Planned Development in Tamilnadu - Tamil Nadu PCS Exam Notes

Planned Development in Tamilnadu

Planned development means an overlay zoning district created to encourage creativity and imagination in the planning and development or redevelopment of large tracts of land for various uses and activities associated with a planned community under one master plan that may include a mix of land use types at different levels of intensity. In addition, a planned development also is encouraged to provide one or more benefits to the residents of the City.

The importance of regional planning was first stressed at Governmental level by the Housing & Regional Planning Panel (1955) of the Planning Commission. The objectives of balanced regional development was sought to be achieved through industrial location policy as “through balanced and coordinated development of industrial and agricultural economy in each region, the entire country can attain higher standard of living”. In Tamil Nadu the state has been demarcated into eight regions taking into factors like geographical boundary, resource base, market potential and facilities, population threshold etc. Identification of growth poles, growth centres, service centres and proposal for development of transportation and communication network, provision of regional level facilities, conservation of flora and fauna, historical and heritage sites and constitution of regional planning authority to prepare and implement regional plan for the above causes are under process. (Tamil Nadu Act 35 of 1972);An Act to provide for planning the development and use of rural and urban land.

Master Plans (MPs) :- Master plan is prepared for town and cities giving emphasize for zoning regulation for judicious use of urban land. Thus a Master Plan is a key development plan to provide land use allotment for residential, commercial, industrial, public and semi-public, traffic and transportation, parks, play fields and open spaces, etc., taking into consideration the existing land uses. The plans while suggesting for broader land use restrictions, will also identify the problem areas in traffic and transport, location for education, recreation site etc., and propose for provision of infrastructure facilities based on the projected population for that area. Programmes are drawn and funding agencies are identified to take up such projects. 114 Local Planning Areas (108 Local Planning Areas and 6 New Town Development Areas) have been declared and master plans and new town development plans have been prepared for these urban areas

Detailed Development Plans (DDPs):- Detailed Development Plans are prepared in conformity with Master Plan proposals, prepared for smaller areaswithin the urban area. These are the action plans where the development projects and programmes are envisaged. It is a micro-level plan with detailed road network in which Master Plan is translated for development of specific area in the town which exhibits faster growth. So far 1625 detailed development plans have been prepared by this department for major urban centres of the State, of which 650 plans are approved by the Director, 282 are consented and 693 are in draft stage. The Detailed Development Plans are also reviewed periodically based on the trend of development.

New Town Development Plans (NTDPs):- Taking into consideration the special nature of the area as industrial, educational, historical, heritage and tourism importance, the areas are developed fully utilising their potential into New Towns. There are 10 notified New Town Development Authorities (NTDAs) in the state and the department has prepared development plans for 6 areas and 8 authorities have been constituted.

Special Plans Urban Renewal:- Urban Renewal is an enthusiastic theme in its concept and practice because it arouses the curiosity of every one in the area of human settlements where the programme comes for implementation / enforcement. The accelerating deterioration in urban areas frequently compel the City Development Organisation through various channels viz., political, administration, citizen forums etc., to apply remedial measures to arrest the deterioration of the standards of living condition. Massive urban development programmes that are contemplated in Master Plans are often constrained by the vastness of finance and other socio-economic aspects. Thus it is highly essential to understand each of the components involved in the practice of Urban Renewal and their applicability for various land uses. The wide range of benefits to be derived from Urban Renewal includes both obvious and subtle benefits, which are at times too obscure to observe let alone measure and may be of physical and economic nature. So far the department has prepared 5 urban renewal programmes for the five Corporation cities of the State other than Chennai.

Traffic & Transportation Planning:- The growing scale of urbanization, city size and the prevailing land use patterns has made the problem of urban traffic and transportation increasingly complex and unmanageable. Urban transport in metropolitan cities is under increasing strains and suffers from bottlenecks arising from its weaknesses and ills. Studies have to be undertaken to study in depth the factors of travel time, mode and cost of travel, pollution and distance to work, education and entertainment. The residential and employment areas have to be served better. The Directorate has undertaken Comprehensive Traffic and Transport action (CTTS) for 5 Corporation cities in the State (Other than Chennai) and Traffic Operational and Management Plans (TOMP) for 58 small and medium towns in the State to suggest measures for improving traffic and transport facilities of these towns.

Heritage Town Development Plans:- The Government of Tamil Nadu is concerned about protection of the general environment of our priceless Heritage Towns and decided to take up the conservation and development of these towns. Government identified 38 towns and notified them as heritage Towns. Government also ordered the Director of Town and Country Planning to act as the nodal agency to prepare development plans for the towns by appointing consultants and professionals. The Directorate has prepared development plan for these notified Heritage Towns. As per the Government order, construction activities are regulated in the area within 1 km radius surrounding the heritage sites of these notified 38 heritage towns by imposing a restriction on the height of the buildings allowing only to a maximum of 9 mtr.

Development Plan for Urban Centres in Least Urbanized Taluks:- Urban development strategy aims at integration of economic and spatial planning in small and medium towns and thereby control migration of people from rural areas. It has been found that some taluks in the State do not have any urban centre for development, which could serve its surrounding villages. It was decided to identify such urban centres in these least urbanized taluks and develop them so as to act as service centres to its adjoining villages. This department has identified such least urbanized taluks in the State and has prepared development plans for 45 least urbanized taluks.

Civic Designs:- The Regional offices of this Directorate are assisting the local bodies in preparing and approving the civic design for the development programmes such as construction of bus stand, markets, commercial complex etc., which are carried out by the urban local bodies in the State.

Town & Country Planning Development Fund Section 64 of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1971 provides for the constitution of Town and Country Planning Development Fund for the purpose of furthering the Town and Country Planning functions under the Act by allocating money from the consolidated fund of the State from time to time. Accordingly, the Government has issued orders for constitution of the Town and Country Planning and Development Fund and as grant or loan to planning authorities is advanced from this fund for the performance of the following functions under this Act:-

Preparation of Development Plan
Execution of Development Plans in full or part .
Any other purpose incidental to the preparation or execution of Development Plans.
The Fund is utilized for the following purposes.
Implementation of State IUDP schemes.
Implementation of proposals of New Town Development Plans.
Implementation of proposals of Detailed .
Development Plans/Master Plans.
Grants for maintenance of Parks and play fields.
Implementation of projects for environmental protection of heritage places.
Undertaking various planning related studies like preparation of Traffic Operation and Management Plans; Comprehensive Traffic and transportation plans; Development plan for poorly urbanized taluks; Development plan for heritage towns; Urban renewal programme.

Further, The state government has prepared a draft planning bill for pan state and the ‘regional plan’ would be similar to the master plans that cities like Chennai and Coimbatore have. But the new plan, since it covers much of the State, would aim for preservation of agricultural lands and natural habitats. The main objective of the plan is to prepare a roadmap for balanced growth across the State, with 2050 as the horizon year. The new ‘regional plan’ will map various factors like agro-climatic zones, eco-sensitive zones, groundwater, green and forest cover, biodiversity and pollution levels of water, soil, land and air. To prepare the plan, a consultant with regional planning expertise using Geographic Information System could be engaged.

TNPSC Notes brings Prelims and Mains programs for TNPSC Prelims and TNPSC Mains Exam preparation. Various Programs initiated by TNPSC Notes are as follows:-

For any doubt, Just leave us a Chat or Fill us a querry––