URBAN PLANNING

There are few people more well-versed about urban planning in Mumbai than Shirish Patel. The civil engineer and urban planner has been around for decades, watching the island city grow into the suburbs. He has witnessed the skyward trajectory of infrastructure in the city and at the opposite spectrum, degradation, crumbling under the Rent Control Act, Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCRA), and over dependence on floor space index (FSI) rules. He designed India's first flyover, at Kemps Corner. And then, along with Charles Correa, he was the one of the first to suggest and draft a plan for…

With traffic and congestion in the city increasing day by day, Koyambedu, which is home to the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT), the Omni bus terminus and the wholesale fruit and vegetable market has been facing bottlenecks on a daily basis. In an attempt to decongest the traffic, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has proposed to shift the operation of Omni buses and Mofussil buses that ply to the southern parts of Tamil Nadu to Kilambakkam where a Rs 393-crore bus terminus is being built. The construction of the Kilambakkam bus terminus near Vandalur in Chennai is nearing completion.…

With a timeline of at least 15 years, the Dharavi redevelopment project is not expected to bear fruit anytime soon. Neither the residents, the established businesses, nor the winning bidder, the Adani group, have any illusions of a quick transformation to the area that has evolved over a century; spanning over 250 hectares, 8.5 lakh residents and 20,000 businesses and industries. But change is very much on its way. The Maharashtra government aims to get this long-promised project started in 6 months. The race to kickstart the redevelopment has been on, however, ever since September last year, when the government…

In earlier articles, the author traced the journey on the series of constructions on and development of the Outer Ring road (ORR). In part three of the series, the author reflects on whether the flyovers and underpasses in Outer Ring Road benefit everyone, if they really connect Bengalureans, or are meant only to accommodate private vehicles. This is the third and final part in a series of articles on the constant construction work on Outer Ring Road Part 1: The ups and downs of Outer Ring Road: A view through the years Part 2: The ups and downs of Outer…

In a previous article, the author traced the development and series of constructions on Outer Ring Road (ORR), from the 1980s-1990s till 2015, when the Dr Muthuraj underpass was being constructed at Hosakerehalli junction, under the Nagarothana Scheme. Part two of the series will explore how multiple contradictory construction work has affected commuters. Road repurposing This has to do with uncertain infrastructure provisioning. Since most of these projects are implemented long after they have been planned or constructed on the go, there are no long-term visions for them. Plans keep changing and there is no one master plan that all…

There is a distinct possibility that many residences in Chennai stand on what would have been a waterbody or agricultural land decades ago. So, how did it become a residential plot? How was construction even allowed on such land? Most likely, because the builder applied for land reclassification by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) before construction of houses in these locations. Around 70% of the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) constituted agricultural lands before CMDA formed its First Master Plan in 1976. According to the Second Master Plan, only 12% of agricultural lands are remaining. According to researchers, waterbodies have…

I have lived on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) for 15 years now. It has shaped my life to such an extent that it is one of the narratives I use to recount my time in the city. Orienting myself with the everyday changes on this road has shed light on my place as a resident, commuter, voter and more importantly as a citizen - a part of a larger whole. With the announcement of the environmental clearance application for the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR), it seemed prudent to look back on what the journey has been like on the…

The Navi Mumbai Draft Development Plan 2018-2038 is the first development plan to be formulated since the formation of the Municipal Corporation. When Navi Mumbai was conceptualised, planning authorities wanted to decongest Mumbai and shift industrial and housing demands to Navi Mumbai. Housing has always been one of the primary concerns for the financial capital of the country. The City Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), a planning authority in Navi Mumbai, was therefore tasked with the responsibility of identifying land for industrial, residential, commercial usage, etc. [Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is the planning authority of Navi Mumbai, but CIDCO and…

While social media lauded the efforts of the civic body and state administration in preventing widespread urban flooding during the initial spell of the Northeast Monsoon, the past week also saw parts of North Chennai's residents feel neglected in terms of response to the rains and overall flood mitigation efforts.  "If the Corporation can constantly keep vigil in core areas in Chennai like Nungambakkam, what about North Chennai? There may be so many people who are educated enough to raise complaints in the centre of the city. But North Chennai is predominantly made up of the working class, who are…

There is an emerging policy consensus around promoting cities as engines of economic growth (XV Finance Commission, 2020, pg. 169). NITI Aayog, in its May 2022 report, proposed developing comprehensive economic plans for Indian cities. The 74th amendment also allows Urban Local Bodies to integrate and implement economic development schemes through the master plan. Cities across the world use economic data to understand and identify target areas for investment in transportation or economic infrastructure (for example, Sao Paulo) or setting up targeted investment funds (such as London’s Regeneration Fund and Growing Places Fund) or improving poor neighbourhoods’ access to better…