Re orienting urban planning A case study of Rajkot India

Abstract

Since the post-independence era, urban planning has been dominated by the Rational Planning model, practiced through preparation and implementation of Master/Development plan for smart growth and sustainable development of cities. As a result of this, urban planning has been deeply guided and monitored by public agencies through land use zoning and development control regulations. newlineThe concept of having compact city development has always been a guiding principle for modern day urban planning and has constantly being practiced through the preparation of development / master plan in most of the developing and developed nations due to its embedded philosophy of having a socially interactive society without having urban sprawl. However, the idea of Rational Planning has been criticized for top-down approach and for being a highly centralized mechanism. newlineKeeping the above contestation in mind this research aims to assess the strengths and weaknesses of development plan formulation process to make it more efficient, using the city of Rajkot as a case study. Past development plans of the city and planning policies were reviewed with the use of software like GIS and other quantitative planning techniques. newline newline