Mixed land use rules changed Delhi; now, residents want them reviewed
With the DDA working on the new master plan (MPD-2041), RWAs want the land-owning agency to review and rework the MLU provisions which, they say, have ruined the residential character of the neighbourhood
For residents of New Rajinder Nagar in central Delhi, walking on the stretch between H-block and the blind school for girls in the residential colony is a nightmare. With the opening of new commercial establishments in the past few years, the colony road has become one of the most congested stretches in the area.
“With vehicles parked haphazardly on both sides on the roads, there is no space for pedestrians to walk. It wasn’t always like this. Since 2006, when commercial activity was allowed on the road under mixed land use, the situation has worsened,” said Neeraj Gupta, president of H-Block RWA.
While commercial establishments have mushroomed on residential plots on the road, Gupta said, the shopping complex developed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), located just a few metres away from the road, is lying unused for years.
“There are over 100 shops in the complex of which a majority are lying closed for years. What’s the point of allowing commercial activity in a residential colony when there is a planned commercial space available nearby?” said Gupta.
This is the situation in a large number of residential neighbourhoods in the national Capital. Resident welfare associations (RWAs) in the city say that the Mixed land use (MLU) provisions—MLU in residential areas was one of the crucial developments in the Master Plan of Delhi-2021—have “ruined the residential character” of the neighbourhoods.
With the DDA working on the new master plan (MPD-2041), RWAs want the land-owning agency to review and rework the MLU provisions.
Rajiv Kakria, convener, Save Our City campaign and a resident of Greater Kailash-I, said, “It (MLU) has destroyed the residential character of neighbourhoods. Today, safety and security has become our utmost concern due to rampant commercialisation of residential areas. We don’t know who is entering our areas. It has destroyed the social fabric.”
This was one of the main concerns cited by various RWAs during the public consultation held by the DDA last year for the preparation of the MPD-2041, which will be soon put in the public domain.
Mixed land use regulations
In the aftermath of largescale sealing and demolition of commercial establishments operating from residential areas in 2006, mixed land use was allowed by the Centre and regulations were introduced in the MPD-2021 that was notified on February 7, 2007.
As per provisions, commercial activities were allowed in residential areas based on the category of the colony (A to H), right of way (ROW) available and the extent of commercialisation.
The colony roads were declared as commercial, mixed land use and pedestrian streets based on the above-mentioned criteria. Till date, the city’s three municipal corporations have declared close to 3,000 streets as commercial, mixed land use and pedestrian streets in the city.
Commercial activity is allowed on all floors of a residential plot located on a commercial street, while commercial activity is restricted to the ground floor only in case of a mixed land use road.
Shamsher Singh, former chief town planner with erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi, said, “All activities of a local shopping complex were allowed in residential areas where streets were notified as commercial, mixed land use and pedestrian streets. It was not a planning input, but was introduced to mitigate the hardships faced by commercial establishments due to sealing and demolition.”
One of the governing principles for mixed use development as per MPD-2021 was to “mitigate the associated adverse impact related to congestion, increased traffic and increased pressure on civic amenities”.
Singh said that commercial establishments operating from residential areas had to pay conversion and parking charges and the civic agencies were to provide for parking and other civic amenities. “But the consequences were not well thought of. Today, it is one of the main reasons for the parking mess in residential areas,” said Singh.
While municipal corporations have constructed multilevel parking lots in various parts of the city, Singh said, area specific requirements have to be met.
A good concept, but poorly executed
Globally, mixed land use is hailed as a good planning concept for a sustainable development of a city. Cities such as Toronto, London, Hong Kong, Portland etc., have mixed use development. The recent Transit Oriented Development policy, which will soon be notified in Delhi, is also aimed at mixed land use development.
Urban planners say that MLU is a good concept, but it wasn’t implemented properly in Delhi.
AK Jain, former planning commissioner with DDA, who was involved in the preparation of MPD-2021, said, “It is a good concept and important for sustainable development of the city. When this concept was introduced in the MPD-2021, there were many provisions kept for its successful implementation. But unfortunately, those were not implemented due to which it has been haphazard.”
He added, “In MLU roads, the owners of commercial establishments were to surrender the front setback free of cost. But this has not happened. Even if they have surrendered the front setback, they have their own guards managing the parking facility. Another important provision was regarding parking facilities. The civic agencies despite collecting conversion and parking charges have failed to provide adequate parking.”
Chaudhury Hukum Chand Marg in south Delhi’s Green Park Extension is a case in point. Neha Puri, general secretary of Green Park Extension RWA, said that ever since the road was declared mixed land use, diagnostic labs, nursing homes and other commercial activities have come up due to which there is congestion and parking problems.
Puri, whose house is located on the road, said, “The traffic in the area has increased due to opening of these diagnostic centres and other commercial units. There is no proper parking provision and vehicles are parked on roads resulting in congestion. It is impossible for residents to walk. The civic infrastructure, which was designed for a residential colony, is strained due to rampant commercialisation of residential areas.”
Sanjukkta Bhaduri, professor of urban planning and dean research at the School of Planning and Architecture, said that the problems arising out of MLU implementations were bound to happen. “In western countries, mixed use is part of their planning from the start. But when you superimpose something over an existing area, conflict is bound to happen. Mixed use development has to be allowed based on the typology of the area,” said Bhaduri.
Planned commercial spaces
One of main reasons for rampant commercialisation in residential areas, Bhaduri said, is growing demand for commercial spaces at affordable prices in the city.
DDA, which is responsible for planned development of the city, has developed close to 600 district, community and local shopping centres in the city. “But these are not enough to cater to the city’s growing population. Development of planned commercial spaces has not kept pace with the demand for it. Not many commercial centres have been developed by the DDA since the MPD-2021 was notified in 2007. This is one of the reasons why commercial units have opened in residential areas,” said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).
And those who bought shops and plots in DDA-developed commercial centres say that these centres have failed to pick up due to MLU provisions. While the permissible Floor Area Ratio (FAR) in planned commercial centres is 125, commercial establishments operating in residential areas get up to 350 FAR, depending on plot size, said Som Prakash Rehil, owner of a property in DDA-developed community shopping centre in Pitampura.
Spread over four acres of prime land near Road No. 44 in Pitampura, the three to four storeyed DDA Commercial Complex, has been under-utilised for nearly two decades. The centre, which was developed by private developers on land auctioned by the DDA in the late 1990s, is surrounded by markets which are operating in residential areas.
“We bought the properties at commercial rates. But today, we are struggling to revive the complex. There is no demand for our properties, as commercial space with higher Floor Area Ratio (FAR) is available on the main roads. Even banks are not ready to come here. The complex is lying in a state of neglect,” said Rehil, president of Commercial Complex road no. 44 Pitampura association.
The situation is the same in most DDA markets. The DDA Market Joint Action Committee, an association of close to 200 DDA local and community shopping centres in Delhi, has written to the DDA demanding FAR at par with commercial complexes that have come up in mixed land use areas in the new MPD.
Yashpal, executive member of the DDA Market Joint Action Committee, said, “This anomaly in the master plan should be addressed. Commercial activity in planned areas should be encouraged and for this higher FAR which is currently being given to commercial properties in mixed land use areas.”
Another reason for low demand for commercial spaces in DDA markets is the cost of cost factor, said urban planners.
Jain said, “DDA needs to reduce the cost of its commercial properties and bring it at par with market rates. Why will anyone buy a shop in DDA markets where the FAR is less when they can get higher FAR at cheaper rates in residential areas?”
The way forward
Urban planners say that mixed land use is not a new concept in India.
Hitesh Vaidya, director, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), said, “Indian cities have historically been planned on a mix use philosophy. Not only old heritage cities such as Shahjahanabad (Walled City) or Varanasi, but also planned cities like Jaipur were based on a mixed use concept. This helped to integrate lower floors of houses into the commercial and cultural landscape of the surrounding fabric, thereby creating vibrant, safe and socially cohesive neighbourhoods.”
NIUA, a research and advisory body to the Ministry of housing and urban affairs, has been roped in by the DDA to prepare the MPD-2041.
While experts say that MLU is a good concept and much needed in today’s time, they say there is a need for more detailed planning and impact assessment while allowing if.
R Srinivas, town and country planner, Town and Country Planning Organisation, said, “Before allowing mixed land use, it is important to do impact assessment as to check whether the area will be able to take the load due to increase in footfall and vehicular movement etc. Impact assessment should be done not just of the road where commercial activity is being allowed but of neighbouring areas as well.”
Parking is one of the biggest challenges in the implementation of mixed land use. Srinivas said, “There should be restriction on parking in mixed land use areas and pedestrian movement should be encouraged.”
For this, local area plans and layout plans of colonies should be prepared. Bhaduri said, “New commercial spaces are coming up in residential colonies as there is demand for it. This also provides security, as there are no eyes on the streets. But to strike a balance, there is a need to have local area plans.”
Singh added, “There is a need to prepare the layout of residential colonies before approving mixed land use. MLU should be discouraged in areas around planned commercial spaces. Also, sites for parking provisions should be earmarked.”
Mixed use remains relevant in today’s times when mono functional land use planning has resulted in unsustainable urban sprawl, long trip distances and unnecessary motorised trips, unsafe neighbourhoods with no eyes on the street, etc, said Vaidya.
“Pandemics such as the Covid 19 reinforce the urgent need to reintroduce this planning paradigm so that smaller self-sustaining and multi-use neighbourhoods can be created that can easily be converted into isolation zones when required….We can make mixed land use relevant for our cities today through careful neighbourhood planning so that congestion is avoided, as well as planning of city level mixed use hubs and clusters closer to transit systems that can act as future economic and cultural hubs of the city,” said Vaidya.