NEW DELHI: Focus more on creating facilities, amenities and better transportation network in zones in cities which naturally attract people and businesses, rather than developing new cities that push horizontal growth, PM Narendra Modi told top officials of housing and urban affairs ministry at a recent review meeting on urban sector, sources said.
TOI has learnt that the ministry had made a detailed presentation on roadmap for urban development, focusing on planned growth of cities, before the PM. It was attended by top officials from PMO, cabinet secretariat, Niti Aayog and finance ministry.
Modi was of the view that while certain areas or zones in existing cities have enough ingredients to attract people to come and work, it is difficult to convince or persuade people to shift to a new city.
Following PM’s suggestions, the ministry will start work on a better framework for transit-oriented development (TOD) for cities to push intensive and planned growth along transportation networks, sources said, adding the focus has to be on how to allow vertical development in influence zones of such transit corridors, & ensure decongestion to create enough public and open space.
“While a lot depends on states as land use is a subject under ‘State List’, Centre must come up with a sound prescription and policy that can be replicated across states. But, while making such a policy, there is a need to take states on board and make them partners,” said a former Union urban development secretary. He said to unclog areas around existing transit corridors, states need to permit higher floor area ratio (FAR) for vertical growth when redevelopment takes place.
TOD is a planning and design strategy that aims at creating sustainable urban growth centres that are walkable, compact, and integrated with robust public transit. Stockholm, Copenhagen, Hong Kong SAR, Tokyo, and Singapore are some examples where TOD has been deployed effectively.
