Tools / Approaches in Urban Renewal

1) Slum Clearance 

Demolition of dilapidated dwellings located in a slum. Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities. 

2) Redevelopment 

The demolition of an existing building and its replacement by a new building. Redevelopment consists of the removal of existing buildings and the reuse of cleared land for the implementation of new projects. This approach is applicable to areas in which buildings are in seriously deteriorated condition and have no preservation value, or in which the arrangement of buildings are such that the area cannot provide satisfactory living conditions. In such cases, demolition and reconstruction, of whole blocks or of small sections, is often thought to be the only solution to ensure future comfort and safety of the residents. In the majority of western countries, redevelopment has been discarded as a way to rejuvenate old city centers. However, in many developing countries, redevelopment through slum clearance and reconstruction is still regarded as the only viable way to improve housing conditions and to modernize inner-city areas. 

3) Rehabilitation 

The repair and improvement of existing structurally sound property. Rehabilitation, often termed conservation or preservation, can be defined as the opposite of redevelopment. It is based on preserving, repairing and restoring the natural and man-made environments of existing neighborhoods. Rehabilitation is applicable to areas where buildings are generally in structurally sound condition but have deteriorated because of neglected maintenance. It takes advantage of the existing housing stock as a valuable resource and adapts old houses to present day life and acceptable standards by providing modern facilities. Rehabilitation recognizes that the limited availability of funds for new construction and the serious housing shortage make the option of destroying already existing housing appear both unaffordable and imprudent. It recognizes the value of old neighborhoods and by preserving what is unique, ancient and specifically local, it can also contribute to the development of the tourism industry and stimulate the economy.

Concerning the impacts on the population, residential rehabilitation can take place in two distinct ways: gentrification and incumbent upgrading. Gentrification is defined as the process by which middle and upper class people move to a neighborhood, attracted by its proximity to central business districts and replace the previous working-class inhabitants. Through the process of incumbent upgrading, the residents remain in place and invest in their own time, money and energy into refurbishing their housing and improving their social conditions. 

4) Housing Improvement 

Improvements of dwellings by provision of essential basic amenities. 

5) Conservation 

To retain intact or unchanged.

6) Environmental Improvements 

Main emphasis is to improve environmental conditions. 

7) Economic Renewal 

Improvement of economic conditions of dwellers. 

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Urban Renewal

Local policies and strategies designed to deal with urban decline, decay or transformation are termed as urban renewal. It is a comprehensive and integrated vision and action which leads to the resolution of urban problems and which seeks to bring about a lasting improvement in the economic, physical, social and environmental conditions of an area that has been subject to change. With the decision and authority of a governing municipality, rearranging land use, function and ownership features of a socially, economically or structurally decayed part of a certain city such as slum zones or brown fields, for the purpose of obtaining a desired, well organized neighbourhood. 

Urban renewal or urban regeneration is a process of land redevelopment in areas of prior, moderately to high, dense urban land use. It has a mammoth impact on the urban panorama and morphology of different cities. On the other side, the urban redevelopment process is envisioned as a way to redevelop or rebuilt urban zones and it also incorporates sewerage treatment and disposal, solid waste management, building and maintenance of roads, streets and flyovers, creation of parks and open spaces, street lighting along with street cleanliness, conservation and remodeling of heritage sites, water purification and supply etc. all of which ultimately lead to a healthy renewal project in urban areas. So renewal is an all-round process that encompasses mainly redevelopment and also some other specific planning strategies within its spectrum. 

Urban renewal refers to a set of plans and activities to upgrade neighborhoods and suburbs that are in state of distress or decay. Urban renewal programs address the physical aspects of urban decay. Urban problems such as deteriorating housing, poor physical infrastructure (including water and sanitation services) and poor community services such as sports and recreational amenities are addressed through such programs. 

Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States ) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal is the clearing out of blighted areas in inner cities to clear out slums and create opportunities for higher class housing, businesses and more. A primary purpose of urban renewal is to restore economic viability to a given area by attracting external private and public investment and by encouraging business startups and survival. 

Modern attempts at renewal began in the late 19th century in developed nations, and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s under the rubric of reconstruction. The process has had a major impact on many urban landscapes and has played an important role in the history and demographics of cities around the world. Urban renewal is a process where privately owned properties within a designated renewal area are purchased or taken by eminent domain by a municipal redevelopment authority, razed and then reconveyed to selected developers who devote them to other uses.

The concept of urban renewal as a method for social reform emerged in England as a reaction to the increasingly cramped and unsanitary conditions of the urban poor in the rapidly industrializing cities of the 19th century. The agenda that emerged was a progressive doctrine that assumed better housing conditions would reform its residents morally and economically. This process is also carried out in rural areas, referred to as village renewal, though it may not be exactly the same in practice. In some cases, renewal may result in urban sprawl when city infrastructure begins to include freeways and expressways. Urban renewal has been seen by proponents as an economic engine and a reform mechanism and by critics as a mechanism for control. Though it may bring more wealth to communities, it may also edge out its preexisting residents.

Objectives of Urban Renewal 

The main objectives of urban renewal are 

• Restructuring and re planning of concerned urban areas 
• Designing more effective and environment friendly local transport and road networks within the concerned urban areas
• Rationalizing land uses within the concerned urban areas 
• Redeveloping dilapidated buildings into new buildings of modern standard and environment friendly design 
• Promoting sustainable development in the urban areas 
• Promoting the timely maintenance and rehabilitation of buildings in need of repair 
• Preserving buildings, sites and structures of historical, cultural or architectural value 
• Preserving as far as practicable local characteristics 
• Preserving as far as practicable the social networks of the local community 
• Providing purpose-built housing for groups with special needs, such as the elderly and the disabled 
• Providing more open space and community/welfare facilities 
• Enhancing the townscape with attractive landscape and urban design 

Reasons behind Urban Renewal 

Urban Renewal allows an absolute city to modernize itself so that it can compete successfully with other cities of a similar hierarchical size for major economic and cultural activities. Various reasons behind urban renewal are as follows. 

a) Economic Reasons 

In Central areas, it alters low revenue property to high value property that yields higher tax revenue to the municipality. In conservation, it maintains the properties from declining. The cost of maintenance becomes less. Private developers are given adequate incentives to extend business and it provides more employment in commercial and institutional activities. Urban renewal project can repay the loan for investment within a few years. It provides employment opportunities and helps construction related activities. The relocated people and business also get economic benefits and blessings. 

b) Social Reasons 

It provides housing to the poor people and thus dilapidated housings and unhealthy, shady as well as shabby environmental ambience get eliminated through this type of projects. Juvenile delinquency, prostitution, anti-social elements and other social pathological symptoms are also removed or eradicated to some extent by the aura of this type of reformations.

c) Public Improvement Reasons 

Traffic improvements and parking facilities, disappearance of illegal and unauthorized usage of public space, provision of adequate community facilities including interward and intraward municipal services can be provided over a wider urban pursuit after the occurrence of a holistic urban renewal programme. 

d) Aesthetic Reasons 

Changing cityscapes with better or improved residential areas are generated due to renewal where all sorts of urban-ugliness can be removed. 

The purpose of urban renewal is to improve specific areas of a city that are poorly developed or underdeveloped. These areas can have old deteriorated buildings and bad streets and utilities or the areas can lack streets and utilities altogether. 

The National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) has committed itself to a comprehensive programme of urban renewal and massive expansion of social housing especially in Kolkata city. In his inaugural address of a National-level programme, held on 24th June, 2004, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh emphasized on the need to give special attention to policies promoting urban renewal through urban regeneration, renovation and redevelopment. In the Independence Day address of 2008, he uttered, “Urban renewal constitutes one of the seven pillars for urban growth and development in different metropolitan cities of India”. At the beginning of 21st century, renewal resulted in the creation of urban sprawl also and huge areas of cities were demolished and replaced by fairways and expressways, sky-touching housing projects and vacant lots, some of which (though minor portions) still remain vacant. 

Urban renewal provides the following tools. 

• First it allows for the use of tax increment financing to finance improvement projects. 
• Second, it allows for special powers to buy and assemble sites for development or redevelopment, if that is desired. 
• Third, it allows for special flexibility in working with private parties to complete development projects. 

Urban Renewal Agency 

For a municipality to use urban renewal it must establish an urban renewal agency and it must adopt an urban renewal plan. Urban renewal agencies are created by state law but are specifically “activated’” by the governing body. The agencies are separate legal bodies from the governing body, but in most cases the urban renewal agency board is composed of members of the governing body. 

Urban Renewal Plans 

To undertake urban renewal projects with tax increment financing, the projects must be authorized in an urban renewal plan. The plan applies to a specific geographic area of the city, which is called the urban renewal area. 

The term Urban renewal means rebirth or regeneration of a city or a part of it which has been plagued by the ills of urbanization. The planning concept originated in England and America in 1930’s. Decayed parts of the city were demolished and rebuilt. Initially referred to slum clearance and housing but has gradually evolved into a multidimensional concept. These programs were thrust upon the city and its people and were criticized and halted on opposition by organized community movements. The urban renewal programs taken up later, involved greater participation of the communities.

Urban Renewal programs are generally undertaken by public authorities or by local governments. The emphasis is on those parts which have fallen below current standards of public acceptability. These are commonly to be found in the residential parts of the inner city and the central business district. Indicators for residential parts of inner cities are inadequate housing, environmental degradation and presence of non-conforming uses. Indicators for central business district are traffic problems, congestion and dilapidated buildings. 

Urban renewal is required for 

• Dilapidating, ageing parts of the city, not providing the city its full potential and becoming a health hazard 
• In built form it consists of old area of the city, congested area around transit points and illegal settlements needing redevelopment 
• In terms of infrastructure - measures for efficient and smooth movement of traffic, improvement of transportation network and provision /improvement of utilities

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Urban Planning Policy in India

In our first five year plan, the problem of urbanization was identified with the problem of increasing shortage of living space in urban areas, as a consequence of heavy shift of population from rural to urban area. The second plan marked the expansion of the housing programme of the first plan and given due attention to slum clearance, slum improvement and land acquisition and development was given due importance. In the third plan, it was decided to prepare master plans and regional development plans for metropolitan and industrial cities. In this plan urbanization was recognized as an important aspect of the process of economic and social development. 

In the fourth plan the expansion of urban community and spatial implications of the problems of urbanization was given due importance. In the fifth and sixth plan period attention has been given to spatial and functional linkage of towns, development and growth of small towns and prospects of developing new towns as the centres of agro-industries and rural services. The overall view of developing urbanization as a part of integrated rural development was given due consideration.

Spatial Policy 

The urban spatial policy considerations are becoming increasingly important in development planning. Alternative settlement patterns are being evaluated from the point of view of cost and efficiency. It has been demonstrated that, in spite of continuous failure to arrest the urban growth at a pre planned time and place, reasonable programmes to influence the direction of migration and the pattern of urbanization are feasible. One of the difficulties in facing the formation of spatial policies and urban growth strategies is that, there are very few successful models of urban planning and there are no ready made policies, programmes and strategies to suit all conditions, places and times.

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New Towns in India

In recent times, India has seen a spurt in such planned townships and a significant number of consumers living in major urban centres are becoming interested in the idea of living in the number of planned townships that are being built away from major urban hubs and chaos. 

Making of new towns in India is not a recent phenomenon. India has the experience of this process throughout her history. The phenomenal growth of new towns in India bears the imprint of her heritage in this field of culture and civilization. Mohenjodaro and Harappa, dating back to the Indus Valley civilization, Ayodhya, Pataliputra (present Patna) and Varanasi laid out by Indo Aryans during the Vedic period, Nalanda and Taxila built to serve as University towns during the Buddhist period. Agra, Golconda and "Dacca" (Bangladesh) of mediaeval period, Fatehpur Sikri of the Moghul period, Jaipur the 'pink city built by Maharaja Jai Singh during the 18th century and Lutyen's New Delhi (1930) are some of the classic examples of new towns built to satisfy the needs and aspirations of urban community during different periods. 

The new town movement of India in the recent past is associated with the beginning of railway towns of British India. These railway towns being formed of an assortment of quarter, for railway employees, stations and other transportational facilities made a sizeable settlement with minimum possible layout and service facilities. The towns mainly designed on 'grid iron' pattern and provided community facilities like market, temples, churches, schools, playground, cinema and theatre gave the look of a new town. Kharagpur, Asansol, Tundla, Manmad and Waltair are the landmarks in this field of new towns in colonial India. 

By 1941, India had more than 30 such towns having capacity of more than 10,000 people each. Till independence development of new towns followed this pattern with a few exceptions like Jamshedpur. Development of new towns in the truest sense in India took a turn after independence. The partition of the country in 1947 resulted in influx of refugees from east and west and their rehabilitation marked the beginning of new towns in modern India. Faridabad near Delhi, Nilokheri in Punjab, Gandhidham in Gujarat and Asokenagar in West Bengal are examples of refugee township in India. 

The new towns built in the first phase lack in design aspect and differ from European and American Standards. But it should be admitted that India started making new towns at a very difficult hour. It was Pandit Jahawarlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India wished decent layout of these new townships. He invited the great designer from France, viz. Le Corbusier and gave him the task of designing Chandigarh. His architectural designs and creations became a source of inspiration to other young nations. Creation of Chandigarh was a historic moment in the contemporary annals of town planning. In fact Chandigarh was the 'flag off" stage in the race of town building in India. 

In recent times, India has seen a spurt in such planned townships and a significant number of consumers living in major urban centres are becoming interested in the idea of living in the number of planned townships that are being built away from major urban hubs and chaos. Let us have a look at some of these new towns which are redefining the way people live in our country. 

• Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai is a planned satellite township of Mumbai on the west coast of Maharashtra. Navi Mumbai covering 95 villages 
• New Town, Kolkata New Town, formerly known as Rajarhat, is a fast emerging satellite township in Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA) and it is expected that it will be able to absorb additional population growth and help in easing the burden on Kolkata 
• Lavasa is a private, planned city being built near Pune by the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC)

1) Navi Mumbai 

Navi Mumbai is a planned satellite township of Mumbai on the west coast of Maharashtra. After it was created in 1971, City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) was the only authority that looked after the development and maintenance of the city. It was CIDCO which prepared the developmental plan for Navi Mumbai covering 95 villages. In 1991, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) was constituted by the Maharashtra government for maintaining some of the developed nodes of Navi Mumbai, namely, Belapur, Nerul, Turbhe, Koparkhairane, Ghansoli, Airoli,and Vashi. 

Navi Mumbai is home to many software companies of Maharashtra, located in various parks. These include the Millennium Business Park in Mahape, the International InfoTech Park at Vashi, and the Belapur railway station complex. It is also home to major commodity markets as well as a major steel market. One of the important business landmarks is the shipping port of Jawaharlal Nehru Port in the Nhava Sheva – Dronagiri nodes. The major business hubs in the city are CBD Belapur, Vashi, Nerul, and Mahape. The Navi Mumbai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) located in the nodes of Dronagiri and Kalamboli is planned to provide commercial growth and employment to the city. Positioned enroute the proposed Navi Mumbai Airport, this megaproject has attracted investments close to Rs 40,000 crores. 

2) New Town, Kolkata 

New Town, formerly known as Rajarhat, is a fast emerging satellite township in Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA) and it is expected that it will be able to absorb additional population growth and help in easing the burden on Kolkata. The West Bengal Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) plans and executes development projects in the entire 6,000 - 7,000 hectare area in New Town. In order to render the various civic services and amenities within New Town, the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) was constituted under the New Town Kolkata Development Authority Act, 2007. 

Towns master plan envisages a township at least three times bigger than the neighbouring planned Salt Lake City. The entire area is still under the process of development. As a planned township, New Town has been divided into three key areas: Action Area I, which mainly consists of malls, a sub Central Business District (CBD) and planned residential and commercial plots. Action Area II is to have a planned main CBD, institutional plots, IT Business Parks like DLF and Unitech, and plots for large apartment complexes. Action Area III mainly consists of high rise residential complexes and mini sub-townships like Uniworld City and Sukhobristi. 

3) Lavasa 

Lavasa is a private, planned city being built near Pune by the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC). Among the first planned hill cities of India, Lavasa is approximately 1/5th of the land area of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. Located near the Mumbai-Pune economic corridor, along the Warasgaon Lake, Lavasa optimally balances nature and urban infrastructure. The master plan of Lavasa is based on the principles of New Urbanism which makes life easy for its residents by placing all essential components of daily life within walking distance of each other. Besides this, architectural considerations such as land character, building frontage, and other design guidelines have also been taken into consideration while making the master plan. 

Developments at Lavasa are well on schedule, and the Dasve town center is currently under an advanced stage development. While the Dasve Town Centre is already functional, all structures in education, hospitality, and leisure are fast-nearing completion. Mugaon, is 6 kms from Dasve and is being developed as a centre for residential, educational, business and commercial activities. This town has shops, cafes, cultural institutions, spiritual centres, schools, and colleges. 

Various green initiatives have been undertaken to provide a healthy life to the inhabitants of New Town. The NKDA is working on plans to set up a dedicated green walkway stretching several kilometers in the township for people to walk and breathe fresh air without having the trouble to avoid cars and other polluting vehicles coming their way. A master plan, which has been approved by the Centre, has also been prepared for developing New Town as a solar city. It mentions ways to reduce the projected energy demand from conventional power sources by following two strategies one is by use of solar and renewable power sources and another is by using more energy efficient devices. Already, a long stretch of the main arterial road in Action Area I has been illuminated with LED streetlights and more such lights will be installed on various roads in the township. 

Recently, West Bengals Transport Department and HIDCO came up with a plan to jointly set up a state of the art international bus terminus at New Town, the first of its kind in the state. The terminus will have cafes and rest rooms and services for inter-city, inter-state, and international bus routes will be operated from there. New Town is also witnessing a major real estate boom. This year, a 2.5 acre plot in the township fetched HIDCO a whopping Rs 57.33 crore. It amounts to Rs. 23 crore per acre. Lately, HIDCO has been reaping rich harvest by auctioning off plots in the township for commercial purposes.

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Main Functions of a New Town

Towns and villages differ from each other where their functions are concerned. Villages are mainly associated with production related to agricultural activities. The surplus is used by the villages in exchange for other commodities, which they themselves do not produce, from other villages or towns. The village, accessible to all others, generally becomes the focal point for exchange of commodities. This village generally develops into a town. Once a town comes up, it acquires one or more of the functions depending on a number of factors. 

1) Processing 

Processing is one of the most basic functions of a town and involves processing of agricultural products, for instance, wheat into wheat flour and oil seeds into oil. The most easily accessible village generally becomes the processing centre. This may have been the reason for the emergence of the earliest towns. 

2) Trade 

After processing, the next level of towns are associated with trade. The towns act as the centres for exchange of processed items or manufactured goods between two or more places. These markets may operate on a daily or weekly basis. Weekly markets are a common feature throughout India. These centres may also specialize in one or more items such as fruits and vegetables, cattle and food grains. 

3) Wholesale Trade in Agricultural Products 

Towns engaging in wholesale trade in agricultural products for the next high level in functional pattern of towns. Transport facility is a crucial factor in such towns. These towns generally fulfill processing functions also. Later, they may develop manufacturing and other services also. They are generally small in size and dispersed, often specializing in one commodity or the other. For instance, Hapur is a wholesale centre for food-grains, Ahmedabad and Tiruppur for cotton, Sangli and Erode for turmeric, Bangalore for silk and Guntur for tobacco. 

4) Services 

In towns, services like education, health, administration and communication, not adequately available in villages, are well developed. Of all these functions, administration is the most important one. A town may be the headquarters of a panchayat union, a state cooperative or a district. Administrative towns also have law courts, police stations, government departments associated with developmental works, etc. Chandigarh is a good example of an administrative town. 

5) Manufacturing and Mining 

Such activities give rise to large towns because manufacturing and mining activities generate large scale employment and give rise to other useful economic activities like trade, services, transport, ancillary industry etc. These activities attract large scale migrations from adjoining regions. Jamshedpur came up around the Tata Iron and Steel Works while Raniganj and Kolar are examples of towns which have come up around mining activities. 

6) Transport 

Transport is a basic necessity for all types of economic activities and for the evolution and further expansion of a town. Many of the towns, therefore, have come up around railway stations or port towns. Railway stations act as the centres for change from road to rail traffic and vice versa and for purposes of trans-shipment, collection, sorting and despatch. Jolarpettai in south India is a good example of a town which has come up at a railway junction. Similarly, the ports act as the centres for change from road or rail to sea traffic. Ports may also develop manufacturing and administrative functions. Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Kandla, Paradip etc., are examples of towns which have come up around ports. 

7) Pilgrimage/Tourism 

Pilgrimage is an important activity associated with travelling and lodging. Thus, at such places transport and lodging facilities also come up. The towns adapt themselves to support a large floating population. Tirupati, Hardiwar, Varanasi, Rameshwaram are some examples of pilgrimage centres while Shimla, Darjeeling, Udagamandalam (Ooty) are some examples of tourist centres.

8) Residential 

Towns with residential functions often come up around big cities where land prices are lower, basic services are cheaper and fast transport links with the main city are available. Sonepat, Faridabad and Gaziabad are examples of such towns around Delhi. These towns have also developed manufacturing functions in recent times. Generally, a town has more than one function, but one or two of these dominate. The functions of a town depend on its location, its infrastructural facilities, and historical and economic factors. The dominant function may be identified on the basis of number of persons involved in that particular activity. 

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Developing New Towns

For developing new small towns, it is important to know the possible line of selection of the various socio-economic components. Following important components should be give due consideration. 

i) Demographic Factors 

Growth rate and the size of settlement must be taken as an important factor, because over a period of time the population would increase and would promise the effective developmental possibilities of a small settlement into a future new town.

ii) Occupational Structural Pattern 

This needs a check-up of census figures for knowing the occupational pattern of the already existing villages for various economic activities. The check-up would tell the occupational engagement of manpower in primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. The ideal occupational pattern would be about 60% in the primary and 40% in the combined secondary and tertiary sectors. 

iii) Locational Proximity 

The developing new towns should have two functional spatial dimensions; first of all, it should have resource base and second, it should be in proximity to the urbanized industrial centres. This later approximation in spatial location would accelerate a rapid rate of socio-economic development. 

iv) Nodal Location 

The nodal points with better transport linkage offer good opportunity for the development of a node as an important nuclei. Its transport links with adjoining areas offer several opportunities of growth. Thus, it can be rightly pointed out that, transport development is an imperative necessity because, the links of small towns with rural settlements and cities would create more employment possibilities. 

v) Power Supply and Provision of Water 

In the sixth plan, there is a programme of industrialization for decentralized electric power generation. This will open immense possibilities which would develop industrialization in the rural areas. The provision of water supply for industries, is another factor for the development of settlements. There must be protected water supply for the growth of a settlement. 

vi) Agro-Industrial Development and Employment Prospects 

The economic control of the small towns with agro-industrial base has to be identified in the prosperous agricultural areas, it will generate employment prospects and thus, rural migration to urban areas can be minimized. 

The concept of new towns has become acceptable to many on the following considerations.

i) New towns are to provide manpower for new industrial growth outside the main concentration of population. 

ii) New towns are the instrument to relieve congestion in the overcrowded urban centres. 

iii) It is to provide an urban centre for a rural population and to solve rural unemployment. 

iv) New towns are the ready-made media to populate underdeveloped areas. 

v) Finally making of new towns provide a new capital city and extra urban growth to be at par with development. 

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Designing a New Town

A new town built on land strongly controlled under unified public or semi public ownership, should be distinguished by combination of town and country life style and of environment, an uninterrupted greenbelt encircling and intersecting the town. A planned urban community that combines residential, commercial and recreational areas. Due to increasing population, we provide new town for reducing the burden of the city. Designing a new town for self-sufficient and providing housing, commercial, basic facilities and recreational area . 

New towns are playing in the economic development of the countries they are emerging in, it is clear that economic motives are the dominant factor behind most new town initiatives. The present new towns are populated by the middle and upper classes, while the lower income groups live in the old city or in self organized cities and slums.

The New Town Movement 

The new town movement refers to towns that were built after World War II and that have been purposefully planned, developed and built as a remedy to overcrowding and congestion in some instances and to scattered and settlements in others. The main reason for it was to decongest larger industrialized cities, rehousing people in freshly built, new and fully planned towns that were completely self-sufficient and provided for the community. 

Records exist of plans for new towns back as far as the ancient Egyptians. Most of the “planned towns” in history were based on providing for military, trade or harbor needs. The idea of planning a city for the needs of the people who would live there didn’t crystallize until the end of the 19th century when Sir Ebenezer Howard, first suggested a series of “garden cities” north of London. However, it was another 50 years, at the end of World War II, when these garden cities really began to flourish. 

The world was moving into a new era of rapid urbanization. The problems of pollution, traffic congestion and the impersonalized isolation of urban sprawl were growing. The concept of creating new towns spread across Europe with the creation of planned communities to deal with these problems. These “new towns” sought to plan in advance the design and growth of cities. Some of the key features were: 

• Pedestrian friendly walkways separated from vehicle traffic to promote the safe movement of people between neighborhoods, schools and shopping 
• Architecturally innovative housing 
• Community owned land to create activity areas and a sense of openness 
• Community works of art 
• Close proximity of commercial and industrial parks for people to live close to where they work 
• A development philosophy to respect the land 

Need For New Towns 

Developing new towns for various purposes, such as, to exploit natural resources, to provide raw material to industries, to serve nuclei and act as catalytic agents for stimulating economic growth in backward areas, for administration and for special purposes. Although in most cases new towns are expensive to build and they take several years to develop fully, still they offer several benefits. Building of new towns does not mean that, we should stop the growth of major cities. Major cities develop, but new towns reduce the rate of growth of metropolitan cities. In this regard it is necessary to prepare national and state physical plans. The national physical plan should be the physical and ecological guide of the policies, programmes and strategies relating to population changes and distribution. 

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Process of Planning and Designing a New Town

Planning is the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve a desired goal. The process of planning includes the determination of objectives and outlining the future actions that are needed to achieve these objectives. Various steps that are followed in the process of planning are:

1) Identifying the problem 

It involves the identification of the aim for the fulfillment of which the plan is being formulated. If a new plan is require or the modification of an existing plan could help in achieving these aims. 

2) Gathering information about the activities involved 

An effective plan needs complete knowledge of the activities involved and their effect on other external and internal activities. 

3) Analysis of information 

This information is then analyzed minutely and the information related with similar subjects is classified so that similar type of data can be kept together. 

4) Determining alternate plans 

There are alternate plans available for the achievement of the objectives and ingenuity and creativeness are required as some plans are also developed at this stage. 

5) Selecting the plan 

At this stage the plan which is acceptable to the operating personnel is proposed. The adaptability and the cost of the plan are also taken into consideration. 

6) Detailed sequence and timing 

Detailed like who will perform which activity under the plan and the time within which the plan should be carried out is determining in this step. 

7) Progress check of the plan 

The provisions are made for the follow up of the plan as the success of any plan can be measured by the results only. 

8) Implementation 

Implementation is the carrying out, execution, or practice of a plan, a method or any design, idea, model, specification, standard or policy for doing something. As such, implementation is the action that must follow any preliminary thinking in order for something to actually happen. 

9) Monitor and Control 

Managers must continually monitor the actual performance of their work units against the unit’s goals and plans. Manager’s also need to develop control systems to measure that performance and allow them to take corrective action when the plans are implemented improperly or when the situation changes.

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