Old colonies to see 'regeneration' in Delhi master plan 2041

Old colonies to see ‘regeneration’ in Delhi master plan 2041

NEW DELHI: One of the key focus areas of the upcoming Master Plan for Delhi (MPD) 2041 will be the ‘regeneration’ of the capital, in more ways than one. Residential areas that came up half-a-century ago, apart from old commercial complexes, would see redevelopment as part of the plan.

Delhi Development Authority is preparing the MPD 2041, which will be a vision document for the city, in collaboration with National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA). DDA has recently started a massive public outreach through online meetings, as the authority wants the future growth of the city to be more ‘organic’ and based on ground realities.

“There are some colonies where homes built 40 to 60 years ago had single-floor houses and where Floor Area Ratio (FAR) is available. When the colonies were made, the FAR was 1.33 but is 2 now and if those in old houses decide, we will provide support,” DDA’s vice-chairman Anurag Jain told TOI, adding that the concept of regeneration would be applicable to many other areas, including redeveloping commercial complexes like Nehru Place and Bhikaji Cama Place, on which DDA is already working.

“Earlier, it was said if your home is in the middle of a market you can’t have peaceful sleep but now you have access to new ways of living. You don’t need to earmark separate plots for these and on the same plot, there can be a vertical mix. You can have offices on lower floors and residential area in the top floor,” Jain said. “Mixed land use will help in improving walkability but it has to be done following all norms and guidelines,” he added.

The concept Walkability, in fact, is another important focus area of the upcoming MPD, Jain said. “If you can walk to work, to the Delhi Metro station or other facilities, your dependence on other modes of transport will go down. The concepts of Transit Oriented Development and mixed land use are part of the overall focus on improving walkability.”

“Safe walking, which includes the concept of ‘eyes on the street,’ will be built in. For instance, shops on ground floor will face streets so that their lighting further lightens up the streets,” he said.

“We are also thinking of a Blue Green policy. If filtered and treated water flow instead of sewage and we create a green strip around it, it will add to the value of the property there,” Jain said.

The policy aims at treating drain water and storm water and then improving the area along these drains as green areas.

“We are pushing for some major new changes in the MPD and the provisions will come up very clearly in the MPD 2041. However, if we can start some things, we will implement them by amending the MPD 2021. Why should we wait for MPD 2041 to come officially?” he added.