Socio cultural appropriateness of high rise habitats in the Indian urban centres

Abstract

The research on the social-cultural appropriateness of high-rise habitats in the Indian urban centers is interdisciplinary in nature, covering aspects of urban geography, urban planning, spatial sociology and architecture. This interdisciplinary approach was derived from a shared belief that various issues of significance remained unaddressed by the conventional disciplines which were unable to address various important issues related to the phenomenon of high-rise living. And specific to this study the questionnaire was not merely circulated amongst the residents of high-rise habitats, but was filled personally after development of a report. The fear for social aspects has been emerging with the modern building trends wherein large numbers of people are increasingly clustered in limited spaces and with modern principles of organizational dynamics stressing the need for positive group interaction and cooperation. On the contrary, the apartment building design has been based on modern trends has always stressed of privacy, seclusion and emphasized anonymity and lack of social space. When it was figured out what was going wrong in the high-rise residential environment, and then the focus was on the problem itself. The investigator has singled out the problem to investigate. High-rise living amounts to vertical segregation, which arguably is more severe than vertical distancing, eventually hampering neighborly interactions and bonds and resulting in alienation and isolation. The study derived multiple bonding patterns amongst the high-rise residents distinguishing amongst the vertical bridging versus the horizontal bonding. It also clarified the structure of multiple relational dimensions, the cognitive dimensions and the structural dimensions of social capital amongst the high-rise residents. The research looks at the typology which needs to constitute itself, what does it have to offer and promote, and what does it have to deny and refuse. The research further tries to validate the suitability of highrise residenc