The city must repurpose some of its colonial heritage buildings and rejuvenate derelict industrial land to recharge Calcutta as an urban growth centre, Sanjeev Sanyal, member of the PM economic advisory council, said.
Citing the example of the Louvre Museum, which used to be a royal palace and also housed the office of the French finance ministry on the right bank of the Seine in Paris, Sanyal said some of the properties in central Calcutta should be redeployed without being emotional about the original use.
“All great urban hubs redeploy their heritage buildings,” Sanyal insisted, “This (Calcutta) is not a city of nostalgia. It’s a living city.”
Sanyal, who participated in the BCC&I conclave, advocated for bringing Calcutta back as a centre of urban growth to turbocharge the economy of Bengal and eastern India.
Citing the outsized influence of global cities like New York and Singapore on their economy, he argued against decongesting Calcutta. “It is the concentration that generates urban growth. You have to build infrastructure,” he proposed.
He said repurposing derelict industrial land could unlock fresh economic activity, while improved infrastructure planning would help alleviate congestion.