Urban planning is considered as one of the important tools for managing urban growth as well as for the provision of a framework for public goods and services, according to the spatial planning hierarchies and scales. Infrastructure services, thus, form a very important component of urban planning and city development strategies, ensuring a better quality of life for their citizens.
In India, however, the process of urban planning itself has been evolving and lacks a serious clarity of purpose and ground-level implementation. It is estimated that around 100 Indian towns and cities have updated forms of urban planning directing their urban growths. Also, the subject of urban planning, being a “state subject”, the content and approach vary significantly from state to state.
Although a national guideline of Urban and Regional Development and Plan Formulation (URDPFI) guidelines of 2014 exists at the national level, however, the guideline is rarely followed or understood well by the state-level implementation agencies. A typical statutory urban plan, thus a long-term proposal for urban land use and development control regulations.
The majority of these planning proposals are long term land use control proposals, based on “predict and provide” type philosophies. These plans generally lack sound infrastructure proposals as well as a good road map towards resource mobilisation. As a result, the majority of these planning proposals remain under-realised on the ground.
In the early 2000s, the strategic planning tools like City Development Strategies (CDS), followed by City Development Plans (CDPs) and Slum Free City Plans, during the National Urban Renewal Mission and later, Smart City Plans (SCPs), HRIDAY City Heritage Plans (CHPs), City Mobility Plans (CMP), among others, gained substantial popularity due to their clear focus on infrastructure and linkages with the national level funding.
The National Urban Renewal mission also popularized the notion of “Detailed Project Reports or DPRs” for funding of infrastructure proposals. Such funding opportunity being available at the national level, the significance of a city-level spatial planning or city master plans got further diluted and DPRs became more attractive for the city administration.
As a part of its reform agenda, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) has introduced the preparation of GISbased Master Planning and a subscheme on Local Area Planning (LAP) and Town Planning schemes (TPS). The sub-scheme on LAP and TPS is a step in the right direction towards the creation of much needed spatial planning hierarchy in the urban context.
However, the present approach of GIS-based Master Plan preparation focuses mainly on the mapping of urban geographic features and lack its focus on planning aspects of infrastructure, urban poverty, and city economy. In some states, GIS-based Master Planning is viewed as a parallel planning process, but again not harmonised with the state-specific statutory planning process.
The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11.3 states, “By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanisation and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries”. Being at the forefront of the urbanisation trends, India remains a key actor in the global sustainability agenda.