Download - Delhi Heritage City

Medieval and Colonial Capital Cities of DelhiCOMPARATIVE ANALYSISDELHI AND SALTAIRE, (United Kingdom of Great Britainand Northern Ireland)• Historical BackgroundSaltaire is an outstanding and well preserved exampleof a mid‐19th century industrial town, the concept ofwhich was to exert a major influence on thedevelopment of the "garden city" movement. Thecreation of Saltaire was one of the first successfulsolutions to the problems of the unprecedented urbangrowth of industrialization. The planned modelsettlement, which was a complex and self‐containedsocio‐economic unit, represents an important stage inthe development of modern town planning.Pic 18: Painting showing the City of SaltaireThe worsted trade began in Bradford in the mid‐18th century but did not develop rapidly until the adventof steam power. The result was an urban population explosion: between 1780 and 1850 it rose from8,500 to about 104,000. The living conditions of the workforce were abysmal, and life expectancy for bothmen and women was little over 20 years, in a town recognized as one of the most polluted in England.Titus Salt, a wealthy and influential businessman, became Mayor of Bradford in 1848 and committedhimself to reducing Bradford's pollution problems. Land was acquired with access to a plentiful supply ofsoft water for washing the wool. The transportation links were excellent: the site lay equidistant fromLiverpool in the west and Hull in the east.Having selected the site for his new town to the north‐west of Bradford city centre, Salt commissionedthe leading Bradford architects Henry Lockwood and Richard Mawson to design and supervise therealization of his visionary plan. To ensure that the new mill would meet the highest standards ofcleanliness and safety, Salt enlisted the services of the celebrated engineer William Fairbairn. The Mill,work on which began in 1851 and which was opened in 1853, incorporated every recent structural andmechanical innovation in its equipment and design.Its philanthropic paternalism, had a profound influence on developments in industrial social welfare andurban planning in the United Kingdom and beyond• Status of nominationSaltaire is nominated under UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Cities in 2001 under the criteria (ii) and (iv).• City planningThe layout and architecture of Saltaire admirably reflect mid‐19th century philanthropic paternalism, aswell as the important role played by the textile industry in economic and social development. Thearchitectural and engineering quality of the complete ensemble, comprising the exceptionally large andunified Salt's Mill buildings and the New Mill; the hierarchical employees' housing, the Dining Room,Congregational Church, Almshouses, Hospital, School, Institute, and Roberts Park, make it outstanding.This village had 800 dwellings in wide streets.The houses, built between 1854 and 1868, are fine examples of 19th‐century hierarchical workers'homes. All are constructed of hammer‐dressed stone with slate roofs. Each was equipped with its ownwater and gas supply and an outside lavatory. They vary in size from 'two‐up two‐down' terraces to muchlarger houses with gardens, for the use of the managers. They are all 'through' terraces, allowing light andair to penetrate and rubbish to be evacuated without passing through the houses.Saltaire provided the model for similar developments, both in the United Kingdom and elsewhereincluding in the USA and at Crespi d'Adda in Italy.(Further Research to be done….)7/31/2012 INTACH, Delhi Chapter 18