Urbanisation is an integral part of economic growth and by 2030 more than 40 per cent of India's population is expected to be living in the urban areas. With rapid urbanisation, Indian cities are growing in size. Local governments are responsible for planning the growth of urban areas in order to ensure all basic amenities and infrastructure. Zoning regulations are the most common tools used by the local governments and planning authorities to manage land use and development in cities.
Migration
In the late 19 century, industrialisation led to the migration of population from villages to cities in search of jobs. Zoning was the result of an urban reforms movement of the early 20 century to address the issues of overcrowding and blight in cities. It is a method used for land-use planning where mapped zones separate one set of land uses from the other, so as to segregate incompatible uses. It also regulates building height, ground coverage and density in order to ensure healthy living conditions.
The most commonly used method was the Euclidean method characterised by the segregation of land uses into specified geographic districts. This method also specified the dimensional standards and limitations on the extent of development that is allowed on each lot, within each type of district. One of the main drawbacks of this method was the dependence on automobile as land uses like residential, commercial and industrial were separated. This method was also criticised for its lack of flexibility, as it encouraged urban sprawl and involved heavy infrastructure costs.
Mixed use
In the case of Bangalore, the city initially developed in the ‘pettah' region where development was mixed in nature. Each parcel of land had commercial activities abutting the street and residential activity was pushed to the rear of the parcel and on the upper floors. These developments were also high density with narrow streets. However, the Cantonment part of the city, due to its Western influence, was planned more on the single land-use method.
This method involved mono-functional parcel-based system of zoning in which land uses were segregated into separate geographic districts. Post-independence, most of the newer areas developed by the City Improvement Trust Board (CITB) and later by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) followed the same principle.
Based on territory
But with the city growing rapidly, low density development was no longer feasible, as was a city with a single commercial centre; as this led to traffic congestion, very high pressure on physical infrastructure and lack of developable land in the city centre to cater to the ever-increasing need for commercial office and retail spaces. The revised Master Plan for 2015 for Bangalore has drawn from newer concepts of urban planning such as decentralisation, smart growth, and effect-based and incentive-based zoning. The revised zoning regulations are prepared so that they are responsive to the changing needs of the city. Therefore, a zone based on territory is considered within which mixed land use approach is adopted.
According to the Revised Master Plan 2015, the entire Local Planning Area of Bangalore is divided into three major areas for the application of zonal regulations:
* Main Area: This includes the old urban areas including the ‘pettah' zone and the traditional area zone, urban redevelopment areas including MG Road, CBD area, mutation corridor zones, residential zones, commercial zones , industrial activity areas, logistics and transport areas, and green zones.
* Specific Areas: This refers to areas not covered by the main areas, including large public and semi-public infrastructure, large transportation structures, dedicated land uses, scheme areas and heritage conservation areas
* Constraint Areas: This category refers to areas which have restrictions on the type of development with internal technical rules determining regulations within the site and around. This includes areas around airports etc.
Various uses
One of the main features of the responsive zoning techniques used in Bangalore is the concept of Mutation Corridors. This zone comprises areas along the radial as well as the ring roads of the city. This zone allows various land uses which include residential, commercial, logistics, storage and utilities and also provides a higher FAR.
The Outer Ring Road which falls under this zone has developed into one of the most sought-after areas in Bangalore with the development of Special Economic Zones, commercial office and retail spaces, high-density residential developments, integrated townships and the necessary social infrastructure.
Another example is the high density development along infrastructure corridors, as witnessed in the case of Metro Corridor. Responsive zoning regulations are thus necessary to ensure that the limited land available in cities is put to intensive use to encourage the development of more dense, homogenised mixed-use urban neighbourhoods.
(The author is CEO-Asia Pacific, Vestian Global Workplace Solutions)
