India's urban planning scene is in transition. The colonial-era, state-mandated land use planning model has proven to be ineffective. In recent years, India's central government has dedicated substantial funds to mid-sized cities in order to improve urban services, infrastructure, and housing. These funds are dependent on candidate cities preparing viable City Development Plans (CDPs) but lack an integrated planning and design approach. Rising urban population, growing urban-rural inequality, and challenges of planning for diverse, chaotic, and populous Indian cities provide for opportunities to develop and integrate new sustainable models of developing infrastructure and adopting smart growth.
Based on the experience of WRT's recently completed comprehensive master plan for the Steel City of Jamshedpur (southwest of Kolkata with a population of 1.4 million), the firm's Jonathan Smulian and Yogesh Saoji recently published an article in Down to Earth, the popular Indian science and environment magazine. The article highlights the challenges of urban planning in India and posited more effective ways of both administering and planning for India's cities and their future growth.
The full article is available on our Writings page.
