Reviving the Dead Space Under Elevated Structure

At present, the degree of urbanization in most countries continues to increase, and elevated highways have become an important part of urban development. To alleviate traffic problems, many Indian municipal authorities have taken the initiative to construct flyovers at major intersections. Unfortunately, this has created serious problems in most cities, where an integrated planning approach has not been adopted in most cases, either due to a lack of funding or a lack of understanding of the planning perspective of these proposals. The sprawling infrastructure of these elevated highways fragments communities and creates unwanted spaces by easing traffic but isolating people. This study seeks answers on how to reprioritize the use of dead space under these structures, a way of understanding urban behavior while taming the negative impacts of these elevated highways to enable the use of space under the bridges, which must be planned and built, and neglect will lead to misuse of space, creating an unsanitary and disturbing environment. Based on case studies and examples, the study will develop clear guidelines to fill these urban gaps and explore design principles to create an inviting environment in the most unlikely spaces under the elevated freeway.