Indian National Urban Information Systems as Decision-Making Tool for Urban Planning Prabh Bedi 1 Dr. Mahavir 2 1 Research Scholar, Department of Physical Planning 2 Professor of Planning, Head, Department of Environmental Planning School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, INDIA Geospatial Word Forum Rotterdam May 15, 2013

Structure Planning in Urban Context Urban Planning in India Issues in Planning Process Information System Approach National Urban Information System (NUIS) NUIS as a Decision-Making Tool for Urban Planning 2© Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir

Planning in India Socio-economic development planning – National five year plans – State five year plans – District Plans Spatial planning – Regional planning – Urban planning Land use plan 3 Enhanced Integration between socio-economic and spatial planning needed © Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir Sectoral Policies and outlays

Urban Planning in India As per the constitution of the country ‘land’ falls within the legislative competence of States – urban planning being within the ambit of various state governments (except Delhi) Very few metropolitan regional plans also exist Master Plan based approach Judicious use of land 74 th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 – Devolution of powers to ULBs City Development Plan (CDP) 4 7,935 towns and cities (2011 Census) Only 1,800 master plans 65 CDPs out of 65 JnNURM towns © Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir

Multiplicity of authority Overlapping functions No sharing of data and information Delayed, conflicting or no decisions Urban Planning Structure 5 TCPO-Town and Country Planning Organisation TCPDs-Town and Country Planning Directorates UDA-Urban Development Authorities NCRPB-National Capital Region Planning Board DDA-Delhi Development Authority ULBs- Urban Local Bodies Ministry of Urban Development (Centre) [Advisory] NCRPB TCPO Organically grown setup Ministry of Urban Development (Centre) [Advisory] Ministry of Urban Development (State) District Planning Committee Urban Local Bodies Metropolitan Planning Committee Re-Organisation in process Planning by ULBs is still not a ground reality TCPDs Ministry of Urban Development (State) ULBs DDA © Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir UDAs (State or City)

Urban Planning and Decisions-Making Process 6© Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir Master Plan Document Physical Infrastructure Social Infrastructure Environment Government Policies Economic Factors Planning Intervention Stakeholders Approval by Government Public Participation

Urban Functions PlanningMaintenanceProvisionManagement Perspective/ Master/Zonal Plans Services and Facilities Infrastructure, Services and Facilities Infrastructure and Facilities TCPO/TCPDs/ SUDAs/DAs Urban Local BodiesSUDAs/DAs Parastatal Agencies 7© Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir TCPO-Town and Country Planning Organisation TCPDs-Town and Country Planning Directorates SUDA- State Urban Development Authorities DAs – Development Authorities

Issues in Urban Planning Process No substantial national and state level directives Spatial location decisions limited to broad level Although regional context a part of urban planning process, plan does not necessarily emerge out of regional plan Revision of plans not done for long time Emphasis more on quantitative proposals rather than spatial decisions and proposals No emphasis on capacity enhancement on-job Lack of spatio-temporal data at frequent intervals Lengthy yet ineffective public participation process 8© Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir

Most of these issues emerge due to lack of proper urban spatial information system © Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir9

Need for Urban and Regional Information System Feasibility Study by UN Experts on Information System to develop URIS National Seminar by TCPO Steering Group Report Report by NCU 1988 URIS Division and Urban Mapping Scheme Need for NUIS NNRMS – SC- Urban 1988 National Urban Information System launched 2006 In various technical seminars, workshops and steering committee meetings, there has been an emphasis on use of information systems as a tool for urban planning Information Systems Approach 10© Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir

National Urban Information System Purpose of NUIS Objective of NUIS is to develop a comprehensive information system for urban local bodies to enable planning, management and de-centralized governance in the context of implementation of the 74 th CAA across all urban centers in the country. Spatial and non – spatial Database of all urban areas Set of standards for creation of database Consists of hardware, software, application and trained personnel Envisaged to strengthen the ULBs – Preparation of plans for economic development and social justice (physical development plans) – Enhanced performance of functions and the implementation of Schemes 11© Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir htpp://tcpomud.gov.in/Divisions/uris/Schemes.html/

Urban Spatial Information Systems National Urban Data Bank & Indicators MappingData Bank GIS Database Decision Support Review and Updation 1:10,0001:2,0001:1,000 Hard and soft copy maps Application Packages in GIS Software Hardware + Software Enhance Capacity of Personnel National Urban Information System 12 © Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir National Urban Information Systems

Town and Country Planning Organisation, New Delhi Urban Local Bodies Ministry of Urban Development State Nodal Agency (TCPDs/PWD) TNDL UK Actors of National Urban Information System 13© Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir Development Authorities

National Urban Information System - One of its kind There is no parallel to Indian NUIS in any other country United States of America has a project ‘National Urban Database and Access Portal Tool’ (NUDAPT) – launched by US Environment Protection Agency in 2008 a web-based urban data resource designed to facilitate implementation of the latest advanced urban meteorological, air quality, and climate modeling systems urban morphological data using high resolution images to tackle environmental issues Indian NUIS contributes towards National Spatial Database Infrastructure (NSDI) Umpteen instances of Urban Information Systems at urban or sub-urban levels 14 © Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir

Urban Development Ministry at States National Urban Information System – a decision-making tool Still prevalent Issues Silo approach Data duplication Lack of expertise Incoherent data Town and Country Planning Organisations /Departments Development Authorities Urban Local Bodies Advantages Integrated approach Standardized Data Capacity enhancement Coherent data U r b a n L o c a l B o d i e s Standards & Metadata Database Application National Urban Information System 15© Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir Management MaintenancePlanning Urban Development Ministry at Centre

Difficulties in Implementing NUIS Long duration in completion of initial phase of NUIS (6 years) The gestation period between procurement of satellite image/aerial photographs and creation of base maps – data created already old Development Authorities not involved in the NUIS scheme Top-down approach in implementation of NUIS Very late involvement of ULBs, at data validation stage Desired results may not be achieved as incomplete NUDB&I data (non-spatial component) provided by ULBs 16 © Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir

Pathway Ahead Repetitive dissemination workshops across all levels of planning bureaucracy Rigorous capacity enhancement of the ULB personnel Technology – GIS and RS Domain - Planning Standardization of trainings Political willingness and push Sensitisation of decision-makers on linking the benefits of NUIS to direct social and economic development 17 © Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir Well conceived scheme, requires enhanced integration between socio-economic and spatial planning

Thank You! 18© Prabh Bedi and Dr. Mahavir Contactable at - Prabh Bedi – Dr. Mahavir –