coming to Karwar, isn’t it only fair to imagine
it should also benefit the native communities?
Framework for the studio
Cities are human settlements with complex
interconnectivity or layering of systems. The
objective of this studio was to identify
methodologies which could help develop an
understanding of these complexities. The intent
was to stimulate critical thinking around what
is perceived as a ‘nature, culture and people’ and
its interpretations with reference to geo-political,
socio-cultural and economic layers, by
addressing the relevant research questions. In
this context, the following questions were
discussed during the semester:
— What was the relationship between nature
and settlement? How did the terrain and
geography influence the evolutions of settlements
in this area?
— What were the geo-political triggers that
created human settlements in present-day
Karwar and its surrounding areas?
— What were the factors that led Karwar’s
economy to perpetually move on and be self-
sustainable amidst rapid development?
— What were the economic shifts in Karwar over
time? What were its effect on the livelihoods of
the people? What were the conflicts and threats
faced by the people of various occupations?
— What were the relationships between
communities and culture? What were the
role of cultural spaces in creating different
territories amongst the communities?The Master Plan approach to Karwar
The Government of India formulated the
Karnataka Town Planning Act in 1961 to regulate
land usage and prevent uncontrolled development
of land caused by land speculation and
profiting. The first Master Plan of Karwar in
1998 consisted of the Karwar C.M.C area and
the villages of Chittakula, Makeri and Shirwad.
Today, the local planning area of Karwar is
around 96.56 sq km (9656 hectares).
The Seabird Project, the Konkan Railway Station
at the Shirwad village, and the inclusion of the
adjacent villages in the CMC area like the
Binaga village in the south led to the expansion
of the development area as proposed in
the Master Plan 2021. The proposed area to be
urbanised is around 3445 hectare. The plan is
oriented towards a future projected population
of 200,000 people with a gross density of
58 persons per hectare.
The major portion of the present Karwar City is
residential with the public and semi-public
buildings on the edges of the beach mainly
along the eastern side of the National Highway.
The population density in Karwar is
unevenly scattered, with a large variation among