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DEATH OF MASTER PLAN INEVITABLE:
A CASE OF MIXED LANDUSE IN DELHI
GGSIPU
Aditya Tognatta, New Delhi
B.Arch, University School of Architecture and Planning, 2005
Roll No: 0451731605
DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
BACHELOR IN ARCHITECTURE
BY
©Aditya Tognatta, New Delhi 2010
GURU GOBIND SINGH INDRAPRASTHA UNIVERSITY,
Kashmere Gate-110006
University School of Architecture and Planning
JANUARY 2010
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable:
GGSIP UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING
KASHMERE GATE, NEW DELHI
Dissertation Title
DEATH OF MASTER PLAN INEVITABLE:
A CASE OF MIXED LANDUSE IN DELHI
Approval Certificate
The following study is hereby approved as a creditable work on the approved subject, carried out
and presented in a manner sufficiently satisfactory to warrant its acceptance.
It is to be understood that by this approval the undersigned does not necessarily endorse or
approve any statement made, opinion expressed or conclusions drawn therein, but approve the
study only for the purpose for which it is submitted and satisfies himself as to the requirements
laid down by the dissertation committee.
Name of the student Name of the Guide
Aditya Tognatta (Prof. Rupinder Singh)
(045/USAP/2005)
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable:
ABSTRACT
Delhi is the capital city of India and home to a population of almost 16 million people. It
remains one of the largest urban agglomerations in the world. Therefore, it is important to look at
the state of urban planning in the city and its responses to the growth and management. The
Master Plan for Delhi is supposed to be the main policy document for this purpose, a legally
enforceable instrument which lays down the planning strategies and development controls
applicable to the city. To meet the ever growing demands of commercial sector and to put an end
to their non conformity to premeditated systems of planning, the MPD 2021 has advanced their
efforts in promoting mixed land use in the capital city of Delhi. This paper attempts to provide a
critical analysis of this feature of the Master Plan, keeping in mind the recent controversies
regarding the demolition drive in the city against unauthorized construction. My attempt is to
deconstruct the provisions of the plan in the face of the ground realities facing the inhabitants.
Special attention is given to the debate over stringent and outdated development controls and
zoning regulations in the city as the theoretical underpinnings of this debate. The paper also
looks at some examples of cities across the world to get a feel of some of the international trends
in planning for better cities. The paper finds that there are serious shortcomings in Delhi draft
plan, which has failed to address the demands of the residents of the city. It also argues that the
Master Plan would eventually die out, as it does not possess requisite tools and strategies in its
arsenal to implement mixed use. Strategic land use plans have a long dismal history not only in
country such as India but overseas as well. Furthermore, the paper seeks to show that the logic of
master plan does not acknowledge the full complexity of mixed use development to sustain
globally developing cities today. I have also argued, for greater participation by the people in the
decision making process rather than a top down planning approach, and there is an urgent need
to review the Master Plan and upgrade our urban tools. Through an examination of Curitiba
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(Brazil) and London (United Kingdom) the article shows how strategies that have been prepared
for these cities were geared towards enhancing them to a ‗world city‘ status without the
implementation of a Master Plan and also highlight tools that can be inculcated into the planning
system for constructing better urban environments in the today.
Key words: Mixed Land-use, Master Plan, Urban Tools and Urban Planning.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The journey has been long and there have been numerous co pilots. I‘d like to thank all of them.
First of all I would like to express my indebtedness towards my computer and the world wide
web, which stood by me at each and every second of my academic semester and after him, my
parents and friends who have been instrumental in shaping me as I am.
I‘d like to thank Prof. Rupinder Singh, my guide, who was persistent, patient and
considerate towards my idea and for planting all the seeds in my mind, directly or indirectly.
I would also like to thank our seminar coordinator Prof. Ashok lal for his consistent
guidance and update of the study, and for his immense support and consistent guidance that was
never short of encouragement whenever it was needed the most.
I‘d like to thank my friends who have been constantly the source of new ideas and who
gave me invaluable inputs. And it would not have been possible without Usap and its walls and
its memories.
And a special thanks to Google.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page ………………………………… i
Approval ………………………………... ii
Abstract ………………………………... iii
Acknowledgements ………………………………... v
Introductory Brief ………………………………... vi
Table of Contents ………………………………... vi
Hypothesis ………………………………... viii
Objectives ………………………………... viii
Research and Methodology ………………………………... viiii
Scope and Limitations ………………………………... ix
Significance of study ………………………………... x
CHAPTER 1 Introduction..………………..... 1
DELHI: City In Need Of Viable Planning Solutions…
It includes the trigger to the argument that the master plan is in requisite in its
wholesome sense, and cannot adhere to mixed-uses in its present structure; an attempt
has been made to prove this argument, through a detailed dismal history of Master Plan
of Delhi, also citing various other aspects for its own dismissal in the future. It also
includes various other aspects of the master plan where, it falls short both in terms of
content and focus as well as overall layout and user friendliness
CHAPTER 2 Case Studies…..……………… 11
CURITIBA: City that rejected its Master Plan, For A Better Future…
Curitiba has been studied in respect to its compliance to Master Plan, and also through
the strategies and guidelines it laid for improving the infrastructural facilities to
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legitimize mixed use in their land use policy.
LONDON: City Based on Temporal Strategies and Extensive Mixed Use Zoning…
The transformation of the city has been studied, in respect to its land use requirements and
planning strategies. That was developed to counter the effects of extreme globalization. The
role of the Mayor and governing bodies have been highlighted, justifying as to how have they
been able to incorporate mixed use developments in spite of the chaotic nature of the city and
booming population.
CHAPTER 3 Inferences & Conclusions…….. 36
Conclusions have been made based on the case studies done in the previous chapters,
these conclusions have been drawn keeping in mind the aspirations and requirements of
Delhi today.
CHAPTER 4 Tools And Strategies..………... 40
This chapter include tools and strategies that are essential for sustaining mixed use
developments across the city, it revolves around Transit Oriented Development(TOD) and
Three Dimensional GIS Tools for inculcation the same. It also talks about the role of the
developing authorities in implementing timely strategies for improving the overall urban
environments
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………. 49
APPENDIX ………………………………. 52
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HYPOTHESIS:
In urbanism today, the preference for mixed land use is a truism, but to sustain this typology
involves re-thinking of our urban tools and urban forms. A strong adherence to mixed land use
would eventually lead to finding the Master Plan a tool both inadequate and problematic.
In globally emerging mega-cities mixed-use developments are among the approaches in
land use planning which constitute a part of the public policy and regulations. Whatever the
approach adopted, it is subject to the provision of other factors such as public policy and
regulations, economic factors and social and cultural ideas and values, etc. Thus indicating that a
dead piece of paper is incapable in structuring the growth of a city adhering to such planning.
OBJECTIVES:
- To Study and generate an understanding of the parameters governing Mixed land use and also
highlight as to why the Master Plans is incapable of sustaining such a typology, leading to
DEATH OF THE MASTER PLAN.
- This paper also seeks to analyze the various problems, potentials and factors that are to be
considered for the establishment of this typology and hence, suggest various tools and strategies
for a successful amalgamation of this typology in the city.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
First, generating a case for the typology known as‘ Mixed Land use‘ in Delhi and analyzing the
various factors and forces responsible for the legitimacy of such a planning typology.
This would be achieved by the critically analyzing the relevant literature
Second, highlight the dismal history of the Master Plan of Delhi over the years and project how
in requisite the tools and strategies of MPD are for sustaining Mixed Land-use in the city.
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Through critical analysis of the role of MPD, citing an example of one such area in the
city and also through drilling discussions with advisors and experts in the field
Third, understand the implications on master and land use plan on the introduction of such a
planning typology.
This would be achieved by analyzing various successful cities that have managed to
sustain this planning typology over the years
Fourth, highlight the various tools and strategies required in the current planning system, for
mixed land use to be successful in Delhi.
Concluded from the case studies of the cities done in the previous chapters
SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS:
This research particularly focused on mixed-use developments by using the case studies
at the scale of city level planning. Then a generalization to various implications that would lead
to the ‗DEATH‘ of the master plan on the introduction of mixed-use developments is derived.
It is assumed that mixed-use developments is the need of the hour in cities like India,
which is seen as a profitable investment market by developed countries, thus leading to higher
commercial activity in the city. Since the Scope of the study is vast, the case studies and the
conclusions would be determined on the basis of the material available.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS STUDY:
Zoning theories that got implemented up to avoid to the harmful effects of Industrial
Revolution have led to creation of non-cohesive city planning in Delhi today. Segregation of
land uses has created large mono-functional zones, linked only physically by a miss-managed
transportation network. Due to population explosion, especially in metropolitan cities, the
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existing land mass has come under pressure. This work becomes all the more relevant in light of
the widespread protests and controversies that these plans have generated in the masses today.
There is a huge urban planning quandary here. On one hand denizens are protesting against the
demolition drive launched by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi against unauthorized
constructions whereas on the other hand the implementing agencies and judicial bodies are
helpless who are saddled with the task of ensuring the implementation of the existing provisions
of the master plan. The city is demanding a change in the draconian land use policy. Thus,
forcing the authorities to inculcate mixed use developments within the city. We all know that,
mixed use developments bring various facilities in proximity to each other making a much more
efficient use of space. Development of multi-use complexes can help optimize the tremendously
increasing pressure on the transportation system as it reduces the commuting time of users.
The MPD 2021 has recognized the situation and given go-ahead to mixed use
developments in Delhi. But, the question is how relevant and effective is the Master plan, both in
their objectives and in their implementation. Do they pragmatically take into consideration the
actual ground realities or are they too utopian in nature? Is due consideration given to the
financial viability of such plans? What revisions in its zoning phenomenologies and urban tools
have been made to support mixed use developments? And most importantly to what extent does
this planning process curtail the rights of individual citizens to use their properties as they see fit,
and to pursue any means of self-improvement that the city has to offer. Yet the new Master Plan
is not without its own shortcomings. The paper aims to provide a critical analysis of the existing
draft plan in this context and to collate examples of successful urban planning the world over.
“Thus various tools and methods must be recognized by the public policy developers to develop
a competent system to adhere to the problems above through proper planning strategies”.
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CONCEPT OF MIXED LAND USE:
Mixed use of space can be achieved by combining various urban activities in the following
way:-Horizontal Mixing refers to a state when different activities are arranged in the vicinity of
the other activities in a way acting like an integrated complex. Horizontal mixing may be of two
types:
Horizontal mixed use – Attached. A single structure which provides retail/commercial or
service use in the portion fronting the public or private street with attached residential or office
use behind.
Horizontal mixed use – Detached. Two or more structures on one site which provide
retail/commercial or service use in the structure(s) fronting the public or private street, and
residential or office use in separate structures behind or to the side.1
Vertical Mixing refers to situation when different activities take place in layers arranged
vertically one above the other. The general trend has been to locate functions of high public
nature on the ground floor and those of lesser public nature on the upper floors. Residential uses
are provided n upper floors due to privacy.
1 sills, Aaron. Mixed use town cnters design guide. A case study. New zealand: Northshore city council, 2005.
Fig 0.1(Source: Refer footnote1)
Horizontal mixed use detached
Fig0.2 (Source: Refer footnote 2)
Horizontal mixed used attached
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A vertical structure results in comfortable circulation in horizontal direction, on ground
as well as vertical direction, in the building itself.2
2 wells, Dunbar. Design Standards: Mixed use standards. Article. Boston, 2006.
Fig 0.3(Source: refer footnote 1)
Vertical mixed use developments
Fig 0.5(Source: Refer footnote 2)
Using Mixed use typology Fig 0.4(Source: Refer footnote 2)
View of a typical mixed use
development
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter One: Delhi
DEATH OF MASTER PLAN INEVITABLE: A CASE OF MIXED LANDUSE IN DELHI
Delhi, Curitiba, London…
DELHI:
A City In Need Of Viable Planning Solutions…
“It is futile to plan a city’s appearance, or speculate on how to endow it with a pleasing
appearance of order, without knowing what sort of innate, functioning order it has.” 3
Few cities in the world have been as dramatically transformed as Delhi in the last fifty
years. A Mughal city in the 16th
century, at the end of the 19th
century it began to emerge as the
colonial seat of power and then finally it became the capital of independent India. Delhi is now
one of the largest and fastest growing mega-cities in the world. Spread across three states, the
metropolitan region now has a population of 16million. However, this apparent success hides a
series of virtual civic collapse. Despite the ambitious master-plans and large sums of money,
3 Source: (Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities)
Fig 1.1(Source: www.cs.jhu.edu)
Master Plan of Delhi 1962; showing
the walled city and Lutyens Delhi.
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Delhi has proved unmanageable. Is there another way?
According to the Delhi District Gazetteer of 1883-844, Delhi had a
population of 173,303 in the late nineteenth century. The grandeur of the Mughal court was long
forgotten and, after 1858, it was no more than a large provincial town. This changed when the
British colonial government decided to shift the capital to Delhi in 1911 and hired Edwin
Lutyens to design a city to reflect imperial grandeur. Lutyens created what is effectively the first
―master-plan‖ for New Delhi. It was meant for a population of 60,000 – mostly government
officials and their retainers. The old city was still expected to remain the commercial hub.
Lutyens Delhi was completed in the mid-thirties but the urban plan collapsed barely a decade
later as the city found it-self with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing West/East Pakistan.
The authorities dealt with the crisis with ad-hoc arrangements but in 1962, a new master-plan
was devised with the help of Ford Foundation5. Reflecting the thinking of the times, the master
plan was a framework for low-rise suburbia where the government would decree land-use and
zoning. From their ―commanding heights‖ the planners declared that ―there is undesirable
mixing of land-uses almost everywhere in the city.‖ Just as the government has the right to
control economic activity through licenses, it also has the right to tell people where to live and
where to work. The 1962 master plan was a dismal failure. The city developed in unpredictable
ways while the government failed to deliver on many promises. The second plan was formulated
20 years later, that is in 1981 but with the advent of the 1982 ASIAD games it was put on hold
and the new plan came into effect only in 1991.By the year 1982, only three of fifteen district
4 For reference view document: District., Delhi. "Gazetteer of the Delhi District." Gazetteer of the Delhi District,
1883-4 (1884): p.p. x, 215, xxvi : 8vo,
<http://openlibrary.org/b/OL17263026M/Gazetteer_of_the_Delhi_District_1883-4> 5 The Ford Foundation is a social organization, which got chartered in 1936, by Edsel Ford. Since then, it has been
promoting helping countries in pursuing sustainable development all across the globe. The organization is still active
in India today is working towards the upliftment of the society. For more details, Refer < www.fordfound.org>
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter One: Delhi
centers proposed in the master-plan had been developed. Offices, clinics and shops moved into
residential areas as the designated commercial areas were grossly insufficient. Even by 1992,
with the population now at 9 million, only six of the fifteen district centers were developed.
These were mainly land development plans, the strategy being that DDA was to acquire
new lands and develop them for housing and commercial purposes with a subsequent auctioning
of flats/shops/plots. Throughout, planning followed a top down approach with the formulation of
a master plan and keeping in mind its aims, subsequent zonal and sub zonal plans were made.
Both these plans were beset with problems particular to them. It is beyond the scope of this paper
to elaborate these in detail but for most part, faulty projections for population, housing demand,
rise in vehicles, demand for civic amenities resulted in plan targets failing to keep in touch with
the real world. Implementation failures, complicated and unnecessary restrictions on land use
and the inherent corruption in the planning agencies like the DDA and MCD also resulted in
blatant violations of the plan guidelines and a severe shortfall in civic amenities and housing.
Fig 1.2(Source: www.dda.org.in)
Master Plan of Delhi 1962
Fig 1.3: (Source: www.dda.org.in)
MCD Proposals in 1981
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This led to increased theft of public resources and rise in illegal encroachments and unauthorized
constructions. Liberalization created economic opportunities that pushed the gap between plan
and reality to breaking point. Eventually the pressure exploded out into suburbs like Gurgaon
and Noida. The official response was yet another master-plan announced in 2007 called Delhi
2021. But, after fifty years of zoning, segregation, stratification and continuation of strategies
that began in 1962, the new Master Plan (2021) states that!
“To meet the growing demand of commercial activities and overcome the shortfall of
available commercial space, a liberalized provision of mixed use in residential areas has
been adopted to achieve better synergy between workplace, residence and
transportation” as quoted in Delhi Master Plan 2021.
The statement above is in direct conflict with the existence of the master plan "which
solely survives on dissecting land on functional and utility basis‖, indicating that the MPD 2021
has set the precedent for tomorrow‘s planning, without the introduction of any new tools and
strategies for addressing the issue of mixed land use, until eventually leading to the rejection of
its own master plot, i.e. DEATH OF THE MASTER PLAN.
Fig 1.4: (Source: www.dda.org.in)
Master Plan of Delhi 2001
Fig 1.5: (Source: www.dda.org.in)
Master Plan of Delhi 2021
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Another reason being that mixed use developments cannot be sustained through primitive
zoning strategies, but through a total integration and up gradation of like governance, transit and
various other supportive services amalgamated in a way that the whole system functions as one.
As its name states, mixed-use developments define the widest scope for all kinds of aggregations
of different urban elements to take place. It allows a mix of all kinds of activities of different
people at different times for a variety of purposes in the urban fabric. Therefore, it gives
flexibility to the city and provides complexity in the urban settings which is the only way to cope
with the urban change and growth. It is important to state that complex problems cannot be
solved by simple methods. Therefore, using simplified measures such as segregation of land use
planning to deal with the complex city is not plausible. Too much attention has been given to
zoning and segregation of land uses in all our previous Master Plans. This derives from the
determined neatness of planners and it has nothing to do with the proper growth of a community
(Gummer, 1994).
In the past fifty years the population of Delhi has exploded from 0.6 million in 1950‘s to
18 million in 2009, but still the same methodology is used. Whereas countries such as Britain
have scrapped off the master plan system and advocated mixed land use development policy by
adopting an ‗urban village‘ scheme since 1992 or the Curitiba‘s ‗Plano diretor’ that acted as
guidelines for the growth of the city clubbed with timely strategic interventions, After the
Agache‘s Plan was dissolved.
The Master Plan of Delhi has a colossal list of failures embedded into its history, but the
persistent authorities do not accept these failures and forces to stretch and follow similar
outdated means further fragmenting the city via their atrocious land use and incapable
development plans. These plans do not just fail as guidelines, but even on the implementation
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front, as the authorities never seem to meet their deadline on time. Firstly, the most obvious
problem with master-planning in Indian cities is the lack of governance. The civic authorities
simply do not have the ability to enforce the master-plan even in the national capital. Secondly,
all master-plans require proper implementation and sequencing of public investment. A
combination of corruption and incompetence means that important aspects of the 1962 master-
plan remain unimplemented even today.
As it is a vestige of socialist-era thinking that presumes a predetermined trajectory of
urban development, therefore it cannot deal with organic evolution of a living and vibrant city. It
is the same reason that the Mahalanobis model of economic planning was doomed to fail. There
was no way in which Lutyens could have predicted Independence and Partition in 1913 and the
1962 master-plan could not have anticipated Gurgaon‘s BPO boom.
There is, however, a more fundamental flaw with the whole master-planning approach
towards mixed land-use development. Since, there have been no additions of tools and strategies
in our master plans beginning from 1960‘s, not even the colors of zoning have been altered. In
addition to this the ‗GIS‘ Geographic Information Systems were based on approximations before
the MPD 2001, which were used to construct building by laws, decide on FAR restrictions and
road widths. For example, the authorities of Delhi had to bring down large amount of structures
and increase the road widths and divert lanes for the construction of the Delhi metro, in spite of a
preliminary plan introduced in 1980 by the DMRC, simply because the plan was prepared using
outdated GIS data that was used to formulate the structure of Delhi Metro, and the master did not
have any contingency plans for advancing the growth of the city, for the accommodation of the
elevated metro, Thus creating a mass panic in city in the name ‗Demolition Drive‘. It is only now
that satellite GPS and GIS systems are being been used for accurate mapping of the areas.
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Besides this, only minor revisions and strategies in utility and building by-laws section have
been made to legitimize the idea of mixed land use, which are not requisite enough to sustain
mixed land use. The plan (MPD 2021) ironically envisages the formulation of pre defined
mixed-use zones with outdated urban tools, which runs counter to the whole theory of mixed use.
For example, the main vision of MPD 2021: develop a world class city with multistory
buildings, but not much increase in the GC or FAR. Secondly, Area (sqm) / person decreased for
the commercial, education facility & recreational area. Thirdly, the plan promotes motorized
vehicles at the cost of non-motorized vehicles, but the parking space has not been increased
substantially. Mixed Land Use Policy shows very arbitrary, discriminatory, & rigid standard.
Not mentioning the basis for specifying plot sizes & FAR. Thus introduction to this new
typology in the master plan should be accompanied by new interventions and strategies to
legitimize this typology in the society, or else DEATH OF MPD is certain.
Besides this there are other there are other frames in the document of master plan which
reflect the areas where the plan falls short both in terms of content and focus as well as overall
layout and user friendliness. 6
Data insufficiency and contradictions
The first glaring insufficiency in the plan is lack of data and information. For a plan that
is supposed to chalk out the effective management of land resources in the city, very little actual
data is provided on the availability of land and the various uses to which is being put to. The plan
talks about the number of housing units or commercial or industrial but there are no estimates
given for the total land area under each of these uses. Moreover, if at all the data is provided has
6 To read more and understand the other major flaws in detail. Dewal, snigdha. Master Plan for Delhi: 2021 A
critical Analysis. Working paper no.160. Delhi: Center for civil society, 2008.
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not been substantiated with reasons for using that particular estimate or the source from which it
has been obtained or the relevant year. The land use figures that have been prescribed have not
been substantiated with any line of reasoning as to why such a distribution should be preferred
over any other.7
Tone of the document
The MPD is a legally enforceable document, supposed to provide clear guidelines on
urban planning and infrastructure yet it reads more like a policy document and not a clear legally
enforceable text. The tone is vague and only attempts to provide suggestions, in terms of things
that ‗should/ ought to be done‘. There is an attempt made to provide positive and enforceable
guidelines. For example, on the issue of re-densification of low-density areas, the plan states,
―There is a large proportion of underused land with a number of vacant sites or unutilized built
areas falling in the central city…the areas are recommended to be comprehensively planned for
improvement and redevelopment in order to make best use of land resources as per the
prescribed norms.‖ How one is to work out a comprehensive policy for re-densification from this
rather vague suggestion is apparently left to the discretion of the DDA officials. 8
Conceptual Flaws
The problems with the plan are not just superficial but run deeper at the conceptual level.
The plan repeatedly states that the problem of in-migration into Delhi is a chronic one. But the
solutions suggested are to limit migration by discouraging labour intensive units from coming up
in the capital. The plan states
7 Refer. Appendix A1.1, for more details and calculations
8 The draft also makes extensive use of abbreviations without giving any information on keys to decipher their
meaning, which makes the document very difficult to comprehend for a layman. Moreover no definitions are given
for frequently used technical terms like FAR (floor area ratio), plinth area, set back norms etc. There are also
numerous grammatical errors and the layout is not very user friendly with the text repeatedly being cut in by endless
tables, instead of these being provided in a separate appendix.
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― it is envisaged that no new major economic activities, which may result in the
generation of large scale employment related inflows, be located in the national capital
territory of Delhi (NCTD). And only activities necessary to sustain the local population of
Delhi should be permitted, and the quality of infrastructure and life in general
significantly improved.”
Despite being vague, this statement actually chillingly sets the agenda for the plan as
being a growth limiting one, with a deliberate clamp on the growing economy of the city and
limiting it possibly only to supposedly less problematic administrative uses. This is simply not a
feasible option; first, because the migrants into Delhi are coming from chronically poor regions
of the country such as Rajasthan and Bihar and end up in the city because of a number of push
and pull factors. It will be difficult to limit the migration of such people who actually have very
little to live on from where they come. Secondly, there is actually a great demand for the kind of
services rendered by the migrant labourers, ranging from rickshaw pullers to hawkers,
construction labourers to domestic help. These people form a vast network of people providing
informal services and contribute very actively to the economy. The plan does suggest a number
of policy solutions to better guide the working of this sector but it is not detailed enough.
Ignorance of new theories and concepts in urban planning
All over world there is a move towards the concept of transit oriented development and
containing the unchecked growth of urban sprawl, Delhi it seems chooses to go the other way. In
trying to preserve the primitive structure of the city it prescribes greater growth in the suburbs
and shifting of economic activities out to these areas to tackle the growing population. Whether
one chooses to live in the suburbs is a matter of personal choice but it is true that increasing
suburbanization leads to a large growth in the number of vehicles, problems of pollution,
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter One: Delhi
congestion and parking. World over there is a trend to build more ‗walk able‘ communities and
encourage the use of bicycles, public transport etc. and re-develop, have higher density living in
inner city areas. The master plan also plays lip service to the notion of redevelopment and re-
densification of inner city areas but falls short of stating any clear policy objectives in this
regard.
Policy on Special Areas
In its policies for Special Area (Walled city, Pahar Ganj, Karol Bagh) and urban villages,
the plan in its eagerness to maintain their ‗essential character‘ and preserve this urban heritage
forgets to take into account the needs of the actual residents of these areas. For example under
MPD 2001 when the move to transfer industrial units within the walled city to other areas was
passed, the affected people were left in a lurch. New shops and lands were not allotted to them
on time, they did not have adequate infrastructure in the new areas, and users were asked to
cough up higher rentals. To provide only 16% of the targeted built-up area designated for
commercial purposes.
Lack of Financial Accounting
Last but not the least the plan almost completely fails to address the fiscal aspect of the
situation. There are no estimates provided for the additional expected cost of catering to the
additional demands of the city and how this will be borne. There is also no accounting for what
kind of rents and revenues the state departments expect to earn and how much of these are to be
channelized into urban development and how funds are to be distributed among the different
civic and planning agencies.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
CURITIBA:
City that rejected its Master Plan, For A Better Future…
Brazil is an emerging economy like India and has very similar issues—thus a look at the city of
Curitiba is not without relevance.
Brazil was a Portuguese colony in the 16th
century until they gained independence in
1822 as the Brazilian Empire, and the country had been a republic since 1899. It was one of the
last countries to ban slavery, but a resultant of that is a multi-ethnic population which traces its
origin from within the Americas, Southern Europe and Africa, Asia. These racial groups are
largely a Portuguese speaking and multiethnic society, Brazil is a melting point for varied ethnic
groups and there is racial tension—but the bigger issue is the difference between ―haves‖ and
―have-nots.‖ Brazil has often been in the headlines for ―flash-kidnapping,‖ and has their own
version of ―encounter-specialists.‖ Like India, Brazil is one of the emerging economies and often
noted as part of the BASIC countries—it is at present the fifth most populous, and the eighth
largest economy by nominal GDP and the ninth largest by purchasing power parity.
Brazilian urbanism is marked by Rio de Janeiro—which will be the hosting the Olympics
in 2016—which is home to roughly 10 million people today and is not unlike Delhi and Mumbai.
In other words Rio‘s history is plagued by similar problems, including issues of compliance to
Master Plan9 and ever-changing government authorities with clashing ideas further worsening
the situation of the city, and these urban pressures reign all over Brazil. In this case which has
done well with these issues is city of Curitiba. The capital of the state of Paraná, located in
southern Brazil having an area half the size of Delhi, with a metropolitan region population of
9 Donat Alfred Agache (1875-1959) is best known for Beaux- Arts master plan for Rio de Janeiro. He had an
important impact on Rio and on the development of modern Planning in Brazil, As he later on went on to do the
master plans for Sao Paulo and Curitiba. But his ideas were never realized fully due to political differences and
financial crisis. The Agache Plan was, however, one of the first comprehensive Master Plans in the modern sense. It
resulted from new requirement from federal that mandated municipalities to produce a master plan in order to
receive federal funds for capital improvements-from Fundo de Participacalo dos Municipios.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
2.7 lakhs.
Curitiba has a six-decade-old history of formal urban design and planning. It started with
Agache Plan in 1943, designed by French urbanist Alfred Agache, when Curitiba had 120,000
inhabitants. Through the re structuring of the street network, this plan established guidelines for a
concentric growth of the city and provisions for land-use zoning, sanitation measures, the
distribution of open spaces, and the allocation of areas of urban expansion The plan assumed the
dominance of the automobile and the principle approach was massive infrastructure investments,
including construction of circular boulevards and major radial arteries similar to that of Lutyens
Delhi- the Civic center with local state and federal public agencies- commenced construction in
accordance in 1952.The master plan ostensibly aimed to provide the city a development scheme
that gave priority to public services such as sanitation, easing traffic congestion and creating
centers that enabled the growth of both social life and commerce.
Curitiba‘s population reached 180,000 inhabitants at annual growth rate of over seven
percent in the 1955-more than what Agache plan had anticipated and only 10% of the Master
plan had been realized by then. Then when the country hit rock bottom on financial fronts and
the progress was halted. By the 60s, Curitiba's population had ballooned to 430,000, and
financial turmoil only worsened and some feared that the growth in population threatened to
drastically change the character of the city. The 1943 master plan was seen as inadequate in
addressing this dire situation—because the large open Baroque boulevards were very expensive
to construct, difficult to maintain and did not service the largest segment of the population,
which was bus-bound. Consequently, the Mayor Ivo Aruza immediately dismissed the master
plan. This called for a rather radical but a sustainable approach towards urban planning that
would not only save the city from the current scenario but also pave a path towards a better life
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
for the inhabitant of the city.
In 1964, the Mayor solicited proposals for the same10
. Architect Jaime Lerner11
, who later
also became mayor of Curitiba, led a team from the Universidade Federal do Paraná that
suggested strict controls on urban sprawl, a reduction of traffic in the downtown area,
preservation of Curitiba's Historic Sector, and a convenient and affordable public transit system.
But not a Master Plan to do the same. These were more like guidelines. These directives led to
the formalization of the principle directive of the preliminary plan of 1965(―subsequently know
as the Master Plan‖) which aimed to transform the city‘s radial configuration of growth to a
linear model of urban expansion.
10
The municipality of Curitiba opened a public completion to create new urban plan of the city. A planning and
architectural form from Sao Paulo, Sociedade Serte de Estudos e Projectos Ltd., in collaboration with Arguitetir
Associates, led by architect /planner Jorge Willheim, was selected in 1965 to create the Plano diretor, which was
developed in consultation with some city architects ‗Jamie Lerner’ and city officials in Curitiba and the
participation of some elite groups, and was approved in 1966. 11
On top of his professional and political skills, Jamie Lerner has enjoyed abundant good fortune in his political
career. The first term of Lerner as mayor (1971-74) coincided with the prosperous phase of national development
known as the ―Brazilian miracle‘. In his third term as mayor, he administered a city budget of $R 850 million, $R
600 million more than the budget of his predecessor Requiao.
Fig 2.1: (Source: www.library.cornell.edu)
Agache‘s Plan; showing the beaux de arts
approach of planning-
Fig 2.2:(Source: www.solutions-site.org/)
The new Plano Diretor; with guidelines to
direct the growth of the city, through the
creation of five structural axes.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
By this time, Curitiba had almost 500,000 inhabitants and an annual growth rate of 5.6 percent.
Not like Agache‘s Plan. Which was based on concentric circles, the Plano diretor was based on a
city growth concept of, linear expansion of city from its center, employing integrated
transportation of growth, the promotion of industry, and the improvement of the environmental
and urban quality of the city.
The Plano diretor 12
conceived major physical interventions in the city, including a
number of significant urban design projects. The greatest intervention was the creation of the
five structural axes of transportation radiating from the center of the city, guiding the direction
and concentration of growth. The structural axes plan combined massive public transportation
infrastructure with zoning that allowed mixed uses and significant density. Although the zoning
had begun with the precious plan in the 1950‘s, the new plan instituted creative approaches to
shaping the urban fabric, channeling growth and defining the establishment of specific zones
such as central zone, the structural Sectors for business and other services, and residential Zones.
Residential growth was encouraged near street with concentrations of transportation and
services. Special interest Preservation Units were established to restore buildings of historical
12
The Plano diretor is the Portuguese word for urban master plan guidelines
Fig 2.3: (Source: www.solutions-site.org/)
Radial approach proposed by Alfred Agache.
Fig 2.4: (Source: www.solutions-site.org/)
Creation of structural axes to promote
transit oriented development.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
significance. It also laid the guiding principle that mobility and land use cannot be disassociated
with each other if the city's future design is to succeed. In order to fulfill these goals of providing
access for all citizens, the main transport arteries were modified over time to give public
transport the highest priority.
This approach not only bought about a new revelation in urban planning but also made
the inhabitants realize the importance of transport in cities, which in Delhi has always been given
a back seat considering the previous state of affairs. I will discuss here three key aspects of this
approach in Curitiba—Policy implementation, road system, land-use, and Mass Transit.
Firstly-One of major directives derived from the new Plano diretor was the creation in
1966 of the institute of urban research and Planning of Curitiba (IPPUC) to implement the plan
and to develop all complementary projects. IPPUC established a team of planners working
outside the institutional framework, able to respond to developmental pressures with agility.
Since its founding, IPPUC has efficiently led the transformation of Curitiba physical structures,
devising the projects and facilitating their translation into works.
IPPUC also paid attention to the preservation of the city‘s history and enhancement of its
identity with the help of Revitalization Plan for Historic District in Curitiba. In 1971 the first
revitalization plans was established, resulting in the variation of cultural facilities as well as the
rehabilitation of historic buildings. Old abandoned or underutilized buildings became home to
orchestras, art workshops, theatres, and museums; an old army headquarters facility was
transformed into the Curitiba Cultural Foundation; a gunpowder deposit became theaters; and a
glue factory became the Creativity Center. In 1972, the city‘s first main street-Rua XV de
Novembro-became Brazil‘s first pedestrian mall.13
Later its popularity made it a model emulated
13
The way this action was carried out was very bold and fast. Quick implementation has been a hallmark of the
Curitiba experience. The pedestrian mall was built during a weekend to prevent opposing shop owners from taking
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
in other cities of Brazil.
The success of Curitiban planning primarily comes from the cohesion of various public
offices working in parity14
, and delivering rapid action strategies required in time for smooth
function of the city. Just like revitalization plan in the 1970-That transformed old vacant
buildings, and the slum relocation plan 1976- To assist families living in squatter settlements in
risk areas were introduced to comprehend the rapid growth of the city.
Secondly- Probably the epitome of Curitiban Urban policy- achieving much more benefit
for much less investment- has been the transportation program(cerevo,1195; Ravinovitch and
lietman, 1993) The structural main transit axes began to operate in 1974, significantly, the
transportation program has been used to promote development along these axes. A new street
system created priority avenues, and re direct traffic away from downtown by establishing
connector streets between neighborhoods and major avenues. Also at this time new streets were
built to connect established avenues, and new traffic circulation patterns were established. The
ternary System was also established were principle artery was divided into three parts…The
three- tier road system of each axis is made up of one central street with exclusive lanes for
any legal action against it until it was too late. Then, children were invited to hold a painting fair in the middle of the
street, further preventing any action against the works. Curitiba‘s mayor convinced the opposition to give the project
a try. Meanwhile, the children‘s fair became a weekly event. 14
It is relevant to note here that the coincidence of interest groups around a major vision is also a key in the
development of the Curitiba experience, together with the concurrency of the three aforementioned factors, namely,
the creation of supportive political institutions, the continuation of political regimes, and the participation of elites.
Fig 2.5: (Source: IPPUC homepage)
Street planning in Curitiba
Fig 2.6: (Source: www.gettyimages.com)
View of a boulevard street in Curitiba
with pedestrian lanes in the middle.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
efficient public transportation and slow local access traffic lanes with parking. To either side of
the central street are one-way Arterial Street of traffic (express lanes) headed into or away from
the downtown area. This road system was created through a re-definition of the existing street,
not by resizing the street or constructing overpasses.
Simultaneously actions were taken to build the city in accordance to the transit and road
system introduced demarcating a clear direction for the growth of the city and the primary tool
that helped to achieve this was land use planning. The land use here is reconfigured into built-
form—importance was given not to assign single-use zones, rather the correlation of built form
with transit system. TOD before the term was canonized. The road hierarchy was directly
responsible for the density of the built form. The highest density of residential and commercial
development are concentrated in the two blocks at the center of the spine, with diminishing
densities in the blocks to either side, thus preserving large areas for low-rise residential
development in the sectors between axes.
As the need for economic support for a city that was growing at rates higher than five
percent a year in the 1960‘s led to the creation of Curitiba‘s industrial district(cidade industrial
de Curitiba, CIC), and special connecting sectors were designated to effectively integrate the
industrial district into the rest of the city. The CIC was designed with suitable urban
infrastructure, providing basic services, housing, preservation areas, and integration with urban
transit system.
Fig 2.7: (Source: IPPUC homepage)
Change in the densities with various
hierarchies of roads.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
Curitiba reached the 1970‘s with 650,000 inhabitants and a population growth rate of 5.3
percent a year. This reasoned out the need for zoning for specific purposes and occupation
parameters guided public and private investments and projects in Curitiba. A 1975 law further
defined land use in the city, creating areas for residential, services, manufacturing, and rural
activities. The law also defined structural sectors, pedestrian areas, natural and riverside
preservation areas, parks, and the Historic District. To solve environmental problems in fragile
areas, special land-use and occupation sectors were created.
Thirdly- The transit system began to operate in the year 1974, when architect Jaime
Lerner was the Mayor of Curitiba, in coordination with the Master Plan they began to construct
the first two out of five arterial structural roads that would eventually form the structural growth
corridors and dictate the growth pattern in the city. These structural corridors were composed of
a triple road system with the central road having two restricted lanes dedicated to express busses.
These restricted buses lanes succeeded in providing excellent access and mobility. The two
features essential for the success of this all-bus network transit system are15
(1) reliable high-
capacity buses running along trunk lines on the structural axes where the greatest population
15
Curiously enough, alcohol-fueled buses were indeed used for tourist routes. This tells us that the government was-
aware of the greater ecological value of the alcohol-base buses, and wanted their use to be linked to the image of the
city and the environmental concerns it carried with them.
Fig 2.8: (Source: www.lightrailnow.org)
Development along transit routes in
Curitiba
Fig 2.9: (Source: www.enviroboys.com)
Transit oriented development in Curitiba
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
lives and works, featuring exclusive lanes with a limited number of cross streets, signal pre-
emption, high platforms for entry and exit, and pre-paid boarding; and (2) a complementary
network of color-coded feeder and express buses, all with free transfer, providing dense coverage
of the entire city.
Next is the question of the acceptance of such an all-bus system by the citizens as the
fares of the bus transit system reflected the operational cost of each line separately. Because they
were less lucrative, the longer lines had higher fares, posing high costs for the low-income
population located at the periphery of the city. The government began what came to be known as
‗single fare‘ with one single fare reflecting the cost of the entire system, persons commuting long
distances (often the low-income population) are subsidized by those making shorter trips.
Besides being socially just, the single fare facilitated the implementation of fare integration
between different companies. It was estimated that around 80% of users benefited by the
integration.
The bus system is organized by URBS (Urbanization of Curitiba S/A), the public
transportation corporation, and 16 private companies are sub-contracted to operate and maintain
the buses. In 1986 the operating companies, which until then had received income directly from
Fig 2.10: (Source: IPPUC homepage)
Double articulated buses
Fig 2.11: (Source: www.lightrailnow.org)
Dedicated corridors for buses
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
their passengers, changed to a system whereby they were paid per kilometer. The municipal
government collects detailed operational information (fleet, timetable, kilometers run, etc.),
audits the implementation, collects income received daily from the whole system, and pays the
operators for services rendered in real costs. Detailed regulations establish the rights and
obligations of the operating companies, define the faults and penalties, and seek to eliminate
waste while constantly improving the quality of service. This arrangement ensures the fair
distribution of income among operators and prevents unhealthy competition among drivers over
specific routes.
The Tube Station, started in 1984, is a bus platform elevated to the level of the
entrances/exits of the bus, where automatic doors operated by the tube conductor open parallel to
the bus doors. Passengers pay an entrance fare at the turnstile and wait for their respective direct
or express bus to pass. Disembarking passengers leave the stations through a direct exit. The
Tube can allow controlled access and safe and secure embarkation. The establishment of the
Tube Stations guarantees that the bi-articulated buses have the necessary operational conditions
to support the growth in demand predicted for the next coming years. The bi-articulated bus has
a large capacity (270passengers) and travels in an exclusive lane. It has no steps or fare
Fig 2.12: (Source: IPPUC homepage)
Tube station
Fig 2.13: (Source: eyesonbrazil.wordpress.com/)
View of the tube station from outside
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
collection and use the Tube Station for passenger embarking and disembarking. The first line
was implemented in December 1992, with 33 vehicles carrying 100,000 passengers per day on
the downtown areas.
The low congestion consequently made it easier to promote other means of travel in the
city center. Hence, the city created a pedestrian network, covering an area equivalent to nearly
fifty blocks, in the downtown area. Although at first local merchants were opposed to the idea,
they quickly found the pedestrian zone to be a tremendous economic boost; much more space
was available in the area for customers rather than vehicles, the shopping environment was more
pleasant, and people had more time to shop when they did not have to drive and park. Bus
terminals on the periphery provide frequent access to the area. Furthermore, the Curitiba Public
Works Plan for 1992 calls for 150 km of bicycle paths to be built, following river bottom valleys
and railway tracks and connecting the city's districts to make the entire city accessible to
bicycles.
Due to the system design with special lanes, prepaid passenger boarding and the priority
the buses receive in road hierarchy, the bus system can operate with a much higher capacity than
traditional city bus systems. In terms of cost-effectiveness, the bi-articulated bus system in
Curitiba is very effective with the cost of U.S.$3 million per kilometer to construct compared
with U.S.$8-12 million per kilometer for a tram system and around U.S.$50-100 million per
kilometer for a subway. The new system offered riders greater comfort, and operating costs fell
6% lower than the other systems. The new system has evolved since then linking downtown to
the neighborhoods through exclusive traffic lanes. The lanes enable a considerably higher
average bus speed without jeopardizing passenger safety. Today there are now 58 Km of
exclusive bus lanes which crisscross the city along all the cardinal directions. The structural axes
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
created are complemented by 270 km of feeder routes and 185 Km of inter- district routes,
serving about 65% of the urban area. The integrated Transportation Network promoted the use of
public transport and reduced the use of private cars. Around 1.9 million passengers use the bus
transit system daily with an 89% user satisfaction rate. This change reduces congestion, fuel
consumption, and air pollution, and result in a better environment for the entire population.
Actually, Curitiba has shown one of the lowest levels of ambient air pollution in Brazil.
The most crucial piece or the crown jewel in this whole scheme would be the green
intervention done by the city planners, they managed not only to reclaim land from low lying
basins in the regions but proposed and intervened larger green spaces interlinked with each other
forming a network throughout the city, thus preserving the ecological life present in the lakes and
maintaining an ecological balance with the forces of nature. The city has about 50 square meters
of parkland per person (i.e. 12 acres per 1000), most of which has been created in the last 30
years. The protected land is complemented by compact housing, as the city of 1.5 million has a
population density of 10,750 per square mile (which is around the same as Philadelphia or
Washington, D.C.).
Fig 2.14: (Source: blogs.bootsnall.com/) Botanical gardens in the city
Fig 2.15: (Source: http://cityparksblog.org/)
Low lying areas converted into natural green
buffers
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
Roughly 21 million square meters (5,190 acres) are linear parks along rivers and streams
that act as buffers between flood-prone rivers and the city. Legislation set aside certain low-lying
areas and river basins as special protection and management areas. The city also used a loan to
purchase land at a number of critical sites around the city. Engineers built small damns and
created new lakes that act as holding basins when flooding occurs. In effect, these green spaces
are giant storm water facilities.
None of this would have been achieved if a Master Plan was being followed. The mass
transit integration was only possible when one realizes the clear co-relation of land use and
transit. Today, Curitiba boasts 70% of the citizens use the public transit systems instead of
private automobiles. This reduction in automobile use in seen regardless of the fact that, Curitiba
has among the highest household incomes and the second highest automobile ownership rate in
Brazil. If a master plan was being followed it would have taken years beyond reckoning to built
the infrastructure prior to the implementation of the master plan- Delivering the city into the a
state of chaos, The dismissal of the master plan came as a blessing in disguise for the Curitibans-
They could run a number of programmes simultaneously, with the formulation of strategies and
even structure new strategies for upcoming problems in the city. Thus, Making the city
economically sustainable in itself, and harnessing prospects for future growth as a pollution free
city. The scenario would not be the same, if a master plan was been followed. The reason being
that even for a microscopic change or addition of new interventions takes months even years of
approval and discussion in the state assembly for them to be inculcated in the master plan.
Today the planning effort of the city of Curitiba is a model for how to integrate
sustainable transport considerations into business development, road infrastructure development,
and local community development without a master plan. The city thrives as a unique example of
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: Curitiba
how transit oriented development can help evolve cities into more livable urban environments.
It‘s a city that has valued three primary aspects that are essential for the future of the society:
mobility, sustainability, and identity. There are four key elements in the success story of
Curitiba…
First, a low cost metropolitan transport system. By utilizing the existing corridors and
adopting measures to intensify development along these corridor roads, public transport systems
can be established at relatively low cost. This low-cost public transportation system showed the
ability to more quickly and more effectively serve an entire metropolitan population.
Second, the integration of land use, road systems and mass transit is a powerful tool.
Through the use of land-use instruments, local governments can direct population growth and
thereby establish effective systems of transportation.
Third, vision, leadership, and flexibility lead to success of urban planning. Curitiba is one
of the few cities that realized its urban intention. The factors of Curitiba‘s success are these: a
clear long-term vision, strong leadership to implement the plan, and flexibility in adjustments by
utilizing a step-by-step approach.
Fourth, understanding the people and your society. The sole purpose of planning a city is
to create a livable environment for the citizens to thrive for the construction of a successful city.
One that understands the needs of the people. At the core of Curitiba's success is the vision of a
city as a structure where people both live and work. Citizens are happy in their environment and
take pride in their city because they are creating and maintaining systems that work, such as
transportation, recreation, and education. As Lerner states, the city has become "more intelligent
and more humane," (Curitiba video, 1992) and, above all, there is a strong sense of solidarity
among citizens
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: London
LONDON:
City Based on Temporal Strategies and Extensive Mixed Use Zoning…
London has a long and complex history that stretches back for over 2,000 years. It was
one of the countries in the west to witness the after-effects of industrialization. It soon realized
the problems the city had developed overtime, quite similar to what Delhi had become after
independence. In terms of its population and spread, though, it has been the last two hundred
years that have seen the greatest change. London and the walled of city of Delhi (shahjahanabad)
are highly comparable on the lines of rapid exploitation of land use, and heavy mixed use
developments, In spite both being the capital city of their respective nation and under similar
governance, what is interesting to notice is the different evolutionary paths, the urban forms of
the two cities have taken and what have they finally transformed into. Due to the initiative taken
by the government to improve the urban environments of the city, through systematic and well
implemented temporal strategies have led London to a platform were it is recognized as a world
class city-given the honor for hosting the 2012 Olympics. On the contrary, the negligence
showed by the British towards the improvement of shahjahanabad before independence has
continued even today by the national government and the ―walled city‖ decays slowly with the
Fig 2.16: (Source: blogs.bootsnall.com/) The streets of London in the early 18
th
century; showing just how chaotic they
were due to the pressures imposed by the
railways, carts, goods carriers and shops
on the streets. people lived on the streets
mostly due to mixed use developments.
Leading to inhabitable conditions on the
streets. http://www.oldbaileyonline.org
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: London
passing of each year, the authorities have very beautifully marked the zone as ―special area‖ and
has not made any reformation in the structure or in the economical up-liftment of the city.
In 1801, when London had one million people, it was still a compact city mainly
contained within a radius of some 3 km16
.This happened because London was one of the biggest
inland ports which was used to transfer goods with the city. Moreover it had twelve stations that
terminated at the center of the capital city. The streets were filled with workers, cars and carts
and people carrying goods. The whole city seemed on the verge of coming to a standstill, due to
the had-hoc mixed use developments that had sprawled up at heart of London. By the 1851
census, the population had doubled, but the radius was still less than 5 km (Hall 1992).
This meant the further expansion of London‘s built up area, not at the center, but the
creation of suburbs, which further led to planning challenges over the years17
.Over the next one
hundred years, London spread itself out to reach broadly its present extent. The Second World
War and the physical damage to London stimulated new thinking about the planning of the
capital in the post-War era. Now there was a need of planning the downtown and suburbs of the
city as well. Patrick Abercrombie‘s Greater London Plan, published in 1945, and was the first
attempt at a regional plan for London. War or not, it was long overdue. For the area covered had
16
In the 18th-Century Sir Christopher Wren's gave a plan for rebuilding London after the great fire destroyed seven-
eighths of the city. Wren, at this point an Oxford astronomer with comparatively little architectural experience, was
among the first to present a plan to Charles II after the catastrophe. The narrow streets which had helped the fire's
progress are replaced on his plan by monumental avenues radiating from piazzas. The influence of the classical
buildings and formal street plans which Wren had studied in Paris are a clear influence. He also proposes the
construction of a Thameside quay from Bridewell to the Tower, replacing the ramshackle wooden wharfside
buildings with warehouses. A vignette of 'Thamesis' (the putative river god) with London burning in the background
has been added in the lower margin. Wren's plan was never used. Perhaps due to his eagerness to produce a plan
quickly, he was inaccurate in making his ground plan and did not consider contours adequately. Neither king nor
parliament were to ever take it seriously despite the title's assertion that it was an approved plan 17
This was very unlike with what the British did to old city of Delhi, though the area was small but strategic
enhancement of the transit movement and road widths, could have transformed the city for a better future to what it
is seems today. But they completely avoided improving the old region and secluded the walled city. To accomplish
this they constructed the railway‘s line, acting as an barrier between the walled city and the newly designed Lutyens
Delhi.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: London
143 local authorities and, while almost all of them had either prepared a planning scheme or
were in the process of drawing one up, there was virtually no co-ordination (Cherry 1972).
The Greater London Plan was notable for its apparent simplicity and its clarity. With its
four concentric zones overlaid by a revised transport system by introducing a new underground
commuter railway system, it effectively promoted planned expansion of London‘s built-up area.
That was also the role of the third zone, a 15 km deep ring of land, which was the basis for the
present Green Belt. It was to curtail any further sprawl of the second zone, the outer suburbs, and
there would be no further growth of any of the smaller towns within it. Another key feature of
the Plan was its strategy of reducing densities in the first of the zones (the inner urban ring)
through re-housing some one million people in an outer country ring beyond the Green Belt.
Some 400,000 of these people were to be accommodated in eight new towns some 30–50 km
from London. But this plan could be realized fully and demanded revisions on temporal bases to
adhere to the ever increasing population and the formulation of new suburbs.
However, to implement this plan they had to decongest the central zone and maintain a
continuous motion with the help of transit. All this was achieved with the coming of the
commuter railways, which enabled Londoners to escape from the congested central areas to live
in the fast growing and much more spacious suburbs. This was one of the major achievements
that the London planning authorities came up with. Showing that you do not need a Master Plan
to divert the growth of the city or solve the persisting problems in it. Due to the had-hoc mixed
use developments all over the city, the streets were working way beyond their road capacity.
Since the re-routing or re-structuring of the streets was not a possibility, as they were the life-
lines and would lead the city to a complete standstill, if anything were to happen to them. The
only solution considered that time was the introduction of an underground railway system that
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: London
would help people and goods to travel in an out of the city at a much faster rate. This commuter
railway is known as London Underground today. One of the busiest and the most successful tube
networks the makes the city of London habitable and functional in today‘s era of multi-tasking.
Furthermore, this Plan did not propose to alter the land use pattern in the central areas,
but tried to become a part of its grains. This was accomplished by further promoting mixed use
developments, but segregating them on the basis of one strong functional character dominating
the area. This process continued until a new revised plan was introduce in 2004.
In 1965, the Greater London Council (GLC) was set up, replacing the former London
County Council. It produced a statutory plan, the Greater London Development Plan, but this
had little apparent influence on the major problem of the day, the collapse of manufacturing
industry in the capital. Linked to this, unemployment rose tenfold from 40,000 in the mid-1960s
to 400,000 in 1985. And London‘s dockyards, increasingly obsolete in an era of container ships,
were ceasing activity. Ironically, just as the first of the docks were closing, the GLC was
planning for a belt of new heavy industry and commercial activity on both sides of the Thames
(Hall 1998).
Margaret Thatcher came into power in 1979 and set in train huge changes – from which
planning was not immune. No more regional studies were begun and the tone of her initial stance
on planning was set by a regional planning policy statement on the South East of England which
was contained within three and a half sides of paper. The government‘s emphasis had switched
in a major way from regulation to the unleashing of private enterprise. As an early sign of this, it
introduced the enterprise zone (EZ) in which firms would be free of normal planning controls
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: London
and able to enjoy a ten-year freedom from property taxes. One of these EZs was set up at the Isle
of Dogs in East London. This enterprise is today known as the Canary Warf18
business district.
A second innovation was the setting up of urban development corporations. In 1981, a
2,000 ha area of former docklands came under the control of one such body, the London
Docklands Development Corporation. This was a hugely powerful organization run by a board
appointed by the Secretary of State and directly accountable to parliament. It had full
development control powers and was able to assemble land through compulsory purchase.
In 1986, the government abolished the Greater London Council. Responsibility for
planning passed to 33 unitary planning authorities (the 32 London Boroughs and the Corporation
of the City of London). These bodies were charged with producing Unitary Development Plans
(UDPs), but there were no provision for any overall plan for London (Simmons 1990).
18
Canary Wharf is built on the site of the West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs. From 1802, the area was one of the
busiest docks in the world. By the 1950s, the port industry began to decline, leading to the docks closing by 1980.
Canary Wharf itself takes its name from No. 32 berth of the West Wood Quay of the Import Dock. This was built in
1936 for Fruit Lines Ltd, a subsidiary of Fred Olsen Lines for the Mediterranean and Canary Island fruit trade. At
their request, the quay and warehouse were given the name Canary Wharf. Canary Wharf is a large office and
shopping development in East London, located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Rivaling London's
traditional financial centre, The Square Mile, Canary Wharf contains three of the UK's tallest buildings.
Fig 2.17: (Source: commons.wikimedia.org)
Canary Wharf on the Isles of Dogs
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: London
This highly radical step was widely criticized by planning bodies at the time. Would it
not have been better to have reformed the GLC so that it could concentrate on key strategic
functions, was one of the arguments made (TCPA 1985). But what actual difference did the
abolition make? Strategic issues were dealt with through various cooperative arrangements aided
by the London Planning Advisory Committee (LPAC), a joint committee of the London
Boroughs and the Corporation of the City of London. And from above, the Government Office
for London (GOL) produced strategic guidance following consultation with LPAC and other
interests (GOL 1996).
Looking at the complexity of the situation and the formation of various planning
authorities it was difficult to work cohesively in one framework for the future planning of the
city. Thus, in the year 1992, the LPAC decided to adopt the concept urban village 19
for the
central area and later, transect20
planning system to control the suburban sprawl into the city.
But many issues were not being tackled. Infrastructure, in particular, the underground
system, was being allowed to decline and key functions such as waste disposal had been given
little strategic direction. There were huge deficiencies in training to enable the jobless to acquire
the new tertiary services skills increasingly in demand. But above all, an adverse image was
spreading of an increasingly congested and uncared for London. With no overall voice to put its
case, and no overall vision, there was a fear that London would decline relative to continental
cities.
19
An urban village is an urban planning and urban design concept. It refers to an urban form typically characterized
by: Medium density development, Mixed use zoning, The provision of good public transit and emphasis on urban
design - particularly pedestrianization and public space 20
A transect is a planning tool intended to counter suburban sprawl. It offers a different way of visualizing how to
build communities with a strong sense of place.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: London
The Greater London Authority Act 1999 provided for the re-establishment of citywide
governance. However, the Greater London Authority (GLA) that it created is a very different
organization from the former GLC. For one thing, it is a much smaller organization with fewer
functions. For another, it has an elected mayor who is supported by a separately elected
Assembly. The mayor has direct responsibility for strategic planning in London and, in
particular, for producing a spatial development strategy.
With the birth of the Greater London Authority, London was given a two-tier planning
system once more and an ability to develop a wider, strategic vision for its future. Initially, its
planning powers were quite tightly constrained. Thus, planning applications for individual
developments were to continue to be determined by the Boroughs, with the Mayor being
consulted on a limited number of cases ―that may raise issues of strategic importance‖. He was
given the power to direct refusal of such applications, but this power was expected to ―be used
selectively, and as a matter of last resort‖. It would apply, for example, in the case of a major
shopping development whose catchment extended beyond a Borough‘s boundaries.
Looking at the amount of turmoil the government was going through one can easily infer
the intensity of the aspirations of the authorities to transform and plan the city for its own
Fig 2.18: (Source: http://www.nzetc.org)
London underground station
Fig 2.18: (Source: www.virtual-london.com)
London underground Platform
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: London
citizens. This was the time when the mayor stepped in to revolutionize the way London was
thought of, there were still many problems in the commuter railways combined with the
congestion in the central zone of the city that needed immediate attention. To counter this new
method of sustaining an urban village, schemes were device and congestion charge lanes were
introduced. The primary goal was the smooth functioning of the mixed use developments and
pedestrian friendly streets in the central area. The visionary Ken Livingstone ―Mayor of
London‖, wanted to make the city ―world class‖, bidding for 2012 Olympic Games in the years
following his reign. He started constructing new railways line and even increased the frequencies
at which the London underground operated.
In 2004, the London Plan was revised and Mixed Land use developments were given
higher priority, with the addition of new rising opportunity areas near the suburbs, the land use
segregation was done primarily on the basis of prioritizing one functional character in the mixed
use area of central London, Such as Mixed use area with a strong ―legal‖ character, Mixed use
area with a strong ―academic‖ character etc. Towards the end of 2005, the government consulted
on proposals to grant the GLA additional powers that would enable it ―to provide strong
effective leadership for London‖. That leadership was needed to enable ―this successful world
city to meet future challenges – including the hosting of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics
Games‖. The final proposals gave the Mayor and the Assembly enhanced roles and
responsibilities over a range of areas, including planning. Thus, in detail, they gave the Mayor
the power to direct changes to Borough programmes for the preparation of local development
plans, a stronger say on whether those plans are in general conformity with his London Plan, and
the discretion to determine planning applications of strategic importance (DCLG 2006). The
package has now been brought into law as part of the Greater London Authority Act 2007.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: London
The primary objectives of this plan was to – To accommodate London‘s growth within its
boundaries without encroaching on open spaces, to make London a better place to live in, a more
prosperous city with strong and diverse economic growth, to promote social inclusion and tackle
deprivation and discrimination, to improve London‘s accessibility, make London a more
attractive, well-designed and green city. Besides steps were taken utilize transit system to realize
the growth of city in structured way, the railways hubs emerged as huge complexes housing
varied public functions, an era of transit oriented development had begun in London.
Further, to tackle the persisting problems, a ―spatial strategy‖21
combined with
congestion charging22
programmes were introduced to relive the CAZ23
.The plan even
introduced three dimensional land use model mapping. This made the decisions on FAR systems
and height restrictions easier but also helped in generating a vision for future planning. This
model has been used in CCZ (central charge zones) to solve the land use arrangements. In spite
planning for 20years as indicated in the spatial strategy the plan has already been altered 5 times,
with major additions in its transport management. Which clearly goes to prove that master plan
21
Regional Spatial Strategies are expected to: Establish a ‗spatial‘ vision and strategy specific to the region - for
example, identifying in general terms areas for development or regeneration for a period of about 20 years ahead and
contribute to the achievement of sustainable development. Establish regionally specific policies, which are expected
to add to rather than replicate national ones, address regional or sub-regional issues that may cross county, unitary
authority or district boundaries and outline housing figures for district and unitary authorities to take forward in
their Local Development Frameworks. Thus, establish priorities for environmental protection and enhancement, and
define the ‗general extent' of areas of belt. Besides this produce a regional Transport Strategy as part of the wider
spatial strategy, outline key priorities for investment, particularly in infrastructure, and identify delivery
mechanisms, in order to support development, identify how the region's waste should be dealt with and be consistent
with and supportive of other regional frameworks and strategies. 22
The London congestion charge is a fee for some motorists travelling within those parts of London designated as
the Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ). The main objectives of this charge are to reduce congestion, and to raise funds
for investment in London's transport system. The zone came into operation in parts of Central London on 17
February 2003 and it was extended into parts of West London on 19 February 2007. 23
The Central Activities Zone (CAZ): This is a term used in the London Plan, which derives in its turn from
definitions used in the local plans of the various boroughs whose areas form part of Central London. It covers only
those areas with a very high concentration of metropolitan activities, generally those where 50 per cent or more of
each street block is in commercial use. This results in a small and extremely irregularly shaped area.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: London
has to be dynamic in nature with scope for improvements and contingencies as the city grows,
because cities are dynamic and exposed to changes and growth.
Currently, the Mayor has a significant role in representing London‘s planning interests in
discussions about broader regional planning matters. Such interests include the Thames Gateway
in its entirety and planning in the broader South East Region. However, his most important role
lies, overwhelmingly, in his responsibility for the SDS. It is on the effectiveness of the London
Plan and its successors that the new planning arrangements should largely be judged. So, how
effective is the Plan? Is it working? Also, what lies ahead?
So far, the signs are promising. First, the Plan has provided a firm, clear vision for London that is
coupled with incisive policies and reasoning. It is a highly readable document, a far cry from
many other plans which, too often, are characterized by formulaic, lowest common denominator
policies. Secondly, it is a ―spatial strategy‖, the first example of a new type of regional plan for
England that goes beyond the traditional confines of land use plans; it includes, for example,
spatial policies on education and health (Thompson 2004).
Thirdly, the London Plan ―goes with the grain‖. It seeks to work with and accommodate what the
Mayor calls ―the phenomenal pressures for growth‖. There are deep-rooted factors that are
driving this change, in particular the continuing expansion of the finance and business services
sector. For planners, it is a question of ensuring that desired development can occur in the right
place, at the right scale and at the right time, and that it is properly co-ordinated with transport
links and other necessary facilities. The Plan gives out the right messages but it cannot itself
guarantee smooth implementation.
Fourthly, there is a widespread acceptance of the Plan. Indeed, at its Examination in
Public there was relatively little dissent, even in respect of its more radical proposals. The expert
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Two: London
Panel largely supported its policies, although they did agree with some objectors that there was
too much of a focus on central London and not enough on some of the outer areas. As stated
earlier, changes were made and the result is a more polycentric strategy.
London Today
Fig 2.18: (Source: www.boston.com)
Panoramic view the city
Fig 2.18: (Source: www.boston.com)
Panoramic view of the heart of the city
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Three: Inferences & Conclusions
INFERENCES:
My feelings or intuition is that Curitiba or London is a success because it held its officials
responsible and not deployed a dead paper weight called Master Plan. Curitiba is as much an
example of what can be achieved by not having a Master plan. Whereas London sets an example
for how can mixed use developments be handled, by orderly paving the way with timely needed
interventions on transit systems and public health.
There are two main issues of looking at the success of Curitiba and London: one is that it
is driven by individual visions—and is dependent on continuing good leadership. And second is
the aspect that there was no Master Plan to either hold them back or to blame (or even if there
was a Master Plan it was being subjected to change and additions in schemes)—and therefore to
shield a bad leadership. At times bad leadership can actually use or misuse the legal limits of a
Master Plan to go against its grain: the illegal colonies of Delhi are example of this…and more
can be thought about.
What is the problem of not having a Master Plan? I don‘t think it is the lack of directive
for development. It doesn‘t take a Master Plan to say –this road system should be built here or
this transit system should be proposed here, these are all vision and need based strategies, which
are subject to temporal changes over the years. And any city continues to do this, for example
Delhi is upgrading its infrastructure for Common Wealth Games, but hasn‘t looked at the Master
Plan to do this. In some areas the construction is going against the ordeals of the master plans .It
hasn‘t asked for the Master Plan to change or accommodate something.
In the absence of a MP, vision can be long term, but the steps can be immediate and
immediately executed. I can create a transit system with the entire infrastructure and as it gets
done, I can formulate strategies for amalgamating this with land-use. This is clearly not
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Three: Inferences & Conclusions
achievable at such a rate, while abiding to a master plan. The problem of absence of MP is
largely a problem of bureaucracy. The LPCA followed a master plan but kept upgrading its
strategies and urban tools; otherwise it would have met the same future as Delhi today. What
happens in the absence of Master Plan in Nehru Place? Nehru Place already has controls. In fact
each ―colony‖ has them. So, it‘s not the question of sustaining a built environment, but a
necessary means by which the development authorities attains power to practice their ‗big stick‘
policy, and reign all over the city.
Now having said that master plan is disposable and must be dismissed for a better and
organized development. What precisely would replace it, were Delhi to follow Curitiba or
London? My criticism of master-planning does not mean that I am advocating a free-for-all.
Even in a market economy, the State is needed to provide basic governance and public goods.
Thus, the city needs a simple set of municipal rules regarding property rights, traffic, street-
hawking, advertising signage and so on. The government should concentrate on enforcing these
rules. Similarly, the authorities should worry about parks, public health, sewage disposal and
other public amenities. The government should not be concerned about whether or not an up-
market restaurant should be allowed in an abandoned mental asylum.
Of course, the government will, from time-to-time, need to make large strategic
interventions in order to cut through intractable gridlocks in the urban eco-system. However,
these should strictly be interventions that will open out new urban vistas and have large
multiplier effects. The Delhi Metro is an example of such a strategic investment that was
necessary to get away from Delhi‘s reliance on roads. The Metro is changing the urban eco-
system of Delhi in unpredictable ways, but that is the idea.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Three: Inferences & Conclusions
CONCLUSIONS:
My conclusions are short…
First, Delhi has been the exception to a worldwide move towards mixed use
developments. The basic reason for the gap is the prevalence of land use control mechanism as
well as the town planning controls and tools, which are not flexible enough to facilitate the use of
mixed-use developments. As a result of the conflict between economic orientated objectives and
other objectives, various planning committees of Delhi have been slow to acknowledge the
benefit of mixed-use development.
Second, the concept of mixed use development need to be implemented at three different
scales, i.e. district, street and building level and to do so all you require is the up gradation of
your planning system with current tools (GPS and GIS Satellite Mapping Systems, Three
dimensional Mapping, Transit Oriented Development).
Third, mixed use should be interlinked with transit systems within the city, as it is this
relationship that helps cities function appropriately and also advances its growth in a more
structured way. This is indeed required for sustaining mixed use developments.
Fourth, another important deduction that can be drawn is the role of the government
which in the case of Delhi needs to be re-structured i.e. it should be more transparent. More
public participation is required for the formulation and implementation of strategies, as these
strategies are for the denizens. Public-Private partnership investment must also be inculcated to
increase the level of competition between various agencies, thus increasing the quality of service
that they provide.
Last but the not the least I would also like to conclude here that, mixed land use is not a
silver bullet. There are other aspects that one needs to improve, such as the water managements,
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Three: Inferences & Conclusions
electrical systems and city level greens etc. At the same time, mixed land use is key for not only
efficiently developing the cities such as Delhi but also other tier 2/tier 3 towns (Jaipur and
Gurgaon).
I would like to say that just to plan is not enough: strategies, concepts, tools and their
implementation is what make the difference at the end.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Four: Tools & Strategies
TOOLS AND STRATEGIES:
After having discussed various case studies in the previous sections, some important
urban tools and strategies can be extracted from them, while introducing mixed use
developments in the urban environment of Delhi today.
Electronic GIS Systems
As cities transforms into more complex and populated structures, so should our urban
tools and strategies. Electronic geographic information system (GIS) technology helps planners
to research, develop, implement, and monitor the progress of their plans. It provides planners,
surveyors, and engineers with the tools they need to design and map their neighborhoods and
cities. Planners have the technical expertise, political savvy, and fiscal understanding to
transform a vision of tomorrow into a strategic action plan for today, and they use GIS to
facilitate the decision-making process.
Planners can use GIS to prepare plans, which set the standard for policy decisions
regarding long-range changes to a community‘s physical environment. They can also make use
of GIS to smoothen the progress of citizen participation and community input as they develop a
vision for the community that enhances the quality of life for all citizens. ESRI GIS tools help
planners analyze problems more quickly and thoroughly, formulate solutions, and monitor
progress toward long-term goals for the community. It not only shows the current scenario of
growth and services, but also simulates future expansion of the zones. Thus providing the
planner with various growth patterns that, the land is subjected to in accordance to the specific
data programmed by them. Through this technology one can easily structure the growth of the
city according to their plans. This tool can be of great use in a city such as Delhi, where growth
patterns are highly erratic and violations of regulations highly common. A sense of unified
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Four: Tools & Strategies
schemes can developed with the help of these of software‘s that can guide us in improving the
infrastructural facilities, before implementation of the real schemes.
The advent of Geographical System (GIS) has created a large field of opportunity for
development of new approaches to computer processing of geographically referenced data,
which has added a new dimension to the management, analysis and presentation of large
volumes of information required in decision-making process. The use of GIS has enhance the
rationality of the decision making process by improving data accuracy and accessibility and as a
consequence leads to better decision. GIS provides the facilities to deal with the data requirement
for the functions mentioned above. One important GIS capability is in handling both digital
cartographic data and the associated databases of attribute information for map features
(Healey,1988). GIS systems can store the map coordinates of point locations, linear and areal
features. These features have attributes that must be stored in the database. Once all the data are
stored, both the digital map and the database can be manipulated simultaneously. This is
particularly important in many land use planning applications, which require data on a wide
variety of physical and environmental attributes.
As Delhi is a city subjected to immense urban renewal problems with its massive and
segregatated political system, tools such this can help bring together all potential players to work
collaboratively on a common vision for their community. Besides, it can also measure and
compare performances of different planning scenarios according to planner- or citizen-defined
indicators for land use, transportation, natural resources, and employment, to name a few. This
allows planners and citizens to work cohesively and also to efficiently create and test alternative
development scenarios, and also, determine their likely impacts on future land use patterns and
associated population and employment trends, thus allowing public officials to make informed
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Four: Tools & Strategies
planning decisions. Besides the usual use of land use plans the this tool also assists incorporating
transport water supply and various other tier level services that helps the planner get a better
understanding of the scenario ahead of time. These systems are a boon for developing countries
such as India where, funds are of highest priority and implementing schemes does not come
cheap.
Three Dimensional Tools:
Additional to the traditional land use maps 3D visualization provides valuable
information for applications in the field of spatial planning, related to ecological and agricultural
policy issues. Maps of future land use do not always reveal the appearance of the physical
environment (the perceived landscape) as a result of land use changes. This means that 3D
visualizations sheds light on other aspects of changed land use, such as expected differences in
height or densities of new volume objects, or the compatibility of these changes with particular
characteristics of the landscape or urban built environment. In the case of mixed use
developments, where agglomerations are highly dense and where, utmost precision in building
regulations and services are required. These visualization tools becomes good aiding tools, that
can help the authorities to formulate new regulations such as FAR‘s, building heights, road
widths, and setbacks based on the computer generated model.
Fig 4.1: (http://www.nzetc.org)
Three-dimensional model for
land use management
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Four: Tools & Strategies
Transit Oriented Development:
Considering the Transit system as a tool for guiding the growth of a city
The most obvious deduction one can make is the interdependency of mixed use developments on
the transit systems, thus establishing the term transit oriented development. (TOD) is a walk
able, mixed-use form of area development typically focused within an accessible radius from a
transit station – a Light Rail Transit (LRT) station or Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stop, prior to the
arrival of LRT. Higher density development is concentrated near the station to make transit
convenient for more people and encourage ridership. This form of development utilizes existing
infrastructure, optimizes use of the transit network and creates mobility options for transit riders
and the local community and also guided the city towards a hierarchical layout for a regularized
development scheme. TOD projects, by definition, improve transit options, in two senses. The
housing components of such projects give residents easy access to trains, streetcars and buses for
commuting to work elsewhere. The commercial components create jobs that people living in
other places can more easily reach by public transportation. Thus, configuring the city towards
sustainable development.
Successful TOD provides a mix of land uses and densities that create a convenient,
interesting and vibrant community for local residents and visitors alike. It is also about enabling
sustainable long-term urban growth. Cities without geological barriers such as Curitiba, typically
consuming large areas of easily available land for low-density development. This pattern of
development is costly to build and maintain, and consumes large tracts of productive land. TOD
can help mitigate these negative impacts by creating mixed-use communities in key strategic
areas around the City, in our established communities.
One of the earliest and most successful examples of TOD is Curitiba, in Brazil. Curitiba
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Four: Tools & Strategies
was organized into transport corridors very early in its history. Over the years, it has integrated
its zoning and transportation to place high density development next to high capacity
transportation. Since the failure of its first, rather grandiose, city plan due to lack of funding,
Curitiba has focused on working with economical forms of infrastructure, so it has arranged
unique adaptations, such as bus routes (inexpensive infrastructure) with routing systems, limited
access and speeds similar to subway systems. The source of innovation in Curitiba has been a
unique form of participatory city planning that emphasizes public education, discussion and
agreement.
Today, TOD has become a necessity in cities that are considering mixed use
developments, due to the fact that transit not only holds the key to establishing such typology,
but indeed is a indispensible tools for the future development of cities both economically and
socially. I would also like to conclude that TOD cannot be achieved just by restructuring the
transit facilities, but various other tier level services that are necessary as well.
Public Private Partnerships:
A tool for sustainable growth and urban economic development of the city
Another lesson learned from the above case studies is that, sometimes, achieving a more
compact, mixed use urban development often requires a shift in infrastructure investment. Thus,
the requirement for a friendlier environment for promoting Public-Private relationships was
observed, by inferring this I do not mean privatization. Rather, a cohesive partnership between
various agencies for a sustainable and economic development of the city. This becomes more
rational an argument in the case of mixed use developments, as it has various levels of services
that require attention to ensure smooth functioning of its infrastructure. But, the limited resources
and funds determine the government agencies as incapable for managing all the services. The
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Four: Tools & Strategies
sustainable transport system of Curitiba24
, exemplifies this scenario very effectively. The country
being very weak on financial fronts, had to develop a transport system that could sustain itself.
This was achieved by introducing public-private mergers between various transport agencies and
the government. The result, a transport system that not just generated funds to sustain itself, but
also provided funds for the overall developments in the city. Giving rise to the word ―sustainable
urban development‖.
'Partnerships' by its very meaning implies working together, where each player has an
equally important role. PPP in infrastructure may be seen as a tool in introducing private sector
management, efficiency and expertise; and private sector investments to the extent feasible. Its
efficiency and expertise can be dovetailed in public services through robust and balanced
contractual arrangements. Private sector most importantly brings in competencies that are as
much applicable in public services, such as - customer orientation, application of management
principles, financial discipline and cost competitiveness. Thus improving the quality of services
provided to the denizens of the city. As the local governing bodies also tend to change the
priorities in their planning. This shift often includes prioritizing transport funding for public
transport, walking and cycling, and quality, higher density, mixed use urban centres. Proper
integrated planning is typically best supported by similarly integrated funding packages. A
transit orientated development, for example, is likely to work well if funding is provided to
develop the transport infrastructure, i.e.: public space landscaping, private housing, community
services, and commercial elements of the area. Focusing public investment into a local,
integrated development can increase the value of the land and properties involved. This increase
in land values resulting from public investments can often attract private investors. As well as
increase the economic value of an area, focused public investment can also improve local
24
Refer page no.19 for more details
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Four: Tools & Strategies
economic activity and amenity value of a community as a whole. Mechanisms used
internationally to achieve increased land values from public investment include the use of urban
development agencies (UDAs) and planning agreements. Planning agreements can help to ensure
private developers meet required qualitative development standards in areas tagged for more
intense mixed use development.
There are a lot of other reasons to initiate PPP‘s in urban development programmes,
especially in the case of Delhi. Where, funding has always been the primary concern, for
initiating any job. Neither national nor local governments seem have sufficient budgetary
resources to extend services and infrastructure or to subsidize inefficient state enterprises or
agencies. But the introduction of PPP‘s would create synergy between the public and private
sectors. Thus, financing projects that can be implemented via public funding- as there is always
continuity in capital investment, mostly by a private bank in such mergers. Besides this a PPP
collaboration also makes the public party identify the risks explicitly and can potentially avoid
risks by transferring them to the private partner. Furthermore, it also has the potential to improve
services, lower the cost and increase income collection, as well as changing the method of
service provision. Furthermore, it can also be argued that public-private partnership (PPPs) and
other forms of cooperation deliver goods and services more efficiently than the government
agencies, as they are always under the scrutiny of the government. Also involving the private
sector brings stronger managerial capacity, access to new technology, and specialized skills that
governments cannot afford to develop on their own. Most importantly is that forming public-
private partnerships to assume functions that were formerly public sector responsibilities has
potential benefits for both citizens and governments.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Four: Tools & Strategies
The public-private partnerships (PPPs) and other forms of collaboration between the
private sector and local and national governments have been widely used around the world for a
range of objectives. For example, the Curitibans25
in spite of being able in financial crisis, were
able to transform into a world city, by promoting PPP in their transit systems, Similarly, Canary
Wharf26
also exemplifies the similar approach, in which one organization was able to get so
much of capital into city for the funding of public programmes, by providing jobs and generating
taxes for the government. Later on the TFL started congestion-charging scheming to generate
more taxation for the utilization of public roads within the city, thus generating capital for the
maintenance of roads, and the maintenance was handed over to private organization. This
ensured flow of funds from public to private and also vice-versa in terms of services.
India too has now recognized this phenomenon, and agencies like the JNNURM
(Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission )27
.The organization today is functional in
60 cities including Delhi. The organizations promote PPP‘s by encouraging private organizations
to participate in public scale projects, under the supervision of government agencies. The
JNNURM is a good example, which shows how PPP‘s can work towards providing basic
infrastructure and services to the urban poor. But, government agencies across the globe fear this
participation would eventually lead to a loss of their control over the city and thus, to maintain
their prowess they continue to refrain themselves in indulging into this franchise with the private
organizations. This attitude is clearly visible in the UDA‘s of Delhi, as they do not easily
entertain any private organizations that easily. Adding to it , is the immense pressure the pose on
25
Refer page no.19 for more details 26
Refer page no.29 for more details 27
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission is a massive city modernization scheme launched
by Government of India. It envisages a total investment of over $20 billion over a period of 5–6 years. It is named
after Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Independent India. The scheme was officially inaugurated by
the Prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh on 3 December 2005 as a programme meant to improve the quality of
life in the cities. The organization has currently has 60 cities under the scheme.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Chapter Four: Tools & Strategies
the companies, which include, delayed payments, supply of bad materials on site, bribes for
attesting documents. This behavior in turn refrain many private organizations in getting into a
merger with the developing authorities.
On the whole PPP‘s can be looked upon as a powerful urban tool, for generation and
regulation of city‘s capital. It also provides scope for building a sustainable society. It becomes a
mandatory feature in the case of mixed use developments, as the pressure on facilities and
services increase exponentially. Furthermore, it‘s a one hand solution for the majority of
problems persisting in the cities today.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: References
REFERENCES:
CHAPTER 1
- K . T Ravindran, Professor SPA, Lecture in NASA Convention‘98 at Chennai, 24th Dec
“In the foreseeable future, integrated multi functional horizontal and vertical mega
structures will play an increasingly strong role in building design and economics”.
- Master Plan for Delhi 2021, February 2007 edition. Delhi Development Authority, 2007
- Master Plan for Delhi 1962, September 1962 edition .Delhi Development Authority, 1962
- Dewal, snigdha. Master Plan for Delhi: 2021 A critical Analysis. Working paper no.160.
Delhi: Center for civil society, 2008.
- Sanyal, Sanjeev. "Reinventing Delhi: Cutting the Gordian Knot." 3 09 2009. India
Banao,Building our India. <http://indiabanao.org/component/option,com_mojo/Itemid,/p,57/>.
- Susan Gorman / Blair Brown / ITPI Journal 4: 1 (2007) 44 – 50
- Government of India. 2005. Eighth Report of Standing Committee on Urban Development.
Ministry of Urban Development. http://164.100.24.208/ls/CommitteeR/urban/8rep.pdf
- Fedako, J. 2006. Zoning is theft. http://www.mises.org/story/2077
CHAPTER 2:
- Gossop, Chris. "Towards a More Compact City –." Planning of London 13 02 2008: 47-55.
- Mayor of london. "London Government." London government: The London Plan. 28 12 2009
<ttp://www.london.gov.uk/>.
- Taniguchi, Cassio. Transport and Urban Planning in Curitiba. Article. Curitiba: Mayor‘s
Office, 2001.
- Urban Age :A world wide investigations into the future of cities. "London: Europe's Global
City." Urban Age Conference. London, 2005. 1-3.
- Dismantlement Corporation. Dismantling the cities. 30 12 2009 <http://www.dismantle.org/
>.
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: References
- Parasram, Vidisha. "Efficient transportation for successful urban planning in Curitiba ." A
Horizon Solutions Site. 25 12 2009 <http://www.solutions-
site.org/artman/publish/article_62.shtml>.
- URBS, Urbanização de Curitiba. < http://www.curitiba.pr.gov.br/>
- IPPUC, Institute for Research and Urban Planning of Curitiba Universidad Livre do Meio
Ambiente. < http://www.solutions-site.org/cgi-bin/>
CHAPTER 4:
- Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission. JNNURM. 1 01 2010
<http://jnnurm.nic.in/nurmudweb/toolkit/broucher.pdf>.
- Ramachandran, M. Convention on urban infrastructure. Report. New delhi: federation of
indian chambers of commerce and industry, 2008.
- Spackman, M. (2002), "Public – private partnerships: lessons from the British approach",
Economic Systems, Vol. 26 pp.283-301.
- Jeneleniewski, M. Public-private partnership: Who is afraid of public private partnerships?
Paper presented at a workshop on Inner city development in transitional economies, Rotterdam,
Netherland, 1997.
- Ahris Yaakup, Susilawati Sulaiman. GIS as Tools for Monitoring the Urban Development in
Metropolitan Region:. Phd Thesis. Skudai, Malayasia: Department of Urban and Regional
Planning, 2008.
- Esri International. "About us: Esri International Gis software that give you geographic
advantage." Esri corporation web site. 2 1 2010 <http://www.esri.com/>.
Mr Matthew Burke, Professor A. L. Brown. "Rating the Transport Sustainability of Transit
Oriented Developments: will developments achieve objectives?" Urban Research Program,
Griffith University. Brisbane, Australia: Griffith University Press, 2006. 1-13.
MISCELLANEOUS:
- Hunter, Gayle (May 2008) Mixed use developments, Mondaque Business Briefing
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: References
“Mixed use developments reflect a response to urban sprawl, as well as a response to
how to maximize economic returns on the high cost of land, particularly in city centers.”
- Irazábal, Clara. "City making and urban governance in the Americas: Curitiba and Portland."
Irazábal, Clara. Urban Planning In Cities. Hants, England: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2005.
88-110.
- Zeidler, Ebenezer H (1983) Multi-use Architecture in the Urban context, USA, Van Nostrand
Reinhold Company
"Examines the multi-use building as an urban structure of the past and of the future. An
essential work for all architects and planners to whom building means building in an
urban context."
- Volkmar, Pamer (March 2008) Climate Proof MILU (Multifunctional and Intensive Land
Use), International Federation of Housing and Planning
“Multifunctionality and intensively used space is seen as a crucial approach to mitigate
climate change and adapt to the outcomes of this change”.
- Hall, A.C. (1997) Dealing with Incremental Change: An Application of Urban morphology to
Urban Design Control, Journal of Urban Design
- Rowley, Alan (1994) Definition of Urban Design: the nature and concerns of urban
design, Planning Practice and Research, v 9; 3-94,179-198, Carfax Publishing Company.
- Ansari J.H, Mixed Land use- Concepts and Approaches
“Mixed land use patterns have both inherent advantages and disadvantages.”How to
achieve an optimum trade-off between the two, e.g. How much of privacy can be
sacrificed to gain convenience of easy accessibility to shops or to the residential areas is
a wider issue that needs to be sorted out before a viable mixed land use pattern can be
suggested”.
- Das, Surobhi (2000) Mixed land use developments and its effect on ruality, Unpublished
dissertation, Department of Architecture, SPA
- Sawhney, Nomita –Globalization; the third wave and its manifestation in Architecture and
City, Unpublished dissertation, Sushant School of Art and Architecture
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Appendix
APPENDIX A:
A 1.1
In terms of availability of urbanisable land in NCT-Delhi 2021, there are clearly severe
limitations with respect to urbanisable land in Delhi. In the words of the Base Paper for
Preparation of Regional Plan 2021, there is specifically a ―significant shortage of land to
accommodate the 2021 projected population within NCT-Delhi‖. In order to accommodate this
projected population – estimated at 230 lakhs by the draft MPD 2021 – in NCTD, a review of
available land for urbanization must be made. Table 1 details land availability figures drawn up
by the Draft NCR Plan 2021.
Table 1: Land Availability in Delhi
S.NO Land Use Area(Ha) Percentage to
Area
1 Total Geographical Area- NCT Delhi 1,48,3000 100
2 Built-up Area 70,162 47.31
3 Natural Features 19,509.10 13.16
Forest 303.56
Wildlife sanctuaries 28.54
Ridge 7777
Northern 87
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Appendix
Central 864
South-Central(Mehrauli) 626
Southern 6200
River Yamuna 9700
Other water bodies/drains 170
4 Sub-Total(Built-Up + Natural Features) 89,671.10 60.47
5 Balances land available in NCT- Delhi(1-4) 586828.90 39.53
6 Land to be Kept reserved for:
(i) Disposal of Solid Waste generated up
To 2501(sanitary landfill, processing
& statutory green belts)
10000 6.74
(ii) Metro Services/Utilities e.g. power
Plant, grid station water and sewerage
Treatment plant, etc.
10000 6.74
(iii) Agriculture zone in NCT Delhi including
Dairy farming, horticulture, greenbelts etc.
11000 7.42
7 Sub Total-6 31600 20.90
8 Proposed/Actual Land available for urbanization(5-7) 27628.90 18.63
9 Total Urbanisable area 2021(including built up area 1999)
(2+8)
97790.90 65.94
10 Population, which an be accommodated in 97,790.90 ha@
225 PPH = 220 lakhs
Source: MPD 2021
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Appendix
These are the plan estimates but other estimates appear to be less optimistic. In their paper on
―Land Policy for Development considering the Techniques of Land Pooling‖, the Association for
Urban Management and Development Authorities claims the figures as described in Table 2.
Table 2: Availability and Distribution of Land
S.NO LAND USE AREA(Ha)
1 Total area 148300
2 Built up 70200
3 Ridge/riverbed, canals, forestland: 28800
4 Double cropped agricultural land 6400
5 Total land NOT available for development(2+3+4) 105400
6 Remainder/urbanisable land(1-5) 42900
7 Single cropped agricultural land 3800
8 Farmhouses 4900
Source: Land Policy for Development, The Association for Urban
Management and Development Authorities
This set of figures, suggesting a possible 42,900 Ha for urbanisation before reserving land for
specific purposes, also gives a rough break-up of the current deployment of the ‗urbanisable‘
land. The Khanna Committee Report (2006) also observes that there is substantial divergence
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Appendix
between the base-line land uses assumed by the DDA while formulating its 2001-21 Draft update
of the Plan and the actual position obtaining on the ground. For example, many areas shown as
falling in the agricultural zone and available for further urbanization, have actually been under JJ
Clusters for the last 2 decades, or more. Not just in this instance there are other cases where one
is faced with contradictory data. In the distribution of land into different administrative zones
and the area under each zone, the DDA in fact contradicts itself as different sets of data are
provided in the draft document and on its website.
Another shortcoming can also be seen in the slum rehabilitation policy
Slum Rehabilitation Policy
The 8th Report of the Standing Committee on Urban Development noted that DDA had taken
over possession of 67354.88 acres of land acquired through the Land Acquisition Collector of
Delhi, till March 2003. Till March 2005, DDA had acquired land totaling upto 69,890 acres.
While the Committee noted that acquisition of land for planned development is an ongoing
process, they were concerned to note that about 1475.85 acres of DDA lands are under
encroachment by JJ clusters. There is no clear policy on slum resettlement given in the plan
despite the figures revealing that it is a chronic and growing problem. According to the Tejinder
Khanna Committee Report, a presentation by HUDCO has brought out the stark fact that since
DDA started its activities, it has been able to provide only 16% of the targeted built-up area
designated for commercial purposes. Figure 3 mentions the type of resettlement and the
estimated population in these resettlements.(Table on page. 56)
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Death Of The Master Plan Inevitable: Appendix
Source: Government of NCT Delhi. 2004. Economic Survey of Delhi, 2003-04.
Department of Planning