Special metro lines and bus routes will be allowed to operate at low frequency during night time. (PTI Photo) Delhi’s draft master plan for 2041 aims to improve Delhi’s nightlife and make it safer through special nightlife circuits that will have entertainment, sports facilities, retail stores as well as cultural festivals, themed night walks, special metro lines and bus routes.
“Night time economies (NTE) and an active night life are important for improving safety, reducing congestion by staggering activities, utilising spaces for different activities optimally, and improving productivity for formal as well as informal economic activities,” reads the master plan draft.
Streets or areas such as cultural precincts, areas with concentration of heritage assets, areas in the Central Business District are among those that can be designated as these circuits.
“Local bodies, tourism department and other concerned agencies shall identify those circuits and permit extended timing for hotels, restaurants, socio-cultural activities, entertainment, sports facilities, retail stores to function in the night,” reads the master plan document.
The agencies shall work together to identify these circuits to facilitate adequate illumination, security and easy access by public transport.
Special metro lines and bus routes will be allowed to operate at low frequency during night time. “All new constructions and redevelopments along identified circuits shall be incentivized to create active frontages,” said a senior DDA official.
Active frontages are described as shop/store fronts and arcades where there is an active visual engagement between those on the street and those on the ground floors of buildings. Across the world, it is seen as a safety feature where “eyes on the street” along with illumination, become tools to make a city and its streets safer.
As per the plan, agencies concerned can collaborate with artists’ collectives, cultural groups, resident’s groups, youth groups, market and vendors associations and weekly markets to organize seasonal or cultural festivals and themed night walks,” an official said.
The draft master plan also lays emphasis on building cultural hotspots as areas of public interaction. The areas identified to create a better integration with public activity are hotspots such as Shahjahanabad, the Central Vista and India Gate lawns, Connaught Place, Hauz Khas, Mehrauli. Other specific hubs with a concentration of socio-cultural activities shall be identified (e.g. Mandi House, Lodhi Institutional Area and Art precinct, Dilli Haat, Dastakaar Haats, etc.).
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