SIT IHP – Page 2 – GW Blogs from Abroad

The Dirty Side of Ahmedabad

AdminFebruary 26, 2014December 14, 2018

This week, we started working on our country case studies. As the sustainability nerd on board, I immediately signed up to examine the urban environment of Ahmedabad.

While Ahmedabad has a long legacy of industry, in 1992, the city opened up to capitalism in a big way, inviting in foreign industries to settle down by doling out incentives. Soon enough, indsutrial estates sprouted up all over the city, most of which continue to grow today. My group and I decided that we couldn't examine the urban environment without understanding the disposal of waste and pollution.

Our faculty advisors partnered us with some local environmental institutions, and they connected us to some industries around the city. One thing that surprised me about our visits was that all of these factory owners and public officials were open to meeting with us, even on short notice. It may have been the Gujarati tradition of hospitality or simply the fact that the industry barons simply did not feel threatened by a bunch of college students. Whatever the reason, we couldn't help but notice that we were given access to the behind-the-scenes that we would never have experienced in the United States.

First we toured the chemical waste treatment center of the city where all of the industries send their effluent. The city has built a massive pipeline to transport it. Next we traveled to a dye factory where we saw the water going through its primary treatment; the end product, a frothy liquid with an orange hue, certainly didn't seem to be too clean. Finally, we visited the discharge point where all of the water is released into the river. This site as definitely the most striking as the thick, black water exiting the pipes did not serve to convince us that the water was at all fit to drink. Most striking were the agricultural fields sitting on the other side of the river.

It's easy to point fingers and make claims that India simply does not do enough to keep its natural resources safe. What is harder to recognize is that these problems occur all over the world, even in the US. We quickly forget about all of the Superfund sites and chemical spills like the one that happened in West Virginia recently. American industries might be more stealthy about how they handle waste, but our country too has a long legacy of pollution.

The Eternal Rickshaw Ride

AdminFebruary 20, 2014December 14, 2018

By juliaraewagner

One of the best reasons to study abroad is that you learn how to roll with the punches. In the past few months, I've experienced more than my fair share of situations that would typically drive me (and my type A personality) bonkers. Living in countries where the unexpected is always the expected, however, has forced me to lighten up a little and enjoy the ride.

I was reminded of this lesson last night when my girlfriends and I decided to catch a classical Indian music show. My roommate Allie and I had planned to meet up with a friend before heading to the show. We had never been to her house before, but we figured the pick-up would be seamless as we'd discovered that she lived in the same neighborhood. We hopped into a rickshaw, the infamous 3-wheeled Indian taxi, and gave him our friend's address: the house behind the store in the alley next to the gas station behind the gold coin building. These instructions may as well have been jibberish to us, but seeing as most of Ahmedabad runs like this, we had faith that our "ricky" driver would have no problem locating the house.

Unfortunately, he was just as clueless as we were.

So, we started the standard process of asking random people on the street if they had any idea of where we were going. Usually, we get a solid answer on the first try, but last night, we were having a lot of trouble. We asked 5 different people where to go, and they all had different ideas about how to get there. We finally reached our friend's house 45 minutes later after a neighbor escorted our rickshaw to the house on his motorcycle. We realized then, that our friend lived only two blocks away.

With our friend finally in tow, we set off to our show with high spirits, hoping that we would not get lost again. We had her host mom give the driver explicit instructions to the music hall just to be safe. Unfortunately, they weren't quite right, and we had to start the question process all over again. Five people and one trip to the gas station later, we made it to the music hall. We all clapped and cheered before we realized that the show had already ended! We rushed back outside to find our driver stretching after this two hour slog through the city. There was definitely a look of dread when we asked him to take us back home.

Luckily, we made it home without any other issues. Normally, I would consider missing the show a huge inconvenience, but I realized as we laughed our way home that the crazy rickshaw ride was the highlight of my night. Living here is not so much about patience as it is about keeping a sense of humor and a sense of adventure, no matter where you're headed.

2 Week Reflection

AdminFebruary 12, 2014December 14, 2018

By juliaraewagner

As I write this post, I am sitting on a Qatar Airways flight to Ahmedabad, India, the first leg of the IHP Cities trip. All 33 of us have made it onto the flight and are excited for our newest adventure. It will begin after about 40 hours of travel. I, however, cannot complain as Qatar Airways has treated me very well. We only took off twenty minutes ago, and I've already received free candy and a hand towel. I can't imagine the amenities in First Class!

Aside from taking advantage of this awesome movie selection, I plan to use the time to reflect a bit, and of course...catch up on some much needed sleep! The Cities staff and faculty have been led us through an action packed final week in New York City. We spoke to a number of different professionals in the field of urbanism and held multiple discussions based on our observations. One of my favorite aspects about studying urbanism in cities is that the classroom is literally all around you. I can study just by sitting on the Subway on my way to class. Additionally, I can walk out the door after a lecture and witness our textbook examples everywhere.

This week, we had a speaker come in from an intercity organization called the Interboro Partners to talk to us about his work around NYC. He has focused on creating community oriented spaces around the city. His designs have transformed many empty lots into community parks or gardens, immediately increasing their worth to people who live and work in the neighborhood. His most recent project was for PS1, a satellite museum of MoMa located in Long Island City, Queens. Many say that the area is rapidly gentrifying, and PS1 stands as the epitome of this process, so the speaker from Interboro decided to create an outdoor project for the museum that would give back to the surrounding community.

He located nearby businesses and organizations and asked them what they needed most. After compiling an assorted list from trees to ping pong tables to ballet mirrors, he began to craft an innovative design, which would integrate all of these components. He pitched his project to PS1 with the agreement that the museum would donate all of the structure's components to their local counterparts after the exhibition ended. With their approval, he got to work creating his structure, which served as the outdoor exhibition at PS1 for one summer. Each object within the exhibition was labeled to acknowledge its purpose within the community, and after the summer's end, the museum donated all of the necessary objects to the community organizations strengthening their connection with the neighborhood outside the museum walls.

The architect's project in part inspired my focus for my semester-long research project, a mainstay in the IHP curriculum. I will be making a comparative analysis on the use of abandoned spaces in Ahmedabad, Dakar, and Buenos Aires. I plan to examine how these spaces are re-purposed to better serve the surrounding communities. I'm excited to begin my observations! One of my favorite parts of my stay in Buenos Aires last semester was the assortment of open air markets that were held in different neighborhoods all over the city. Re-purposing these streets, parks, and plazas allowed local artisans to make a living and enhance the rich artist culture in Argentina's biggest city. I hope that my research will lead me to discover even more interesting spaces this next semester!