- significance of micro-level planning/design -

Case Study
MANTRI SQUARE MALL, MALLESHWARAM

W O R K I N G G RO U P
RADHA CHANCHANI, Urban Designer/Planner
FAG UN R AJ KOT I A , Ur ban P lan n e r

M a D e P r o 2 0 1 2 – 2 8 T H F E B RUA RY 2 0 1 2

CiSTUP
Indian Institute of Science
 CONTEXT
Urban Fabric
MALLESHWARAM
~ One of Bangalore's early residential
extensions (laid out in 1900-01)

~ Well-planned area

~ Densified and transformed over time

~ Growing population, growing vehicles and

traffic congestion

~ Retains charm, remains a prime, upper

middle-high income neighbourhood

Bangalore Map 1935-36

Source: Reproduced from Survey of India Bangalore Guide Map 1935-36
 CONTEXT
Urban Fabric
~ Plotted residential development; mix of
individual, multi-family units, flats/ apartments

~ Interspersed by public/semi-public facilities IISc

~ Commercial uses strung along main roads – RRI

RMV
St.
Sampige Road, the main commercial spine Peter's
Extn
Seminary
- typified by small-scale Sadashivnagar
Subramanyanagar
trade/businesses/comm. est. offices & services Palace
Malleshwaram
Orchards
Vyalikaval

~ Average population and built densities in

Guttahalli
neighbourhood – higher side Gayatrinagar
Palace
K. C. Gutahalli
Bangalore Master Plan 2015: Malleshwaram Planning Gen.
District comprising of 9 wards has: Lakshminarayana Kumara
puram Park
- gross density 160pph < 200pph in BMP area Mantri
Mall
- net density quite high of 522 pph

Sheshadripuram
~ Urban fabric: fine grain
- smaller building footprints
- low to mid-rise buildings
Land use map of Malleshwaram Planning District
- higher ground coverage
Source: Planning District Report, Bangalore Master Plan 2015
 CONTEXT
Roads, Traffic & Transportation
~ Sampige Road - connections at northern,
southern ends, and branches to the west
Study Area

~ Carries local, and heavy through traffic

towards north/north-west from all other parts
of the city – via Nagappa and Platform Rds

~ Serving as connectors at the city level -

usually very congested during peak hours

~ Heavy bus traffic (BMTC/private travels)

~ ‘Swastik or Central‘ – at the junction of the 3

roads is a major bus stop

Study Area, Major Roads and Linkages

 CONTEXT
Mantri Greens & Mantri Mall
~ Mantri Square, India's largest mall opens in
March 2010
Mantri Square Mall (above) & Mantri Greens
- close to 2 million sq. ft. with over 250 outlets
- 10,000 int./national and local brands, 5
department stores, country's largest Spar
hypermarket, 6-screen multiplex, 12-lane
bowling alley with a gaming center, city's
largest food court with 39 f&b outlets and fine
dining restaurants
- served by a 2-tiered 'puzzle parking' system
for 2000 cars and surface parking for 450 2-
wheelers

~ Abutted by Mantri Greens, 18-storied

residential towers, total 410 flats with
equivalent car parking

~ Insert of this nature and magnitude bound to

have associated impacts, positive & otherwise
Form and scale of new development in clear contrast to the urban grain/
- impact on already strained traffic situation fabric of the surrounding neighbourhoods
 ~ Average monthly footfall over a 16-month period from March
CONTEXT 2010-June 2011 has been 1.415 million
Mantri Square Mall
~ Largest shopping–dining–entertainment
development of its kind in Bangalore
~ Competitive edge - strategically placed to
capture and cater entire north-western market
~ Popular destination

Tertiary13% Where Are The Shoppers

Coming From?
Secondary 11%
Source: Mantri Square
Primary 76% Shopper Feedback March
2010 – June 2011
Source: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1147163
 CONTEXT “sometimes spend nearly three-quarters of an hour to traverse
that short distance of ½ km”
Traffic Situation @ Mall
Commute to Mall – Modes, March 2010 – June 2011

"No doubt, the traffic problem on that stretch has escalated at

least five times after the mall came up. We have to deploy all
the staff of Malleswaram Traffic Police Station to control the
situation” Praveen Sood, Add. Commissioner of Police (Traffic and
Security) told Bangalore Mirror

~ Pedestrian and vehicular traffic volumes

~ Traffic situation: gone from bad to worse; snarls

especially acute on weekends, during peak hours

~ By and large, affected citizens have felt that

traffic congestion, chaos, parking and pollution
problems have escalated in the area
CONTEXT
Future Plans / Proposals
~ Swastik Metro Station

~ BMRCL-Mantri Developers - on PPP basis (1st

such project in city)
- station designed by BMRCL, built by Mantri on
5 acres land provided free to Government
- Mantri to also develop surrounding land -
8 lakh sqft of commercial space under lease
- BMRCL entitled to revenue share of 1%
initially to 5% in later stages

~ Metro station directly connected to mall -

expected additional footfall: 20,000 taking
total to 1,00,000/day once operational

~ License granted for two high rise towers

adjoining metro station (4 FAR) – but lack of
clarity on proposed developments
- 19-floor comm. 35-floor resi. + 3 basements
Rendering / Artists Impression of the two towers
- 37-floor comm. 51-floor resi. + parking 2500
Source: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1147163
CONTEXT STUDY
Issues / Concerns Objectives & Methodology
~ These proposed and underway ~ Assess existing vehicular traffic flows and volumes around Mantri
developments have raised serious alarms Mall and identify issues
among affected citizens ~ Appraise traffic decongestion proposals by BBMP, Praja, and
- Questions? suggest additional/alternate traffic management strategies along
- Demands! with schematic road infrastructure designs

Traffic Flow Characteristics

SURVEYS Road Network Characteristics

Traffic Volume Counts

ANALYSIS

ASSESSMENT OF ALTERNATE
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT OPTIONS

SCHEMATIC ROAD DESIGN PROPOSALS

SURVEYS & ANALYSIS
Traffic Flows & Volumes

North
 Comparison and estimation of % oversaturation on major roads
SURVEYS & ANALYSIS NOTE: The Indian Road Congress standards stipulated for urban roads
Traffic Flows & Volumes date back a few decades – need to update as per current contexts, theories

~ All roads have crossed their Traffic Existing peak Tentative carrying % Over
provisional traffic carrying capacities Road Name
Flow hr PCU -survey capacities (IRC) Saturation
and have oversaturated flows
Platform 2-way 4640 3250* 42%

Nagappa 1-way 4936 2500 97%

Sampige 1-way 5690 2400 137%

Mill Corner 2-way 3393 1350* 151%

~ Good number of
TOTAL VEHICLES - ACROSS SAMPIGE ROAD (10th Sept 2011 Saturday – 5:30 to 8:30pm)
two-wheeler users
Two- Tempos
park on nearby Cycles Autos Cars Buses Mini Buses Trucks TOTAL
streets - either due to wheeler / LCV
insufficient parking 39 3556 1787 172 2236 429 83 91 8354
availability at mall or
0.5% 42.5% 21.5% 2% 26.5% 5% 1% 1% 100%
to avoid paid parking
fees (Rs 20/hr - 2W, VEHICLES ENTERING/ EXITING MANTRI MALL (10th Sept 2011 Saturday – 5:30 to 8:30pm)
Rs 30/hr - 4W) 411 / 467 667 / 669
11.5% of all 2-wheelers and 5% of 29.8% of all cars and 8% of total vehicles over a 3-
Mantri Mall parked total vehicles over a 3-hr period hr period
13% of total vehicles
Traffic volume counts across Sampige Road in front of Mantri Mall
 ~ Area also has very heavy volumes of pedestrian traffic, given
SURVEYS & ANALYSIS presence of multiple bus stops, office/commercial establishments
Traffic Flows & Volumes
~ Bi-monthly traffic counts across Sampige Rd
April 2010-July 2011 (mall management):
1. Traffic loads maximum
-- weekends (Fri-Sat-Sun)
-- festival/holiday seasons (Oct & Dec)

2. Average peak values

- buses - 3,300-3,500/ day
- cars - 14,500-16,500/ day
-autos - 14,300-15,300/ day

3. Cars entering mall

- 3,280 over Sat-Sun
- 1,608 over Wed-Thu-Fri

4. On avg. mall parks about 8.1% of total

vehicles (counts include buses, cars and autos)

~ Commute to Mall – Modes:

- private vehicles from 55% to 50%
- bus from 25% to 31%
Commute to Mall - Modes
- pedestrians 7% + bus/auto/taxi users 40% Source: Mantri Square Shopper Feedback March 2010 – June 2011
SURVEYS & ANALYSIS
Traffic Flows & Volumes
~ Pedestrian and vehicular exit/entry on
Sampige Road
~ Number of merge and conflict points
turns the stretch into a huge bottleneck
~ Central traffic island bus stop – a problem
~ Lack of proper drop-off/pick-up zones
and dedicated space for auto stands –
abrupt stopping and unorganized
parking a great friction factor
~ Unorganised parking on nearby streets
~ Narrow rail underpass choking flows
PROPOSALS & ASSESSMENT Praja’s Short-term Traffic Management Strategies
~ Create a separate 'mall traffic lane’ with signal control
BBMP & Praja’s Proposals
~ Mall traffic to be segregated ahead of time
~ Widen 100 m stretch of Sampige Rd in front of ~ Close Sirur Park Road as its too close to intersection
mall, from 45 to 60 ft - axing 36 trees, including
reduction of sidewalk space
~ Widen stretch of Mill Corner Rd (from 2–4 lanes)

Source: Traffic Decongestion Plan, Mantri

Square Mall, Malleshwaram; prepared by Praja

~ Just widening these roads does not adequately

address traffic issues in the area
~ Trees don’t have to, and should not go! Ongoing expansion works on Sampige & Mill Corner Roads
PROPOSALS & ASSESSMENT
Assessment & Add. Suggestions
~ People come by different modes – walk, bus,
auto/taxis, two-wheelers and cars – all need to
be accommodated in a systematic manner

~ Central traffic island bus stop – undesirable!

~ Necessary to shift to a suitable curbside
location – identified based on bus user needs
and road/traffic engineering assessments

~ Close certain roads, re-route traffic

~ Clear, bold, well-positioned direction signs to help
separate traffic streams ahead of time

~ Traffic island reduced and re-engineered to create

an additional mall traffic lane
~ Banner signs with lane-wise directions
~ Signalize junction and synchronise with other signals
~ Shift existing bus stop on Platform Rd behind signal
~ Prohibit truck movement on Sampige Rd in peak hrs Suggested Traffic Management and Improvements around Junction
Suggested
Suggested Locations Location
for Direction for Shifting Bus Stop
Signs
PROPOSALS & ASSESSMENT ~ Explore
Provision
Opposite
Widened possibility
for
sidesidewalk,
stretch -inof demarcating
create
front designated
ofamall a
proper
can
pre-paid/regular
regulated
service ashawking
be usedlane, auto
zone
or usespace;
buffer for stand,
2-wto parking
organize
existingdrop-
treeif
Assessment & Add. Suggestions
off/pick-up
such informal zones,
feasible
line already activityservice
functioning lane and
beautifully as
raised
a naturalmedian along
physical tree line
/ visual separator
~ Talks of building a pedestrian over-
bridge across road connecting directly
to the mall

~ Better to provide good pedestrian

facilities at-grade - and motorists
simply have to respect that!

Suggested Schematic Road Section Design

PROPOSALS & ASSESSMENT
Assessment & Add. Suggestions
~ Organise parking on surrounding
streets by identifying stretches suitable
for public parking and officially notifying
them with clear signage

~ Based on feasibility, storm

water/sewage drain can be covered -
used for pedestrian movement and
additional space for two-wheeler parking

~
~ Public parking fees
Well-designed shouldand
crossings be levied
walkways that are convenient,
universally accessible and safe
have to be integrated into the
road section design

~ Pedestrians should be
provided shortest, direct routes;
footpaths should be broad,
continuous, of good-quality
PROPOSALS & ASSESSMENT
Assessment & Add. Suggestions
Praja’s Medium and Long-term Strategies

~ Dispersal Strategy: create more entry and exits

to disperse traffic in different directions –
augment capacity of railway underpass

~ Mitigation Strategy: Mantri developers could invest in a

dedicated underpass leading directly to the mall parking –
will free up lane at signal

BBMP-approved plan to build a new road looping the

~ Reduction Strategy: information dissemination on parking development at the rear
availability on internet, phone/sms, direction signs and LED
display boards at mall
- bus/train ticket validation options to be explored by mall
authorities to encourage use of public transport to commute
to mall
- bicycle stands prominently provided to encourage cycling

Essential - should in fact be a considered as a short-

term/immediate strategy!
Concluding Remarks &
Suggestions
~ Upcoming metro station + proposed
new development = more traffic! Need
to find sustainable solutions, in the short
and long terms
~ Change is inevitable – renewal,
rebuilding, redevelopment …
~ Sustainable Urban Form Concepts
- Compact Dev. v/s Urban Sprawl
- Smart Growth
-Transit-Oriented Dev.
~ Density does not have to mean
Congestion and Poor Quality of Life!
~ But, Density is not a Stand-Alone
factor – has to be supplemented by
Planning and Design!
~ Can support higher densities by
bringing more area into and improving
the Public Realm!
BANGALORE MASTER PLAN'S RECOMMENDATIONS for the
MALLESHWARAM PLANNING DISTRICT include:
 Promote higher densities in a regulated way - allow commercial,
offices and services by zoning Malleshwaram, Ranganathpura,
Srirampuram and Kumara Park (West) as Transformation Areas
and strengthen the Sub-Center in Malleshwaram
 Promote development along Sampige, Margosa,
Sheshadripuram, Ramana Maharishi and Sankey Roads by
designating then as Development Streets
 Develop the Raja Mills land through a Co-ordinated Planning
Scheme as industries are no longer functioning and the area
undergoing transformation
 Implement traffic management and parking plans to reduce
traffic and relieve congestion on Sampige and Margosa Roads
 Blanket notification for changing permissible built-up in the metro
influence zone to a FAR of 4
Locality will further densify over time – smaller buildings will
redevelop into taller structures, most likely commercial – more traffic
and congestion ?
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS IN THE GIVEN CONTEXT??
Concluding Remarks & MASTER PLAN – ZONAL/
Suggestions DISTRICT PLANS
~ Master Plan level too broad brush and removed from
specific neighbourhood contexts
~ Strong case for a tiered planning process, with ‘Local
Area Planning’ an integral part of it LOCAL AREA PLAN

LOCAL AREA PLAN

~ Define development/planning agendas and area-
specific regulations in tune with community vision and urban directly
planning/ responsive address
goals, local context, ground realities and pertinent design & to citizen quality of life
issues particular to the neighbourhood city building needs & env. issues
~ Public/stakeholder participation and consultation processes in city
fundamental to this process

~ The question of ‘development thresholds’ for an Where would you allow ‘India’s Largest Mall’ to
area – nature and volumes ? Just Notional? come up in the city?
Considerations/ Pre-requisites?

~ Would differ for ‘greenfield’ & ‘brownfield’ contexts

– based on potentials and constraints

Large-scale, large-impact projects (inserts);

~ Recognition crucial for maintaining the livability and redevelopment/densification proposals within
environment of the neighbourhood existing urban fabric
Concluding Remarks &
Suggestions
Important Considerations
~ Socio-Economic-Environmental Implications
~ Carrying Capacities of Infrastructure
STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
(EIA a component)
MITIGATION & MANAGEMENT PLAN
~ Supporting Infrastructure;
~ Effective Environmental & Traffic Magt.
Strategies
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
- major development decisions should be
taken in consultation with public, particularly
affected citizens
- public reviews inviting objections/suggestions
DETAILED PROJECT REPORT OF BANGALORE METRO (PH. I):
 Projected daily boarding at Swastik Station (2021) - 74,177
 General Assumptions:
• 70% passengers will come by walk at all integration stations
• Of vehicular feeder trips, 80% performed by buses, rest by cars,
two-wheelers and cycles
 Private vehicle parking provided only at stations where
integration facilities are available. Mode-wise parking
requirements based on station loads.
 Total parking requirement for cycles, two-wheelers and cars at
Swastik Metro Station estimated to be 250 sq. m
Assumptions/Estimations should be empirically tested and
carefully considered Pedestrian and Vehicular ACCESSIBILITY,
CIRCULATION AND PARKING PLANS prepared
Delhi Master Plan stipulates it for all Metro Influence Zones
Mode-integration facilities - good footpaths, cycle lanes,
appropriately located bus stops and auto stands, drop-off/pick-
up zones and private vehicle parking facilities to be put in place
Thank You