CHENNAI: Even as the Tamil Nadu government is planning to review the 50-year-old Town and Country Planning Act of 1971, the Centre has asked the State to constitute a high-level committee to focus on strengthening urban planning.
The Centre plans to turn every city into a land of opportunity within 25 years. The State has been asked to appoint people with strong academic and professional backgrounds to the panel.
Planners feel balanced urban planning is lacking in the State. The focus has only been on Chennai, for which two master plans have been made. Dr KR Thooyavan, former professor of MEASI Academy of Architecture and former chief planner of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) told TNIE what Tamil Nadu requires is integrating the State's economic development plan with regional plans.
Regional planning deals with efficient placement of land-use activities, infrastructure, and settlement growth across a larger area of land than an individual city or town.
In 1974, eight regions were created in the State for planned growth, but regional plans were not prepared. This should be included in the Town and Country Planning Act which is being reviewed after 50 years, feels Thooyavan. He also believes master plans for all cities in the State should be prepared, and equitable growth should be ensured. Like the economic development plan, the regional plan should be reviewed every two years, he says. The focus should also be on detailed development plans (DDP) and they should not be restricted to land use plans.
Under the Second Master Plan for the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA), CMDA initiated action to prepare Detailed Development Plans in a phased manner. These include land use zoning, creating infrastructure such as parks and play fields, link roads, and identifying commercial and industrial areas for balanced development. But for a few areas, DDPs were not prepared. The other aspect to be focussed on is ecology and sustainable development, which includes provision for recharging waterbodies and accounting for growing cities' traffic requirements.
Association of Professional Town Planners (APTP) president KM Sadanand says there is a serious need for a comprehensive review of Town Planning Administration in Tamil Nadu, in line with the Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, which came into force on June 1, 1993, with the devolution of powers to urban local bodies.
Out of 18 key functions mentioned in the 74th Amendment, "Urban planning including town planning" is still awaited for initiation.
A Shankar, chief operating officer, strategic consulting and valuation, JLL West Asia, says planning should be done considering emerging growth corridors and organic development enforced by market forces.
Connectivity and transit oriented development-related aspects should be covered under the master plan since this hugely impacts development regulations, he says.
He also calls for guidelines for holistic development of tier 2 and 3 cities. There should be capacity building for all government staff based on current market trends and future outlook. There is also a need for a more tech-driven approach to planning and sustainability to encourage alternate forms of energy consumption leading to a sustainable city to make a liveable place for generations to come, he adds.
More than 50 participants, including professors from Anna University and MEASI Academy Of Architecture, CEPT University, ITDP India, Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group, GIZ India, consultants from The World Bank, officials from CMDA, Directorate of Town and Country Planning and Greater Chennai Corporation discussed topics that the revised Town and Country Planning Act should focus on.