landscape assessment of gangtok sikkim

8/19/2019 Landscape Assessment of Gangtok Sikkim

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RUMTEK MONASTERY MONASTERY


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ROPEWAY STATION AREA


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VISUAL ASSESSMENT

SURVEY METHODS

Visual landscape assessment is a key element in landscape planning, management and monitoring, and serves as an important basis for landscape policy. The identi-fying character of rural and urban environments is, to a large extent, built upon visual perception. Visual landscape attributes like spaciousness and related indicators,

such as degree of openness, building density and the nature of spatial boundaries, are important elements in landscape perception and preference.The areas covered under the assessment of Gangtok were:1. Sonam Tshering Marg

2. Mg Road3. Ropeway, Namnang4. Chandmari


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5. Secretariat

6. Palace and Palace Road

7. Deorali Fringe area8. Rumtek Monastery

9. Sikkim Himalayan Zoological Park

1. Recognising Topography: through pictures, plans and sections

Floodplain Lowlands Undulations Hills Mountains Steeplandforms Plains

2. Recognising Landscape elements: through sketches and photographsBuilt forms, farming, landcover, woodland, hydrology, communication

3. Recognising Aesthetical and perpetual aspects: through sketches, color palettes and photographsScale, enclosure, diversity,texture, form, line, color, balance, movement, pattern, unity, security, stimulus, tranquility, pleasure, visual dynamics

4. Drawing Inferences: through the collected dataRegarding the landscape character of a particular region, the key characteristics, the management and condition of the place and the sense of place.

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA: SONAM TSHERING MARG


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The view shows the distant hills of the Gangtok region

from the Sonam Tshering Marg.

The view shows the residential area on the sonam Tsher-

ing Marg. Floors on the buildings are constantly on a rise.

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA- SONAM TSHERING MARG


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The experience through the street offers a subtle variation, from hotel accommodations, residentialapartments and homes. The natural slope of the street, acts as a natural drain for the rainwater.Their is

high pedestrian trafc. The natural vegetation forms the backdrop whereas the houses have introduced

potted species.

Typical sketch of the street showing the retaining wall, stormwater drains and the built form.

A typical house of the area between two layers of vegetation

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA:MG ROAD


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The view shows a busy MG Road during the morning

hours. One can spot the street furniture and plants. theentire road is pedestrianised with shops on either sideand a wide median in the centre.

The view shows the starting of the MG road with the pe-

destrian footover in front. A tall statue of Mahatma Gandhimarks the beginning of the road.

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA:MG ROAD


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The area is a lush green coniferous zone with animal areas dispered around the access path. Shades

of green dominate the backgorund and the foreground. Faunal and oral interaction is on its peak. Onecan hear numerous sounds of various animals. Also provides a sense of height and beautiful views of

the Gangtok town below. The scale of spaces ranges from intimate ones to clear zones.

View of the Mg Road- street furniture.

A portion of the cross -section from Mg market to Lal market

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA:ROPEWAY, NAMNANG


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Around the deorali area:Vegetation around the Deorali

station area is mostly decidious and other broad leavedvarieties---conifers are infrequent. Some efforts have

been taken to beautify the area with hedges and owerbeds along the road sides.

Namnang station :The area is surrounded by dense vege-

tation which consists mainly of conifers such as Japonicaspecies , eucalyptus varieties and native shrubs.Littlewhite and yellow daisies are also seen blooming on thecrevices of retaining walls along the approach road.

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA:ROPEWAY, NAMNANG


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The ropeway is an insight to the town in one go. Offers exciting views of the natural and man- madelandscape around. It connects the highest point of the town to the lowest.Passes through dense andthickly populated area of the town. Whereas the area around the ropeway terminal is green and rich in

ora. It has the potential of a landscape design being introduced.Forests on the way

A glimpse of the ropeway station

A view of the busy town from the Ropeway

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA: CHANDMARI


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The view shows the kind of residential construction in the

Chandmari area.

View showing the streets of the residential areas. Streets

accomodate both vehicular and pedestrian trafc.

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA:CHANDMARI


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Active street life, good use of outdoor spaces, entertainment, always vibrant. The area seems to becolorful and dynamic. Local architecture, different from the main town can be spotted.

A typical house with potted plants in front

A view showing the road with houses on both sides.

Houses with sloping roofs

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA:SECRETARIAT


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The view shows the Secretariat in the backdrop with lush

green vegetation in the foreground. also shows the heavyparking on the roadsides and pedestrian movement.

The view has been taken from the development area

road, it is the upcoming urban hub of the town. One canspot the contemporary style multistoreyed buildings.

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA:SECRETARIAT


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The Secretariat area is a an urban setting with a diverse landscape character. The area though busytends to have a calm and a pleasant character to it because of the dense vegetation. The diversity in

lora and fauna attracts the onlooker. Dark and shadowed beacuse of broad canopies. Shades of green

remain dominant. The trafc- pedestrian and vehicular, is managed well.A small junction with the main highway diverting into another.

NH31 Highway with vehicular and pedestrian segregation

An impression of the ora of the region

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA:PALACE AND THE PALACE ROAD


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The view shows the monastery inside the palace com-

plex. The monastery has a garden with various owering

species in the front.

The gate of the palace as seen from the palace road,

which is also know as the ridge park road as it sits on theridge of the hill. It gives amazing views of the Mg Margbelow.

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA: PALACE AND THE PALACE ROAD


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It is a well developed area with gardens and green sidewalks. Dominated by high pedestrian movementin the morning and evening. The microclimate is pleasant because of a vast number of conifers andother tree species. Walking is pleasurable with beautiful views of the downtown.

View of the palace road

A section through different layers of the palace hill.

View of the Palace Monastery

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA:DEORALI FRINGE


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The view shows the crowded streets of the Deorali market

area, the dense construction on both sides of the road,which itself is busy throughout the day.The view alsoshows pedestrian movement on one side.

The view shows the fringe area where newer buildings

are coming up. The construction is pretty much multi-sto-reyed. The commercial zone is expanding downwardsthrough the Derali area.

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA:DEORALI FRINGE


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The buttery skywalk and the ropeway station become the major landmarks of the area. It has distrib-uted vegetation. Few trees are present on the roadsides. The area also offers interesting views of thelower valley. Urban fabric is dense with less green or landscaped areas. Mixed landuse. Shades of grey

and vehicle/construction noise dominate the region.The buttery overbridge and the busy road down below

A view from the Deorali area of the hills behind

Section through the area.

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA: RUMTEK MONASTERY


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The view shows the garden at Rumtek with the employ-

ee quarters behind. A number of owering species have

been introduced in the campus apart from the native orawhich add vibrance and color to this area.

The view shows the different levels of the Rumtek Monas-

tery and the natural vegetation of the Sikkim hills behind.The monastery stands way up the hill and is smeared in abright palette of colors according to the Buddhist philoso-phy.

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA: RUMTEK MONASTERY


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The area is calm and far above the hustle and bustle of the roads and vehicles. The strong monochro-matic backdrop of coniferous trees provides a strong contrast to the colorful buildings and the intro-

duced ora species in the premises.

An overall view of the Monastery

The entrance gate to the Monastery

The terraces or the levels of the Monastery as seen from theplaza

VISUAL ASSESSMENT

AREA: SIKKIM HIMALYAN ZOOLOGICAL PARK


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The view shows the dominating conifer forest behind. The

layers of forest are seen fading off the zoo accessway.

The journey through the road provides numerous viewpoints.

The view shows the diverse vegetation on both sides of

the zoo road. Number of species of bamboo, ferns, coni-fers, hydrangeas, azaleas and begonias are found here.


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BOOKS :

1. Polunin, Oleg & Stainton, Adam. Flowers of the Himalaya, 20082. Stainton, Adam. A Supplement on Flowers of Himalaya3. ENVIS Center . Sacred Groves of Sikkim4. ENVIS Center . Biodiversity of Sikkim and conserving a global hotspot

GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS :

1. ENVIS Center, Gangtok 2. Forest Department, Gangtok

REFERENCES


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3. UDHD (Urban Development and Housing Development), Gangtok 4. PHED (Public Health Engineering Department), Gangtok 5. Tourists Information Center, Gangtok 6. Tourism Department, Tadong, Gangtok 7. Geological Department, Gangtok

WEB RESOURCES :

1. www.sikkim.gov.in2. www.sikenvis.nic.in3. www.sikkimudhd.org

4. www.sikkim-irrigation.gov.in5. www.raysikkim.org


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landscape assessment of gangtok sikkim

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