REDEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL LAND IN URBAN AREAS: OPPORTUNITIES AND CONSTRAINTS. A CASE STUDY OF TEXTILE MILL LAND REDEVELOPMENT IN MUMBAI

Urban industrial land is an important and integral part of city land use. Mumbai had been the industrial power house of India since the British were in rule. It was a prime centre for cotton processing that directly fed into the cotton mills that were established in the subsequent phases of history. After led by the textile mills, several other large and medium scale industries were established in the post-independence era and the development plans made provision for the same through earmarking industrial zones for manufacturing, trade and logistics operations. Bombay has shown how to build the enormous potential in industrial production and almost became one of the country’s backbones of industries and economy. However, concentration of industries and industrialization have also left many demands on city’s infrastructure and housing, and pressure began to mount on making the city inhabitable through shifting of industries to the outskirts. In the subsequent periods, what is known as the ‘decongestion’ policies were laid down in the era of first regional master plan proposed both industrial as well as population decongestion, at a time when the population rise and industrialization were on move. These together with other factors laid death knell for manufacturing industry in general and textile industry in particular. As textile mills were closing down their operations, they sought commercial redevelopment of the land, which became an important historical battle between the industry and government. The first proposal of government based on the Charles Correa Committee report sought equal distribution of land between city government, industry and state government, which was later amended to change the fate of declining textile mills through DCR 58. This paper traces these changes in industrial planning and policy in Mumbai that have some important implications to the development of industrial land in cities.industrial location policy, textile mill land, redevelopment, planning and markets

From Master Plan to Vision Plan: The Changing Role of Plans and Plan making in City development (with reference to Mumbai)

Master plans are the traditional instruments used by urban local governments in India as forward planning tools by anticipating urban development and making provisions for the same in terms of (a) the allocation of land for various uses, (b) the regulation of its development and (c) the provision of civic infrastructure. However, they failed to meet the expectations of the citizens as well as the decision makers for several reasons: their design and approach were far too simplistic in anticipating the citizens’ needs and aspirations; their very long tenure has been a major hindrance to anticipate socio-economic changes over time horizon; further, the restrictive approach taken to their implementation without adequate flexibility to meet the changing needs of hour has been acting against the spirit of urban planning. Essentially, it is because of these inadequacies in the plan design, plan making and plan implementation that there is a need felt now on steering an alternative course for achieving the city development goals. Vision plans, in this context, have emerged as alternative instruments useful for achieving the city development goals over a medium to long term; and they are increasingly becoming popular in the cities across the USA as well as elsewhere. This paper describes the evolution of master plan in the Indian context and analyses its inadequacies first (as found in literature); subsequently, it explains the positive features of emerging alternative approaches like the strategic vision plans. In particular, it illustrates the specific case of the Strategic Vision Plan for Mumbai, jointly prepared by a partnership of private non-profit initiative and for-profit organisation, as to how its design is different and as how it takes in to account of / built upon some of the principles of master planning approach. It therefore lays down, finally, how the urban planning has to change the course, akin to the economic planning focus change from that in central planning [of pre-modern era] to decentralized planning [of post-modern era].Master plans, City development, Vision plan and Planning focus.

Land-based Instruments for Urban Infrastructure Development: The Experience of TDR in Mumbai

Abstract Mumbai, one of the few largest cities in India, faces the challenges of continuing as economic powerhouse as well as maintaining the quality of life of its citizens. Civic infrastructure and its provision are important to support economic development as well as to enhance quality of life. However, with much of the land already developed in the city and with an intense competition between various land uses, the costs associated with infrastructure development (both land acquisition and construction) are large. Although the MCGM prepared a development Master plan for the period of 1981-2005 introduced the concept of land reservations for various infrastructure services, the development of infrastructure did not progress much for the paucity of funds; moreover, the conventional method of land acquisition has met severe difficulties. An alternate way is to utilise land based instruments that offer incentives for land owners and/or developers to surrender/develop land for providing urban infrastructure. Transferable Development Rights (TDR) is one such instrument that can be used to achieve urban infrastructure development while utilizing the development potential as well as value of urban land. This paper shows how the MCGM has proposed to achieve the goal of developing civic amenities in Mumbai without burdening its exchequer. It also outlines some of the issues and the reforms required in the current TDR programme to make it more effective

Meta-analysis of nature conservation values in Asia & Oceania: Data heterogeneity and benefit transfer issues

We conduct a meta-analysis (MA) of around 100 studies valuing nature conservation in Asia and Oceania. Dividing our dataset into two levels of heterogeneity in terms of good characteristics (endangered species vs. nature conservation more generally) and valuation methods, we show that the degree of regularity and conformity with theory and empirical expectations is higher for the more homogenous dataset of contingent valuation of endangered species. For example, we find that willingness to pay (WTP) for preservation of mammals tends to be higher than other species and that WTP for species preservation increases with income. Increasing the degree of heterogeneity in the valuation data, however, preserves much of the regularity, and the explanatory power of some of our models is in the range of other MA studies of goods typically assumed to be more homogenous (such as water quality). Subjecting our best MA models to a simple test forecasting values for out-of-sample observations, shows median (mean) forecasting errors of 24 (46) percent for endangered species and 46 (89) percent for nature conservation more generally, approaching levels that may be acceptable in benefit transfer for policy use. We recommend that the most prudent MA practice is to control for heterogeneity in regressions and sensitivity analysis, rather than to limit datasets by non-transparent criteria to a level of heterogeneity deemed acceptable to the individual analyst. However, the trade-off will always be present and the issue of acceptable level of heterogeneity in MA is far from settle

Production System Planning for Natural Resource Conservation in a Micro-Watershed

Is sustainable utilization of natural resources is essential for sustainable development

Microsoft Word - User_Charge_Levy_on_Core_Urban_Services_NIUA

Abstract Urban local bodies (ULBs) are supposed to provide basic urban services identified under the respective legislation and also to ensure the sustainability of service provision. Financial sustainability of the service, through the levy of appropriate user charge, is very important and integral to service delivery. Yet, several ULBs do not follow this maxim and continue with ad hoc methods of service delivery and its finance. This paper makes an attempt to analyse the service delivery performance of select ULBs in Andhra Pradesh, in terms of their O&M cost structure and recovery; it then suggests a reform agenda of improving civic service delivery through restructuring of service provision and through recovery of costs using better levy of user charges

An Evaluation of the Impact of Density Regulation on Land Markets in Mumbai

TThe economic justification for regulation of land markets through land use controls and other policy instruments is a well-studied subject in developed countries. However, in the recent years, there has been an increasing realisation that the regulation of urban land use and its development has been resulting in some undesirable impacts, in particularly, on the operation of land or property markets, which result in increases in land prices and a reduction in the welfare of people. This paper presents an empirical evaluation of the density regulation impact on land prices in Mumbai city. The study finds that the impact of density regulation is highest on the already highly demanded space in the CBD; also, the impact is significant in the suburbs. The study results, however, need to be interpreted more carefully in the light of other land use and housing regulations already in operation.l and use regulation; density regulation; land market and land prices

Production System Planning for Natural Resource Conservation in a Micro-Watershed

Is sustainable utilization of natural resources is essential for sustainable development

The System of Local Government Finance: A Study of Select Countries

ABSTRACT Public finance system is organized in different ways in different countries depicting the peculiar institutional arrangements and structure to manage the finances at each level in an inter-government system of polity. These institutional peculiarities give rise to different kinds of responsibilities with reference to (a) revenue generation, (b) expenditure making, (c) debt raising and (d) grants/ aid/ resource transfer. The differential settings of local government finance in different countries gives a glimpse of the operational arrangement spectrum. This paper performs a concise case study of the local government finance (in multi-tiered system) in Select countries of the world that give some implications to India, which has traditionally confined to the finances of upper two tiers/ stages of government