Overview of Planning : Overview of Planning : Zoning Zoning

& & Land-use PlanningLand-use Planning

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Zoning, land use Planning, Infra structure Services

Zoning Def: Regulation by law of use of land and/or buildings and height and density of buildings in specific areas for the purpose of securing convenience, health, safety and general welfare of the community

Objects of Zoning

• Ample opportunity for setting future growth and development of city

• Proper co-ordination of various public amenities like transport, water supply drainage and electricity

• Effective tool in town planning schemes

Types of Zoning: Density Zoning, Height zoning, Use zoning

Land Use planning Def: Regulating use of land in efficient and ethical way. It encompasses two components:

Physical Planning - Architecture, Landscape architecture, Urban Design, Urban Planning and Urban renewal. These take care of selection of physical layout, scale of development, Aesthetics, Costs of alternates, Selection of materials, Impacts on Landscape and species

Environmental - Regional planning, Spatial Planning, Sustainable development, Transportation Planning. These involve implications of development and planning, Roadway noise, pollution, surface runoff, flooding assessment etc.

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Environmental Concerns, Sustainability

Environmental degradation is the bane of the modern society. Due to rapid urban development degradation is occurring at the following levels:

Land – Scarcity

Water – Under ground and surface water depletion

Air – Pollution

Vegetation – Deforestation, ozone depletion, global warming, rising sea levels, hazards and disasters; Extinction of animal and plant life

Densification – Leading to social crimes and violence

Sustainability is a catch word these days. It means ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. Sustainability can be achieved by : Efficient land use, less automobile usage and efficient resource management, less waste generation, restoration of natural systems, good housing, meeting essential needs for jobs, energy, water and sanitation, healthy social ecology, alternate sources of energy, sustainable economy, community participation, involvement and preservation of local cultural wisdom.

Large scale development interventions like Industrialization, raw material extraction and processing, mega irrigation projects, timber logging are also added value for a sustainable future.

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Socio, Cultural and Economic perspective

Example: A slum located in the middle of a town

Planners view of a space: Visually unattractive, high levels of noise, pollution, inadequate drainage, lack of open space.

Residents view of the same space: Nice neighbors in terms of social relationships, relatives, local shops keepers, ease and convenience of access to transit.

The above example shows how each of us view a space. People in urban or rural areas live not only by the physical choices but also by social and economic choices. Demographic changes like nuclear families, people living longer, falling infant mortalities have put more pressure on the housing types. Modern changes in the structure of societies and higher life style expectations have given rise to unemployment, lack of mobility, poverty, homeless ness, destitution etc. In the poorer sections of the society if the need for better amenities is felt, middle classes aspire for car ownership thus increasing traffic on the roads. The richer classes aspire for a second home, picnic spaces and more recreational avenues. Women workforce has also given a new dimension to the social needs of families. The agglomeration of economies drive the work force in the urban areas, while lack of them drive rural areas into under-usage.

Most sociologists would argue that cultural changes in the modern society is an un-documented change. Values in the traditional household no longer hold steam in the cities. For example if plants and animals in a traditional household are valued as demi-gods, modern householders donot care for them. While the Indian culture has deep rooted traditions concerning the environment we are not bothered about it now.

Therefore social patterns and cultural trends influence planning policies in a lot of ways. As per the above example planners cannot put themselves on a pedestal to solve humanity's problems. They would have to understand the forces acting on the society to strike a vi-media solution.

Poverty is essentially a problem of Inequality

There are three classes of people – Rich, Middle class and the poor. Rich and middle class are classes which can afford food, clothing and shelter and poor are those who cannot afford them. These three are considered as prime areas and other areas are Education, healthcare, recreation and luxuries of life. The poor cannot compete for jobs because of inadequate education, segregated housing, and employment discrimination. This leads to poor pay and irregular employment. They will go through this cycle of deprivation for generations.

Some theoreticians say all urban problems can be solved with poverty alleviation. Supplementary incomes, good education and technical skills go a long way in poverty alleviation. So how to start this process? Urban and Rural poverty have differing reasons, identification of the reasons and plans to tackle them would help.

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Socio, Cultural and Economic perspective

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Politics and Planning

Most politician don't come from planning background. They have general understanding about growth, housing, transportation etc but their technical know how on each of them is little. Planner have ample opportunity to educate them on

• Understanding the local context

•Taking into account their views and opinions

•Finding common ground.

By this Planners will be able to inject planning principles into the political process. Understanding the jurisdiction, power structure, legal structure of what is public/what is not and fine tuning the politicians on such aspects becomes the duty of the planner. Politicians weigh more value to people’s opinion rather than to that of planners technical know how, they also have differing perspectives on who is elected and who is appointed. Some times misinformation also delays the processes. Striking a balance between what is common good and what do politicians want is a challenge for the planners.

For example: A small town had a minor shopping area which the local government wanted to expand – to improve tax base for the town and to increase commodity availability to the residents. But residents opposed the move because it would bring traffic, noise and pollution of trucks. The politicians agreed with the residents. Planning officials intervention at this stage solved the issue – they suggested that the loading/unloading of trucks take place during non-working hours and into one storage space, from which distribution may be handled with smaller vehicles. The proposal was passed at the city council meeting.

Also establishing long-term relationships with politicians also benefits planners because that would establish trust and reliability on their capacities. Politicians like to work with people whom they know and trust.

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Need for legislation In Planning

Municipal Acts, Development controls and regulations

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Aesthetics in Planning

Urban Design and Conservation

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Management of Human Settlements and built environment

In the developing countries growth and development is very rapid, in comparison to the post industrial era. Due to the speed of change most of the built environment faces faster deterioration. We are faced with socio economic and environmental challenges of large proportions. Management of human settlements thus becomes a prime concern for planners. Built environment cannot be or is not properly managed though desired because of scarcity of suitably qualified personal, weakness of institutional systems, and lack of technical capacity.

How to manage1. Support training programs for administrators and civic officials at all levels

2. Ensure efficient leadership transfer, of know how and technology

3. Encourage Public-private partnership, community, business and economic forums to exchange experiences

4. Include multi sectoral approach

5. Local capacity building ventures

6. Timely exchange

7. Ensure transparency and accountability

8. Consider mediations to resolve conflicts

9. Know about eco cycles

10. Integrate gender sensitive policies

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Public Participation

Public participation in Planning process is an important component of the process. Public participation is encouraged in

•Identification of development priorities

•Implementation of development programs

•Participation and monitoring

•Sharing benefits, managing assets

How people participate:

Public opinion polls, Referenda, Ballot Box, Public hearings, Advocacy planning, Letters to the editor and public officials, Reorientation of pressure groups, Protests and demonstrations, Court actions, Public meetings, Workshops and seminars, and Task force.

While public involvement is advised in the decision making process like location of schools, drinking water, or hospitals, their involvement in the Implementation is also highly recommended like contribution of labor, cash, material, goods or information for completion of projects. Feed back from public helps planners modify programs to suit the needs.

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Failures and Successes in Physical Planning

Several examples may be quoted as successes and failures in planning. For example Indus valley civilization epitomized Indian settlement pattern. In the modern times the City of New Delhi or Chandigarh are good examples of successful planning ventures. The Le’ Enfant’s plan for Washington DC is considered to be a success story. Some may be failures too like that of Indira Aawas Yojana/ Rajiv Gruha kalpa or the 1970’s Slum relocations in Chennai. But failures and successes cannot be termed as such because

1. There is no definition of what planning success is

2. There is no empirical knowledge of when, in what circumstances planning has succeeded

3. There is no method for measuring planning success, no ability to measure implementation of plans.

In planning modeling techniques we may measure success or failure by comparing real results to a model-run procedure with several variables. But in a general framework of planning process estimating failure or success is a complex system because most success will come with several controversies and some aspects of a failures might have been successful.