MODULE 3

The planning components/elements

• Land use
• Zoning
• Floor area ratio
The planning components/elements - LandUse
Definition
• Any kind of permanent or cyclic intervention of a land is called as landuse
• It is the surface utilization of a vacant land or a developed land for a clear purpose, at a given
time.
• Landuse is an emerging socio-economic activity wherein a region of one major specific purpose utility
may be converted into another land for general purpose utility.
• it is the function or functions that humans apply to the land available to them.
• The study of land use is the study of how the land is managed, including how the natural world is
adapted to human needs.
• Zoning is related to land use but is how governments regulate and control it.
• There are two technical terms used in geography as landuse and landcover.
• Land use refers to 'man's activities and the various uses which are carried out on land’.
• Land cover refers to the natural vegetation, water bodies, rock, soil and similar features.
• Both the terms are inter-related.
The planning components/elements - LandUse
Importance of Land use
• Knowledge of current land use is essential to support analysis and management of land,
vegetation, water resources and quality, and the maintenance of biodiversity.
• It tells us a great deal about the governments making the decisions for land use and the priorities
they hold.
• The better we understand the way the world has been adapted to human needs, and in what
patterns, the more we can predict future trends. The better we can predict the future of land use, the
more we can prepare for negative impacts.

Types of Land use

• Residential •Industrial
• Transportation • Commercial
• Institutional • Agricultural
• Open Space
The planning components/elements - LandUse
Residential
• Residential land is used for housing.
• The type of housing in an area is based on residential density, defined by:
• Number of housing units in a hectare (unit of land)
• A hectare is about 100 x 100 meters (or roughly the size of two football fields)
• Types of Residential Density - Low Density
• Single-family homes, semi-detached homes, and duplexes
• Have less than 30 homes per hectare
•Types of Residential Density - Medium Density
• Town houses, low-rise apartments
• Have between 30 to 100 homes per hectare
•Types of Residential Density - High Density
• High-rise apartments
• Have more than 100 units per hectare
The planning components/elements - LandUse
Transportation
• Transport land is used for roads, railways, subways, or airports.
• Includes: sidewalks, roads, highways, subways, streetcars, railroad tracks, freight yards, airports,
marinas and any other land that is used for transportation

Institutional
• Land that is occupied by schools, hospitals, government offices, and places of worship.

Open Space
• Land that is now vacant, or left in a natural state (like a woodlot), or land that is for recreational
use (parks, playgrounds, community centers)

Industrial
• Land that is used for industry. Some examples: Factories, warehouses, power plants, or places of
resource extraction (like mines).
The planning components/elements - LandUse
Commercial
• Land that is set aside for commercial activities. This includes any land use that is used for buying,
selling, or trading goods and services.

Agricultural
• Agricultural land, which is used for growing crops and rearing animals, is the oldest human use of
land.
 The planning components/elements - LandUse
Landuse Planning
• Landuse planning is a separate branch of study in disciplines
like geography, geology, town planning, architecture, forestry,
agriculture, civil and environmental engineering, and
development studies.
• Land-use planning is a public policy.
• It encompasses various disciplines which seek to order and
regulate land use in an efficient and ethical way
• Land-use planning often leads to land-use regulations, also
known as zoning
• Landuse planning is needed to overcome the problems of
 haphazard, uncontrolled development
 deteriorating environmental quality
 loss of prime agricultural lands
 destruction of important wetlands
 loss of fish and wildlife habitat.
The planning components/elements - Zoning
Definition
• Zoning is one of the principles of town planning.
• Zoning is used to specify the use of land and is called functional zoning.
• It is also used to regulate the height of the buildings and density (ground coverage specifications).
• Regulation by law of use of land and/or buildings and height and density of buildings in specific
areas for the purpose of securing convenience, health, safety and general welfare of the community

Objectives
• Ample opportunity for setting future growth and development of city
• It also requires consideration of future growth and development, adequacy of drainage and storm
sewers, public streets, pedestrian walkways, density of population, and many other factors that are
within legislative competence.
• Zoning helps city planners bring about orderly growth and change.
• It controls population density and helps create attractive, healthful residential areas.
• In addition, zoning g helps assure property owners and residents that the characteristics of nearby
areas will remain stable.
The planning components/elements – Zoning
Purpose of Zoning
• Zoning’s recognized purpose is to promote common good and general welfare of the community
as a whole.
• It is main tool for planner for achieve his goal. The planner gets opportunities for designing for
future growth and development of town.
• It is very useful for planner for making any town planning scheme effective and successful.
• The zoning affords proper coordination of various public amenities like transport, water supply,
drainage, electric power etc.

Principles of Zoning
1. Arrangement of zones
2. Boundaries
3. Existing towns
4. Flexibility
5. New towns
The planning components/elements – Zoning
Aspects of Zoning
The zoning is related to the following three important aspects:
1. Density Zoning
2. Height Zoning
3. Use Zoning

Density Zoning
• In density zoning, the density of population in the residential areas is controlled by means of
suitable rules and regulations.
• Indirect measures are adopted to have effective density zoning:
1. The front, side and rear margins of the boundaries are specified.
2. The maximum height of the building is specified.
3. The maximum size of allotment for each house is specified.
4. The number of houses per unit area is limited.
5. The ratio of total site area to the total built-up floor area is specified.
The planning components/elements – Zoning
Height Zoning
• The height zoning aims at controlling the height of buildings with due consideration of
contents of the buildings and the street width/ the marginal open spaces for the provision of
light and ventilation.
• The height zoning affords the following advantages:
• Controls the development of central business area of the cities and it thereby assists in
solving the problems associated with such heavy concentration e.g. traffic congestion etc.
• It is found that if buildings with uniform height are constructed on important streets or
roads, it gives pleasing aesthetic appearance.
• It prevents an undue monopoly of light and ventilation by some tall buildings at the
expense of adjacent units of small heights.

Use Zoning
This is the most important aspect of zoning and it defines the uses to which various parts of
the town will be put. They are classified into four sub-divisions: 1. Residential zone 2.
Commercial zone 3. Industrial zone 4. Recreational zone
 The planning components/elements – Floor Area Ratio
• Floor Area Ratio (FAR)- that can be used or is allowed to be used.
correlation between the plot area on which the building is constructed and the
building floor area
• A higher floor area ratio implies an urban or denser construction.
• Ratio of total built-up area on a plot to the area of that plot
• In Indian cities, FAR is maintained at a low level due to the rationale that
existing infrastructure in these cities cannot support additional development
or increases in population.
Purpose
• The floor area ratio figure can be used by local governments to divide land
areas into zones to restrict urban density.
• FAR not only restricts building density but also puts a restriction on the
number of persons allowed in a building in the absence of controls on the
external shape of the building.
• Architects can plan to consume the allowable area in either a single-story
building or multi-story building
The planning components/elements – Floor Area Ratio
Practices in India
• Indian cities: Blanket FAR with slight variances across the city that limit the opportunity to
leverage infrastructure nodes and networks for high-density development.
• Primary opposition to increasing FAR in India stems from urban infrastructure constraints,
removing FAR restrictions is imperative to procure investments for upgrading urban
infrastructure and services.
• The same floor area ratio (FAR) can lead to different building configurations and building
heights on the same land parcel

Cities define plot coverage ratios for

buildings , outline guidelines for access
roads and on-site roads, and specify setback
requirements (distance between each edge
of the plot and the building) on one or more
sides to regulate built form, natural light
and ventilation, and open space.
The planning components/elements – Floor Area Ratio
• Incentive FARs is a relatively recent planning practice
in India — first implemented as policy in Mumbai in
1991.
• ULBs are utilizing it as a fiscal tool to monetize
development by permitting high FARs in demarcated
areas.
• Maximum floor area ratio (FAR) regulation is widely
imposed in cities to mitigate negative population
externalities.
• The city requires not only maximum FAR regulation in
the congested or congesting zone, but also minimum
FAR regulation in the other zone.
• It might be required to impose maximum FAR
regulation if large population is expected to migrate to
that zone due to some amenity improvement programs.
The planning components/elements – Floor Area Ratio
Comparison of FAR & Building coverage
The planning components/elements – Land development Techniques
Introduction
• Land development refers to altering the landscape in any number of ways like changing
landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as housing or subdividing real
estate into lots, typically for the purpose of building homes.
• Real estate development, or property development, encompassing activities that range from
the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of
improved land or parcels to others
• Landowner or developers on any size of project will often want to maximize profits, minimize
risk and control cash flow.
•“Profit enhancement", means identifying and developing the best scheme for the local
marketplace, whilst satisfying the local planning process.
• Conversion of landforms
 Conversion to building land
 Conversion to Farmland
 Subdivision
 Restoration
The planning components/elements – Land development Techniques
Methods commonly used for Land Conversions:
 Conversion to building land
 Construction activity often effectively seals off a larger part of the soil from rainfall and
the nutrient cycle, so that the soil below buildings and roads is effectively "consumed" and
made infertile.
 Conversion to Farmland
 New creation of farmland will rely on the conversion and development of previous
forests, savannas or grassland
 Newly created farmland is more prone to erosion than soil stabilized by tree roots, such
a conversion may mean irreversible crossing of an ecological threshold.
 Subdivision
Act of dividing land into pieces that are easier to sell or otherwise develop, usually via a
plot. The former single piece as a whole is then known in the United States as a
subdivision.
 Restoration
The planning components/elements – Land development Techniques
Land management techniques available in India
Strategies available for access to urban land
• Land pooling and reconstitution
• Land reconstitution / redevelopment
• Acquisition for public purpose under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894;
• Joint Sector Model of land assembly and development
• Transferable Development Rights (for built up areas)
• Saleable FAR and mixed use concept (for regeneration of inner city)
• Land Pooling and Redistribution Scheme
 The planning components/elements – Land development Techniques
1. Land Acquisition Act, 1984
• It gives the right for Government authorities to acquire parcels of
land for the implementation of development projects.
• Origin of the practice of land acquisition by public entities- 1824
• The obligation for owners to give up their land had to find a
legitimate justification
• These regulations enabled the British government to take
possession of the land for the construction of roads and canals
• After India’s independence in 1947, the Indian Government started
using this act as a tool to purchase land at a lower price than that on
the regular market, as it was meant to be used in the public interest.
• Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Bill, 2011 is
meant to replace the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 - aims at balancing
the need of land for economic development projects
• Social Impact Assessment being required for every land acquisition
The planning components/elements – Land development Techniques
2. Town Planning Schemes(TPS)
• A Town Planning or Plot Reconstitution Scheme provides collaborative means of
undertaking and financing land development without the need for compulsory land
acquisition, but with the involvement of land owners.
• it helps to provide serviced plots in orderly layouts to accommodate urban expansion.
• The cost for provision of infrastructure is recovered through contributions from land
owners
• The entire scheme of land development and servicing can be self-financing while the local
authority can secure lands free of cost for public purposes and EWS housing.
• The reconstituted plots are allotted to the land owners in proportion to their original land
holdings.
 The planning components/elements – Land development Techniques
3. Land readjustment / pooling
• Land re-adjustment is a process whereby a public authority
assembles numerous small parcels of raw land without
paying compensation to the owners.
• The authority then sub-divides such assembled lands for
urban use returning most of the building sites to the original
owners in proportion to the value of their land contribution
and permitting them the right of alienating such sites.
• The authority retains a portion of the assembled lands,
applying them partly to provide civic amenities such as
roads, parks and gardens or schools, and the remainder land
for public sale to recover the cost of development.
• Land re-adjustment acts as tool to achieve unified control
over large areas of land
• Instrument of financing public service installations in the
process of planned urban growth.
 The planning components/elements – Land development Techniques
4. Guided Urban Development
• Concept of Guided Urban Development (GUD) emerged in response to ad
hoc, uncontrolled urban development with no regard to infrastructure
services
• Aims to secure a limited availability of urban land for economically
weaker sections
• Applied in Chennai under the World Bank-assisted Tamil Nadu Urban
Development Project by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority
(CMDA).
• The objectives of the scheme are as follows:
• Ensure provision of serviced plots for low income families at affordable
prices (approximately 75% of total plots to be reserved for EWS / LIG);
and
• Provide incentives to the land owner / private developer to participate in
the provision of low income shelter by guaranteeing fair return on
investments (profit of 20-30%).
 The planning components/elements – Land development Techniques
5. Joint Development Model
• Under a legislative act in the state of Haryana, certain
planned areas are designated to allow private developers to
assemble parcels of land.
• The act provides for the licensing of private developers to
purchase land directly from land owners and develop such
lands for residential purpose. It includes:
• Reservation of 20% of the developed residential plots for
EWS and LIG category
• Sale of another 25% plots on no profit no loss basis; and
• Remaining 55% plots to be priced and sold directly by
the developer.
• The model started with the plotted development, but over
time it has shifted to apartments
• Extensively applied in Gurgaon and other cities adjoining
Delhi.
The planning components/elements – Land development Techniques
6. Transfer of Development Rights(TDRs)
• In determining the ‘fair price of land’ to be acquired, Governments generally try to rely on
the past records of sales transactions.
• These are rarely reported or recorded correctly since transaction taxes are high and the role
of ‘black money’ in the economy is large.
• Today, Local Bodies or the State Governments do not have adequate funds to acquire the
necessary land even at the recorded low rates.
• Solution to this problem - use of ‘Transfer of Development Rights’.
• Urban Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (UDPFI) Guidelines define
Transfer of Development Rights (TDRs) as, ‘Development Right to transfer the potential of a
plot designated for a public purpose in a plan, expressed in terms of total permissible built
space calculated on the basis of Floor Space Index or Floor Area Ratio allowable for that plot,
for utilization by the owner himself or by way of transfer by him to someone else from the
present location to a specified area in the plan, as additional built up space over and above the
permissible limit in lieu of compensation for the surrender of the concerned plot free from all
encumbrances to the Planning and Development Authority’
The planning components/elements – Land development Techniques
6. Transfer of Development Rights(TDRs)
• Mumbai is the first city in India, which has adopted the TDR concept in a regulated manner
as an alternative mechanism for land acquisition for providing the essential amenities in
accordance with the development plan proposal, for slum redevelopment and urban renewal
through reconstruction of dilapidated buildings.
The planning components/elements – Surveys
Introduction
• The preparation of any plan for the development of an urban area, city or town requires
reliable factual data regarding existing physical and socio-economic conditions such as housing,
transport, industries, employment and social services such as schools, hospitals and recreational
facilities.
• The process of collecting such data is called a "Planning Survey“
• The data should be collected in such a manner so as to render its easy analysis and
interpretation.
• The required data is collected in a particular base year. It may be at intervals of 4-5 years.

Need
• To collect the data and information based on spot observation.
• To draw mental picture of the region, the town and its various elements like residential and
working areas, the survey serves broad canvas picturing the present state of the town and to
proper means for its development, in future
The planning components/elements – Surveys
Advantages
Town planning/ urban planning Survey is also essential in following ways,
i. Planning work becomes easy by analysing the data of existing town gathered from surveys.
ii. It helps to know that what is lacking and what is to be needed for the development of
Town.
iii. A survey focuses on the inter-relation of different inter-mingled activities of an urban life.
iv. It helps to understand the parasites from which an urban space suffers and provides a
proper treatment to be given, i.e. it diagnoses the disease.
v. It involves the public opinion and views in favour of the town planning scheme, etc.

Types of Survey
1. Town/City Survey
2. Regional Survey
3. National Survey
4. Civil Survey
The planning components/elements – Town Surveys
Physical Survey
• The data can be collected either by Land surveys or Aerial surveys
The planning components/elements – Town Surveys
Social Survey
 The planning components/elements – Town Surveys
Economic Survey
A. Workers classified according to the nature
of employment . Workers employed in,
The planning components/elements – Regional Surveys
Done over a region dealing with
 PHYSICAL FACTORS
• Like topography. physically difficult land, geology, landscape etc.
 PHYSICAL ECONOMIC FACTORS
• Like agricultural value of the land, mineral resources and water gathering lands. areas
with public services, transportation linkages etc.
 SOCIAL ECONOMIC FACTORS
• Like areas of influence of towns and villages. employment, population changes etc

NATIONAL SURVEYS
CIVIC /SOCIO ECONOMIC SURVEYS
 Physical features  Housing  Population
 Communication  Health  Landscape
 Traffic  Cultivation
 Open spaces  Amenities
The planning components/elements – Regional Surveys
Surveying techniques
 SELF SURVEYS
Mailing questionnaires to the to be surveyed persons
 INTERVIEWS
By asking questions to the people to be surveyed
 DIRECT INSPECTION –
When the surveyor himself inspects the situations concerned
 OBSERVERS PARTICIPATION –
When the observer himself participate in acquiring the data required