We need towns like Oxford

The Concept

One view is to allow the state-backed institution to be appendages of large cities,allot some land and funds and permit them to chart out their own destiny. On the other hand,the private players are left to fend for themselves. This has in fact been the way things have been taking shape for the last several decades.

However,a more novel,proactive and holistic approach would be to view these large establishments as centres which trigger employment,generate economic momentum and emerge as hubs that can act as nodal poles for new urbanisation.

While the geographical location is part of a larger political or business decision making process,their micro-locational articulation and structuring,both inwards and outwards,holds a great opportunity for new urban growth centres to be fashioned.

Each of these new institutions needs to be located close to a village,a cluster of villages or a small town and not in a large metropolis. It should have substantial land to allow for proper spatial planning of all facilities,which can make it a real centre of excellence.

This would mean that the institutes have not just buildings for academics,administration,hostels and residences but also state of the art sports and recreational facilities in terms of grounds,stadia,theatres and so on,so as to generate a conducive modern environment which can nurture the inquisitive minds and give them opportunities for exposure,expansion and grooming. Each of these campuses need to be globally competitive in terms of physical facilities that parallel with the best in the world.

While all this can be provided,this alone cannot be a driver for urbanisation. The educational campus should become a part of a ‘new town’. Hotels,cinemas,restaurants,banking and the other necessary facilities need to be established as a part of a total urban envelope of a new town.

Then,because of the educational campus,other subsidiary economic activities would start taking root. They could be hotels,shopping malls,convention centres,exhibition halls,offices,hospitals,schools and housing.

Retired employees would start settling in the same town and availability of medical facilities would encourage the aged to stay on. With the educational campus being at the centre of the economic growth impetus,the new town would become an attractive proposition for generating demand.

Real estate developers would start showing interest. Thus one can create an entire urban envelope,a complete new town,around the education campus which would be the focal point.

A Global View

Globally,‘university towns’ or ‘college towns’ are quite common,such as Oxford and Cambridge in the UK or Heidelberg and Goettingen in Germany. Recently,the UK government decided to regenerate 20 towns by setting up institutions of higher learning there.

University activity has always had an increasingly social,cultural,technological and economic impact on the local population and makes for inclusion.

Student housing has been an important component of college towns in the United States. In most state-run universities,around 50 per cent students actually live outside the campus. This trend,which began in the 1960s,originally meant the conversion of houses near the campus into student housing. Colleges and real estate developers also began building purpose-built off-campus student housing areas in the 1970s in many college towns.

The Cotton District in Starkville,Mississippi is a good example of such a development. Since the year 2000,real estate investment trusts (REITs) and publicly traded corporations began developing student housing complexes in the US.

Many retired personnel also prefer to settle in such university towns since the facilities provide a good quality of life for them during their retirement.

Imperatives

In order that we develop university towns in India too,there are some key prerequisites that need consideration :

Connectivity: This is the primary need. Such a settlement needs to be located along a national highway and a rail line with a station. Bus and taxi connectivity would automatically follow. Air connectivity,at least with a hopping flight to a big metropolis is also a must these days. Therefore,the need to set up regional airports (accessible from various small towns) is another emerging necessity of India.

Land: The other prerequisite is land. More often than not,state governments are charged with the responsibility of facilitating land. Instead of rushing in to set up an institute in whatever land that is readily available,efforts need to be made to locate lands in relatively far-off areas,but with good connectivity. This is a dicey situation and one needs to carefully examine options. The temptation is to select lands which are close to existing settlements; invariably these lands are high priced and difficult to acquire. However,far-off lands are less costly and easy to acquire. They also provide the opportunity for complete new town development.

Funding: In most states,there are urban development authorities set up under a state legislation for land and urban development. The Union government needs to tie up ‘central support funding for new towns’ (which is currently non-existing) with state development authorities and create new partnerships for development. The educational institute would thus become a part of the overall urban spatial envelope and the entire expanse would see development. Funding for new towns could also partially come from organisations such as the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO),other financial institutions and even real estate developers. Corporate and alumni funding is another option.

Environmental Issues: In the development of such large swathes of land,various environmental issues need to be borne in mind and only after due diligence should a final decision be taken.

Retaining Faculty: An educational institution is known not only for the physical infrastructure but for the faculty excellence. What attracts and retains good faculty is a big question. It is only when all the above are packaged together can the model succeed. All the modern facilities on- and off-campus,in the new town,and the connectivity to the outside world,would be an incentive for the faculty to join and continue to stay.

In the absence of such a model,these new educational institutions would be reduced to isolated islands of excellence scattered mindlessly.

The underpinning idea is to make large education institutions in new locations drive urbanisation in a planned manner and direct it for the benefit of society and the environment.

This model has the inherent ingredients to achieve global competitiveness and be a win-win outcome for the students,faculty,industry and the community at large.

— The author is a Professor at SPA,New Delhi

GROWTH POLE

Such a model has manifold developmental benefits:

* Physical environment and facilities on par with the best in the world to attract the best of student talent

* Attraction and retention of the best faculty minds

* Complete and wholesome urban environment with global connectivity

* New infrastructure without the problems of ‘old baggage’

* Global competitiveness

* Education hubs at the centre of new urbanisation

* Emergence of new regional towns of excellence

* Directing urbanization towards new regions

* Reduced burden on large metropolitan cities

* Benefits to the local village population

* Opportunity for fresh town planning on modern lines

* Prevention of haphazard urban sprawl