ABSTRACT
The cities of today has shifted the focus of growth from a regional scale to the global. This has led to the transformation in the scale and context of urban spaces which prioritise the development that support the processes of urbanisation and globalisation. The available land is a highly valued commodity that is utilised to satisfy the growth requirements to meet the demand for infrastructural developments. The various layers of complexity and dimensions that has added itself to the evolution of a place have had large impacts on the public spaces, changing the aspects of accessibility and the social fabric of the region. The efficiency of the various patterns that support the city structure can be based on the performance of the public realm. These help shape the socio-economic realms of a place and question the definition of private and public spaces. In the present context, the need for people’s spaces is totally overlooked and the spaces leftover after the developments, become the public space.
The traditional settlements of Kerala had a spatial layout that was focused to enhance the social life with the street pattern and built open interface which responded to the public activity. The present day developments that are more focused on the individualised concept of living, have taken a deep toll on the social fabric and the open space structure of the place. Thus there is a need to relook the pattern of developments to create spaces for people.
The intent of the research is to develop a regulatory framework to create public space in the context of Kerala as a case. A sample of MG road stretch has been taken for analysis of challenges in Kerala that needs to be tackled by the regulatory mechanism.
