Also known as the Manchester of the East, Ahmedabad is a UNESCO world heritage city. A staple memory of most kids growing up in Ahmedabad is going on its famous heritage walk - a three hour long walk through various places tucked away in the older, more historic part of the city. This walk is a visual delight and contains various lessons in urban planning. Below are two features of this old city, which we think positively enhance the psychological experience of its denizens.

Old Ahmedabad is intensely dense. Density here functions as a social structure, producing an urban environment that is intimately layered with community & trade interactions across all times of the day. Various architectural elements in houses here reinforce this collective structure - otlas (small courtyards at the entrance of a house), balconies, and shaded thresholds create intermediate zones between private interiors and narrow public streets. These edges support observation, conversation, and participation. The boundary between inside and outside remains active and socially productive. Houses in the old city open up into a central courtyard, where people can congregate and share their daily woes & delights of the day. These courtyards also have analogues of social media, with boards where household members can share their daily thoughts. 

This is truly remarkable, given that more 'modern' housing complexes (e.g. towering residential skyscrapers) in the newer parts of the city fail to achieve this level of sociality, despite their higher density. Via these built elements, a shared sense of community + interdependence emerges which is vital for positively nourishing the psyche.

Ahmedabad is also a city that gets quite hot. Where does a city usually offer safe refuge in such sweltering conditions? The European answer is either cafés, free museums or parks. While cafés have only become a popular fixture now with increasing industrialisation, Ahmedabad has had an interesting response here historically - stepwells. 

Stepwells are multi-story wells, where each level is mosaic of different art styles and water is at the lowest level. Especially in areas prone to droughts, these have historically served as multifunctional sites. Aside from quenching one's thirst and water storage, these became social spaces. As the temperature pleasantly drops while descending at each level, one finds themselves in an aesthetically unique setting ready to yield a long conversation with a friend/stranger.