Scope of Development Plan

The scope of this plan covers an assessment of current issues, prospects, priorities and proposals for development of the urban centre including employment generation, economic base, transportation and land use, housing and other infrastructure; and matters like environment, conservation and ecology. It also contains implementation strategies, agencywise (including private sector) schemes/projects, development promotion rules and resource mobilization plan with particular reference to finance, land and manpower and provides an efficient system of monitoring and review. 

Depending upon the urgency of the needs and priorities requiring special treatment and covering special aerial extant development plans for specific subjects could also be prepared within the framework of the perspective plan and covering the area of jurisdiction of the local authority. These plans could be traffic and transportation plan, tourism development plan, environmental conservation plan, heritage conservation plan, mining sites reclamation plan, coastal area development plan, highway corridor development and such others. 

A development plan is a statutory plan, approved and adopted by the local authority for implementation with the help of schemes and projects. Its proposals are precise and definite. It makes known publicly the intention of the local authority regarding physical, social and economic development of the urban centre, the facilities and services that are proposed to be provided in near future (Next 5 years). It notifies the property owners the manner in which their properties will be affected; and it informs the developers about the areas where opportunities for investment will be available.

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Town Development Plan

Development is a process of enhancement of quality of life through production, provision and utilization of goods and services with people’s choice and environmental sustainability. Developmental planning is the process of organizing resources, people and their activities over space and time to achieve some objectives. 

For a successful town planning there must be a plan which envisages the entire town as a single unit. The development or expansion of a town takes a long time and therefore, the development is required to be controlled at any time on the basis of a plan. Such a plan is called as Development Plan or Master Plan. The development plan is generally prepared to improve the old conditions of the town but it is also equally necessary for the new cities to be planned and built on virgin land. e.g. New Delhi, Gandhinagar, Chandigarh, etc. A development plan is an ideal plan showing the full development of the town at some future date. 

 A master plan or a development plan or a town plan may be defined as a general plan for the future layout of a city showing both the existing and proposed streets or roads, open spaces, public buildings etc. A master plan is prepared either for improvement of an old city or for a new town to be developed on a virgin soil. A master plan is a blueprint for the future. It is an comprehensive document, long range in its view, that is intended to guide development in the township for the next 10 to 20 years. 

Urban planning involves forecasting future population growth and planning for possible changes. Planners consider rate of growth, rates of natural increases and migration, age profile of the forecasted population, housing types and employment services required for making proposals. To be successful the development planning process must be:

• Visionary and realistic i.e. it must raise the aspirations for the people and area and provide a vehicle for consensus building and implementation 
• Fully integrated into land use planning system, but also allow new uses and market opportunities to exploit the full development potential of the area 
• A flexible process, providing the basis for negotiation and dispute resolution 
• A participative process, providing all the stakeholders with a means of expressing their needs and priorities 
• Equally applicable to rethinking the role, function and form of existing neighborhoods as creating new neighborhoods. 

Development Plans are prepared to achieve an orderly growth of urban settlement which forms part of the regional plans. Jurisdiction of the development plans are normally urban areas in the case of smaller urban settlements and it includes the surrounding inter dependent areas in the case of major urban settlements. The plan period for such development plan is generally 15 to 20 years. Here also the population for the plan period is projected and the spatial extent for not only the existing population but also for the future population is given in the plan. It is necessary that development plans also prioritize and phase out the developments. As in the regional plans, the agencies for planning, monitoring and implementation are identified. Such development plans contain the following in detail:

• The manner in which land in the planning area shall be used 
• Allotment and reservation of land for residential purpose, commercial purpose, industrial purpose, agricultural purpose, parks, play fields and open spaces, improvement and conservation of urban renewal areas and amenities, services and utilities 
• Provision of areas for housing, shopping, industries, civic amenities and health, educational and cultural facilities 
• Control of architectural features 
• Provision of zoning regulation 
• Phasing of development proposals

A development plan is a document which details the overall strategy of the council for the proper planning and sustainable development of an area and generally consists of a written statement and accompanying maps. The plan usually includes the broad aims of the council for specific topics, e.g. housing, infrastructure, community facilities which are reinforced by more detailed policies and objectives. A human settlement is a living organism and has an origin, growth, decay and regrowth. The settlement is subjected to various types of forces like physical, social, economical and political, which influence its form ad structure. It is necessary to channelize these forces in a planned manner to create such environment which is healthy, efficient and satisfying for working, living and recreation. The developmental plan is an instrument to achieve these objectives.

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Pitfalls of Urban Renewal

Urban renewal programmers are afterwards turned into a luxury-scheme in many countries. In India, it is very often termed as “Urban Bulldozer” by some regional planners and social geographers as it tends to obliterate the stable neighborhood patterns and character of some authentic urban core areas and buffer areas. Many traditional and old-fashioned buildings are wiped out to make avenues for the fresh buildings and sky-scrappers. Some renewal projects do not help the city’s development and in many cases it enhances some unique problems. As slums get cleaned, poor residents turn-up to other shanty-towns. Otherwise, they are uprooted without proper rehabilitation or forced to rush to a place with higher rent. Economically, the ‘Patricians’ become richer and ‘Plebeians’ get poorer. Some private investors and developers become extraordinarily pampered or puffed-up in such public projects.

Critical Issues 

Urban renewal can affect the urban environment at many levels. The preservation of the city's identity, community, local culture and natural and built environments, must be given special attention in the process of renewal. 

a) Urban Identity 

A frequent challenge faced in the sensitive reshaping of an already existing environment is discovering and preserving its own visible structure and drawing out its inherent image and identity. Urban renewal modifies not only the physical form of the urban environment but also transforms the way in which it is perceived and experienced, and the psychological and emotional relationships between humans and urban places. Diversity and continuity appear to be essential components of the urban environment which must be preserved in the process of urban renewal. However, in recent years, the emergence of a global model has been threatening local identity, integrity and authenticity, and cities around the world have become increasingly. Respecting the city's own identity through urban renewal will help rescue cities from the "placelessness" of contemporary international architecture and the homogeneous values of the mass culture. 

b) Environmental Concerns 

The preservation of natural and man-made environments is another important issue which should not be overlooked in the process of renewal. Old buildings, monuments, parks, and neighborhoods, as well as the old pattern of the city which gives the city its unique character are necessary to maintain the city's vitality.

The preservation of the historic core, which provides future generations with stimulating ideas from their cultural heritage, is essential for the development of modern cities Present, past, and future history are all equally important in the making of a modern city. No adequate image of the emerging city can be formed without reference both to the most enduring and valuable features of historic cities as well as to the fresh departure and fresh opportunities that our modern age, with its immense store of knowledge, wealth and power has opened up. 

Over the last few years, there has been a heightened appreciation of the value of preserving old sections of the urban fabric. For more than one hundred years, writers on architecture have returned to the pre-industrial town for models for a saner, more organic society. The historic core has become the point of reference for planners and architects. Some even consider the historic core to represent the design model that will ultimately be used to transform the remainder of the city. 

However, preservation must be handled with caution, and it requires a deep understanding of the nature of the city. A misinterpretation of the process by which cities evolve through time can lead to the creation of sanitized environments, or the reconstruction of an imaginary and more acceptable past. 

c) Social Concerns 

Concerns for the physical and psychological well-being of the individual and the community are essential for sensitive renewal. Urban renewal can either involve re-accommodation of the original population on the site after its renewal or its transfer to another part of the city through relocation. For the population, displacement carries not only financial costs, but social and emotional costs as well. Urban renewal often leads to the dissolution of urban communities and the loss of proximity to friends and relatives. People need to know that their communities will continue to exist and be able to provide for the present and future needs of themselves and their children. 

It is generally recognized that displacement from familiar locations translates into drastic changes in lifestyle and requires long term readjustment which can cause serious psychological trauma, especially for the most vulnerable portion of the population, i.e. young children and the elderly. The loss of contact with a familiar environment to which people have developed strong emotional attachments may occurs both when residents are displaced and when familiar environments are radically altered by revitalizing activities. 

The high economic, social and emotional costs paid by evicted residents have generally been written off as an unavoidable by-product of "progress" and a necessary consequence of modernization. While the governments can intervene to compensate victims for part of the economic costs of displacement, the psychological costs are less easily mitigated. Relocation therefore remains an important aspect of the process of renewal and should be given special attention. 

d) Cultural Concerns 

The preservation of a unique urban culture is another critical issue in the process of urban renewal. Culture has been defined as the whole social mode of life, or the mode of life of the people in general, and as the collective expression of shared history, traditions, values and ways of life. The continuity of a culture is carried in its architecture, urban design, and planning, as well as in its community life. Urban culture can therefore be said to be closely related to the evolution of the relationship between the urban built environment and its social structure. The disappearance of the physical and social manifestations of a particular culture would lead to the decline of this culture.

The changes brought to the social, natural and build environment of the city through urban renewal can have a serious impact on the flourishing of urban culture. Just as much as the preservation of the environment and community can be important for that of the local culture, culture is itself essential in their development. It is often the local culture which defines what is special and unique about a group of people or a place, giving them their identity and making them last over generations. It is therefore important to ensure that in the process of renewal, the urban culture is not destroyed, but stimulated and promoted through a conscious transformation of the urban environment.

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Benefits of Urban Renewal

• Drives urban productivity E.g.: Creating mixed use development projects in CBD – Creating regional hubs just outside of city limits to reduce residential and commercial pressure on inner city area. 
• Creates employment opportunities
• Attracts increased investments – Intensifying use of land – Densification of area can create new market for business 
• Enhance housing affordability – Brings key workers closer proximity to employment opportunities 
• Capitalize on existing infrastructure – Improvement of existing infrastructure saves cost of new expensive infrastructure 
• Increases tourism revenue – Improved infrastructure and services

Benefits for the Community

• Creates new local jobs – temporary and permanent and keeps earnings local. 
• Establishes an environment that fosters growth in new businesses. 
• Promotes the introduction of new housing products, and offers resources for reinvestment in established neighborhoods. 
• Eliminates hazards and conditions that undermine the integrity and safety of the community. 
• Stems the decline of property values and correspondingly the revenues of the municipality and other taxing entities. 
• Provides upgraded and needed infrastructure for future growth. 
• Supports local historic preservation efforts.

Benefits for the Local Government 

• Increases tax revenues from new businesses, consumer purchases and property taxes. 
• Keeps sales tax dollars local for use within the urban renewal area or community at large.
• Only method of financing capital improvements that does not require an increase in taxes. 
• Contains costs associated with the provision of government services by using existing infrastructure in a more fiscally responsible way. 
• Encourages in fill rather than fringe development, resulting in a more efficient use of land and lower municipal capital costs. 
• More effectively leverages transit improvements, correspondingly lowers regional infrastructure cost. 
• Identifies capital improvements needed to stabilize existing areas and encourage reinvestment. 
• Makes development within municipalities more cost effective than sprawl development outside. 

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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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