Modern Town Planning in India

In India, the various states have passed town planning act to enforce town planning activity. The main source of all these town planning acts are the English Town Planning Act of 1909, the main provision in this act is that local authorities are given power to prepare and to enforce town planning schemes on open lands in the city and on its fringe.

For the purpose of looking after the planning and execution of new parts within metro-centres, various organizations such as DDA (Delhi Development Authority), CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation), CMPO (Calcutta Metropolitan Planning Organization), HUDCO (Housing and Urban Development Corporation), etc., are set up by the government.In addition to local authorities, the State Government is empowered to declare urban development areas and to set up urban development authorities for such areas. Such authorities are given the following powers.

• To prepare development plans for the urban areas.
• To prepare town planning schemes.
• To carry out surveys in the urban development area.
• To guide, direct and assist the local authority in urban development.
• To control development activities according to the plan.
• To execute work in connection with supply of water, disposal of sewage.
• To enter into contracts and agreements with local authority and organizations.

Socio – Economic Aspects of Town Planning

The town planning is desirable if its adoption leads to better utilization of the resources of the community. Hence, for any given size, the best planned town is one where the aggregate land values are at a maximum. Thus, economically, the best town plan will lead to the highest aggregate land values. While adopting the land values condition, the following factors are to be considered for assessing the economic worth of town planning.

• Change in quantity of resource
• Demand for goods and services
• Production techniques
• Redistribution of land values

The economic advantages offered by urban way of life are enormous. But at the same time, urban growth is not smooth and there are many difficulties that prevent the town from making maximum contribution to national economy. Some of the economic disadvantage can be mentioned as difficulties in securing housing accommodation, congestion of facilities, etc. In a similar way, the drawbacks from various disciplines can be enumerated as follows.

• The local government is concerned with the expansion of urban area, and its administration, etc.
• The medical officer is concerned with the effects of dirt, smoke, etc. on the health of urban dwellers.
• The psychologist is concerned with the effects of noise and strain leading to greater insanity and psychological pressure.
• The sociologist is concerned with the formation of slums, inadequate recreational facilities, increase in theft and crime, etc.