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The Ahmedabad Urban Development Plan-making Process: A Critical Review

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 

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Planning Practice & Research, Vol. 26, No. 2,
pp. 229–250, April 2011

PRACTICE FORUM

The Ahmedabad Urban Development

Plan-making Process: A Critical Review
BHARGAV ADHVARYU

Abstract
This paper critically reviews the city plan-making process in Ahmedabad, India. The aim is to
review the process to establish its strengths and weaknesses. It is shown that the Ahmedabad
Development Plan lacks analytical rigour and transparency and there is lack of clarity on how
the final plan was finally decided. The mismatch between objectives and the means to achieve it
is also shown. It is believed that such a critical review will be of interest to planners in India
and other developing countries. In addition, it is intended to promote and formulate a more
analytical and scientific approach to planning.

The next urban development plan would

Introduction
The aim of this paper is to review the
urban development plan-making process
of Ahmedabad city in India so as to
identify the strengths and weaknesses
of the approach and to make
recommendations on enhancing the
process (discussed further in Adhvaryu,
2010). The paper starts with a brief
introduction to Ahmedabad and a brief
background to the Indian planning
context. The Ahmedabad Development
Plan-making process is discussed
together with the plan’s aims and
objectives. The paper reviews the
methods adopted with particular
attention to estimating population and
land requirements. The paper refers to the
development plans for horizon years
2001 and 2011 (which were sanctioned/
approved in 1987 and 2002 respectively).
be for year 2021 and its preparation will
commence by the end of 2010.
A Brief Introduction to Ahmedabad
Archaeological evidence suggests that
the area around Ahmedabad has been
inhabited since the 11th century, when
it was known as Ashaval or Ashapalli.
The city got its current name when
Sultan Ahmed Shah established rule in
1411.
The population of Ahmedabad Mu-
nicipal Corporation (AMC) area (191
km2) in 2001 was 3.5 million and the
population of the Ahmedabad urban
agglomeration (600 km2) was about 4.5
million (Census of India, 2001).
Ahmedabad is located on the banks
of Sabarmati River in the state of
Gujarat in western India (see Figure 1).

Bhargav Adhvaryu, Department of Architecture and Churchill College, University of Cambridge,

UK. Email: bhargav@cantab.net

ISSN 0269-7459 print/1360-0583 online/11/020229–22 Ó 2011 Taylor & Francis 229

DOI: 10.1080/02697459.2011.560463
 Bhargav Adhvaryu
FIGURE 1. Location of Ahmedabad.
The city is divided by the river into
two physically distinct eastern and
western regions. Eastern Ahmedabad
has the old (traditional) predominantly
characterized by row houses (also
known as terraced houses) along
the streets. Outer areas of eastern
Ahmedabad have industries and resi-
dences of lower income households.
More recently developed, western Ah-
medabad is generally characterized by
modern buildings and more affluent
people.
By the middle of the 20th century,
Ahmedabad came to know as the
‘Manchester’ of the East because of
the growth in textile mills. By the
1980s the textile mills closed down,
which marked the end of an era of its
dominance in the economy of Ahme-
dabad. A sectoral shift was observed in
Gujarat after liberalization of the econ-
omy in the early 1990s. Rapid growth
of chemical and pharmaceutical indus-
tries was experienced in that decade.
The tertiary sector, which includes
business and commerce, transportation
and communication, construction, and
230
other services, has grown rapidly in the
2000s and now dominates the economy
with about 64% share of production.
During the late 2000s there has been an
increase of information technology
industry in Ahmedabad.
Background of Planning in India
Planning in the context of mid-sized
Indian cities is implemented by a
macro-level plan covering the city and
its environs (know as a master plan or a
development plan). The length of revi-
sion between plans may vary from state
to state but usually is about 10 years.
Such a plan sets out the course of
development in accordance with the
town planning act prevailing. On the
land-use side, the plan prescribes
‘broad-brush’ maps for land-use zon-
ing, in which uses like residential,
commercial and industrial are specified.
In addition, development control reg-
ulations are also specified that relate to
plot coverage (or margins) and the
height and bulk of buildings. On the
transport side, road-widening proposals
 Ahmedabad Urban Development Plan-making Process
(if any) are formulated and the future
city-level road network is specified
along with the tentative alignment of
roads and its total widths (rights-of-
way). Other aspects of the plan include
specifying augmentations to the under-
ground infrastructure such as water
supply, sewerage, and drainage, and
other civic amenities. Special interest
areas such as environmental and heri-
tage conservation and tourism develop-
ment may also be incorporated if
relevant.
The next level of planning after the
macro-level plan has two approaches
to managing new growth. In the first
approach, planning authorities acquire
agricultural and undeveloped land by
buying from the owners at prevailing
agricultural land prices in large quan-
tities and re-planning them in an
appropriate manner with the state
taking the increment in land value
that results. This approach is known
as the ‘land acquisition’ method. In
the second approach, called the ‘land
readjustment and pooling’ method,
instead of acquiring land from owners,
land is brought together by pooling it
from a group of owners and then the
area is planned by readjusting and
reshaping the land parcels in a manner
to provide regular shapes to original
plots and to use part of the land for
roads, civic infrastructure, and public
amenities. The key advantages of the
second method are that the original
owners are not displaced and, more
importantly, the increment in land
value accrues to the owners whenever
the land is sold and developed for
urban use. In addition, since the role
of the government is more of a
facilitator, it is less likely to be prone
to corrupt practices, compared with
the land acquisition method (Ballaney,
2008).
One of the key components in the
macro-level plan is the estimation of
population and its distribution. Trend-
based population projections methods
are used to estimate the population at a
disaggregated level (zone/ward). There
is no reference in the macro-level plan
to the number of jobs and location of
employment. Clearly, the distribution
of population within a city is largely
dependent on the growth and distribu-
tion of jobs in the future. The infra-
structure requirements are based on the
projected population distribution,
which could lead to significant under-
estimation or overestimation of require-
ments. As such, development within
city-regions does not necessarily follow
trends, as trends could radically change
on account of external stimuli like state/
regional economic policy. Following
on from population projections, land
requirement for spatial policies, such as
estimating residential land, is based on
assuming gross population densities.
Usually, the density achieved in an
area is an outcome of a market process.
Therefore, the idea of using average
population densities as inputs to esti-
mate land requirements is seriously
questionable.
One of the key regulations that
controls the intensity of development
is the floor space index (FSI).1 This is
almost uniform across the city (or in
some cases it may have two grades).
Regardless of whether the land is
centrally located and/or has high trans-
port accessibility or is located at the
periphery of the city, the intensity of
development permissible is nearly the
same. It seems rather difficult to achieve
the objective of, for example, compact
development, with a ‘blanket-type’ FSI
regulation. In addition, the problem
with this is that it does not respond to
the demands of the real-estate market. In
231
 Bhargav Adhvaryu

other words, stipulating uniform low
densities across the city is likely to
create land scarcity and force unauthor-
ized development on the periphery and
on ‘marginal lands’ that are unsafe, such
as hillsides, flood-prone valley floors,
river banks, and so forth (Byahut &
Parikh, 2006).
To the best of this author’s knowledge
(from about half a dozen development
plans in India), the methodological
framework described above that in-
cludes estimating population based on
trends and using average threshold
population density to estimate land
requirements is, by and large, the same
with subtle variation from region to
region.
Classical planning literature mentions
that any city planning exercise arrives at
a final plan (or the ‘best’ or ‘most
appropriate’ option) based on consider-
ing alternatives, as shown in Figure 2. To
a degree, this approach continues to be
emphasized. For example, Healey
(2007), studying conceptual develop-
ment and practical implications of spatial
strategies in European cities and using
the example of Cambridge sub-region,
emphasizes the role of the formulation of
options for future growth in spatial
planning and strategy formulation (the
example is from Cambridge Futures,
1999). However, in the Indian context,
an analytical approach, which attempts
to look at urban areas as an interrelated
and interactive system, and which also
allows the possibility of assessing alter-
native polices (before arriving at the final
plan), is non-existent.

FIGURE 2. Scientific approaches to planning. Source: (a) Chapin (1965, p. 458, Figure 36); (b)
Chadwick (1971, p. 279, Fig. 12.1).

232
 Ahmedabad Urban Development Plan-making Process
A Brief Introduction to the
Ahmedabad Development Plan-
making Process
The two levels of urban development
and delivering serviced land (as dis-
cussed above) in the state of Gujarat are
defined by the Gujarat Urban Develop-
ment and Town Planning Act 1976
(GUDTP) (Government of Gujarat,
2000). This provides for the preparation
of the macro-level urban development
plan (DP), and for the preparation of a
number of area-level plans known as
town planning schemes for areas deli-
neated for new development in the DP.
With regard to the second level of
planning, Gujarat follows the method of
‘land readjustment and pooling’, and is
delivered using the town planning
schemes. The DP area is divided into
several town planning schemes each
covering about 100 ha. In a town
planning scheme, land is deducted from
original plots to create roads, civic
infrastructure, and public amenities,
and the plots are reconstituted and
FIGURE 3. Stages of urban development in cities of Gujarat. Note: T.P. ¼ Town Planning;
GDCR ¼ General Development Control Regulations. Source: Byahut (2005).
regularized in shape. In legal terms, a
town planning scheme is a statutory
process of pooling together all of the
land under different ownership and
redistributing in a properly reconsti-
tuted form after deducting areas for
roads and public purpose (Patel, 2005).
The broad contents dealt at the two
levels in cities of Gujarat are shown
schematically in Figure 3.
The GUDTP Act 1976, under Section
23(1), states the key functions and
powers of an urban development author-
ity (i.e. an urban local authority) is:
. to undertake the preparation of
development plans;
. to undertake the preparation of town
planning schemes;
. to carry out surveys in the Urban
Development Authority area for the
preparation of Development Plans
or Town Planning Schemes;
. to guide, direct, and assist the local
authority or authorities and other
statutory authorities functioning in
the Urban Development Authority
233
 Bhargav Adhvaryu
area in matters pertaining to devel-
opment and use of urban land; and
. to control development activities in
accordance with the DP in the
Urban Development Authority.
There are many stages involved in
finalizing a development plan. These
include: background surveys, data col-
lection, and supporting studies, and
preparation of a draft DP, which is
publicized and objections and sugges-
tion invited, after which the revisions
are published. After up to two rounds of
revisions the DP is published as a final
plan. The Act makes the DP a legal
document enforceable by law, which is
revised every 10 years.
The 2011 Ahmedabad Urban
Development Authority Development
Plan
Brief background
The Ahmedabad Urban Development
Authority (AUDA), which is entrusted
with the responsibility of preparing the
DP for Ahmedabad (as per the GUDTP
Act 1976), initiated work on prepara-
tion of the 2011 Revised Draft DP in
early 1997.
The sanctioned 2001 DP (AUDA,
1981) was reviewed during the pre-
paration of the 2011 DP, to understand
its strengths and weaknesses, success,
and failures. Various studies were
undertaken by AUDA and other orga-
nizations such as the Indian Space
Research Organisation. The opinions
and suggestions of various institutions
were also sought. Based on these, the
Revised Draft Development Plan was
prepared and published in November
1997 to invite objections and sugges-
tions from the citizens of Ahmedabad
and the rest of AUDA area. Over
234
35,000 responses were received from
individuals and organizations. AUDA
carefully analysed the responses and
undertook an intense effort to revise the
plan. Services of the Environmental
Planning Collaborative, an Ahmeda-
bad-based, not-for-profit, urban plan-
ning firm, were utilized during this
exercise. Key aspects of land-use zon-
ing, development control regulations
(examples are given in the contents of
Document No. 5, Box 1), and the road
network were rationalized and stream-
lined on the basis of a clear set of
principles and these modifications were
incorporated in the revised DP propo-
sal, which was published in May 1999
(AUDA, 1999a, 1999b).
The set of documents that comprise
the 2011 AUDA DP are listed in Box 1.
Box 1. Documents making up the 2011
Ahmedabad Development Plan
1. Revised Development Plan of Ahme-
dabad Urban Development Authority
Area–2011, Volume 1: Remote Sen-
sing and GIS Approach, August 1997
(AUDA & ISRO, 1997):
This report summarises the
work carried out by the Indian
Space Research Organization
(ISRO) (as sub-contracted by
AUDA). Using remote sensing
and GIS techniques, urban land
suitability analysis and alloca-
tion of land for different urban
land uses in AUDA area were
carried out.
2. Revised Draft Development Plan of
AUDA–2011 AD, Part-I, Volume 2:
Surveys, Studies and Analysis, No-
vember 1997 (AUDA, 1997a):
This report summarizes the var-
ious background studies and
analyses. It sets out Ahmedabad
in the regional context, presents
the demographic analysis from
1971 to 1991, and presents the
 Ahmedabad Urban Development Plan-making Process
situation in 1991 with regard to
various infrastructure services
and civic amenities.
3. Revised Draft Development Plan of
AUDA–2011 AD, Part-II: Policies,
Proposals and Programmes, Novem-
ber 1997 (AUDA, 1997b):
This report summarizes the DP
proposals and outlines the im-
plementation mechanism for the
DP. The key proposals include
zoning for various land uses and
proposed road network depicted
in the form of a final plan (see
Figure 4).
4. Revised Draft Development Plan,
AUDA 2011 AD: Supplementary Re-
port, May 1999 (AUDA, 1999a):
This report is a supplement to
the previous documents outlin-
ing the revisions carried out by
AUDA subsequent to the DP
that was published in November
1997 (i.e. Document No. 2).
Proposal pertaining to revised
items therefore superseded the
previous DP. A support docu-
ment was also submitted for
internal circulation (AUDA,
1999b).
5. Ahmedabad Urban Development
Area, General Development Control
Regulations, Part-III, April 2004
(AUDA, 2004):
This document covers defini-
tions of various terms, sets out
the procedure for obtaining de-
velopment permissions, and spe-
cifies general and special
requirements for development
and buildings. Development
Control Regulations (DCRs)
pertain to both plots (e.g. FSI,
setback from road, margins,
etc.) and buildings (e.g. plinth
height, height of floor, width of
corridors, ventilation, fire
safety, parking, etc.) for various
uses such as residential, com-
mercial, industrial, public, etc.
Aims and Objectives of the
Development Plan
The aims and objectives of the Ahme-
dabad Development Plan (AUDA,
1997b, pp. 3–4) are as follows. In
general, it could be said that Objectives
1–6 are planning objectives while
Objectives 7–13 relate to plan imple-
mentation, coordination, and manage-
ment.
1. To create good environment and
to minimize the environmental
pollution with green spaces, open
spaces and places of public activ-
ities with recreational areas.
2. Distribution of population in ur-
ban and rural areas for 2011 A.D.
3. To provide for the comprehensive
developed area for residential,
industrial, commercial and recrea-
tional uses required for the city
with public support and active
involvement.
4. To provide effective road linkages
in the entire AUDA area.
5. To provide the physical infra-
structure and facilitate the social
infrastructure at city level.
6. Optimum use of land for com-
pact urban development of the
city.
7. To encourage and control the
development activities in accor-
dance and in harmony with the
Development Plan proposals,
which may promote healthy city
development.
8. Mobilizing the land resource by
virtue of the various planning
proposals under the provisions of
the Act which can generate the
required finance for the imple-
mentation of the Development
Plan including Town Planning
Schemes.
235
 Bhargav Adhvaryu

FIGURE 4. The 2011 AUDA Development Plan. Source: AUDA (1997b).

9. To augment the financial resources 10. To improve the various proposals

as may be created by the proposals by the various Town Planning
of the Development Plan. Schemes at appropriate time for
236
 Ahmedabad Urban Development Plan-making Process
appropriate areas as the Town
Planning Schemes has proved to
be a sound and effective model
for Urban Development at Micro
Level Planning.
11. To tap the potentials of private
entrepreneurship with its positive
involvement in an appropriate
manner with may boost up the
city development process in addi-
tion to the efforts of Government
and Semi-Government Organisa-
tion in their respective field.
12. Coordination of various develop-
mental activities in the urban area.
13. To have a realistic approach in the
context of statutory provisions
and the financial administrative
and managerial capabilities of
AUDA.
The revised DP states the following
objectives (AUDA, 1999a, Sections
5.1–5.5):
1. To achieve a compact and efficient
urban form.
2. To support and promote vitality of
the urban economy.
3. To integrate the urban poor into the
urban fabric.
4. To plan for a sustainable urban
environment
5. To plan for implementation [of the
DP].
Methodology for Estimating Population
and Land Requirements
AUDA (1997b, p. 4) states that the
‘Draft Revised Development Plan is to
be prepared considering the various
demands of the projected population
for the next 15 years of the entire Urban
Development Area’. The steps outlined
for estimating planning requirements
for the projected population are:
1. To decide the projected popula-
tion of the Ahmedabad Develop-
ment Area in year 2011 and to
distribute the projected population
in the urban area, urban centres,
and rural settlements in AUDA
area.
2. To calculate the land requirements
in the urban areas for this projected
urban population and to decide the
distribution of land for various
categories (of land uses) and pre-
sent it on a land-use map for year
2011.
Estimation of population and its spatial
distribution. The AUDA area (1, 295
km2) has been divided into three tiers as
follows (see Figure 5):
. First tier: urban areas
 AMC (191 km2)
 Ahmedabad Urban Complex
(AUC) including AMC (479 km2)
. Second tier: urban centres
 Kalol-Saij (31 km2)
 Dehgam (27 km2)
 Mehmedabad (13 km2)
 Sanand (40 km2)
. Third tier: rural settlements
 Rest of rural villages in AUDA
(704 km2)
Population projections to 2011 use
the average of three methods of pro-
jecting trends (1971, 1981, 1991 Cen-
sus populations), namely: the ratio
method, the exponential method, and
the conversion method. No further
explanation of the methods as such is
found in the report. Further to this,
AUDA and ISRO (1997, p. 15) states
that three scenarios of population
growth rate (low, medium, and high)
were estimated and the medium growth
rate scenario was accepted, except for
237
 Bhargav Adhvaryu

FIGURE 5. AUDA wards and its sub-regions. Source: Prepared by author.

the four urban centres for which high
growth rates were adopted.
The AUDA area is divided into 152
zones (AUDA & ISRO, 1997, p. 63,
Table 4.3) and trend-based population
238
projections are carried out for each of
these zones adopting a medium-growth
scenario. However, for AMC area,
there seems to be no further spatial
disaggregation; that is, the AMC area of
 Ahmedabad Urban Development Plan-making Process

191 km2 is treated as one single zone
(implications of this are discussed at the
end of this section).
Promoting growth in the four urban
centres was a policy decision made in
the sanctioned 2001 DP (AUDA,
1981). AUDA (1997b, p. 111) ac-
knowledges that ‘. . . these four urban
centres have not developed as growth
centres as envisaged in the 2001 DP
and growth of these towns have not
been accelerated during the last dec-
ade . . .’. In spite of the failure of these
urban centres to take off as growth
centres as envisaged in 2001 DP (see
Table 1), AUDA still persisted with the
policy of promoting them. Further to
that, the actual population in 2001
(Census of India, 2001) for these four
urban centres is much lower than the
2001 projected population (about
13.2% lower than expected, see Table
1). In spite of the evident failure of
these growth centres not ‘growing’ as
envisaged, the growth rate from 2001 to
2011 for these urban centres is envi-
saged to be even higher, ranging from
1.25 to 1.50 times in 10 years. Such
policy-led (or aspiration-led) modifica-
tions of trend projections may not be an
accurate way of estimating future
population, because the proposals with-
in the DP (which lead to estimation of
infrastructure services and civic ame-
nities) solely depend on the population
projections.
Another interesting comparison be-
tween the projected and actual 2001
populations is for just the urban areas
contiguous to AMC (see item C in
Table 1). It can be seen that this ring of
urban areas outside AMC area has grown
more than envisaged (about 5%), while
urban areas outside AUC area (the four
urban centres) have shown a lower
growth (as discussed above).
At a more disaggregated spatial
level, only about one-quarter of the

TABLE 1. Comparison of projected and census populations

1991 2001
% %
Difference, Difference,
census vs. census vs.
Area Projected Census projected Projected Census projected
A. AMC 3,113,335 2,876,710 77.6 3,704,633 3,520,085 75.0
B. AUC 3,530,035 3,437,663 72.6 4,601,456 4,458,215 73.1
C. AUC7AMC 416,700 560,953 34.6 896,823 938,130 4.6
D. Urban centres
1. Kalol-Saij 121,575 92,550 723.9 133,040 124,718 76.3
2. Dehgam 37,963 31,378 717.3 43,680 38,082 712.8
3. Sanand 32,770 25,674 721.7 39,537 32,417 718.0
4. Mehmedabad 34,465 26,103 724.3 44,049 30,768 730.2
Total (D) 226,773 175,705 722.5 260,306 225,985 713.2
E. Rest of AUDA 607,380 268,102 755.9 607,380 286,163 752.9
AUDA 4,364,188 3,881,470 711.1 5,469,142 4,970,363 79.1
(B þ D þ E)

Source: 1991 projected from AUDA (1981, p. 100); 2001 projected from AUDA (1997b, p. 19);
Census 1991 and 2001 from Census of India (2001).

239
 Bhargav Adhvaryu

zones in AUDA have the 2001 Census
population within +5% of the pro-
jected population. This means that, for
about three-quarters of the 152 zones,
the Census population turned out to be
either markedly lower or higher than
the projected population (43% and 33%
respectively, see Table 2).
The other concern is about the
accuracy of the projections, which
appears to be diminishing significantly
further into the future. If the projected
2001 population of the 2001 DP
(AUDA, 1981) and the actual 2001
population (Census of India, 2001) for
various areas in AUDA are compared
(see Table 3), it can be seen that the
TABLE 2. Range of percentage difference in
census versus 2001 projected population
Range of Wards falling
percentage in this category
difference (total 152 wards)
5725% 10%
725% to 75% 33%
75% to 5% 24%
5% to 25% 17%
25% to 100% 12%
4100% 4%
Total 100%
Source: AUDA and ISRO (1997, p. 63, Table
4.3) and Census of India (2001).
projections are extremely higher than
achieved populations. Therefore, in
similar vein, the accuracy of 2011
projections in 2011 DP (AUDA,
1997b, p. 19) could be put under
serious doubt.
Yet another concern about the popu-
lation projection methodology is that
the projections for the AMC area are
carried out treating it as one single
zone. However, in terms of Census
population data, the AMC consists of
43 wards and had nearly 70% of the
AUDA population in 2001. Clearly, the
distribution of population at a more
disaggregate level within the AMC area
is very important, considering the
differences in the socio-economic pro-
file across the city and its share of
population within the AUDA area, in
addition to the fact that raw data are
indeed available at a spatially disag-
gregated level from the 2001 Census.
There has been no mention in the DP of
how the population is likely to be
distributed within the AMC area. If a
more disaggregated population distribu-
tion for the AMC area is available for
the horizon year in question, then more
accurate estimates of infrastructure
services and civic amenities could be
prepared. This also ties in well with
the next spatial level of planning, the
town planning schemes. The author’s

TABLE 3. Census versus 2001 projected population (as in 2001 DP)

Area 2001 projected (AUDA, 1981, p. 100) 2001 Census Census vs. projected (%)
AMC 4,290,120 3,520,085 717.9
AUC 4,785,805 4,458,215 76.8
Kalol-Saij 200,000 124,718 737.6
Dehgam 100,000 38,082 761.9
Sanand 100,000 32,417 767.6
Mehmedabad 100,000 30,768 769.2
Rest of AUDA 833,041 286,163 765.6
AUDA total 6,118,846 4,970,363 718.8

240
 Ahmedabad Urban Development Plan-making Process
research shows that, using a simplified
land use–transport model, the spatially
disaggregated population for a future
year can be estimated (see Adhvaryu,
2010).
The support document of the revised
DP (AUDA, 1999b) shows population
projections carried out by additional
methods such as the share method and
average share method. However, it
mentions that the population projec-
tions of the DP prior to revision (that is,
AUDA, 1997b) have been adopted.
There is an attempt in the report to
estimate the population served by
different types of residential land-use
zones (based on assumed density for
2011) namely:
. Gamtals (old village settlements
now part of the urban area) (500
persons per hectare [pph]).
. Residential type 1 (R1) (250 pph).
. Residential type 2 (R2) (150 pph).
. AMC reserved land released for
development (250 pph).
. Agricultural zone (special) (20
pph).
Although using this method could
be considered an improvement over
the previous method (which did not
regard the characteristics of the loca-
tion), the shortcoming of the previous
DP, in which AMC population estima-
tion was carried out at a block level,
still remains, as the entire AMC area is
considered as R1 land use. Finally, as
mentioned before, using aspired den-
sity values to estimate distribution of
future population cannot be considered
appropriate as density at a particular
location is a function of demand for
housing. In other words, density is an
output of the market process and
therefore should not be considered an
input variable.
Estimation of land requirements.
AUDA and ISRO (1997, p. 55) outline
the method for the identification of land
suitable for urban development. Key
parameters identified for the purpose
are analysed in a GIS environment
using a weighted index model. These
parameters are: soil depth, soil texture,
slope, flood risk, erosion, land use,
ground water, surface water, road net-
work, and railway stations. The method
is explained in detail with an urban land
suitability map (AUDA, 1997a). Land
suitable for urban development, after
deducting the already built-up areas
(using GIS), is estimated for each of the
152 zones. The area required by 2011 is
then calculated using an average den-
sity of 150 pph for all 152 zones. The
difference between area suitable and
area required is then calculated (AUDA
& ISRO, 1997, pp. 91–94, Table 4.6).
At the level of AUDA, the area suitable
is 41.80 km2 and the area required is
18.03 km2. There are about 15% of the
zones where the difference between
area suitable and area required is
negative, which includes the AMC.
However, what happens to such zones
with a deficit of suitable area is not
discussed in the report nor is it men-
tioned in any other DP documents. In
addition, there is no reference in AUDA
(1997a, 1997b) as to how the outputs
from the land suitability analysis are
used in framing the DP proposals,
which are shown on the map in
Figure 4.
The main report on DP proposals
states that, based on surveys of
population density, a gross city-level
density of 175 pph has been adopted.
This differs from those used by AUDA
and ISRO (1997), to work out the land
requirements for different uses for
2011. Therefore, based on a rather
arbitrary choice of threshold densities
241
 Bhargav Adhvaryu

TABLE 4. Proposed 2011 land use of AUC area (excluding AMC)

Serial Area % of developed
number Particulars (ha) land
1 Residential, roads, public and semi-public
Type 1 9,938.00 57.06
Type 2 4,624.92 26.55
Sub-total 14,562.92 83.61
2 Commercial 1,071.92 6.15
3 Industrial 987.58 5.67
4 Public activity area 552 3.17
5 Public and semi-public 243 1.40
Developed land (total) 17,417.42 100.00
6 Recreational 63,00.00 –
7 Treatment plants (AUDA, AMC) 745.16 –
8 High flood hazards 524 –
9 Agriculture 3,800.42 –
Other land (sub-total) 11,369.58 –
Total 28,787.00 –

Source: AUDA (1997b, p. 96, Table–15).

for various sub-regions, land require-
ments for residential use are calcu-
lated. This density of 175 pph is
considered by AUDA as a ‘fairly
reasonable’ density to estimate the
urbanizable area in AUC. The pro-
jected population in the AUC area in
2011 is 6,048,187. As mentioned
above, average density of 175 pph is
applied to arrive at the ‘urbanizable
area’ in the AUC in 2011; that is,
6,048,187/175 ¼ 34,561 ha  346 km2
(AUDA, 1997b, p. 22, Table 2).
Similarly, land areas required for
development in 2011 for the four
urban centres is calculated by assum-
ing average density of 125 pph. The
proposed land use for AMC, AUC
(excluding AMC), and the four urban
centres is then presented. As an
example, the proposed land use for
the AUC (excluding AMC) and for the
AMC is shown in Table 4 and Table
5, respectively.
242
Residential. As stated before, the resi-
dential area has been arrived by apply-
ing average population density of 175
pph to the increase in population for
AUC (from 1991 to 2011), which is
2,610,524; that is, 2,610,541/175 
14,918 ha.2 Further to this, it is not
clear how the apportioning of zoning
areas for R1 and R23 are arrived at.
Strangely, as per the land suitability
analysis presented in AUDA and ISRO
(1997), the AMC has no land available
to receive the increase in population
from 1991 to 2011 (i.e. 1,315,056). The
residential area as shown in Table 5
(that is, 8,985.78 ha) is in fact similar to
the residential area in 1997. Therefore,
it is not clear how this order of
magnitude of population increase in
the AMC area is proposed to be
accommodated in 2011.
For the second tier of settlements, as
mentioned before, the 2011 DP ac-
knowledges that the four urban centres
 Ahmedabad Urban Development Plan-making Process

TABLE 5. Proposed 2011 land use of AMC

Serial % of
number Particulars Area (ha) AMC land
1 Residential 8,340.22 43.70
2 Walled city and village sites (residential) 645.56 3.38
3 General industrial 2,006.51 10.51
4 Special industrial 786.72 4.12
5 Commercial 263.06 1.38
6 Agriculture/recreational/open space/gardens 1,643.60 8.61
7 Education 387.3 2.03
8 Area under reservation now designated as Special 1,955.37 10.25
Development Area
9 Roads and railways 2,117.67 11.10
10 Water bodies (including rivers) 937.97 4.92
Total 19,084.00 100.00

Source: AUDA (1997b, p. 97, Table-15(a)).

have not developed as envisaged in the
2001 DP. The primary reason given is
the lack of development of infrastruc-
ture facilities and civic amenities. In the
2011 DP, AUDA assumes that the
requisite infrastructure and amenities
would be provided and hence popula-
tion levels envisaged in 2011 would be
achieved. Based on the ambitious po-
pulation increase to 2011 (not trend-
based), the residential land is calculated
for each of the four urban centres using
an average density of 125 pph.
The subsequent DP revision (AUDA,
1999a), presents a completely new
consideration to calculate R1 and R2,
using the existing development trends
as a guide and taking into account the
road network (which earlier was not the
case). The category of public utility
area has been dropped altogether and
has been redistributed to either R1 or
R2. In total the R1 and R2 areas are
reduced than before (11,751 ha versus
14,562 ha) but, owing to a revised
distribution, more urbanizable area is
included in the AUC than before,
thereby theoretically accommodating
more population in the AUC. Lastly,
the agricultural zone has been re-
designated the agricultural zone (spe-
cial) (subsequently termed residential
type, R3) in the General Development
Control Regulations (AUDA, 2004),
allowing minimal residential develop-
ment (to the tune of 20 pph), with
ground coverage up to 20% and max-
imum building height up to 10 m.
Although this approach avoids some
difficulties, it still inherits the problem
of using arbitrary density values to
estimate land requirements.
Commercial. AUDA (1997b, p. 98)
states that ‘. . . To cater the needs of the
people and with a view to create
commercial activities in different areas,
commercial development is allowed in
residential zone roads of 18.0 m width
and above . . .’ (a map of such roads is
shown in Figure 6). In addition, an
intention is expressed to extend the
current Central Business District
(which is mainly within the fort-walled
city area, popularly known as the
Walled city or Old city) to develop an
243
 Bhargav Adhvaryu

FIGURE 6. All roads with commercial development allowed. Note: Roads highlighted have 18.0 m or
greater right-of-way. Source: AMC (2009).

area of about 1, 000 ha as an ‘Interna- boundary is permitted in the AUDA

tional Finance and Trade Centre’; to
redevelop about 78 ha of closed textile
mills’ land in the eastern Ahmedabad as
commercial and trade centres; and to
develop local commercial centres to
reduce pressure on the central core.
However, no further details are avail-
able in the report on how the land
required for commercial areas has been
arrived for both the first and second
tiers of settlements. The commercial
areas earmarked total 1, 071 ha (as
against 808 ha in the revised DP;
AUDA, 1999a). However, there is no
mention of how it has been estimated
and why it is proposed at the location
shown on the DP map (see Figure 4).
Industrial. As per the Gujarat State
Government policy, no major industrial
development within 24 km of the AMC
244
area. However, some light and general
industrial uses are permitted within this
band of 24 km. Proposed industrial
areas appear to be based around the
location of existing industrial areas.
It should be noted that proposals
relating to both commercial and indus-
trial areas in the AUC, which house most
of the jobs, have no reference to any
trends in the patterns of change in the
various industry sectors. None of the DP
reports mention what industry sectors
are growing or declining. In the absence
of any employment location model, the
least that could be done for framing such
proposals is to apply appropriate percen-
tage changes in various industry sectors
(based on trends and policy inputs, if
available) to a base year’s spatial dis-
tribution of jobs, for ascertaining future
employment location.
 Ahmedabad Urban Development Plan-making Process

For the second tier of settlements,
again, there is no indication of how the
industrial areas have been arrived, but it
appears that the requirements are
worked out based on the assumption
that since the requisite infrastructure
would be provided, industrial develop-
ment would be attracted to the four
urban centres. However, it should be
noted that since all of the four urban
centres fall within 24 km of the AMC
boundary, it is highly improbable that
industries would be attracted to them
unless the Gujarat State Government
policy is appropriately modified. The
industrial areas earmarked total to 1,
006 ha (as against 988 ha in the revised
DP; AUDA, 1999a). However, there is
no mention of how it has been estimated
and why it is proposed at the location
shown on the DP map (see Figure 4).
Transport. The original plan (AUDA,
1997b, p. 103) states that ‘The land for
roads, railways, airport, and transport
facilities (such as terminals and depots)
are directly shown on the plan’ (imply-
ing that no calculations for land re-
quirements are reported). It appears that
no analytical exercise has been taken up
to ascertain the amount of new roads
and how new transport infrastructure
may affect accessibility and how this is
in turn would affect location of activ-
ities.
In the subsequent DP revision
(AUDA, 1999a), the road network is
extensively revised based on clearly
stated principles. The actual process of
rationalizing the road network has not
been documented and hence cannot be
reviewed. However, based on compara-
tive maps (see Figure 7) the revised
road network certainly appears to have
better connectivity and continuity. In
addition, arterial roads appear to have a
consistent right-of-way, which hitherto
had problems of varying and incon-
sistent right-of-way along continuous
major arterial roads (see Figure 8). This

FIGURE 7. AUDA DP road network (original versus revised). Source: Environmental Planning
Collaborative, Ahmedabad.

245
 Bhargav Adhvaryu

FIGURE 8. Inconsistent right-of-way of arterial roads. Source: Prepared by the author and colleagues
at the Environmental Planning Collaborative, Ahmedabad.

effort could be regarded as a monu-
mental and an important step on
AUDA’s part, which shows their will-
ingness to review their plans based on a
more rigorous approach, if felt appro-
priate.
Other uses. Other land requirements are
provided under the heads of recreation,
agriculture, public utility and services,
public activities, and reserved land
(AUDA, 1997b). The area calculations
are based on Town and Country Plan-
ning Organisation (TCPO)4 standards,
246
which specify the population per unit of
item (e.g. primary school, park, hospi-
tal, etc.). These are turned into land
areas, using areas required per unit
(after subtracting areas of existing
facilities). The exercise is carried out
at two spatial levels: the AUC area and
the second tier of settlements. The key
criticism of this is that these TCPO
standards have not been validated for
applicability in the local context and
appear rather arbitrary. To the best of
this author’s knowledge, these have not
been revised in several years.
 Ahmedabad Urban Development Plan-making Process
Conclusions
Comments on the 2011 AUDA DP
Objectives
In light of the above analysis, com-
ments on each of the planning objec-
tives stated in AUDA (1997b) are
presented below.
1) To create good environment and to
minimize the environmental pollu-
tion with green spaces, open
spaces and places of public activ-
ities with recreational areas. In
general, it is an acceptable proposi-
tion that provision of green spaces
improves environmental quality.
However, this is not supported by
any analysis depicting the present
(baseline) status of environmental
quality. Without this knowledge, it
is impossible to ascertain how and
by what magnitude the proposals
would impact the environment.
2) Distribution of population in urban
and rural areas for 2011 A.D. It is
presumed that this objective relates
to ‘appropriate’ distribution of
population within AUDA area.
However, as pointed out above,
the methodology adopted for esti-
mating future population does not
seem to be reliable, with only one-
quarter of the projections within
‘acceptable’ range. More impor-
tantly, the biggest urban area in the
AUDA area (i.e. the AMC area)
has no spatial disaggregation of
population. This is a significant
drawback in the methodology.
3) To provide for the comprehensive
developed area for residential,
industrial, commercial and recrea-
tional uses required for the city
with public support and active
involvement. The provisions for
residential land use are based on
population distribution with no
further population disaggregation
within AMC, which importantly,
does not take into account the
pattern of future distribution of
jobs. Therefore, the level of con-
fidence that could be place in the
likelihood of development taking
place as currently proposed is very
low. With regard to employment
(i.e. commercial and industrial land
uses), there is no indication that the
proposals are based on analysing
past trends or any other related
information. In addition, how the
land areas for commercial and
industrial uses for the future have
been arrived at and the specific
rationale for their location are not
mentioned anywhere in the report.
4) To provide effective road linkages
in the entire AUDA area. Since, in
theory, rationalizing the road net-
work, could lead to both better
travel times and redistribution of
traffic, and easing of easing con-
gestion, AUDA’s consideration to
revise the road network (AUDA,
1999a) certainly appears to a step in
the right direction (see Figure 7).
As mentioned earlier, the rationali-
zation appears to be better than the
previous plan, but since a detailed
methodology of this revision pro-
cess is not documented, it is not
possible to comment on methods
adopted per se.
5) To provide the physical infrastruc-
ture and facilitate the social infra-
structure at city level. Estimates of
infrastructure services and civic
and social amenities are based on
population estimates. As pointed
out earlier, there are serious pro-
blems with the credibility of the
method. In addition, there is the
issue of spatial aggregation at
247
 Bhargav Adhvaryu
AMC area level. This author be-
lieves that in general if a more
scientific approach is adopted, then
these estimates are likely to be
considerably improved and could
lead to better allocation of munici-
pal budgetary resources.
6) Optimum use of land for compact
urban development of the city. As
mentioned above, classical litera-
ture mentions arriving at the final
plan based on considering alterna-
tives, an approach that continues to
be emphasized. The current DP
(including the revision of May
1999; AUDA, 1999a) shows no
indications that alternative land-use
configurations were tested and
evaluated, and that the proposals
are an outcome of such an exercise.
Compact urban development is one
of the possible configurations of an
alternative urban policy, and it
seems that that AUDA has a priori
concluded that compact develop-
ment is the best alternative and
therefore it should be pursued. A
possible approach, in which key
economic, environmental, and so-
cial criteria are used to assess
alternative planning policies for
Ahmedabad, is discussed in Ad-
hvaryu (2010).
Some Merits of the Revised 2011 AUDA
DP
As mentioned earlier, the revised DP
published in May 1999 (ADUA, 1999a)
could be regarded as a step in the right
direction towards achieving a rigorous
and scientific approach to planning.
This author has identified the following
key merits of this revised approach as
compared with the previous one.
. a more rigorous analytical approach;
248
. clearly stated principles for rationa-
lizing the road network;
. basic principles laid out for rationa-
lizing land-use zones;
. acknowledgement of the limita-
tions of data in quantifying eco-
nomic activities and recognition of
the need for AUDA to create and/
or update databases pertaining to
road network growth, underground
infrastructure, traffic studies, socio-
economic data, and environmental
status (air and water quality); and
. acknowledgement that the permis-
sible intensity of development is
uniform across the city irrespective
of the variation in the demand for
property and carrying capacity of
existing infrastructure.
The revised 2011 DP has five key
objectives with a sub-set of objectives
under the broad proposals in the revised
DP, which are certainly more specific
than before. However, in general the
comments on DP objectives above hold
good for the objectives of the revised
DP as well.
Concluding Remarks
Byahut (2005), who has worked as a
consultant on several DPs for cities in
Gujarat, assigns key reasons for urban
planning not being successful in Indian
towns and cities as: poor quality of the
final product; non-implementable pro-
posals; no integration of plan proposals
in municipal budgets; and delays in
plan implementation. As shown by the
analysis above, the poor quality of the
final product could be attributed to
technical aspects such as estimation of
the population and its distribution and
estimation of land requirements—both
of which are the basis for DP propo-
sals—not being carried out in a
 Ahmedabad Urban Development Plan-making Process
rigorous and scientific manner. Patel
et al. (2009) identify inefficient urban
land management system (i.e., records,
maps, and data sharing across admin-
strative authorities) as an important
planning problem in need of major
reforms. In addition, this author believes
that any master plan for a city needs to
look at the past trends of jobs, both in
terms of sectors and its spatial distribu-
tion—an aspect currently absent in the
DP. Having said this, as acknowledged
in the previous section, the revised DP
(AUDA, 1999a, 1999b) could be con-
sidered a first step in introducing a more
rigorous and scientific approach to
planning. The revised DP recognizes
that a systematic plan for implementing
the DP is the key, without which the
desired goals would be difficult to
achieve. The revision of residential
zoning and is spatial reallocation is
certainly better than the previous DP as
it aims to provide more serviced land in
the AUC (assuming that there is demand
for it at that location), thereby avoiding
unnecessary leap-frogging of develop-
ment observed hitherto in Ahmedabad.
Lastly, the revision of the road network
following clear set principles, apart from
being more systematic, adds transpar-
ency to the planning process and there-
fore is likely to be more appropriate and
equitable. The next step would be to
enhance such efforts further.
Planners in developing countries, in
general, believe that since huge amounts
of appropriate data are not available to
apply sophisticated urban modelling
techniques that are already in vogue in
developed countries, the quality of
planning suffers. However, this author
believes that, given the limitations of
data availability, it is possible to use
analytical tools for spatial analysis (for
its application to Ahmedabad see Ad-
hvaryu, forthcoming) and develop
simplified modelling techniques that
could be applied for enhancing the
quality of plan-making further. Such an
attempt using a suite of simplified urban
models called SIMPLAN (Adhvaryu &
Echenique, forthcoming), and its appli-
cation to Ahmedabad, is demonstrated in
Adhvaryu (2010).
As mentioned before, the methodo-
logical framework for preparing plans
is more or less the same across India.
Therefore, it is believed the key issues
identified in this paper are very likely to
apply to other mid-sized metropolitan
areas in India. A critical review can be a
very valuable input in developing and
designing a model-based approach to
support planning policy formulation.
Acknowledgements
Gratitude is expressed to Cambridge
Commonwealth Trust, Hinduja Cam-
bridge Trust, Churchill College, and
Kettle’s Yard Travel Fund for part
funding support. Sharing their expert
views on Ahmedabad Development Plan
and related issues by B. R. Balachandra
and Sweta Byahut is duly acknowledged.
Thanks to AUDA and AMC planners
and executive officers for providing
opportunities to discuss relevant issues
and for sharing some insights, data, and
reports. All tables and figures are created
by the author unless mentioned other-
wise. The views expressed in this paper
are solely those of the author.
Notes
1. The FSI, also known to as the floor area ratio in
some countries, is the ratio of total built-up area to
the plot area. For example, a plot admeasuring 100
m2 with an FSI of 1.8 means a maximum of 180 m2
built-up area can be constructed on that plot. The
FSI in conjunction with ground coverage (usually
specified as percentage or plot coverage (or
margins)) determines the height of the building on
a given site.
249
 Bhargav Adhvaryu
2. This value is not exactly the same as that stated in ,
but is near enough. Using this figure, the average
density works out to be 179.26 instead of 175 pph.
3. R1 zoning allows a maximum FSI of 1.8 and R2
allows a maximum FSI of 1.2, with building height
restrictions of 10 m or G þ2 storeys, whichever is
less. In general, the development in R2 is expected
to be low-rise, medium density.
4. The TCPO, the technical arm of the Ministry of
Urban Development, Government of India, is an
apex technical advisory and consultant organization
on matters concerning urban and regional planning
strategies, research, appraisal, and monitoring of
central government schemes and development
policies.
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