In a bid to generating greater economic activity and employment, urban planning body HMDA is planning secondary and tertiary development centres around the city, with Hyderabad as the nucleus.
“Basically, an urban expansion concept, the move will ensure creating new residential and employment areas with efficient transport network linking them,” an HMDA official said. As part of the plan, 13 proposed Urban Nodes will be developed as self-contained zones and 46 other Urban Centres have been identified for tertiary-level development.
The official said the idea was to have these centres shape up as sub-nuclei around Hyderabad city, with integration through a strong infrastructure network.
The HMDA will initiate a comprehensive study to understand existing infrastructure facilities in the 13 identified Urban Nodes of Farooqnagar, Bhuvanagiri, Shabad, Malkapur, Choutuppal, Chevella, Sangareddy, Ibrahimpatnam, Jeedipally, Toopran, Thummaloor, Kandukur, and Bibinagar.
Similar studies will be taken up in the proposed 46 Urban Centres, which are spread over 126 km and cover 75 settlements. The areas proposed for Urban Centres include Kottal, Shivampet, Rachlur, Yacharam, Wargal, Narsapur, Alur and Manchal.
“It will be an inventory of the present infrastructure development initiatives in these areas and also an assessment of facilities such as health, education, amenities, bus and rail network, banks, post offices and so on,” the official said.
The study, for which HMDA plans to engage consultants, is also expected to come up with information on potential land demand for housing, commercial, retail, office space and industries and assess the intensity of development a chosen location could sustain.