Urban planning and Development
It is now being recognised that urban areas are the engines of growth at both regional and national level. To facilitate and sustain this growth, cities have to provide both a high quality of life and an efficient infrastructure for economic activities.
| Year |
% Urban Population to Total Population |
% Contribution to National Income |
| 1951 |
17.3 |
29 |
| 1981 |
23.3 |
47 |
| 1991 |
25.7 |
55 |
| 2001 |
28.5 |
61 |
Urban planning is basically resource generation, resource development and resource management exercise. The efficiency of urban settlements largely depends upon how well they are planned, how economically they are developed and how efficiently they are managed. Planning inputs largely govern the efficiency level of human settlements. Urban planning and development refers to a process that harnesses spatio-economic potential of an area for the benefit of the people. Its scope ranges from a cluster & houses to the entire settlement and beyond to a region and even the nation as a whole. Urban planning includes preparation / rendering of–
- Perspective Plan
- Development Plan
- Annual Plan
- Schemes and projects
- Participatory approach for supply of land and infrastructure development.
The urban development planning process in the past has been unduly long and has been largely confined to the detailing of land use aspects. The plans have paid inadequate attention to the provision of trunk infrastructure, environmental conservation and financing issues. They have been unrealistic and have not been accompanied by investment programmes and capital budgets. The planning and plan implementation processes have not paid adequate attention to the integration of land use and transport planning. The fact that transport is a key determinant of land use and “leads” development is sometimes ignored. A Development Plan is essentially a blue-print for development, which seeks to guide development along desired lines for a particular horizon year. In addition to the general layout, it addresses issues related to development on virgin land, heritage conservation, environment, improvement of an old city etc. At present, hardly 30 percent of the urban centers have some sort of Master Plan, which in many cases, is just a policy document. It is estimated that there are about 1600 master plans prepared by various Agencies responsible for plan preparation but their implementation is not encouraging. The implementation of master plan facilitates the orderly and planned development of cities in a sustainable manner, which would ultimately help in good governance.
The Master plan Approach - Objectives and Functions
The master plan, which was perceived to be a process rather than a conclusive statement, provides guidelines for the physical development of the city and guides people in locating their investments in the city. In short, Master Plan is a design for the physical, social, economic and political frame work for the city, which greatly improve the quality of Urban Governance also.
The functions of the Master Plan / Development plan are as follows :
- To guide development of a city in an orderly manner so as to improve the quality of life of the people
- Organise and coordinate the complex relationships between urban land uses
- Chart a course for growth and change, be responsive to change and maintain its validity over time and space, and be subject to continual review
- Direct the physical development of the city in relation to its social and economic characteristics based on comprehensive surveys and studies on the present status and the future growth prospects; and
- Provide a resource mobilization plan for the proposed development works.
The Constitution (74
th) Amendment Act, 1992 provides for a democratic and participatory planning process so as to incorporate the needs of the people, particularly the poor and socially disadvantaged, in the planning process. The Act stipulates the setting up of District planning Committees (DPCs) and Metropolitan Planning Committees (MPCs) for integration of spatial and economic development and rural and urban planning. The DPCs / MPCs need to be constituted under the State Acts. A three tier planning structure is envisaged in the states – Panchayats / Municipalities level, district and metropolitan level and state level. Under this framework, Panchayats/ Municipalities would prepare plans for their areas which would be consolidated at the district level in the form of draft district development plans. The metropolitan development plan would be prepared by the MPCs. All district and metropolitan development plans would then lead to the formulation of a plan at the state level.
The 12
th Schedule of the Constitution (74
th Amendment) Act lists the 18 functions of the municipalities which among others include: (I) urban planning including town planning; (ii) regulation of land use and construction of buildings; and (iii) planning for economic and social development. For a rational integration of spatial and economic development, functions related to spatial and socio economic planning and development should be assigned to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). For an effective urban planning system, there is the need to have a package of inter-related plans at three levels namely long-term perspective structure plan (20-25 years) short term integrated infrastructure Development plan (5 year) and Annual Action plan as part of Infrastructure Development plan. The short-term integrated Infrastructure plan and Annual plan could be in the form of “rolling” plans to enable the ULBs to continuously review and monitor the plan, and to update it every year / five years. The aim should be to make urban planning system as a continuous process. Each level of plan must include measures for infrastructure development and environmental conservation :
- Perspective Structure Plan : The long-term Perspective Structure Plan could be prepared by the MPCs broadly indicating goals, policies and strategies for spatio-economic development of the urban settlement. The perspective plan may include :
- Physical characteristics and natural resources:
- Direction and magnitude of growth and development – area and population (Demography)
- Arterial / grid road network and mass transit corridors with modular development block.
- Infrastructure network – water, sewage, drainage, roads, bus and truck terminals, rail network, etc.
- Broad compatible and mixed land use packages and zones :
- Community open space system and organization of public spaces :
- Environmental conservation and preservation of areas of architectural, heritage and ecological importance ;
- Major issues and development constraints;
- Financial estimates and fund flow patterns; and
- Policy and plans for EWS housing.
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Infrastructure Development Plan : Integrated infrastructure Development Plan should be prepared by ULBs in the context of the approved Perspective Plan. The scope of the Plan should cover an assessment of existing situation, prospects and priorities and development including employment generation programs, economic base, transportation and land use, housing and land development, environmental improvement and conservation programs. The development plan may include.
- Identification of gaps and shortcomings in the delivery of municipal services;
- Identification of service and remunerative projects and their prioritisation along with capital budgeting and investment programmes; and
- Housing and land development programmes, including identification of areas for residential and non-residential development and development of trunk infrastructure.
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Annual Plan : Within the framework of Development Plan, Annual action plans for the urban areas should be prepared by the ULBs specifying the projects and schemes with costing and cash flow for both on-going and new projects. The Annual action plan should provide and in-built system for implementation of the Development Plan. In this plan various urban development schemes should be integrated spatially and financially. Annual plan may consist of :
- targets to be achieved – physical and fiscal;
- fund flow ; and
- Project design and specification, including tender document for implementation.
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Projects and Schemes : As part of the Development plans and Action plans, projects and schemes within towns / cities could be taken up for any area / activity related to housing, commercial centers, industrial areas, social and cultural infrastructure, transport, environment, urban renewal etc. by governmental bodies / local agencies / private sector and through public private-partnership. Such projects could be both long-term and short-term and in conformity with the development requirements of the respective town / city.