EVOLVING PLANNING GUIDELINES FOR SMART GROWTH IN INDIAN CONTEXT - A CASE OF CHENNAI CITY

Abstract

The Indian cities are witnessing a sprawl form of urban growth with low density and auto oriented suburban development. The sprawl and haphazard growth are owing to many reasons like cheap availability of land, convenience for of the developer to develop in the fringes of the city, people's preference to live in the suburbs due to low rents and the use of personalised mode of transportation providing convenient access to the city. There is no integration of land use, infrastructure development and public transportation in the cities. The urban sprawl is associated with many other issues like high infrastructure cost and adverse impact on the environment and health. In totality the way the metropolitan growth and development is occurring in India, it is no longer desirable and sustainable. In response to a similar situation the western world has come up with new alternative urban development approaches like smart growth, new urbanism, compact city and transport oriented development �â� � all of which aiming at sustainable urban development. This dissertation aims at creating a substantive understanding of Smart Growth Concept as evolved in the western countries and its relevance in Indian context. After the general study of urban development in India: the development scenario of Chennai metropolis is studied in detail and the second master plan of Chennai is evaluated; from the point of view of smart growth the new town area of Maraimalainagar is identified as application area and a smart growth based conceptual plan is prepared for the same. In chapter 1 the background for the study is discussed followed by the aim, objectives scope and limitation for the dissertation. The methodology for the dissertation is evolved followed by the schedule of work to be carried out during the dissertation work. In chapter 2 literature based study has been done on the concept of smart growth. Chapter 2 introduces the concept of smart growth and outlines the smart growth principles. The chapter discusses how the smart growth principles can be applied by creating goals and strategies. The benefits and challenges of implementing smart growth are discussed. The communities implementing smart growth are mentioned in this chapter.