Capital gains: How zombie town Amaravati could rise again with TDP in Andhra

livemint.com:

bifurcation of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and creation of Telangana in 2014 was an emotional blow. What added salt to the wound was the loss of Hyderabad to Telangana after the bifurcation, leaving Andhra Pradesh without a capital. Naidu, who became the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, announced the creation of a new capital, promising to build a smart city.

Amaravati was chosen as the location for many reasons; geographically, it is in the middle of the state and easily accessible. “Earlier, in undivided Andhra Pradesh, people had to travel 800 kilometres to reach Hyderabad from northern parts of the state. We wanted to consciously avoid that problem," said Pattabhi Ram Kommareddy, TDP leader and its national spokesperson.

Also, Amaravati was on the south bank of river Krishna. Throughout history, across the world, large cities have sprouted around rivers, securing water for the citizenry and industry. A river winding around a city is also great for retail and entertainment.

London-based Foster + Partners and Singapore’s Surbana Jurong were tapped for the masterplan. A consortium of Singapore and Indian firms were roped in for urban design, infrastructure and industrial development planning. Together, they drew up the city’s blueprint.

In the masterplan, the city was divided into three regions—core capital, capital city and the capital region. The government complex, comprising the legislative assembly, high court and secretariat buildings sat in the middle. Nine zones or mini cities were planned to focus on governance, sports, health, knowledge, electronics, tourism, finance, justice and media.