Abstract:
Cities are dynamic and liveable places where people experience the phenomenon of life.
The essence of Indian cities lies in the interrelationship of its urban structure and human
aspirations. Urban structure is not just the sum of development block, built entity, open
space, street, landscape, etc. It is a set of socio- cultural integration that their inhabitant
develops. COVID-19 capriciously affected urban structures by eliminating humanizing
aspects to sustain life. The fundamentals of social integration, place making, flexibility
and character, which together shapes up the city are under dilemma. The traces of
pandemic have emphasized and questioned the roots of humanizing aspects in shaping
the urban structure as the key urban form determinant. Perhaps, depending upon urban
ways of life, during the pandemic people have carved their own ways to sustain life. It
has sparked a concern about how urban structure will remain humanized by tackling the
contradicting values like social disconnection, community disintegration to enrich and
enliven the new normal?
The paper has address a case of capitol of India, Delhi which has undergone a major shift
during pandemic. It intends to decipher the consequences of covid-19 pandemic on
humanizing aspects of Delhi by doing comparative analysis between the compact and
standard prototype of urban structure. First the study adopts an investigative approach
to record, document and analysis the impact on existing urban structure by examining
their prototype. Then through physical observations, photographs and documentary
evidences it focuses on providing a toolkit useful for re-establishing and shaping the
urban structures as humanized urban structure in making of resilient future.
