A cycling and walkability network will be a mandatory requirement under the land pooling policy, according to the draft Master Plan for Delhi (MPD) - 2041. Development of public plazas have also been laid out under the policy.
The draft MPD-2041 which was placed in the public domain recently, states, “The sector road network shall incorporate the road hierarchy and street design regulations of the plan. Cycling and walkability network shall be a mandatory requirement. All major roads [24 metres and above] shall be provided with underground utility ducts for accommodating trunk services.”
Public plazas
“Existing revenue roads acting as major movement corridors within a sector shall be improved and or widened and integrated into the sector layout, if feasible,” it read.
The layouts are also required to incorporate public plazas of various scales to improve the availability of public spaces, according to the draft plan.
“Public plazas of minimum 2,000 square metre shall be planned at all major intersections of arterial-to-arterial roads as part of the sector layout plan. All mass transit stations shall provide 20% of the plot area as a single open access public plaza for spillover of passengers and multimodal integration,” the draft plan stated.
Further, the draft MPD-2041 added, “All plots above a size of one hectare shall also provide 10% of the plot area as mid-street or corner public plazas.”
The draft document also underscores sustainability features which multiple sectors or schemes can come together to meet the requirements.
“Physical infrastructure in the sector shall ensure 100% treatment and maximum reuse of treated waste water and segregation and 100% reuse of green waste. Optimum retention of stormwater for direct reuse and recharge of groundwater as per applicable norms,” the draft plan read.
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has not yet issued approvals to any housing project under the policy.
Under the land pooling policy, landowners with any size of land in identified areas may register and express their willingness to participate in the process. According to the policy, a minimum of 70% contiguous land of the developable area within the sector is required to be eligible for development in the area.
