Principles of Complementarity in Designing Balanced Urban Space: Cases of Sociocultural Spaces of Kolkata

Unplanned skewed urbanization trend of developing countries has made the cities and their constituent urban spaces vulnerable that are struggling to retain their identity. In the case of the cities like Kolkata, with a colonial past, striving hard to maintain the physical, environmental, and cultural fronts and the acceptable yardstick of urban experiences. Hence, the study underscores the re-envisioning of urban regeneration practices, suggesting a paradigm shift from the standpoint of’either-or’ to a liveable’principle of complementarity’ rather than exploring the two constituent parameters, i.e., urban design and urban engineering in isolation. To explore the principles of complementarity, the paper explores two areas of Kolkata, i.e., area around Rabindra Sadan and Saltlake City Center1. The study has arrived at an integrated toolbox based on required technological (tangible) and artistic (intangible) Elements of Design, to devise stepwise analyses of bringing the complementarity between the two design elements, i.e., one, action plans and possibilities of urban regeneration to induce happiness and well-being two, the experience of space.