Regional plans - Printable Version

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Regional plans - Neeraj Gupta - 12-08-2016

Regional plans


For planned and sustainable development of the human settlements, the regional planning approach needs to be promoted. The planning regions could be classified under three heads: 

(a) Administrative Regions, which can be District Regions or Metropolitan Regions as per the recommendations of the 74[sup]th[/sup] Constitutional Amendment Act, 

(b) Investment Regions, which can be new investment manufacturing zones, industrial and freight corridors, special investment regions etc. They could be identified under National Acts/ policies, 

© Special regions, which are sensitive in terms of environment/ socio economic or political aspects.

Regional plan is a comprehensive plan at an appropriate scale for the integration of urban nodes with the semi-urban and rural areas. The plan encompasses characteristics of the region on the understanding of the flow of people, goods, knowledge and money. Some states have comprehensive town and country planning legislation which provides for urban planning and development in a regional perspective beyond the city limits and coordinated with the overall framework of economic development, priorities and resource availabilities. Regions (identified in the States) are planned holistically or as sub-regions for the holistic approach of planning.

The detailed planning of the urban nodes will be addressed by the development plans at the next stage of planning, while the requirements of the region will be addressed by the regional plan to bring out policies for development and bringing in harmony between the different types of human settlements. Regional Plan will have higher magnitude (in terms of its geographical area coverage) and would encompass planning of larger area, and thus overcoming the missing link in the present planning system.


Categorisation of Regions in Indian Context

   


In delineation of regions for planning purposes, it becomes necessary to strike a balance between the considerations of homogeneity, nodality and administrative convenience

Importance of the factors of homogeneity and nodality, for neglect of these factors can introduce distortions in the whole planning process. For example, if functional linkages are ignored in defining planning regions we might face a situation where a region so defined includes nodes which have greater interdependence with nodes outside the region.
Similarly, for ensuring proper implementation of development plans, the region places, service centers, growth centers and growth poles in an should have a fairly homogeneous economic structure, as well as topographical and social-cultural homogeneity.

Definition of a planning region by P.D. Malgavkar and B.M. Ghiara


·         The people of the region should have cultural cohesiveness;

·         The region should be a separate unit for data collection and analysis;

·         The region should have an economic existence, which can be assessed from statistical records;

·         It should be small enough to ensure local peoples’ participation in its development;

·         It should be under one administrative agency;

·         It should not be too small; its geographical size should be big enough to exploit resources and avoid duplication (by way of partially used capacity in neighboring region);

·         It should have fairly homogeneous economic structure i.e. the variation in local proportions of employment and output in agriculture industry and services should be within a narrow range;

·         It should have one or more growth points; and

·         There should be common appreciation of local problems and common aspirations and approaches to their solutions; it should permit and encourage competition but not rivalry or apathy between one area and the other. 

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