Module IV

Need for town planning legislation: Different town planning acts- Role of development authorities- Role of town planning
departments, Role of local bodies in the implementation of town plan. Land Acquisition Act. 74th Amendment Act. Coastal
Regulation Zones and its relevance. SEZ, JNNURM. Land use Plan Tools for land use control -Zoning regulations, building
byelaws, Subdivision regulations, Plot reconstitution, Betterment Tax.

Need for town planning legislation:

 During the last few decades there is phenomenal growth in the population in cities and towns.
 There is also migration of rural population.
 As a result we see today overcrowding, congestion, deterioration and haphazard development in most of our cities and towns.
 The work involved in planning due to this enormous growth and extensions of towns, is so complex that some of the
municipalities found it difficult or are unable to carry on these works effectively.
 The foremost problems these urban areas are facing are the shortage of housing, resulting in squatting on public lands,
encroachment, un-controlled settlement, increased densities in built-up areas, limited road network, shortage of public utilities
and community facilities etc.
 As we see today, the city authorities and planners are surrounded by a multitude of problems.
 In order to tackle these problems, there is necessity of planning laws and special legislation.
Need for town planning regulation
• Absence on control of land use and unplanned development will lead to deterioration and the community will have to face
conditions of slums, hazardous developments, improper work home relationship, inadequate utilities and services resulting in
unhygienic environmental conditions
• Delays or negligence to regulate these unplanned growth results in higher expenditure in the future in corrective measures in
terms of urban renewal and slum clearance
Different town planning acts
From among the existing legislations which are used for clearance, development and control of urban land, the more important are:
Town and country planning Act
 Municipal Act
 Development Authority Act
 Improvement Trust Act
 Slum Clearance Act
 Land Acquisition Act
 Urban Land Ceiling Act
 Rent Control Act
 Periphery Control Act
 Water and Air Pollution Act
 Regulations

 Under the constitution, the State Governments are the competent authorities for enacting legislation relating to Town and
Country Planning Act.
 Hence Central Govt. has not enacted any legislation on these subjects so far except the Model Town Planning Act.
 But the Land Acquisition Act, Urban Land Ceiling Act etc. have been enacted by the Central Government.
Role of development authorities
 preparation and implementation of land re-adjustment or land pooling or land banking schemes for the purpose of
implementation of projects in the Development Authority area
 promoting planned development is envisaged in the Plans for the Development Authority area
 co-ordination of implementation of Plans under this Act in the Development Authority area
Role of town planning departments
 Top prepare development schemes for urban local bodies and urbanised grama panchayats
 To prepare master plan for urban local bodies
 To prepare development schemes for transportation, parking, recreation and sustainable human habitat
 To prepare development schemes for availing fund from central govt
 The Act has a provision of preparation of Master Plan for all Village Panchayats and Municipalities of Kerala and thus it will
check the so called development of ‘rurban’, ‘periurban’ ‘suburban’ ‘urban fringe’, etc.
 When a Planning Unit exceeded the limit of the Local Government (LSG) area, there is provision of Joint Planning Committee
similar to DPC/MPC in this Act.
 The Act also provides for the constitution of Development Authority but not entrusted with any planning functions. Its function
is limited to land re-adjustment, land pooling, land banking, Transfer of Development Rights, Accommodation Reservation, etc
and a special purpose vehicle for implementing high end projects.
Role of local bodies in the implementation of town plan
  The role of Department of Town and Country Planning is limited to technical assistance to the DPC/LSGI with respect to spatial
planning only.
 Constitution the District Planning Committee has “to consolidate the plans prepared by the Panchayats and the Municipalities
in the district and to prepare a draft development plan for the district as a whole.
 Constitution the Metropolitan Planning Committee to prepare development plan for a metropolitan region
 Village Panchayat/Municipality (of Kerala) is considered as the basic planning unit of Kerala in this Act.
State town & country planning board
 Constitution of state town & country planning board as the apex authority for spatial planning in the state. This has the
following functions:
 Advise the govt. regarding matters related to policy formulation, development of rural and urban land in the state.
 Advise DPC & MPC regarding matters related to spatial planning.
 Co-ordinate, monitor & evaluate various spatial planning & development activities under different govt. departments, quasi-
govt. agencies and LSGs.
 Preparation, publication & sanctioning of state perspective plan
Department of Town and Country Planning
 The Department with chief town planner as the head of the department has the following functions:
 Advise & render technical assistance to govt. in matters related to spatial planning& implementation of relevant central & state
programmes
 Advise & render technical assistance to state town & country planning board, DPC, MPC, Development authorities, joint
planning committees, & LSGs in executing their functions related to spatial planning.
 Advise & render technical assistance in scrutinizing various plans prepared
 Prepare & get prepared Master plans & DTP schemes in the event of default by any planning agency or if directed by govt.
 Provide required research input /studies for preparation of policies, strategies, norms, standards & bye- laws, rules, guidelines
for govt.
 Provide man power training facilities related to spatial planning.
 Perform any other functions related to spatial planning as directed by govt.
District Planning Committee
 Prepare development plan for a district as a whole which shall comprise of long term perspective plan and short term
execution plans.
 To be done in consultation with LSGs, all govt. departments with technical help from dept. of town & country planning.
 Formulate goals, objectives, policies & priorities related to rural & urban areas of district
 Advise Government and Local Self Government Institutions on identification of probable location of major investment inputs
which are likely to have substantial impact on the development scenario of the Districvstate.
Metropolitan Planning Committee
 Formulate development goals, objectives, policies and priorities in matters relating to planning, development and use of rural
and urban land in the metropolitan area
 District Planning Committees will not have jurisdiction over such Metropolitan Area.
 Prepare or get prepared, a long term Perspective Plan & 5 year Execution Plans, for the Metropolitan Area,
 Consult non-governmental institutions, organizations, and professional bodies, if deemed necessary, in the preparation of
Perspective Plan and Execution Plan for the Metropolitan Area
 co-ordinate planning and development activities among the Government Departments, Quasi-Government agencies within the
metropolitan area
 formulate policies and identify projects for integrated development of metropolitan area level infrastructure and facilitate
their implementation through public, private or joint sector participation
 monitor continuously the physical achievements of the investments made by the various Local Self Government Institutions
and Quasi-Government agencies within the metropolitan are
 Sort-out matters relating to sharing of physical and natural resources within the Metropolitan Area.
Panchayat/Municipality
 Municipal Corporation, Municipal Council, Town Panchayat or Village Panchayat shall have the following additional functions:
 Prepare or get prepared for the Local Planning Area or part there of a master plan and execution plans
 Implement all or any of the provisions contained in the Plans under this Act by formulating and executing Projects, Land Pooling
Schernes, Detailed Town Planning Schemes or otherwise
 Promote, regulate and control land use and developmental activities in the Local Planning Area as per the Plans under this Act
 set-up special function agencies, if necessary for specific functions such as plan preparation, implementation of projects and
guide, direct and assist such agencies on matters pertaining to their respective functions; and
Land Acquisition Act
Compulsory acquisition of land needed for purposes of Regional Plan, Development plan or town planning scheme, etc.:-
 Any land required, reserved or designated in a Regional plan, Development plan or town planning scheme for a public purpose
or purposes including plans for any area of comprehensive development or for any new town shall be deemed to be land
needed for a public purpose within the meaning of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (I of 1894). 126.
 Acquisition of land required for public purposes specified in plans:- (1) When after the publication of a draft Regional Plan, a
Development or any other plan or town planning scheme, any land is required or reserved for any of the public purposes
specified in any plan or scheme under this Act at any time the Planning Authority, Development Authority, or as the case may
be, 1[any Appropriate Authority may, except as otherwise provided in section 113A] 2[acquire the land,-
(a) By an agreement by paying an amount agreed to, or
(b) In lieu of any such amount, by granting the land-owner or the lessee, subject, however, to the lessee paying the lessor or depositing
with the Planning Authority, Development Authority or Appropriate Authority, as the case may be, for payment to the lessor, an amount
equivalent to the value of the lessor's interest to be determined by any of the said Authorities concerned on the basis of the principles laid
down in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, Floor Space Index (FSI) or Transferable Development Rights (TDR) against the area of land
surrendered free of cost and free from all encumbrances, and also further additional Floor Space Index or Transferable Development
Rights against the development or construction of the amenity on the surrendered land at his cost, as the Final Development Control
Regulations prepared in this behalf provide, or
(c) By making an application to the State Government for acquiring such land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894,

74th Amendment Act

 The devolution of administration and financial powers to ULBs is made possible through the 73rd and 74th Constitution
Amendment Act by the Government of India.
 The broad areas covered include a brief outline about the need for devolution and functions of ULBs under this act.
Introduction:
 Three-tier system of governance is the common system in many of the countries.
 In that, the lower tier-be urban or rural-is the most important one as it is in close touch with the people.
 The assumption is that local govt., households and firms are better able than centralized bodies to respond flexibly to economic
opportunities and to understand local needs and how to provide.

Though in India, we have had decentralized system of political setup, the new lease of life is given to local bodies after the enactment of
74th CAA in 1992.
The Govt. of India in 1992 took note of the recommendations of the V. K. Rao committee (1985) and L. M. Singhvi committee (1986) and
the result was a decision to amend the Constitution of India in 1992 by introducing the 73rd and 74th amendments which paved the way
for the present decentralized planning and administration at the grass root level of rural and urban local bodies respectively.

In 1992 -73 rd. & 74 Th constitutional amendment act was promulgated-provision for decentralized planning process, more function &
including spatial planning to LSGs like panchayat, municipality & Municipal Corporation
73 rd. & 74 Th CAA, 1992 was a major landmark
 3 tier system of panchayat raj,
 Constitutional status to municipalities,
 Formulation of DPCs &
 Spatial planning responsibility to local bodies.
Coastal Regulation Zones and its relevance (CRZ)
The following activities have been declared prohibited under the CRZ notifications:
 Setting up of new industries and expansion of existing industries with some exception,
 Manufacture or handling oil storage or disposal of hazardous substance, with some exception,
 Setting up and expansion of fish processing units including warehousing except hatchery and natural fish drying in permitted
areas
 Land reclamation, bunding or disturbing the natural course of seawater with some exception,
 Setting up and expansion of units or mechanism for disposal of wastes and effluents
 Discharge of untreated waste and effluents from industries, cities or towns and other human settlements.
 Dumping of city or town wastes including construction debris, industrial solid waste,
 Port and harbour projects in high eroding stretches of the coast, except those projects classified as strategic and defence
 Reclamation for commercial purposes such as shopping and housing complexes, hotels and entertainment activities.
 Mining of sand, rocks and other sub‐strata materials.
 Drawl of groundwater and construction related thereto, within 200mts of HTL with some exception

 Coastal Regulation Zone, abbreviated to CRZ, refers to the coastal stretches of India and the water area up to its territorial
water limit, excluding the islands of Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep and the marine areas surrounding these islands
up to its territorial limit where the setting up and expansion of any industry, operations or processes and manufacture or
handling or storage or disposal of hazardous substances as specified in the Hazardous Substances (Handling, Management and
Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2009 is prohibited.
 Coastal regulation zone is the boundary from the high tide line upto 500m towards the land-ward side and the land between
the low tide line and high tide line.
In the case of rivers, creeks and backwaters, the distance from the high tide level shall apply to both sides and this distance shall not be
less than 100 meters or the width of the creek, river or backwater whichever is less.( Ministry of Environment and Forests Notification
 Category - I (CRZ I): Areas that are ecologically sensitive and important such as national parks , marine parks , sanctuaries ,
reserve forests , wildlife habitats , mangroves, corals/coral reefs , areas close to breeding and spawning grounds of fish and
other marine life, areas of outstanding natural beauty. historically important and heritage areas, area rich in genetic diversity,
areas likely to be inundated due to rise in sea level consequent upon global warming and such other areas as notified by
government from time to time .
  Category - II (CRZ II): Area that have already been developed up to or close to the shoreline. For this purpose, developed area is
referred to as area within the municipal limits or other legally designated urban areas which is already substantially build up
and which has been provided with drainage and approach roads and other infrastructure facilities such as water supply and
sewerage lines.
 Category - III (CRZ III): Area that are relatively undisturbed and those which do not belong to either I or II. These will
include coastal zone in the rural areas developed or undeveloped and also areas within municipal limits or in other legally
designated urban areas which are not substantially built up.
CRZ-1 these are ecologically sensitive areas these are essential in maintaining ecosystem of the coast. They lie between low and high tide
line. Exploration of natural gas and extraction of salt are permitted
CRZ-2 these areas form up to the shore line of the coast. Authorised structures are not allowed to construct in this zone
CRZ-3 rural and urban localities which fall outside the 1 and 2. Only certain activities related to agriculture even some public facilities are
allowed in this zone
CRZ-4 this lies in aquatic area up to territorial limits. Fishing and allied activities are permitted in this zone. Solid waste should be let off in
this zone.
SEZ
The Act provides for drastic simplification of procedures and for single window clearance on matters relating to central as well as state
governments for generating additional economic activity; promoting exports of goods and services, investment for domestic and foreign
sources; creating employment opportunities; and developing infrastructure facilities. Single Window SEZ approval mechanism is provided
through a 19 member inter-ministerial SEZ Board of Approval (BoA)**. The Board of Approval is the apex body. The powers & function of
BoA is granting of approvals, rejecting or modifying proposals submitted for establishment of Special Economic Zones and provision of
infrastructure. Once approved the Central Government notifies the area of the SEZ and units are allowed to be set up in the SEZ. Each SEZ
is headed by a Development Commissioner.
The first SEZ creation proposal came from Gujarat State to set up SEZ in Kandla. Subsequently, the proposal came from other states of
India.
As many as 439 SEZs have been approved in principle out of which 198 have been notified till 8 March, 2008.The highest approval were
accorded to state of Maharashtra followed by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu Most of these are located in coastal areas where
transportation and other supporting infrastructure facilities are available for export processing.
As can be seen from the details of the 439 SEZs in India, the smaller ones costitutes major proportion of SEZs. 19 SEZs have area more than
1000 hectares and covering more than half of the total area under SEZs. Only 26 SEZs have area between 200 and 500 hectares.

Impact on Regional Development

The distribution of medium and large SEZs (50 hectares and above) by major districts shows that nearly three-quarters of all approved
SEZs are located in four States - Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. These states are all relatively well developed
States with high industrial capacity. These are also highly urbanized. Obviously, investment is channelized to areas of high levels of
industry and investment which further propels these states to showcase their ‘success’ further.

Issues for Discussion

About 50 to 70 new cities or satellite cities will come up in and around the medium and large size SEZs and the population of these new
cities will range between 5-10 lakhs. These raises two very important issues for urban development authorities in India: (a) urban
management; and (b) regional planning.
(a) Urban Management
SEZs management is delegated to the Development Commissioners and the participation of local as well as State Government will be
marginal. Key challenges in the SEZs programme thus will be decentralisation and delegation of powers to local and State Governments
and ensuring their participation in the management of the entities. These are essential actions needed for long term success of SEZs. A
representative of MOUD is only a member of the Board of Approvals. MOUD needs to explore if the composition of Board of Approvals
and Approval Committee could be utilized more effectively to ensure participation of local authorities in the SEZ management.
b) Need for Regional Planning
Development of SEZs needs to be integrated with existing Master Plans and Regional Plans. There is need to develop regional/sub regional
plan around the SEZ areas. Here, State Town and Country Planning/Urban Development Authority should play a key role. In this context,
MOUD could issue a set of guidelines for state governments.
JNNURM- Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
Mission Statement:
 The aim is to encourage reforms and fast track planned development of identified cities.
 Focus is to be on efficiency in urban infrastructure and service delivery mechanisms, community participation, and
accountability of ULBs/ Parastatal agencies towards citizens.
Objectives of the Mission
 The objectives of the JNNURM are to ensure that the following are achieved in the urban sector.
 Focussed attention to integrated development of infrastructure services in cities covered under the Mission.
 Establishment of linkages between asset-creation and asset-management through a slew of reforms for long-term project
sustainability.
 Ensuring adequate funds to meet the deficiencies in urban infrastructural services.
 Planned development of identified cities including peri-urban areas, outgrowths and urban corridors leading to dispersed
urbanisation.
 Scale-up delivery of civic amenities and provision of utilities with emphasis on universal access to the urban poor.
  Special focus on urban renewal programme for the old city areas to reduce congestion; and
 Provision of basic services to the urban poor including security of tenure at affordable prices, improved housing, water supply
and sanitation, and ensuring delivery of other existing universal services of the government for education, health and social
security.
Scope of the Mission
 Sub-Mission for Urban Infrastructure and Governance
 Sub-Mission for Basic Services to the Urban Poor
Strategy of the Mission
 Preparing City Development Plan
 Preparing Projects
 Release and Leveraging of Funds
 Incorporating Private Sector Efficiencies:
Duration of the Mission
 The duration of the Mission would be seven years beginning from the year 2005-06. Evaluation of the experience of
implementation of the Mission would be undertaken before the commencement of Eleventh Five Year Plan and if necessary,
the program calibrated suitably.
Expected Outcomes of the JNNURM
 Modern and transparent budgeting, accounting, financial management systems, designed and adopted for all urban service and
governance functions
 City-wide framework for planning and governance will be established and become operational
 All urban residents will be able to obtain access to a basic level of urban services
 Financially self-sustaining agencies for urban governance and service delivery will be established, through reforms to major
revenue instruments
 Local services and governance will be conducted in a manner that is transparent and accountable to citizens
 E-governance applications will be introduced in core functions of ULBs/Parastatal resulting in reduced cost and time of service
delivery processes.
Land use Plan Tools for land use control
 It is the plan/map showing the existing/proposed land use pattern of an urban area. It is an essential part of the master plan
document.
 Most cities classify their land use into the following categories
Residential
 It includes detached, semidetached and row houses, group housing, apartments etc.
Commercial
 This includes all retail and wholesale shops , business offices
 hotels ,theatre and places of commercial entertainment, wholesale markets of vegetable, fruits, cloths, steel etc
 Go downs, stores and warehouses.
 Repair and servicing shops
 Petrol pumps
 The process through which development carried out by many agencies, both public and private is checked in the benefit of
whole society. It is a development control tool.
Industrial
 All manufacturing industries
 Public and semi-public use
 Educational institutions, hospitals, religious buildings, historical monuments,
 Police stations and fire stations.
 Public utilities- which includes water pumping stations, reservoirs, sewage treatment plants, dumping grounds, telephone
exchange
 Burial and cremation grounds.
Recreational use (parks and play fields)
 National parks, district parks, tot lots, public grounds and other open spaces used for public recreation.
Transportation
 All kinds of roads and streets
 Railway, truck terminals, bus terminals, taxi stand , air port and sea ports.
Others
 Include land under forests, water bodies, marshy land etc.
It is essential to avoid various problems related to the development of town such as:
 Sporadic growth of private properties
 Sprawl of slums
 Congestion in major transportation lines
 Congested residential and industrial zones
 Non availability of land for development.
Land use/Development control regulations (DCR)
 On the publication of Master Plan or Detailed Town Planning Scheme under this Act, on the Official Gazette intimating the fact
of sanction of the Plan by the Government,
  no person shall use or cause to use any land or carry-out development in any land, or change the use of land otherwise than in
conformity with the Master Plans and Detailed Town Planning Schemes
 Several tools & techniques are adopted by implementing agencies to enforce the proposals in the plan
Land Pooling/plot reconstitution
 Land pooling as a concept was first introduced in India under the Bombay Town Planning Act, 1915 in the erstwhile Bombay
Presidency.
 Few decades later it became the basis of the Town Planning Scheme in Gujarat.
 States, such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have used this instrument as a viable
alternative to land acquisition.
 The concept involves amassing small rural land parcels into a large parcel, provide it with infrastructure and return
approximately 60 per cent of the redeveloped land to the owners after the development is complete and appropriating the
costs of infrastructure and public spaces.
 A subdivision plan is developed for a unified planning of the area. Provision of infrastructure and services is financed by the sale
of some of the plots within the area, often for commercial activities.
 The original landowners are provided plots within the reshaped area which, although smaller in size, now have access to
infrastructure and services.
 Method to Transform irregularly shaped cadastral parcels to appropriate plots to be used in more economical manner through
Co-operative public participation
Aims and Objectives of Land use control
 Guides development or the use of land and preserves other sites against the intrusion of undesirable development.
 Prevents the misuse of land so that it will not injuriously affect the interests of the community.
 Regulates the non-use or misuse of land.
 It sets certain trends in the framework of the development process, which indirectly help in improving the total environment.
 It provides for a quantitative and qualitative measure of demand in a changing pattern of land use.
 It helps to secure coordinated development.

TOOLS FOR LAND USE CONTROL

1. ZONING REGULATIONS
2. BUILDING BYELAWS
3. SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS
Zoning regulations
Deals with the uses of land and/or buildings
 Helps to control density and thereby prevents over-crowding
 At times zoning orders may be issued for a specific purpose e.g.: airport zoning where in the height of structures and trees in
the vicinity of airport may be regulated
 While building by laws and rule division regulation impose uniform standards over all parts in a municipal area, the zoning law
prescribes different standards of development control for different localities in a manner appropriate to them.
 For instance the front setback for buildings could be more in a new developing suburb than with in the old build up
area of the city.
 The master plan may show an area for low destiny residential use while the zoning law will allow shops or a school
with in that area and also specify appropriate standard for it.
 Zoning is defined as the creation by law, of the sections or zones such as residential, commercial, industrial, recreational etc. in
which the regulations prevent the misuse of land and buildings and limit their height and densities of population in different
zones.
Zoning is classified as:
1. Use zoning
 Main principle is to divide city into different sections or zones and utilize each of the zone for the right purpose and in correct
location w.r.t. others so as to avoid encroachment of one zone upon another.
Different use zones are:
Residential
Commercial
Industrial
Civic
Institutional
Recreational
2. Height zoning
Helps to control the height and volume of the building.
3. Density zoning
Building byelaws
 Regulate the construction aspects of building
 The importance of enforcing building byelaws is evident from the fact that unless prevented by law, the house owners will
construct residences without necessary amenities and proper health conditions.
 Their main focus will be on profit gained. Thus affluent people will prey upon poor people in the absence of byelaws.
  The byelaws are generally uniform in character, covering the entire city. It is the corporation or the municipality which forms
the building byelaws as per the Corporation Act or Municipality Act.
 These byelaws are generally passed by the corporation or municipal council and then finally approved by the government,
which then becomes a regulation to be enforced on all buildings, whether constructed by the government, local bodies or
private persons, agencies etc.
 To unify the building regulations throughout the country, the Bureau of Indian Standards has published National Building Code
(NBC)
 It is a single document in which, like a network, the information contained in various Indian Standards is woven into a pattern
of continuity and cogency with the interdependent requirements of sections carefully analysed and fitted in to make the whole
document a clear continuous volume
Building regulations are one of the major methods used:
• To control land development and to check unauthorised constructions
• To limit or define the way the new structures are to be built
• To specify the type of materials to be used
• To provide open spaces, air breeze and afford safety against fire, noise, smoke, etc.
Subdivision regulations
 Due to increasing demand for plots for erection of houses, factories and other structures, the owners of agricultural and vacant
lands outside the built up areas of cities subdivide their lands into plots and streets and sell them.
 Subdivision regulations give local authorities powers to exercise control over this land subdivision.
 In India, powers for control over land subdivision are available under the Municipal Act.
Subdivision regulations includes the details with regard to
 Road widths
 Minimum plot sizes
 Payment of security deposit etc.
 The basic philosophy underlying subdivision control is that the owner of the land who subdivides it as house sites and streets
should bear the responsibility for forming the streets in the prescribed manner and for setting apart the required public sites
for the community facilities.
 The local body should not incur expenditure in this regard from its general funds. It should not be responsible for their
maintenance.
 There is an obligation normally under the Municipal Act requiring that if any owner of land utilizes or sells sites for building, he
should lay down streets giving access to the sites.
 He is required to prepare a proper layout plan showing plots and streets to the local authority and obtain its approval before he
sells of plots.
 If the land in question falls within the limits of a planning scheme notified under the Town Planning Act, then the Municipal
Council will take into consideration the scheme proposals and scheme bylaws while scrutinizing the layout application.
 It is also necessary that subdivision layout plan should be within the broad framework laid down by the master plan with regard
to land use, density and road proposals.
There are four basic subdivision designs in use now.
• Grid – streets are generally laid in cardinal directions and fairly uniform rectangular lots
• Curvilinear – curved streets adapted in the terrain of various lot sizes and shapes facing on loop and cul-de-sac streets
• Cluster – lots clustered around loop and cul-de-sac streets separated by open space
• Coving – curving streets with large front yards abutting the street.
Most popular and traditional method of land subdivision is grid pattern
Land division regulation is intended to accomplish the following purposes:
• Ensure that it will harmoniously fit into the existing land use pattern and thereby an attractive and efficient environment
results
• Ensure that sound standards for the development of land are met
• Provide a basis for clear and accurate property boundary line records
• Ensure the stability of community, minimizing the cost of public facilities and services
Plot reconstitution
 Plot reconstitution is a regulatory arrangement imposed on landowners that is designed to facilitate the development of land
but which requires the owners to contribute land and cash.
 Land remains in separate ownership and partial cost recovery is achieved through betterment tax.
 Plot reconstitution technique/town planning scheme was introduced to India by the Bombay town planning act, 1915 and has
been widely used in states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, selectively used in Kerala and Punjab, and occasionally used in Tamil
Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
General Objective
 To convert rural land to a planned layout of public roads, public facility sites and reshaped land parcels.
Project Focus
 To acquire land required for public roads and facilities.
 To establish a planned layout
 To implement compensation and betterment schemes
Plan
 Planned layout for the zoned urban land uses
 • Roads constructed within the project and utility network after the
Network
infrastructu
project.
re

• Partial cost recovery mainly by collection of 50% of betterment

Project cost from each landowner less the compensation for land taken
recovery

• Annual budget of local government or urban development

authority. The betterment collected is not paid into a project fund
Project
funding or account

• Project preparation is divided between local government, state

Project government and tribunal and implementation is divided between
Manageme local government and public utility.
nt

•No consultation with landowners but individual

Landowner negotiations and right of appeal
participation

•Uneven sharing of project net benefits, mainly on

Sharing of land area basis
project cost

•Preparation of project takes upto 10 years and

Project implementation depends on funds available.
duration

•The land parcels remain under separate

Land ownerships.
ownership

Betterment Tax.
Similarly some owners of the property will be benefited by the proposed town planning schemes. The share of increase in values of the
properties of such owners to be paid to the planning authority is known as betterment tax
 Betterment levies are a form of tax or a fee levied on land that has gained in value because of public infrastructure
investments. They are considered the most direct form of value capture
 For instance, if building roads, metros or airports with public money leads to an appreciation in land prices in the vicinity of
these projects, then landowners enjoy a windfall gain.
 Most States mandate levy of betterment tax at the time of granting development permission under the respective Town
Planning Laws.
 The procedure for arriving at the amount for betterment tax is as follows:
 The value of the property before the notification of tow planning scheme is worked out
 The value of the property on the completion of the town planning scheme is estimated.
 Difference between the two will be the unearned increase in value of the property due to the scheme.
 And the betterment tax will be finalized – the owner and the planning authority share this. ie, the owner has to surrender 50%
of increase in value of his property in the form of betterment.
The important provision in town planning act regarding betterment are as follows:
• The list of properties put to Betterment shall be published with notification and the same notices are given to the respective
owners and their objections, if any, are invited
• The maximum Betterment contribution shall be 50% of the increase in the value of the property resulting from the execution of
the development scheme.
• The value of the Betterment will be fixed only after the scheme is completed.
• In case of dispute, the owners of the property can refer to the court or tribunal whose decision will be final.