The challenges are many but the excitement of creating a whole new city should drive Andhra Pradesh forward. The state’s quest to build a new capital in 10 years is an ambitious scheme that projects a very forward-thinking leadership. In not compromising on the primary principle of building a capital from scratch as the other newest states — Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand — have done, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is displaying a breadth of vision in keeping with what he had achieved for Hyderabad’s expansion to an IT-centric city. There are bound to be murmurs about Singapore being chosen as the driver of the project rather than Indian architects.
However, considering Singapore’s spotless record, there is probably no better place to look for a vision for innovation in the modern age. True, the city would need a cultural ethos as much as buildings with glass and chrome facades and ultramodern government offices, but all that will come in time. The point is it becomes possible to build an infrastructure keeping all users in mind, including the pedestrian who is the most ill-served citizen.
To imagine an Indian city again with waterways also for inner metro transportation is to admit that the planners have a vision. Chandigarh was the last newly-built capital to come up in the country and Le Corbusier’s touch is evident even though the city has expanded. To build anew a city to cover 7,420 sq. km in a decade at today and tomorrow’s costs is a stupendous task, one that will call for political will, smart thinking and financing.
