Unified settlement planning

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Unified settlement planning (USP) is the component of regional planning where a unified approach is applied for a region's overall development. The USP approach is most often associated with urban planning practices in India.

Contents

Overview

Regions use their land in for various purposes, including agriculture, manufacturing, and public administration. For society to develop, it has to amalgamate and develop settlements; their coexistence is the basis for a holistic development of any society.

The original "Garden City" concept by Ebenezer Howard, 1902. Garden City Concept by Howard.jpg
The original "Garden City" concept by Ebenezer Howard, 1902.

Unified settlement planning is a contemporary approach for the bulk requirement of urban amenities, for the vast regions of the developing countries with uniformly distributed human settlement patterns. The approach is gaining importance in India, primarily due to the difficulties posed by the high density of existing rural settlements, in implementing the conventional plans with contiguous urban zones, around pre‑existing cities. The approach utilizes the advantages of the uniformly distributed human settlement patterns and avoids the difficulties caused by the dense network of roads and villages, all over the regions. Unified settlement planning allows holistic regional development without significantly disturbing existing villages, farmland, bodies of water, and forests. [1]

History

The Walter Christaller concept Christaller's central place theory animation.gif
The Walter Christaller concept

Sir Ebenezer Howard (29 January 1850 [2] May 1, 1928 [3] ) is known for his publication Garden Cities of To-morrow (1898), the description of a utopian city in which people live harmoniously together with nature, which forms the basis for unified settlement planning. The publication resulted in the founding of the garden city movement, that realized several Garden Cities in Great Britain at the beginning of the 20th century.

Walter Christaller (April 21, 1893 – March 9, 1969) who was a German geographer, developed the idea of Central Place Theory. It stated that settlements simply functioned as 'central places' providing services to surrounding areas. [4]

August Lösch (October 15, 1906 in Öhringen-) a German economist, is regarded as the founder of Regional Science. August Lösch expanded on Christaller’s work in his book 'The Spatial Organization of the Economy'(1940). Unlike Christaller, whose system of central places began with the highest-order, Lösch began with a system of lowest-order (self-sufficient) farms, which were regularly distributed in a triangular-hexagonal pattern. [5] He thought that Christaller's model led to patterns where the distribution of goods and the accumulation of profits were based entirely on location. He instead focused on maximizing consumer welfare and creating an ideal consumer landscape where the need to travel for any good was minimized and profits were held level, not maximized to accrue extra. [6]

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi visioned for a free country governed by their own people;he penned down his visions in a book Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule in 1909. [7] Swaraj stated that every village should be its own republic, "independent of its neighbours for its own vital wants and yet interdependent for many others in which dependence is necessary". A decentralized, unexploited, co-operative, self-reliant and peace-loving development of a region is must for development of India. [8]

These ideas of swaraj was developed in light of contemporary scenario in India as Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas, envisioned by former president of India and an eminent scientist Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and framed by Prof. Emerson.

Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas proposes that urban infrastructure and services be provided in rural hubs to create economic opportunities outside of cities. These ideas will be possible through physical connectivity by providing roads, electronic connectivity by providing communication network and knowledge connectivity by establishing professional and technical institutions. The programs will have to be done in an integrated way so that economic connectivity will emanate. The Indian central government has been running pilot programs in several states since 2004. [9]

The Regional Module of Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, India Regional module of Rajnandgaon.png
The Regional Module of Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, India

Recent developments

The regional modules in Chhattisgarh(India) Regional modules in Chhattisgarh (India).png
The regional modules in Chhattisgarh(India)
The regional modules in Madhya Pradesh(India) Regional module of Madhya Pradesh(india).png
The regional modules in Madhya Pradesh(India)

Chhattisgarh, one of the fastest growing states of India, has initiated deliberations on the subject, for its development strategies. The process has started with some useful studies and research on the area by Dr. Devendra K. Sharma. [10]

Based on a comprehensive scheme on the Unified settlement Plan for India, targeted to serve the whole nation in future, the Chhattisgarh government is contemplating a project for the holistic development of a regional module of about 700 km2. area, enclosed between the highways connecting Durg, Ragnandgaon & Khairagarh. [11]

Institute of Town Planners, India (ITPI) organised a national seminar on the subject of Urban Dynamics and Planning - 2032, on 18 & 19 April 2012. The seminar has strongly recommended that the development of rural and urban settlements in India should not be planned separately. [12]

Principles

The fundamental objective for a unified settlement plan includes: [13]

The strategies for achieving the objectives include: [12]

NameTypes of urban nodesProvision for residenceImplementation strategy
Garden Cities of To-morrow (Ebenezer Howard)Similar nodes surrounding a central hubyesProjects implemented without specific implementation strategy
Central Place Theory (Walter Christaller)Special emphasis on hierarchy of nodes from higher to lower orderyesno specific implementation strategy
Central Place Theory(review) (August Lösch)Similar hierarchy applied but starting from lower order to higher orderyesno specific implementation strategy
Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas One nodal ring with all amenities repeated in every modulenono specific implementation strategy
Unified settlement plan for IndiaSpecific category micro urban nodes for Industries, Institutions and Agro infrastructure surrounding a Central HubnoSpecial emphasis on implementation strategy with initial phase public transportation network and later phase for development of micro urban nodes around the junction

See also

Related Research Articles

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Chhattisgarh is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Pradesh to the northwest, Maharashtra to the southwest, Jharkhand to the northeast, Odisha to the east, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to the south. Formerly a part of Madhya Pradesh, it was granted statehood on 1 November 2000 with Raipur as the designated state capital.

Regional science is a field of the social sciences concerned with analytical approaches to problems that are specifically urban, rural, or regional. Topics in regional science include, but are not limited to location theory or spatial economics, location modeling, transportation, migration analysis, land use and urban development, interindustry analysis, environmental and ecological analysis, resource management, urban and regional policy analysis, geographical information systems, and spatial data analysis. In the broadest sense, any social science analysis that has a spatial dimension is embraced by regional scientists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raipur</span> Metropolis in Chhattisgarh, India

Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chhattisgarh was formed on 1 November 2000. It is a major commercial hub for trade and commerce in the region. It has exponential industrial growth and has become a major business hub in Central India. It has been ranked as India's 6th cleanest city as per the Swachh Survekshan for the year 2021. Raipur is ranked 7th in the Ease of Living Index 2019 and 7th in the Municipal Performance Index 2020, both by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central place theory</span> Geographical theory of spatial distribution of cities

Central place theory is an urban geographical theory that seeks to explain the number, size and range of market services in a commercial system or human settlements in a residential system. It was introduced in 1933 to explain the spatial distribution of cities across the landscape. The theory was first analyzed by German geographer Walter Christaller, who asserted that settlements simply functioned as 'central places' providing economic services to surrounding areas. Christaller explained that a large number of small settlements will be situated relatively close to one another for efficiency, and because people don’t want to travel far for everyday needs, like getting bread from a bakery. But people would travel further for more expensive and infrequent purchases or specialized goods and services which would be located in larger settlements that are farther apart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh</span> City in Chhattisgarh, India

Ambikapur is a city and headquarters of Surguja district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. It is one of the oldest cities in the state, in east-central India. Ambikapur is also the divisional headquarters of Surguja Division which consists of the six districts of Surguja, Korea, Manendragarh, Balrampur, Surajpur and Jashpur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh</span> Metropolis in Chhattisgarh, India

Bilaspur, also known as "The City of Festivals", is a city located in Bilaspur District in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Bilaspur is the Administrative headquarters of the Bilaspur District and Bilaspur Division. The Chhattisgarh High Court, located at Bodri, District Bilaspur has privileged it with the title Nyayadhani of the State. This city is the commercial center and business hub of North East Chhattisgarh region. It is also an important city for the Indian Railways, as it is the headquarters for South East Central Railway Zone (SECR) and the Bilaspur Railway Division. Bilaspur is also the headquarters of South Eastern Coalfields Limited. Chhattisgarh biggest power plant operated by NTPC is in Sipat. PowerGrid in Sipat pools electricity from other power plants in region and transmits electricity to Delhi via one of longest HVDC line.

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Further reading