New Delhi

New Master Plan for Delhi to focus on densification

Sujay Mehdudia

Land is shrinking and the city is bursting at the seams

NEW DELHI: In what could be a drastic change in the planning and development process for the Capital faced with the harsh reality of shrinking land and a city bursting at the seams, the Union Urban Development Ministry is holding consultations with experts and planners to give a major thrust to the cause of densification of the city against the policy of urban sprawl in the new Master Plan for Delhi-2021.

"As per the Master Plan for Delhi-2021, Delhi's population in 2006 should be around 1.62 crore and by 2021 the outer line envisaged is 2.3 crore. Thus in any case there has to be an increase in the population in the coming 15 years to the tune of 68 lakh people. We have three broad choices in preparing the strategy. To allow green and agriculture areas in Delhi to be encroached upon by concrete jungle; to allow further densification of the existing areas; or a harmonious mixture of the above two choices,'' says Union Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken.

According to Mr. Maken, densification of the population without being unmanageable is a global phenomenon. The Minister said while going in for any of these choices one thing is clear: the requirement of power and water supply to the incremental population would be the same in all three choices. Arrangements for sewage disposal for the incremental population would be the same in all the three choices. In a nutshell, the load on the civic agencies for providing services to the incremental population would be the same in all the three choices.

"I strongly support the cause of densification of the city and this is what is the trend in city planning the world over. Even cities like Mumbai have a density of 29,434, Chennai 24,231, Hyderabad 14,192 and Kolkata 11,680 compared to 9,339 people per sq. km. in Delhi. Cities like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, Lagos, Manhattan, Paris, New York, Moscow and Vancouver support dense populations without being unmanageable. Density is the not the problem but inadequate transportation, use of personal vehicles, lack of urban infrastructure are some of the reasons for poor urban management. Some of these issues could find an echo in the new Master Plan for Delhi-2021,'' says Mr. Maken.

On the issue of car parking, Mr. Maken cites a view that things would deteriorate if we allow further densification of existing areas. "We must bear one thing in mind: densification will not take place overnight. It would take 15 years or more to add 68 lakh people. Densification is to be matched with appropriate augmentation of civic services. In the same time, densification would have to be matched with improvement in public transport and creation of multi-storey parking spaces. Both the topics would be taken care in the Master Plan for Delhi-2021.''

Mr. Maken believes that the planners have to come out with a model that ensures that the city consumes less energy

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