Legal aspects of supply of land for urban development a case study of Gujarat

Abstract

Rapid urbanization along with increasing infrastructure, housing, industrial and commercial needs put high stress on the urban land and its supply system. Supply of serviced land for various urban development purposes is one of the key functions of the urban land management system. Legal, administrative and fiscal aspects of land management system together enable supply of land to meet this rising demand of urban land. This research focuses on the legal aspects in particular to understand the extent of the legal tools in facilitating supply of land for urban development and identify inadequacies which discourage and constrain land supply in urban areas. In addition, there is a need to evolve measures to address these shortcomings that inhibit the supply of land for urban development. This study assesses the legal aspects of supply of land for urban development in Gujarat. Urban land supply systems in India are studied from a historical perspective, from Medieval period to Modern India, followed by a review of current land legislations, important land supply models, land-based fiscal tools and land-use regulations and their implication on supply of land. After which, the study examines the scenario in land supply mechanisms in the case study state (i.e. Gujarat) and determines the predominant legal tool prevalent in the state for supply of serviced urban land. This research uses a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods which includes focus group discussions, in-depth personal interviews, and questionnaires to collect data from various stakeholders involved in the land supply system. The issues of concern in the existing predominant legal tool are identified with quantitative analysis and inadequacies in provisions, procedures and institutional issues are examined by qualitative analysis. Corrective measures for these inadequacies in existing land supply system are evolved to improve the urban land supply system. The study concludes with recommendations, including key measures at micro-level and broader.