The last cabinet meeting in South Block carried symbolic weight. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers gathered in the Herbert Baker-designed building one final time before the highest seat of power, the PMO, relocated after 78 years. The move signals Modi's determination to replace colonial and Nehruvian vestiges from the capital's landscape.
The transformation is comprehensive. Bharat Mandapam has replaced Raj Rewal's designed buildings in iconic Pragati Maidan, a landmark of Nehruvian-era architecture. Ten new Kartavya Bhawans will consolidate 51 ministries, replacing aging structures like Shastri Bhawan, Krishi Bhawan, and Nirman Bhawan. With them will disappear public artworks, including Satish Gujral's mural framing Shastri Bhawan. The new Parliament building, Ambedkar Bhawan, and Yashobhoomi in Dwarka complete this architectural assertion. These buildings project India's global ambitions, grand structures for a rising power.
Yet walk through this transformed Delhi and a glaring absence becomes apparent: Where can ordinary people actually sit?
India Gate now has clean toilets and drinking water, welcome upgrades. But picnicking remains prohibited, keeping families at arm's length from what should be their most accessible public space.
Delhi's most popular public spaces reveal an uncomfortable truth about who this city serves. On New Year's Day, the Zoo drew 25,000 visitors—not because people prefer caged animals to celebration, but because malls and markets demanded bigger pockets. Meanwhile, Sunder Nursery has become the capital's upscale cultural retreat for the well-heeled.
The Delhi Development Authority claims to manage over 18,000 parks and gardens across 8,000 hectares. The number sounds impressive until you visit these spaces. How many are functional? How many feel safe after sunset? How many have basic amenities like benches, shade, and clean drinking water? The gap between DDA statistics and reality is vast. While some progress has been made as improved facilities do attract huge crowds where they exist but the scale remains insufficient.
The BJP now controls all three tiers of governance in Delhi: the central government, the state government, and the municipal corporation. This consolidated power provides a rare opportunity to transform public spaces, making them safe and accessible.
Consider the Yamuna. The BJP-led Delhi government, now completing its first year, positioned the river as the centerpiece of its development model. Yet the Yamuna remains what it has been for decades: a polluted drain rather than a riverfront where families can gather. Paris has the Seine, London the Thames, Seoul the Cheonggyecheon, Ahmedabad the Sabarmati. Delhi could have the Yamuna—kilometres of safe, beautiful public space along the water. Even where ghats have been prepared, users complain about difficult access and persistent stench.
The new architectural vision for Delhi reflects genuine ambition as the government offices should match India's global stature. But Delhi also needs breathing room, not ornamental gardens locked behind gates, but open spaces where a family can spread a mat under winter sun or find shade during summer evenings. Where a student can read without needing to buy coffee. Where elderly residents can walk safely. Where children can play without their parents worrying.
Given the Prime Minister's eye for detail and sustained monitoring to see projects take shape, he could champion this transformation personally, as he has championed the architectural one. Grand buildings matter. But so does a simple park bench, within a safe space.