Jaipur City Planning - Urban Design

JAIPUR CITY PLANNING
URBAN DESIGN
 Jaipur lies at a distance of about 200 miles
from Delhi, 150 miles from Agra and 84 miles
from Ajmer. Capital city of Rajasthan is
located amidst the Aravali hill ranges at an
altitude of about 430 m above sea level.
 Latitude – 26 55’
 Longitude – 75 50’
 Space Formation of Jaipur City, Rajastan,
India - An Analysis on City Maps (1925-28)
made by Survey of India
 Shuji Funo, Naohiko Yamamoto & Mohan
Pant
 Paper / Thesis Analysis of :-

THE EASTERN RAJASTHAN, LYING TO THE EAST AND SOUTH EAST OF THE
ARAVALLI DIVIDE.

• The purpose of this paper is to
study the principles of space
formation of Jaipur City which is
known as the so called grid iron
city.
• Jaipur City, designed by Jai Singh II
is thought to have been constructed
according to Hindu cosmology.
• This paper discusses the planning
theory in terms of measurement
systems employed in the widths
and lengths of streets, division of
the urban blocks (chowkri) and the
distribution of the dwelling units
through the analysis of 43 sheets of
the City Map (1925-28).
• The reason why we chose Jaipur is
to compare it with Cakranegara
(Lombok, Indonesia), which was
founded as a colonial city of the
Balinese Hindu kingdom in the
same period of the early 18th
century.
ABSTRACT

• This paper makes clear that in
reality the sizes of the urban blocks
are different place by place while
simple measurement systems were
introduced in the beginning.
• It also shows the process of city
development with respect to
changes in the form of the street
pattern.
• The latter part of the paper focuses
on the form of neighborhood
structures and, on types of
residential buildings that are the
cellular units of the residential
quarters.
• The paper will analyze this set of
maps to study the street system
and the neighborhood structure,
and is the first attempt to utilize
these maps in the study of the
urban history of Jaipur.
ABSTRACT

• This paper will analyze the block
pattern, street system, residential
forms and neighborhood structure in
the old city area of Jaipur—the capital
city of the state of Rajasthan, India.
• Jaipur with its streets firmly laid out in a
grid pattern is well known as a fine
example of a planned city in India.
• This study will finally serve the purpose
of comparing the city of Jaipur with
Cakranegara, Indonesia.
• There are no written records left by Jai
Singh II and Vidyadhara. Numerous
theories and interpretations have thus
been put forward on the concept of the
city planning of Jaipur, and to explain the
form realized in practice.
• All these explanations have one thing in
common in pointing out that the idea
for the city form of Jaipur was informed
by ancient Hindu cosmology.
1.INTRODUCTION

ARIEL VIEW OF NAHARGARH FORT, ALSO ILLUSTRATING THE CITY PLANNING.

• The medieval towns of Rajasthan were
of military, agrarian, mercantile or
religious nature. The presence of a deity
marked the reference point for the
ruler’s abode and the rest of the city.
• The name of the town was usually
associated with the political or religious
centre (with the Ambikeshwar temple in
the case of Amber and with Sawai Jai
Singh in the case of Jaipur).
• Unlike Dausa and Amber, the two
previous capital cities of the Dhoondhar
region established on hill-top, whose
planning was guided by topographical
structure of the areas, Jaipur city was
revolutionary both in terms of its grid-
iron pattern planning and its location at
the base of the hills.
• There was also a significant economic
shift from an agricultural base in Dausa
and Amber to trading in the capital of
Jaipur.
2. EVOLUTION

FORMATION OR PLANNING OF A CITY AROUND A CENTRAL MONUMENT OR LANDMARK
A – Religious centre or temple
B – Political centre or for
C – Gates and walls
D – Havelis and houses

3. THE PLANNING OF
JAIPUR
• The central part of the city is occupied by
Jantarmantar and the palace. An artificial lake
known as Tal Katora is constructed to the
north of the palace.
• The city is known to be constituted of nine
blocks but only seven divisions of blocks
known as Purani Basti, Topkhanadesh,
Modikhana, Visheshvarji, Ghat Darwaja,
Ramchandra Colony and Topkhanahazuri
can be identified.
• It is thought that Modikhana and Visheshvarji
originally belonged to a single block, which
was later divided into two by the construction
of Chaura Rasta.
• If the area occupied by the palace is
considered to incorporate two blocks and the
area at the north of Ramchandra Colony
another block, the total number of the blocks
will then be nine.

INTERPRETATIONS ON
THE PLANNING
CONCEPT OF JAIPUR
• There are no written records left by Jai Singh
II and Vidyadhara. Numerous theories and
interpretations have thus been put forward on
the concept of the city planning of Jaipur, and
to explain the form realized in practice.
• All these explanations have one thing in
common in pointing out that the idea for the
city form of Jaipur was informed by ancient
Hindu cosmology.
• It is generally considered that the city was
built in a so-called nine square form with 3 x
3 divisions of square blocks.
• Yet the entire block of Topkhanahazuri at the
south-east which projects out from the grid
contradicts the ideal square geometry.
• This anomaly is explained by stating that the
block is a substitute for that part of the city at
the north-west which could not be built
because of the hilly terrain
• The deviation of the grid rotating clockwise
by 15 degrese from the cardinal directions
has also been given various interpretations.

CITY PLANNING LAYOUT OF JAIPUR CITY.

Jaipur City Planning - Urban Design

The Dwelling Units of Jaipur
• A glance at the city map shows the dwellings
of the city arranged in a series of big and
small open courtyards.
• The larger residences have a number of
courts in addition to the main central
courtyard. These residences are called haveli
.
• Jaipur, geographically located at the
entrance of the Thar desert has a hot and
arid climate.
• Accordingly, devices to cast shadows in the
summer is more important than the
requirement of sunshine.
• The dimensions of the central court and its
height are determined in sucha manner that
the courtyard will be in shadow in the
summer afternoons.
• Also, higher parapet walls are built along the
west to block the glare from west. Further,
the central court functions as a cooling
reservoir on summer nights and the roof is
used at night for the cooling
• breeze. ‘Chatris’ and ‘chajjas’(open
pavillions) also serve the purpose of
sunshade.

CONCLUSION
(1). The urban blocks—chowkri, formed by the main
streets are not of uniform size. However, the three
chaupars are of the same size (350 ft square); thus their
present form derives from the planned execution of that
period. It is not yet clear whether the ideal planning
concept of 3 x 3 = 9 square has been employed in Jaipur,
but the importance of the east-west central street is clear.
This street was a long established route from olden times
and runs parallel to the ridge of the hill at the north. In
addition, the fact that it is an axis to the Suraj temple in
the east must have led to the east-west street as the first
factor in making the planning decision.

(2). A distinct hierarchy exists with respect to the street
system as shown by their dimensions, viz—100ft
(30.48m), 50ft (15.24m), 25ft (7.62m) and 12.5ft
(3.91m). The organiztion of the residential blocks was
arranged based on this concept. But this principle gradually
weakens in the latter stage of development.
(3) Analysis of the street pattern and block dimensions
shows that in the evolution of Jaipur,
Topkhanadesh, Purani basti and then Modikhana-
Visheshvarji and the royal palace constituted the originally
planned area of the city.
(4.) Topkhanadesh is divided into a number of 8 x 8 =
64 uniformly planned blocks. This subscribes to the ancient
planning principles of India. However Purani basti,
Modikhana + Visheshvarji employ a different pattern
in the division of blocks. The idea of the Prastara model
of city form, in which the size of the blocks could vary
according to the caste can not be negated. If we consider
that there were four blocks at the initial stage, the
form of the city will then resemble that ideal form of
Prastara.

(5) Irregularities in the street pattern become more apparent
as one goes farther from the centre towards the
periphery of the city. The quarters with irregular street
pattern concide with the distribution of the mosques.
This might have been due to the influence on the settlements
by the Muslim communities.
(6) The basic unit of the residential form constituting
the city of Jaipur are houses with internal courtyards
known as haveli. The size of the havelis vary but their
clusters in the residential units make up a chowkri,—
the residential district.
(7) Large havelis are distributed in the immediate
neighbourhoods of the palace while havelis of smaller
scale are to be found at the west. This also reflects the
distribution pattern of the communities according to their
status in the social hierarchy. It also shows the planned
development intended to settle the jagirdars, which has
been a decisive factor in building a unified townscape.

(8) The chowkri is divided into rectangular blocks of
residential quarters by streets known as rasta or marga.
The marga with clusters of residential units on either
side is also a social and spatial unit. Initially, residents
living in the same marga belonged to the same caste or
subcaste and profession. Marga were founded on the
basis of caste and thus formed a veritable community
unit.
(9) The residential quarter is further divided by gallis
which are also residential units. There are no regularities
in the form of gallis as in rasta. The grid pattern
might be discernable but the contingencies of diverse
factors have been important in creating the various forms
and size of gallis.

URBAN DESIGN
ASSIGNMENT.
ZOHAB KV
SP17ARU204
SEM VII / YR 4
SPIHER

Jaipur City Planning - Urban Design

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