Chennai, a city in the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, India, has grown from a colonial outpost to a metropolitan city today through a process of rapid urbanisation causing a loss of open spaces in the city and a general lack of public spaces. Chennai, geographically divided by the Cooum river into the North and South, also has characteristic differences in their living environments and their constituent demographics.

Although design of public spaces and associated theoretical concepts like placemaking, liveability and vitality are widely explored in the western context, these are not directly applicable to the Indian context. This calls for a more contextualised approach towards the design of public spaces that respond more organically to the local way of life. This project proposes to understand the local meaning of public spaces and their characteristic role in changing the identity of the forgotten parts of the city.

This project looks at two exemplary cases and the design of public places and the fabric around to respond better to the local context and eventually changing their identity. This project also proposes strategic interventions, their implementation over a timeline. Finally, it looks at the larger design impact and the level of transferability of the proposed design interventions and their role in transforming these forgotten parts of the city.