Make Development Control Regulations More Effective To Tidy Up Urban India's Living Spaces

This elephant-sized lacunae has come about because Development Control Regulations (DCRs) are given the short shrift. DCRs are key since they comprise the framework of laws and standards governing land use and development within a city or town.

Used well, they can ensure orderly urban development, emphasizing on safety, beauty, and effective land use. DCRs help to create harmonious and sustainable urban settings, which improves citizens' overall quality of life. These regulations are central to shaping urban dynamics and often spark discussions on their impact and relevance in the context of Urban India.

Enforce DCRs Uniformly Everywhere

Before delving further on DCRs, here are a few recent instances where they haven't been followed and ended up as primetime TV debates:

Between January 2 and January 8 last year, 1,403 out of 2,152 houses in Uttarakhand's Joshimath reported major cracks due to land subsidence, leading to the relocation of 355 families. The subsidence was caused by, among other things, weak building materials, insufficient reinforcement, structural flaws, and buildings on steep slopes. Despite existing building bye-laws, not mandatory for residences, people obtain permits only for loans or government requirements, which ostensibly led to the situation.

 

Per the TomTom Traffic survey of 2023, Bengaluru and Pune are among the top 10 most congested cities in the world. Motorists here spend 63 per cent and 55 per cent more time on the road than they would during non-traffic hours. Every year, on an average, residents of these cities spend 128 and 132 hours respectively in traffic with an average speed of 18 kmph, impacting fuel costs, emissions and economic productivity.

Most of Delhi's agricultural activity is concentrated in "urban villages" and along the Yamuna floodplains such as Chilla Khadar, Madanpur Khadar, Jagatpur and Palla. With the Draft Delhi Master Plan 2041 overlooking existing agriculture in floodplain areas, they face uncertainty.

The proposed Green Belt allows farming, but excludes the farming along the floodplains, which have now been designated Zone O. The Plan restricts agriculture in the zone where most farming occurs. Farmers face eviction threats, emphasizing the need for resolution of land disputes by prioritizing farming to ensure food security in Delhi.

Parking, street vending, and cycling/pedestrians have long been entangled in conflict. Vending leads to more parking needs and increases pedestrian movement and is a persistent challenge. In January 2024, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar stated ongoing street vendor evictions were on High Court orders to allow pedestrians to use footpaths. Though the government expressed willingness to assist registered street vendors financially, it left questions on internalisation of existing vending acts unanswered.

The situation is similar in major cities such as Delhi, Chennai, and Mumbai. There have been rampant evictions with no protection of livelihood or the establishment of town vending committees.The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation recently released regulations raising Floor Space Index (FSI) in transit areas to 4 around BRTS and 5.4 around the metro.

Discrepancies in guidelines have led to confusion among builders and citizens due to conflicting methods for calculating FSI, with one section taking the centre of the road as starting point and another suggesting measurement from the road's edge. Sources indicate that Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation continue to follow a 2014 method instead of the corrected measure outlined in the Gujarat Development Control Regulations of 2017.

Getting DCRs Right

The scientific approach to solving these problems is to follow DCRs. The laws define the urban landscape by ensuring building activities are consistent with larger urban planning objectives. DCRs address issues such as building height, land usage, open areas, parking limitations, and architectural criteria.

 

They play a pivotal role in various cases—some outdated, like in Ahmedabad, causing confusion; others involve disputes over land ownership, and some, like vending, parking, and pedestrian conflicts, highlight the challenge of overcrowding.

In Joshimath, a post-disaster assessment report said absence of a building permit system and regulation enforcement was central among other natural factors. It suggested implementing risk-based building bye-laws and ensuring compliance could have reduced damage and retrofitting costs.

Concerns about the "lack of town planning and absence of risk-informed land use maps" push for an urgent comprehensive development plan due to narrow roads and insufficient open spaces, making the town unsafe.

Despite the Street Vending Act, 2014, many municipalities and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) struggle with implementing and integrating it into land use plans.

The Act was designed to safeguard vendor livelihoods, establish regulations against evictions, and promote organised vending spaces with vendor collaboration. But this will not solve the conundrum of the pedestrian-parking-vending matrix.

The situation in Delhi is a contest between control regulations. The grievances of local farmers are inadequately represented in the plan, heightening their vulnerability in the floodplains. Who gets to stay? Who gets to till the land? These are questions DCRs need to address.

Persistent congestion issues underscore the need for appropriately sized roads, emphasising the role of DCRs.

Everything Is Connected

The coming of the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) and the Metro in Ahmedabad resulted in increased FSI – at least twice or 4-fold in some places. Authorities should have planned ahead since it would attract lots of construction and strategised supporting activities. Where will the extra water flow in and out from? Parking space for the extra, can the roads bear extra traffic? This would require shifting the response from being a crisis-based approach currently in use.

Builders and real estate analysts consistently argue that merely increasing FSI and adopting vertical development does not automatically lead to an increase in affordable housing or an improved standard of living.

DSRs can emphasise establishment of specific supportive norms, ensuring both the provision and accessibility of housing and infrastructure. This is crucial to determine the effectiveness of increased FSI.

Aligning Statutory Acts With Regional Master Plan

Addressing the street vending scenario reveals a persisting challenge. Although the Street Vending Act has been in force since 2014, many cities struggle to establish town vending committees and designate spaces for street vendors.

Ideally, the urban local body (ULB) must issue a directive assimilating the Act into master plans, allocate adequate land for collaborative planning among vendors, local leaders, and residents.

Despite vendors and activists consistently raising the issue, rampant evictions persist, pointing to a lack of intention to implement the Act at the city level.

Incremental Planning To Tweak, Repurpose

While we do think on a regional scale, we fail to integrate and implement plans at city, neighbourhood and street level. The timelines of these need to be well aligned so one can inform the other.

The second point is to review plans of lower scales. The regional master plans span 20 years, and ward plans should have a window for amendments based on changes on ground.

Reimagine Mixed Zones

Stringent norms restricting only residential or commercial use often result in spatial deviances. Adopting more flexible regulations rather than just controlling ones is essential. DCRs should aim to facilitate the demands of the population, not criminalise them.

Penalising Delhi's farmers or vendors in Chennai and Bengaluru highlights failure of control norms to accommodate the realities. There's a need for systematic approaches to envision mixed land use in a coherent and mutually beneficial manner.

Enforcing DCRs A Challenge

Enforcing DCRs poses a significant challenge for ULBs, manifesting as a dual predicament. The ULBs swiftly evict slum-dwellers and vendors, yet violations by the elite in suburban constructions or tall buildings over water catchment areas, often go unnoticed.

A substantial nexus involving brokers, builders, and ULBs conceals these violations, disproportionately hitting the urban poor. Enforcement rules should not be biased, ensuring equal accountability across all sections of society.

Needed: A Multi-scalar, Inclusive Approach

DCRs extend beyond city branding, urban design, and skylines akin to cities such as Singapore. India's aspiration may be misplaced, emphasising aesthetics over all-inclusive plans.

In the short term, realigning laws and institutions is crucial, but for the long-term, cities need to be reimagined to be inclusive and sustainable, serving all citizens and fostering economic development and growth.