Building Resilience with Vernacular Practice

Along Jhelum, Kashmir

Master thesis (2022)

Authors

A. Irfan Architecture and the Built Environment

Contributors

M.M. Dabrowski Spatial Planning and Strategy - Architecture and the Built Environment (supervisor 1)
C. Forgaci Urban Design - Architecture and the Built Environment (supervisor 1)
Faculty
Architecture and the Built Environment
Copyright: © 2022 Annam Irfan
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Published Date

14-06-2022

Language

English

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Faculty

Architecture and the Built Environment

Abstract

The thesis is situated in a contested region at the border between India and Pakistan along a shared basin of River Jhelum. It investigates the impact of rapid urbanization amidst a conflict that strained vernacular-water relationships and evolved over centuries. These local ties of a water-based community called Haenji were the strength and richness of Srinagar City’s heritage. But the situation now is one of abandonment with conflict-created distrust at Jhelum, resulting in a ‘dying water culture’. The Planning gap with vernacular persists due to a top-down planning culture that has proved to be inefficient for the condition of Jhelum and its wetlands to the 2014 catastrophic floods.

The city of Srinagar was analyzed spatially to reveal typical case study wetlands to read this planning and vernacular gap. This followed a field visit and interview with experts regarding the shifting planning perspectives, post-2014 floods towards resilience as presented in the Srinagar’s Master-plan 2035. The analysis led to set of resilience principles and a strategy toolkit that helped develop three Resilience Themes for the City vision. These themes are then tested at the neighborhood pilot at the Jhelum riverfront. The design strategy here aims at a model of vernacular sustainable neighborhood guarding its waters through relationships built on diversity, adaptability and trust.

This thesis proposes a revival of vernacular socio-ecological bonds at River Jhelum in the city of Srinagar, suggesting that sustainable living with water necessitates the inclusion of vernacular practices that evolved to adapt best to surroundings. Theoretically, this borrows from the concept of socio-ecological resilience. It aims at adaptive spatial planning through an advocacy-led approach from local solutions to a city vision for resilience. Building on vernacular water culture serves as a middle ground between planning authorities, wetland ecosystems and residents of the city to develop trust and bridge the planning vernacular gap.