Explore, test and propose ways that the new, emerging city of Naya Raipur can provide for Indian Life : Inhabiting the thresholds and spaces between buildings and streets ; city and landscape ; neighbourhoods and districts ; providing for the needs of citydwellers to become more equal and prosperous in the future.
Engage with the design of a new city, as it comes into being.

Naya Raipur is a new, planned capital city for 500,000 inhabitants, adjacent to the existing city of Raipur and currently under construction. The state government is moving to Naya Raipur in 2012, attracting new workers, residents and businesses and beginning the establishment of a new, urban population centre. This is a critical moment for the region : the way that the new city develops and is inhabited in the early years will greatly influence its future form and success. The workshop in November 2012 will take
place at a point in time when the first steps of a new city are being taken, but different possibilities remain open. NRDA, the development agency responsible for the new city are open to ideas and wish to invite professional participants to work under the les Ateliers method, to explore these possibilities, with the intention of implementation of the best results.
The Naya Raipur Masterplan sets out phased development over the next 19 years through to 2031. The document sets out the objective of the new city as follows : 'It will be modern in the use of technology, uphold worthy traditions and core values, and conserve the prevailing man-nature symbiotic culture as well as abundant natural & cultural assets in the region. The citizens will be offered a wide range of living options with equity and dignity'

The objective of the workshop is to explore the potential for the new city plan to achieve its goal of
becoming a ‘city for everyone'.

A means to explore this potential is through the ‘thresholds' that are highly significant in Indian architecture and the main space where social interaction occurs. To test the potential of these spaces, four topics are given : i. ‘mixity' of forms, functions and people ; ii. transport and density ; iii. space and water as a social resource ; iv. ‘positioning' of the city. A number of sites will be identified as testing grounds for these topics, based on the identification of particular threshold conditions.
2012 is an important time for Naya Raipur. A great deal of planning has gone into the new city ; the first districts are under construction and the first inhabitants arriving, but many details will have to be worked out over the following 20 years of construction. The future of a city can never be fully planned in advance and once inhabited it will take on a life of its own.
The opportunity of the workshop is to test the new plan in certain critical respects and to make proposals for how it can be adjusted and adapted to anticipate and accommodate Indian life.