C-hed : A True Planning Institute 

By Conor Noone, Curtain University, Perth, Australia.

Here is a small piece on the past 2 months I have spent as an intern in Kochi, India.

I first heard of the Centre for Heritage, Environment and Development (C-HED) when I began my internship with the German development organisation GIZ in December 2019. I was tasked with strengthening their team as an added human resource and to provide an external and foreign perspective. As someone who is studying urban planning in Perth, Western Australia, I was excited at the prospect of joining an institute that has been dedicated to this field for so long.

The C-HED first began their work in the year 2002, at the behest of the then Council with the consent from the Government of Kerala, who was keen for the Kochi Municipal Corporation (KMC) to take on more responsibility in increasing the liveability for residents in their city. To assist in managing the many issues that come with urban planning in modern cities C-HED was therefore formed as a semi-autonomous research and development wing of the KMC. Their duties included preserving the extensively long history of Kochi, evident through its built heritage, protection of the city’s precious and quickly disappearing natural assets and advocating for sustainable and smart procedures in urban development.

To achieve all this, the C-HED is tasked with many duties. The most important of these include; research and studies into the issues that press Kochi today, educating and creating awareness for such issues through programs and outreach, and leading the coordinated efforts in mitigating challenges that threaten the livelihood of Kochiites. For the past 18 years C-HED under the leadership of Dr. Rajan Chedambath have been dutifully carrying out this mandate, under successive mayors and governments. You have probably heard of some of the projects they have initiated. For example;

In 2002 they created a vision document and strategic plan for the KMC, outlining the prospective direction the City should take with regards to urban development. This document recommended the development of a Kochi Municipality Masterplan, to help planners and civil servants guide the development of the city in a cohesive manner with people, heritage and environment at its core. This eventually evolved into the process of preparation of the Kochi City Masterplan (2005) and the City DevelopmentPlan (2005) a pre-requisite for the approval of DPRs under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. It was also during this time that they helped host the World Mayors Conference(2005) in Kochi which included over 40 mayors from across India and around the world. This was an excellent opportunity for Kochi to understand new methods of urban development.

In 2010 the C-HED conducted a study on the impact of development on the Kochi Backwaters, a crucial natural asset of the City. It found development, especially through encroachment, has significantly detrimental impacts to the backwaters, with the report recommending various strategies to tackle these issues and mitigate further environmental degradation. A year later C-HED on behalf of the Kochi Municipal Corporation joined the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network, a coalition of over 40 cities from 4 nations. The objective is to plan, implement and finance strategies for mitigating the impacts of climate change, with the assistance of the ICLEI-South Asia. In 2014 the C-HED was also responsible for Kochi’s successful application to take part in the Smart City Mission of India.

The C-HED has been responsible for sculpting many of the city’s policies regarding heritage, culture and the environment. For example, in 2010 the C-HED undertook a study of water supply for Kochi’s inhabitants. It found serious inadequacies in clean water provision and the basis of this research helped determine a water policy for the KMC, one of the first local level initiatives of its kind in India.

Over the course of many years, the C-HED has been instrumental in including Kochi within cross-cultural exchange programs whereby local governments from around the world participate with Kochi in learning about new and innovative ways for urban planning and governance. These partnerships include; Kumla (Sweden), Norfolk City (USA), Pyatigorsk (Russia), Hangzhou (China), Vilnius (Lithuania) and many more.

2016 witnessed the C-HED lead the coordination of a programme (Interact-Bio) initiated by the Central Governments National Biodiversity and Strategy Action Plan which aims to re-integrate biodiversity throughout Indian cities. The C-HED mobilised resources and stakeholders to create biodiversity mapping and local level integration plans throughout the city. Last year they began work on the Mobilise Your City project which seeks increase the connectivity between the Northern and Southern railway stations. Transport being a massive urban challenge around the world that all cities are grappling with.

Since my placement here, I have learned of these achievements and experienced the day-to-day working from within. The C-HED is an interesting initiative due to its autonomous and neutral role as an arm of government concerned with planning. Urban planning for many places around the world is dictated by governments interests at heart. However, as is the case with all democracies, urban planning is subject to many influential forces. I find the C-HED initiative fascinating because as a semi-autonomous institute, they can provide advice, coordination and mobilise resources while remaining free of political influence yet fixated on the betterment of the city and its people.

The C-HED’s role in Kochi was recently highlighted on the international stage at the 10th World Urban Forum for Urban Development. This provided an excellent platform of the C-HED to raise its profile and its methodology. As a truly innovative form of urban governance they were able to convey this institutes experiences to a powerful audience which, in the future, will ideally attract many other international agencies to come and work with people in Kochi.

The C-HED demonstrate their capabilities as a true planning institution through this background work they do. The coordination and mobilisation of stakeholders and resources is crucial for any effective planning to occur. The city and its problems are not resolved through engineering or design alone. These are important from a practical sense, but it is through the organisation of these groups of people that results on a large scale can be achieved. This is what C-HED does and this, for me, is what urban planning is truly about.

As my internship comes to an end, I would like to thank my colleagues at the C-HED for the truly welcoming experience and valuable insights they have provided me. I would also like to thank GIZ for their decision to coordinate this opportunity and for mentoring me through this journey. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people of Kochi for the way they accepted me with open arms despite language and cultural differences and for making my experience here one that I will soon be nostalgic about.

Tags: , , ,

Publications

  • Shaping a Climate Resilient Kochi

    Guidance document to develop a comprehensive disaster management plan in Kochi with long-term focus. Shaping a Climate Resilient Kochi – Download document

  • Green Building Kochi-Checklist

    Download

  • MANUAL: How to conduct an Urban Design Competition- The Case of EnteKochi

    This publication “MANUAL: How to conduct an Urban Design Competition- The Case of EnteKochi” is developed by the Kochi Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the Centre for Heritage, Environment and Development (c-hed) Kochi, in collaboration with GIZ India, as part of the “Sustainable Urban Development-Smart Cities” (SUD-SC) project. This manual is a step-by-step guide to conduct

  • Strategic Action Plans for Rental Housing for Internal Migrants in Kochi Municipal Corporation

    The city of Kochi is an important place of employment for migrant workers in Kerala. Workers from Tamil Nadu have been living and working in the city for decades. In addition, workers from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and many more can be found in the city today. The migrant workers

  • Kochi City Biodiversity Index

      The City Biodiversity Index and Illustrated Natural Asset Map of Kochi Municipal Corporation, prepared under INTERACT- Bio project was released by Hon’ble Mayor Soumini Jain. Kochi is one the very few cities in India who have developed the City Biodiversity Index. The City Biodiversity Index of Kochi has been developed with support from ICLEI-Local

  • NIUA Newsletter – Issue 5

    Read on :https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rU5s7FWdxNR33I2Mwxo1oloSTKV7ziyJ/view?usp=sharing  

  • EndeKochi Documentation Report

    EnteKochi is an urban lab initiated by Kochi Municipal Corporation (KMC) jointly with GIZ under the Sustainable Urban Development – Smart Cities (SUD-SC) project. It is a multi-stakeholder participatory planning process that fostered creativity, innovation and public awareness on the issues of sustainable urban development. EnteKochi Documentation Report : Download the document    

  • Standard Operating Procedures for Bus Transport – Post COVID-19 Lockdown

    “Standard Operating Procedures for Bus Transport – Post COVID-19 Lockdown” prepared as a part of Integrated and sustainable urban transport systems in smart cities (SMART-SUT), by GIZ India. Read on : Standard Operating Procedures for Bus Transport – Post COVID-19 Lockdown    

  • COVID – 19 India : Mobility Response Guidelines – By Urban Mass Transit Company Limited

    Smt. Jaishree Jindel (Project Manager and National Coordinator, Urban Mass Transit Company Limited) and Sri. Tarun Choudhary (Project officer, Urban Mass Transit Company Limited) write on “COVID – 19 India : Mobility Response Guidelines”. Read on :  COVID – 19 India : Mobility Response Guidelines

  • “Covid-19 and Cities We Want” – By Sri. Hitesh Vaidya and Sri. Chetan Vaidya

    Sri. Hitesh Vaidya (Director, NIUA) and Sri.Chetan Vaidya (Senior National Urban Adviser, Sustainable Urban Development Smart City (SUD-SC) Project, Kochi) write on “Covid-19 and Cities We Want”. Read On : Download here.

  • Chullickal Energy Survey Report

    As a part of Solar City Project by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, a pilot energy survey was done by c-hed at Chullickal ward (division 25) of Kochi Municipal Corporation. The survey was done with the help of students from Cochin college. From the findings and observations of the survey,

  • IMPRESSIONS

    C-hed : A True Planning Institute  By Conor Noone, Curtain University, Perth, Australia. Here is a small piece on the past 2 months I have spent as an intern in Kochi, India. I first heard of the Centre for Heritage, Environment and Development (C-HED) when I began my internship with the German development organisation GIZ

  • Is Kochi prepared to face climate change challenges ?

    Dr. Rajan Chedambath (Director, Centre for Heritage , Environment and Development) shares his views on whether Kochi is prepared to face climate change challenges. Read on : https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2019/nov/13/is-kochi-prepared-to-face-climate-change-challenges-2060903.html  

  • Let cities fight Carbon

    Let cities fight Carbon By Dr. Rajan Chedambath, Director, c-hed The whole “sensible” world is thinking loudly about ways and means to mitigate climate change and its impact. One of the major causes of global warming and subsequent climate change is carbon emission resulting from fossil fuel led transportation. Transit-oriented development, E-mobility, non-motorized transport, public

  • How Kochi can combat Climate Change

    Dr. Rajan Chedambath (Director, Centre for Heritage , Environment and Development) explains how the city of Kochi can fight climate change. Read on : https://kochipost.com/…/how-kochi-can-combat-climate-change/

  • Subhash Park Tree Naming and Handbook Release

    The Subhash Bose park which is maintained by the Center for Heritage, Environment and Development is rich in biodiversity.  Under the interact bio project, jointly conducted by Kochi Municipal Corporation, c-hed and ICLEI,  Mapping, Identification and Naming of trees in Subhash Bose Park were done. A total of 434 trees were identified  which included 61

  • Kochi Water Policy

    The city of Kochi is facing unique water related problems like continued increase in population due to urbanization and industrialization which is causing severe decline in the quality and quantity of water. It is against this background that the budget of the Kochi Municipal Corporation for the year 2014-2015 decided to have a local water

  • Recommendations for Kerala e-mobility policy

    Kerala has a high vehicle population of over more than 10 million vehicles on the road. These vehicles roughly benefit 20 percent of the total population of Kerala, the rest 80 percent depend upon public transport and shared mobility systems. Catering to all these demands, the state has reached a point where the pollution is

  • Cochin Book

    Known as the economic capital of the state of Kerala, the city of Cochin has a vibrant cultural landscape. This city is unique in its own way. Here one can see the ancient civilization merging with modern life. c-hed  has brought out a book on Cochin. This book is an attempt to bring information related

  • Mosques of Cochin

    The  historic port-city of Cochin located on the Malabar coast in the state of Kerala, has some of the very first vernacular mosques, which reveals a distinctive bequest.The surviving mosques of Cochin are a part of the rich cultural history of the Malabar Coast of India. It stands as powerful visible expression of integration of

  • Heritage Bylaw

    Conserving and preserving the rich heritage of our composite culture  are the fundamental duties of a citizen. The absence of a legal framework in the city had led to rampant violations and demolitions of the heritage structures in the heritage zone of Fort Cochin. With an increase in such breach, the Kochi Municipal Corporation planned to

  • Solid Waste Management – Handling Rules

    The Queen of the Arabian Sea, this commercial capital of Kerala, is a major tourist destination of the country. The city of Cochin has the highest population density parameter. Ranked as tenth among Indian cities in terms of urban households constructed, this metropolitan is facing serious issues of pollution and waste management. The city of

  • Vision Document

    The metropolitan of Cochin had been facing infrastructural, functional and economic problems over a period of time. In order to overcome this scenario, the c-hed had coordinated and organized a four day vision  workshop for formulation of a vision document and strategic planning  for the city of Cochin for the next 20 years. This important

  • Cochin Roads

    Many cities in India, including the city of Cochin, are facing rapid increase in urbanization that has resulted in the development of vast areas as urban extensions. Many roads are being laid in an incremental manner to cater to growing needs of a large populace. Cochin however is one of the few cities in India, blessed with connection

  • City Development Plan (CDP)

    This City over the past couple of years has been experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization as a result of its development aspirations. With some projects in its initial stages and some implemented, the city is growing rapidly. The City Development Plan for Cochin, aims at improving urban governance and management, increasing investments to ensure employment

  • Master Plan

    Under the c-hed’s initiative, a national workshop on formulation of vision document and strategic plan for Cochin City with a vision period of 20 years was organized in the year 2003. On the basis of this vision document, the Government of Kerala gave administrative sanction for the Kochi Municipal Corporation to prepare a master plan for the

  • Study on Flora and Fauna

    The geography of Cochin is unique to itself. The location of Cochin is such that is almost at par with the sea level. The Arabian Sea also influences the geographical features of this city. The area abounds in plains, rivers, estuaries, sea coast, islands and other types of natural features.Like other cities of Kerala the

  • Cochin – The City of Heritage

    The city of Cochin is a beautiful cosmopolitan city. A city with colorful and rich history, it used to serve as an important trading center in ancient times. It has been a real enticing destination for travelers, traders and seafarers. Rightly called as the Queen of the Arabian Sea, this land has attracted many voyagers