Model for inclusive city management and development

Abstract

It is high time that planners shall look beyond the traditional approach and formulate an action plan, integrating urbanization, urban development and spatial planning, to build inclusive and sustainable cities and improve environmental and living conditions for all level of society. This calls for the creation of more effective and efficient processes for urban planning, development and governance. The research work is an attempt at thinking aloud on the subject, drawing lessons from the aberrations in the urban development approaches adopted by various cities. Over the last three decades, there has been a modest pace of urbanization in the Bangalore. A significant feature of this urbanization is the increase in Urban Agglomerations (UAs) comprising continuous urban spread of towns and adjoining outgrowths. The manifestation of urban growth along the periphery of UAs has become a critical component for spatial expansion and, thereby, for spatial planning. However, urbanization policies at the national level are still influenced by the perception that it is rural distress that is causing exodus to urban areas. Population in rural part of country is growing at a steady rate of 18-19 per cent per decade. The faster urbanization in the country is myth. Equally wrong is the perception that migration from Rural India to Urban India is due to pressure of unemployment alone. Plans for economic and social development without spatial and environment planning is an invitation to urban and regional disparity. Without the regional perspective, isolated and dedicated Master Plan of urban development inevitable becomes a complex hurdle to crossover. There are many factors impacting the Master Plan Approach in urban development in a city. It includes lack of financial support to Urban Development Authority (UDAs) to effectively implement the land use proposals of the plan. This is abstaining and restricting them to acquire land in piecemeal fashion and prepare layouts or group housing developments without synchronizing them for those urban growth directions of the plan. Lack of co-ordination between UDAs and Parastatal agencies, failure to monitor multiple agencies role and inputs in developing infrastructure and consequential plan violations have become a regular part and parcel of Master plans. Plan violations and changes in planning lead to flouting of building laws and misuse of premises in core municipal areas. There is a specific need to have provisions for housing for the poor leading to mushrooming of squatter settlements and unauthorized slum colonies. Constraints on urban mobility and transportation management on account of the proliferation of private vehicles, unauthorized settlements and the relatively high cost of Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) are impacting execution of Master plans. Corruption, inequity or indifference in urban governance invites judicial interventions for planned development and in worse case stalling the project now and then. On one side manifestation of large-scale violations and unplanned growth is the need of the time, while on other side economic pressures by society and providing a license to flout statutes or law of the land at the cost of law abiding persons are prompting to adopt a practical inclusive city development process. The process shall be more of a development control mechanism and as a tool for resource generation and socioeconomic development. The absence of a coordinated mechanism for implementation is a major cause of inefficacy of the process. Town planning in India is, thus, at the crossroads. On one hand, urban planners have the option to follow the development Authority Model, which is not in sync with the demand driven, competitive, market-oriented approaches of the present era of economic liberalization. On the other, they can choose the route of decentralization and devolution responsibility of preparation, enforcement & implementation of urban development plans. One crucial point is, that in case our planners go in for the second alternative, it is imperative that they first capacitate the local governments in the various aspects of development planning – technical, financial, social and environmental. The correlation between Urban Governance and Urban Development should also be clearly understood. If Urban Governance is to provide inclusive city development and good living conditions, it has to relate itself mainly to four significant aspects: (i) Town Planning (ii) Town Development (iii) Town Governance and (iv) Funding for township development for all levels of society. The inclusive urban development is a complex cloud, where the point to initiate is not very clear. This study is a process to develop an approach to solve this problem in stepwise manner. The major concern of study is to identify the critical component of inclusive urbanisation process, the existing status quo involved in the process and to compare it with best concepts and practices of world. At the end of report a model is developed and brief recommendations have been made for those identified critical components.