The master plan and the slaves

Source– The post is based on the article “The master plan and the slaves” published in The Hindu on 3th July 2023.

Syllabus: GS1-Urbanization

Relevance:  Urban planning

News- Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa, stressed at a recent Urban-20 City Sherpas’ meet that a master plan is crucial to manage urbanisation.

Master Plan is an instrument of governance for urban local bodies (ULBs). It is essentially a spatial plan of land-use allocation supported by bye-laws and development control regulations. The institutional structures, cultures, and practices of ULBs are built around this spatial vision and provision of urban services.

What are problems in master plan?

Firstly, the master plan instrument is dated and archaic. It requires an update. The concept, configuration and rationalities of this instrument drafted in the 1950s. For example, the Water Act-1974 focused on industrial pollution only.

Secondly, a master plan is simply a spatial plan of land-use allocation supported by bye-laws and development control regulations.

Thirdly, this spatial vision is at the core of institutional structures of ULBs. The ULBs are shaped and run by the agenda of regulating spatial growth and they become limited to these ideas and conceptions.

Fourthly, the statutory and spatial nature of the master plan can pose constraints on the programmatic plans, especially the spatially associated ones such as the plans for protection of water bodies.

Finally, there is no set criteria for mandating a spatial plan to regulate urban growth.Close to 65% of India’s urban settlements do not have master plans, according to NITI Aayog.

What is the way forward?

we must acknowledge that the master plan instrument may be limited by its archaic conceptions and entrenched institutional cultures.

2021 report of the NITI Aayog should be prioritized with respect to spatial （town） planning profession and education. Recent moves such as Gati Shakti and Model Rural Transformation Acts are a reflection of this.

There is no need to go far for lessons to do this. Indian cities offer enough experiences to learn from.

India must reimagine spatial planning to address the growing and emerging governance challenges of urbanisation