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The three-day convention, overflowing with some thousand delegates, witnessed a panoply of speakers, both Indian and international, all of whom underscored the argument accentuated by architect Rahul Mehrotra that the elite populations of most nations are far more concerned with the selfish creation of a self-contained quality life for themselves and not for one which extends to all citizens and city dwellers. This is the barrier that the architect of today has to confront and circumvent as he attempts to design more equitable cities. Michael Murphy of Harvard nailed it when he commented that: “The power structure inducts us into reinforcing itself. The question is not whether we have an impact, but whether we will try to dismantle this power and redistribute it.”

A Herculean task indeed, given the inevitable bias against poor dwellers with land distribution and allocation tilted against the masses. Since there are no limits per family to houses and cars (each requiring space at home, the office and on the road), new infrastructure is created for the rich by usurping large chunks of city space. The majority of the population, including construction workers, who are the real builders, is left without even a small piece of land to erect shelters. And instead of a right to shelter, which should be every citizen’s inalienable right, housing schemes further distort priorities.

Fortunately, in some countries, architects succeed. Colombia’s Alejandro Echeverri explained how, as chief architect of Medellin, he was able to transform the city with the help of a dynamic mayor and local political forces. They were able to recover public spaces and integrate neighbourhoods in a city which had hitherto been divided and bedevilled by belligerent drug cartels. Among the most visible physical improvements was the introduction of metro cable cars that connected poor barrios and shanty towns on the hillsides to the subway in the city below. The new transport system facilitated the commute to work and school, but as importantly, it created nodes of communal activity around the transit stations. A bridge was built connecting two barrios hitherto infested by warring cartels: it destroyed their autonomy and permitted the residents to reclaim the streets. The strategy that Echeverri spearheaded focused on putting the largest public investments in the poorest and most violent parts of the city. The government also worked with local leaders to create forums through which the community could weigh in on urban development projects, with the aim of giving them ownership of the process. The Colombian described how public communication and the use of local workers were the keys to building community support: thus helping to completely alter the face of the city.

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