MODULE-05

Regional planning – Zoning and subdivision regulation – FSI/FAR –

Neighbourhood planning – planning principles – site planning – site selection
criteria for housing development – types – site analysis. Types of plans –
master plans, development plans, etc. (introduction only). Spatial standards,
performance standards, benchmarks, and variable standards; URDPFI
guidelines, zoning regulations/ordinances and DCR and (development control
rules and regulations). New Urbanism and Public participation in the planning
process.

REGIONAL PLANNING
Regional planning is an efficient placement of land-use activities, infrastructure, and
settlement growth across a larger area of land than an individual city or town.
Regional planning is a sub-field of urban planning as it relates land use practices on a
broader scale.Regional planning is planning for development of a region which is
demarcated on geographical or economic considerations and is designed for the
development of the resources of that region.Regional planning is a category of
planning and development that deals with designing and placing infrastructure and
other elements across a large area. Regional planning zones may encompass several
towns, cities or even parts of different states, each of which could have their own
planning offices in the realm of "urban planning.
"The reasons for a regional plan can be summarised as follows.
1. The space in which human beings live and work is real.
2. To ignore space and its continuity in our planning is to ignore a basic reality. Space
when seen in three dimensions is synonymous with environment; -Spatial planning
and environmental planning .
3)Space being a common denominator in all human activities spatial planning cuts
across and integrates all human activities
4) Resources are space bound Planning for resource development has therefore to be
spatial planning
5) Human activities and natural resources at any given stage of development are
maldistributed. This distribution itself is a cause as well as an effect of the evolving
spatial structure of human activities To minimise the adverse effects of maldistribution
,we have to plan for a new structure of human activities which can offset the natural
disadvantages of the backward areas.
Need for regional planning.
1.The existence of different cultures and political identities.
2.Functional problems ( urban sprawl,rapid urbanisation, population growth etc.)
3.Facilitate national and socio-economic integration.
4.Mobilization of local human and financial resources.5.Provision of essential link
between national and local level plans.6.Policy guiding framework.
7.Information base.
8.provision of strategic cross cutting infrastructure linkages.
9.more effective responses.
10.Promotes community based development strategy and opportunities.
The Objective of the Regional Plan is to achieve sustainable development by
harmonising social,economic and environmental needs through appropriate planning
and management of land and its resources. Six major objectives of planning in India,
i.e.,
a)Economic Growth,
(b) Attaining Economic Equality and Social Justice,
(c) Achieving Full Employment,
(d) Attaining Economic Self-Reliance,
(e) Modernisation of Various Sectors, and
(f) Redressing Imbalances in the Economy.
Approaches to Regional planning are
1.Inter –regional planning and
2.Intra –regional planning.
Regional planning at the macro level will seek to:Resist development in floodplains or
along earthquake faults.These areas may be utilised as parks, or unimproved
farmland.Designate transportation corridors using hubs and spokes and considering
major new infrastructure Some thought into the various ‘role’s settlements in the
region may play, for example some may be administrative, with others based upon
manufacturing or transport. Consider designating essential nuisance land uses
locations, including waste disposal. Designate Green belt land or similar to resist
settlement amalgamation and protect the environment.Set regional level ‘policy’ and
zoning which encourages a mix of housing values and communities.Consider building
codes, zoning laws and policies that encourage the best use of the land.

Components of Regional planning are

1. Economy.
2.Housing.
3.Environment
Contents of Regional Plan
1.Physical setting.
2.settlement pattern.
3 Infrastructure resources
4 Transport.
5 Environment and sustainability .
6 Regional Policy and development strategy.
7 Regional Land use.
8 Disaster Management Plan.
9 Implementation Strategies and Management Structure.

Planning regions of india

1.South India.
2.Western India.
3.Eastern Central india.
4.North eastern India.
5.Middle ganga Plain.
6.North Western India.
7.Northern India

Regional planning deals with the planning of areas which constitute both urban and
rural areas. The term regional planning is associated with Urban Planning, the
difference remains in the area being discussed. Urban Planning, city planning or town
planning concerns a city or a delimited urban area which covers a city or town,
however a regional plan can have a number of urban areas.
Regional planning is an important part of city planning. It focuses on how the various
aspects of a city can work together to make it function in the best way possible. If
you’re looking to build a career in tech, it’s crucial to be on top of what’s happening in
Silicon Valley. In urban planning, regional planning is the coordination of land use and
transportation planning throughout a region. Regional plans are generally created by
metropolitan planning organisations (MPOs) though some states have started to
create statewide entities to coordinate government agencies and local governments.
It can cover from a single city or urban area to multiple cities under a region. This
“region” might have undeveloped and inhabited areas too since the area covered
under it is huge. Thus towns, villages, uninhabited areas, forests, wastelands, rivers
and other natural features also form a part of regional planning. Regional plans may
cut across the various state boundaries too. This requires the government and
municipalities to work together for mutual and overall benefit.Regional planning is a
way of dividing things up in a way that makes sense. For instance, if you live in a large
city, you may want to break it up into districts: downtown, midtown, uptown, and so on.
Regional plan is formed to govern and to regulate the growth of a region. It becomes
of particular importance when the growth is surrounding a major city. In such cases
the city or major urban area becomes the central point or the starting area of a
regional plan. It caters to the growing needs of the city, as well as the requirements
and future demands of the surrounding area. This helps in much more balanced
growth for the whole reason and aids the growth of the city. The city and surrounding
region are in support of each other and gain their own importance and functional
nature over the time.
Importance & Need of Regional Plan

A city or any area might grow in size and hamper the development of its surrounding
area. Over the decades it starts competing with the surrounding areas and this results
in imbalance. It creates economic as well as functional imbalance in areas. Increases
migration, decreases efficiency, results in undue waste of resources and might also
find it difficult to meet its needs. To prevent such imbalance regional plans are very
much required.

It helps in reducing disparities, promoting growth, promoting sustainable development,

and economic growth of the collective region based on its potential. Also, the issue of
migration is also solved to a great extent because the required facilities are more
evenly distributed rather than being concentrated in a specific urban area. These
plans ensure a much better connectivity within the region and take care of future
growth.

Implementation of Regional Plans

Since regional plans cover various types of settlements they require multiple agencies
working together for its implementation. This can be done in various manners, either
forming a new development authority/ regional board or giving this responsibility to an
existing development authority. This newly formed body or the new department in the
existing development authority then works actively with various other departments.
This is required because regional planners need to have a broad overview of the
whole region. The plan formed needs to meet the requirement of the whole region and
at same time should also cater to the existing requirements.

Allocation of funds is another important aspect of regional planning as the funds are
collected and received from various sources. There are various sources since the
area covered under a regional plan is a part of various states and different
administrative areas. Thus funding might be collectively from state government,
central government, special allocation of funds and partially by its own means.

Zoning and subdivision regulation

The term zoning is defined as the regulation by law of the use of land and
building and of the height and density of buildings in specific areas for the
purpose of securing convenience,health,safety and general welfare of the
community.
The purpose of zoning is to allow local and national authorities to regulate and control
land and property markets to ensure complementary uses. Zoning can also provide
the opportunity to stimulate or slow down development in specific areas.
Objects of Zoning
1. The town planner gets ample opportunities for designing the future growth and
development of town.The zoning serves as a main tool to the town planner to
achieve his goal.
2. The zoning affords proper coordination of various public amenities such as
transport facilities,water supply etc.
3. The zoning proves to be an effective instrument in the hands of the town
planner for making
4. any town planning scheme effective and successful
Principles of zoning
1. Arrangement of zones-the usual pattern of zones is in the form of concentric
bands.The central area of the town is followed by sub-central area,intermediate
area and undeveloped area.
2. Boundaries -The design of boundaries for different zones should be carefully
made.A street or a road usually does not provide a suitable boundary.A railway
line or a park or an open green space may prove to be a satisfactory boundary.
3. Existing towns-When zoning is to be applied to an existing town,the
information regarding the existing use of land is gathered and as far as possible
,the town is divided into zones by considering the predominant use in particular
areas.
4. Flexibility- The principles of zoning may be rigidly enforced.But at the same
time ,care should be taken to observe flexibility in working out the details for
zoning.
5. New towns-For designing a new town of known population,the areas required
for residence,industry and business are worked out with the help of suitable
methods.The town is then divided into suitable zones
Advantages of zoning
1. Business or commercial areas are separately located with their garages and
service stations at a distance from the residential areas.
2. The industrial area is located away from the residential area so it is not affected
by dangerous gases, smoke etc.
3. The population is distributed throughout the town by zoning, so there will be no
concentration of population in any one particular zone.
4. Height zoning regulates the height of the buildings. Hence high rise buildings
will not be allowed to be constructed near small houses.
 5. The zoning permits the economic use of various public utility services such as
water supply, drainage lines, and telephone lines etc.
6. Land in the form of recreational area is provided to use as playgrounds,
stadiums, parks, talkies, etc.
7. Zoning promotes health, safety, prosperity, orderly development and overall
welfare of the community.
8. The zoning results in minimum chances of fire occurrence.
9. If zoning is adopted, it results into controlled future development of the town.

Types of Zoning
1) Density Zoning

In density zoning, the density of population in the residential areas is controlled by

means of suitable rules and regulations. The density of population per unit area may
either be expressed as gross density or net density. The gross density is the average
density of population per unit area of the whole area. The net density is defined as the
average density of population per unit of the housing area, including local roads only,
excluding open spaces, public institutions, shopping centres etc.
The following are the indirect measures adopted to have effective density zoning.
● The front, side, and rear margins from the boundaries are specified.
● The maximum height of the building is specified.
● The minimum size of allotment for each house is specified.
● The number of houses per unit area is limited.
● The ratio of total site area to the total built-up floor area is specified.

The advantages of density zoning are as follows.

● It promotes healthy conditions, as the population is distributed throughout
the town.
● It prevents overcrowding.
● It facilitates the proper layout and designing of various public amenities
and services.
● The land values are stabilised.
● It ensures enough light and ventilation to the residences.

2) Height Zoning
The main objects of height zoning are as follows.
● To supply enough daylight to the buildings
● To cause reasonable traffic movement
It aims to control the height of buildings with due consideration of the following.
● Bulk and cubical contents of the buildings
● Street width and other adjacent marginal open spaces

Due to height zoning, there is considerable setback in the design of high rise buildings
or skyscrapers. The restriction on the height of buildings will depend on the nature of
the building, type of zone and climatic conditions.

Advantages of height zoning are as follows.

● It does not allow tall buildings to come up nearby smaller buildings.
● It establishes minimum standards in terms of light, air and space, thereby
creating healthy conditions.
● It controls the setback from roads.
● It helps to construct the buildings with uniform height, which gives
aesthetic appearance.
● It controls the land values.

3) Use Zoning/Land Use Zoning

● The main principle of use zoning is to divide the city into different zones,
in the correct location with respect to the others.
● It avoids the encroachment of one zone upon another adjoining it.
● Utilisation of each zone according to the purpose for which it is allocated.
● Factories and industries in the residential areas can be completely
avoided.
● This zone provides open spaces, privacy and good health for the
inhabitants of the town.
● It results in stabilisation of land values.
● It provides better traffic facilities, water lines, sewer lines and use of other
public utilities and amenities in an efficient way.

Under the Use zoning the town is divided into the following.
a) Residential Zone
This is a very important zone of the town, where the people of the town live together in
large numbers. This zone covers an area of 40 - 50% of total land. The buildings
coming under this zone are single family houses, semi-detached houses, group
housing, chawl, flats, skyscrapers etc.
The following are the points considered while locating residential zones.
● Near to the market, free from noise and smoke, parks and playgrounds
should be close by.
 ● It should have a certain amount of privacy and be separated from other
zones by a wide strip of green belt which may consist of parks and
parkways etc.
● Speedy travel and communication facilities.
● Peaceful surroundings, as far as possible from industries and business
zones.
● Healthy environment with respect to hygienic and sanitary requirements.

b) Industrial Zone
This zone covers an area of 5 - 20%. This is next to the residential zone in terms of
importance. Hence great care should be exercised in locating the industries. The
following are the points considered while locating industrial zones.
● Minor industries like bakeries, dairies, laundries may be grouped and
located close to the residential zone for the benefit of inhabitants.
● Light industries and factories like manufacture of glass, porcelain, and ice
etc. which use only electric power can be located anywhere on the
periphery of the town.
● Heavy industries giving out obnoxious (or harmful) gases and the
industries causing noise such as manufacture of cement, steel and other
such material should be located on the outskirts of the town.
● The special industries producing undesirable trade wastes and
by-products may be located far away from town in spacious grounds.

c) Commercial Zone
This zone covers an area of 2 - 5%. This zone consists of markets, banks,
ware-houses (go downs) and business offices. These should be located near centres
of traffic and as far as along the road sides.
d) Civic Zone
This zone covers an area of 2 - 3%. This contains all public buildings like town hall,
court, public libraries, post office, museum, auditorium, bank, showrooms, stores and
houses for the employed under the government.
e) Institutional Zone
This zone covers an area of 1 - 2%. This zone contains schools, colleges, institutions
etc.
f) Recreational Zone
This is planned in the remaining area of the town, usually 15 - 20%. This is an
important zone since it provides a healthy environment for the people. It mainly
includes parks, playgrounds, stadiums, cinemas, community centres. Generally, the
various units of recreational zones are scattered throughout the town.
In urban planning as well as transportation planning, land use is the object of zonal
characterization. Each land use zone is subject to a series of regulations depicting
what can be built in terms of nature, function and density, giving tools to municipal
governments to influence urban development. Single use zoning, also known as
Euclidean zoning, is a tool of urban planning that controls land uses in a city.
There are four major types of land use zoning.
1) Functional Zoning
The most prevalent form of zoning where land use zones are defined according to
their function such as commercial, residential or industrial. Each zone type is subject
to specific rules and regulations concerning the type of activities that can be built.
2) Form Based Zoning
Define zones according to their physical characteristics, mostly from an urban identity
perspective such as the downtown area. This form of zoning is usually easier to relate
to the general population since it uses zonal definitions that are well known.
3) Intensity Zoning
Defines land use zones by the level of permitted intensity, such as the number of
residential units per unit of surface or allowed commercial surface. Such regulation
enables a level of flexibility in urban development since it permits developers to select
which types of development takes place as long as this development abides by
density constraints.
4) Incentive Zoning
Often part of revitalization or development plans where developers are allowed to
build residential, commercial or industrial (manufacturing, warehousing) projects in
specific areas through the provision of various incentives such as tax abatement or
basic infrastructure (road, utilities, public transport services).
It is common that more than one type of zoning will be applied to a city, which can
lead to some conflicts and discrepancies between stakeholders. The issue is to try to
establish a balance between the restrictions imposed by zoning regulations and the
dynamic market forces of urban development.
Uses of land
The use of land in town planning can broadly be classified in to following two
categories.
1) Profit Making Use
The land which is developed with profit making motives, for e.g. sites developed for
offices, residences, industries etc.
2) Non Profit Making Use
The land which is developed without any motive of making profit. It includes roads,
parks, playgrounds, educational buildings and government offices. The main nonprofit
making use in urban areas will naturally be the roads.

FLOOR SPACE INDEX(FSI /FSR )

The ratio of the total floor area inclusive of walls of all the floors to the area of the land
on which the building stands is known as the floor space index or FSI.In some cities ,it
is also knowns the floor area ratio or FAR.

The value of FSI or FAR is determined by the local authority and it may be different for
different areas and for different buildings of the town.Floor area means built-up area
excluding area of walls.

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING

The concept of neighbourhood planning is fundamentally an American idea and it is

based on the simple principle that one is planning for society and not for an aggregate
of houses.It is the general tendency of all human beings to be friendly with
neighbours and to share their interest.In case of big towns,it sometimes becomes
difficult to develop a sense of neighbourliness, mainly for the following two reasons:

1. The neighbours are not dependent on one anothers company and aid because
city life gives a wide field of acquaintance and entertainment.
 2. The neighbours may not have common modes and habits of living

The neighbourhood planning is an attempt to form various physical units of residential

areas in which people belonging to a particular rank of life settle or stay.It is the
intention of a town planner to rejuvenate the valuable idea of neighbourhood which
has been lost in busy uncontrolled city life.

Principles of planning

1. Facilities
2. Population
3. Sector
4. Size
5. Street system

Importance of Neighbourhood planning

1. It can make a valuable contribution towards the creation of a community spirit

and a properly balanced population structure
2. The neighbourhood plan aims at welding various elements of social and cultural
life of a community in a proper order
3. It will only be achieved by sincere efforts and spontaneous movements on the
part of members of the neighbourhood unit.

Features of neighbourhood unit

1. It is desirable to devote a minimum area of about 10% or so for parks and

playgrounds.
2. The boundary of the unit need not to be fixed by arterial roads
3. The exact shape of the unit is not necessary.But it is preferable to have all sides
fairly equidistant from the centre of unit
4. The planning of residential units of the neighbourhood unit should be carefully
done with respect to the habits of resident,sanitation etc
5. The provision of shopping centre should be at the periphery of unit and near
traffic junction
6. The width of interior streets of the unit should be just sufficient to serve a
specific purpose and these streets should give easy access to the shops and
community centres.
Site Planning

Site planning is the allocation function in a piece of land to derive efficient utilisation of
resources at disposal.useful spaces with respect to functions are being created in the
process and character of site is accentuated.

Purpose of site planning

1. To learn and practise a logical method of fitting design programs and sites
harmoniously.
2. To understand interaction of following factors in design process
● Natural factors(landscape)
● Socio - economic forces(planning)
● Technological functions(architecture and engineering)
3. To understand the site development process by observing natural and human
factors affecting the form and appearance of the environment.

Site selection criteria

The most important aspects to be considered for residential building is selection

of good site.Sites which contains soils of low bearing capacity influence the cost
of building since they require costly foundations.There are some factors which
influence the selection of site are follows:

1. The soil of the site should have good bearing capacity. Hard strata should be
available at reasonable depth, around 1.2m to 1.5m depth from ground level.
2. The site should be on elevated ground.It should have slope towards front
street to afford good drainage.
3. Sites nearer to pounds ,pools of water,water logged areas must be avoided
as they remain in damp condition .
4. Sites near to high voltage power transmission lines are avoided.The orient
5. Sites very nearer to big shopping complexes , markets,railway station,airport
are avoided
6. The surroundings of the site should be pleasing & calm.
7. The orientation of the site should be such that it receives natural light and air
in plenty.
8. The location of the site is such that the common facilities like school,
transportation, medical facilities etc are within reasonable range.
9. Sites in developed colonies should be preferred.
 10. The layout of the colony should be approved by local authorities. This will
help in getting essential facilities like water , drainage ,electricity,telephone
connection etc easily.

SIte analysis

Site analysis is a preliminary phase of architectural and urban design processes

dedicated to the study of the climatic, geographical, historical, legal, and infrastructural
context of a specific site.It is an inventory completed as a preparatory step to site
planning ,a form of urban planning which involve research,analysis and synthesis.

It primarily deals with the basic data as it relates to a specific site.The topic itself
branches into the boundaries of architecture,landscaping,engineering and urban
planning discipline.