Surveys and Surgeries

Geddes surveyed and reported upon some 50 towns in India and in Palestine. The actual surveys lasted between several days to several months, and at least one city had not been visited by him at all. ¹ As a result, the reports vary in length as well as in depth and detail. In India, Geddes repeatedly noted the lack of time to cover all that was needed for a proper survey, often declaring upon having to suffice with partial surveys only. ² Geddes highlighted the value of the village, which he found to stand out “as a main human unit to be understood for general purposes, and not simply as the unit for civic studies, for reconstruction too.” ³ The built elements which he marked for conservation and improvement were mainly temples and water tanks, which were grasped as traditional as well as beneficial elements to the city, and which could easily be related to each other through a network of small interventions. ⁴ As opposed to the British, who tended to condemn these elements due to their unsanitary state, Geddes suggested their full revitalization and incorporation within local and urban park systems, ⁵ a system which, according to Ferraro, allowed Geddes to express respect to local elements and to the city's history in general by highlighting pieces of “the holy past” for people to celebrate. ⁶ The “urban evils” Geddes described were consistent as well as familiar, including congestion and high-density living and also low sanitation and hygiene levels. ⁷