Abstract 

Indian cities are multilayered entities that have been growing organically, devoid of any catastrophic events that were sort of witnessed in Europe during the World Wars. Hence to understand Indian cities, it is crucial to understand the growth of the city right from its roots. Various aspects influence the growth of the city, and its expansion creates various vacuums at the intersection of urban and suburban regions and neighbourhoods affecting their interaction. The differences in these interactions, along with the ideological or functional vacuums present in the city lead to the creation of urban voids. The voids exist as large vacant plots among large commercial developments or as smaller multipurpose residual spaces scattered in the dense morphology of the city. Starting with a basic definition of the term ‘Void’, we aim to redefine this term for Indian context by considering Pune as the case study for this research. The research attempts to understand this phenomenon which we call “voids”, by deriving a taxonomy that classifies the voids according to various growth patterns. Pune has been a slate for multiple identities throughout the course of history, with various actors influencing its growth patterns. Along with the geo-political and socio-economic aspects, the research considers these influences while deriving the taxonomy of voids as they affect the city’s growth and morphology. The research also aims to present a critical analysis of the value of these voids with the taxonomy being used as a reference to understand the voids in other Indian cities. 

Keywords – actors, influence, growth, suburban, voids, taxonomy.