2Plan Formulation

Spatial development planning is a continuous, time-oriented, cyclic process and should be seen and practised as a process where planning, implementation, monitoring, review and plan updating go on as a dynamic process. In this process, the decision to prepare a plan is outside the cycle of planning process. The following diagram portrays the general process of planning.

Following are the stages of planning process:

■ Determination of Aims and Objectives

■ Identification of site needs

■ Identification of projected needs

■ Plan formulation

■ Inclusive planning

■ Statutory obligations

■ Decentralisation of plan approval process

People's participation

■ Plan modification

■ Review and revision of plans.

The aim of the plan is a broad and general statement indicating the decisions of the policy makers, aspirations of the people and needs of the community. For example, ‘To provide job opportunities for all’ is a statement of aims.

Objectives are specific statements indicating the ways and means of achieving the set aims taking into account the potentials. For example, for the aim related to job opportunities, the objectives could be:

■ Provision of jobs through development of industries / commerce or trade;

■ Provision of incentives and inducements (specific) to industries;

■ Provisions of informal sector economic activity sites as part of commercial areas, and such others.

The aims and objectives formulation exercise comprises the following steps:

1. Identification of values cherished by and needs of various stakeholders including citizens, administrators, professionals, politicians, and other group of people.

2. Identification of aims incorporating the values.

3. Identification of criteria that further defines each aim to form basis for formulation of objectives.

4. Formulation of objectives, which could be further defined as design objectives and implementation objectives.

For comprehensive spatial planning and integration of the sectoral development, site specific needs are to be identified in the beginning of the planning process. The report of the Working Group on Urban Strategic Planning (12 $^\{th\}$ Five year plan), states that due to ‘Lack of Comprehensive Planning Approach, haphazard growth and proliferation of slums around industrial locations, peri-urban areas and randomly located new developments such as SEZs and township has taken place’.

Diverse ground conditions and interrelationships in settlements require different strategies for spatial planning. The growth potential and special functions performed by the urban centres such as marketing, industrial, tourism, pilgrim centres etc. need to be explicitly recognized.

At this stage of the planning process, the site needs should be identified based on the typology of urban development- such as port city, old city, industrial townships, peri-urban areas, corridor development, regional development and accordingly the vision needs to be prepared. Table 2.1 throws light on some site-specific features for studying urban and regional settlements while planning. The list is comprehensive but not exhaustive.

Table-Error! No text of specified style in document.1:Site Specific Needs of Few City Types

The stage of identification of site needs should be taken as baseline study phase. As this stage has implications on the following stages, a broad based study should be done for identification and incorporation of as much as elements that are specific to the settlement and are likely to have impact on the future development of the settlements to prepare sound proposals.

After identification of site needs, the next stage in the process of planning is identification of projected requirements of various activities, supporting infrastructure and land as the basic input for plan formulation. It is this stage of planning which would require most of the time. Thus, there is need to minimise the time taken at this stage. In this context, it is emphasised that primary surveys and studies should be rationally chosen so that it saves time and minimises delays in the process. The choice of technique of surveys, analysis, synthesis and projections should also be such that it is effective and time saving(refer Chapter 7 for choosing the planning techniques).

2.1.3.1 Gaps and Projections

Expansion or development of settlement necessarily requires corresponding provision of infrastructure to support residents and economic activities. Thus, infrastructure gap analysis should be carried out mandatorily while preparing the plan. Infrastructure gap can be assessed on the basis of remaining life of existing infrastructure and coverage of infrastructure against benchmarks. Special focus must be paid to the transport infrastructure at this stage. Detailed study/ research of different modes of transportation and their corridors should be carried out to find about travel demand and patter of the planning area. Using public consultations and carrying capacity techniques (further elaborated in the Chapter on Simplified Planning Techniques), current or future requirements in infrastructure can be identified. The background study of standards and guidelines for disaster mitigation should be completed to find out the gaps that may exist in city infrastructure, landscape and administration.

Aims and objectives of the study should also be considered at this level for setting up priorities of development. To incorporate the element of sustainability in human settlement planning and development, environmental and infrastructural carrying capacity study of the planning area must be carried out at this stage. The capacity to hold the population is an indicator for infrastructure projection.

Population projections can be carried out based on past trends, employment and induced growth (of the future proposed economic activity of the land). The corresponding needs of the human settlements on infrastructure are to be projected (refer Chapter 8 on infrastructure norms). Priorities for planned development are identified through norms and standards for buildings, provision of services and infrastructure provided by national agencies, national and state level programmes and policies.

2.1.3.2 Consultation

Public participation is the key to planning exercise and hence different group of stakeholders should be consulted to know the needs and finalise the priorities for projections. Different demographic, social, economic categories of stakeholders can be prepared for wide-ranging public participation such as representatives from agencies and institutions involved in planning and development of the area, elected representatives, associations, experts in the sectors and the resident public.

Figure- 2.2: Identification of Projected Requirements