Context

From 2019 to 2022, the Rajasthan Cities Project worked as a national and international collaborative network beginning at the University of Virginia School of Architecture and the Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment, following the methodology of the Yamuna River Project. The teams examined the city of Jaipur, Rajasthan with a multidisciplinary approach centered around water scarcity. Besides the urban morphology and architecture, the understanding of the city included socioeconomics, ecology, history, infrastructures, and all layers that constructs the complexity of the urban life. Students from both universities worked in parallel design studios conducting research, fieldwork in Jaipur, and speculative proposals. The Government of Rajasthan provided information from multiple civic agencies in support of the research endeavor, and international and local experts from different fields were encouraged to respond and contribute to the teams’ discoveries and hypothesis.

Jaipur was founded in 1727 by Jai Singh and is the capital city of Rajasthan, India’s largest state. Designed by the architect Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, the extraordinary heritage makes it a magnet for tourism. Behind the pink sandstone facades of the medieval city, Jaipur confronts an urgent crisis: a rapidly diminishing supply of drinking water as its population is expected to reach 5 million by 2030 (UN World Urbanization Prospects). The loss of ecological territory due to unplanned growth and the increasing encroachment on the fragile environment of this desert city undermined already scarce water sources. The dilemma is further exacerbated by the loss of traditional water soaks such as the lakes and ponds that created a threshold between the Aravali hills and the urban perimeter of the city. In the summer of 2019, Jaipur – now dependent on the supply of piped water from the distant Bisalpur Dam – was 25 days away from Day Zero, the point at which there would be no fresh water available to the city.

The project explores urban and architectural strategies that might enable Jaipur to be sustained in the face of rising temperatures and increasing water scarcity. In addressing the essential need for the harvesting and harnessing of the water from the few months of monsoon rain, the project prioritizes the creation of a more equitable city – both in terms of natural resource allocation as well as through a new socioecological framework for the development of egalitarian public amenity. From this inquiry, the project diagnosed the current condition through an understanding of the history and evolution of Jaipur in order to develop a framework for the future of the city. From there, pilot projects were developed that test the implementation of the vision. Buildings, public spaces, short + long term urban strategies, and alternative urban infrastructures are outcomes of the project. Exhibiting sensitivity for the extraordinary urban heritage of Jaipur, the project showcases urban infrastructures that enhance the water stewardship of this city. An understanding of demographics, economics, governance, coupled with systems for the processing of sewage and solid waste, energy, mobility, and industrial and agricultural production is critical to generate a robust and circulatory role for architecture in the city.