GIS@development December 2002: "Directions for GIS in Urban Planning"

Land-use planning for towns and cities in India is governed by the Town Planning Act enacted by respective States. Preparation of existing land-use map, projecting future population and economic activities and accordingly prescribing the zoning pattern, transport infrastructure and reservations for public facilities and amenities along with specifications of Development Control Regulations are the essential elements of this planning process. Master Plan or Development Plan is the term used to denote the end product that governs the future development of an urban area. Preparation of a Town Planning (TP) Scheme for a specific micro area in the given city is another dimension of urban planning.

Manual survey to prepare the existing land-use map has been the traditional way. This very first step in formulating the Plan takes considerable time and efforts, particularly, for metropolitan cities and large towns. In the late 1980s, however, thanks to the advent of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and Remote Sensing technology, the process of urban planning in India received a new impetus. Capturing the spatial details by remote sensing, either by satellite imageries or aerial photographs and organising that data together with corresponding attribute data under a GIS offered tremendous ease in undertaking some of the urban planning activities outlined above. Several such applications for a variety of towns and cities are available. This is seen from the documented planning exercises for Mumbai Metropolitan Region [2], National Capital Region [9], Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority Area [8], Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation [4] and Mirzapur [3].

This paper advocates the strengthening and promoting the use of GIS in urban planning by overcoming the observed barriers and initiating new activities to improve the urban scene in the country.

Standardisation of GIS Application
On the basis of the experience in the use of GIS and remote sensing in urban planning the following basic activities are recommended for wider adoption:

Preparation of existing land-use map.
Study of urban sprawl over a given time period to understand the underlying driving forces.
Assessment of land use conversion in different parts to help understanding of the impact of the policies pursued.
Land suitability analysis based on physical, environmental and accessibility parameters to guide the selection process for opening the land for urban development.
Accessibility analysis for proposed major development project like airport, growth centre and stadium.
Evaluation of public suggestions and objections on the draft planning proposals.
Publication of maps at various scales with relevant details.

Besides the above listed primary tasks there are many other planning tasks that can be gainfully carried out using GIS. Examining net density (density computed as ratio of population and developable area) in different parts for rational allocation of resources, implementation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) guidelines and reviewing the development status of reservations are some examples [6, 7].

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