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15 Nov 2024, 17:02

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/much-needed- impetus-to-making-auroville-a-city-of-the-future/

article68869905.ece

Much-needed impetus to making Auroville a ‘city of the

future’

PREMIUM

Land consolidation for the city

area is being overseen in a

professional way

Published - November 15, 2024 04:32 am IST

ANU MAJUMDAR

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‘Auroville is a vision-driven city’ | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Named after Sri Aurobindo and based on his vision for the

future, Auroville was created as a planned city for the

evolution of humanity. Towards this, the Mother, Sri

Aurobindo’s spiritual collaborator, invited the architect, Roger

Anger, in 1965, gave him a brief and worked with him for the

next three years until she approved the final plan known as

the Galaxy, in 1968. But, before that, in 1966, the architect

and his team made a presentation on Auroville and its city

plan at UNESCO, Paris, at Mother’s request. This reveals

Auroville as a city with a spiritual centre placed on a lake and

surrounded by gardens.

Their brief speaks of a city powered by solar energy,

optimising pedestrian flow instead of polluting cars, rainwater

harvesting, the use of natural air conditioning, and streets

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with shade to ease walkability: a forerunner of sustainable

planning now being emulated across the world, which a

faction of residents remains ignorant of, despite all

information being available in the public domain of Auroville.

The City Plan, intrinsic sustainability

For the experiment to succeed, the Mother limited the

population to 50,000 residents with a corresponding urban

plan, where all aspects for an evolving humanity would find

place. Created for humanity as a whole, as stated in the

opening line of the Charter, this experiment was nevertheless

aimed at those ready to make a commitment, as the Charter

also states: But to live in Auroville, one must be a willing

servitor of the Divine Consciousness.

On February 28, 1968, the Galaxy Plan was displayed at the

entrance of the Amphitheatre and the Charter read out. All

men of goodwill were invited to this extraordinary

experiment and city, provided they had a thirst for progress

and aspired to a higher and truer life.

By 1969, the Mother hired Roger Anger to prepare the first

master plan study. Here the most important element after the

Matrimandir, the Crown, was presented in detail. Yet, it has

had to wait through years of impasse after the Mother’s

passing, court cases and, finally, the Auroville Foundation Act,

enacted in 1988. With this, the process of formulating an

official master plan was undertaken by residents at the

request of the Governing Board, as stipulated in the Act, and

received all approvals by 2001. It is understood that