It is an entrance into the city for many, and the sheer volume of passengers the zone handles exceeds its ageing infrastructural capacity.
  • The Sarnath Zone is a peaceful, secluded paradise that sits north of Varanasi. Home to one of the holiest sites for Buddhism, Sarnath is an archaeologically protected area with limited non-vehicular connectivity to its sister city, Varanasi.

Where Modernity meets tradition

Some of the goals of the studio were to get students involved in international collaboration and learn whether planning is possible; learn to bridge ideas across cultures; and learn how people think of this historic city.

The objective for the students was to create a comprehensive city development plan for Varanasi and provide recommendations for the city. However, students realized that a single solution spanning the geographic diversity of Varanasi was impossible. They also had to keep in mind the historic and spiritual nature of the city.