Re-building Delhi

One of the benefits flowing out of the proposal to amend the Delhi Master Plan is the possibility that the Delhi Development Authority's (DDA's) monopoly over procurement of land in the capital will finally be broken. While there can be no condoning the rampant misuse of land in Delhi and the building of commercial complexes in residential areas despite zoning laws that prohibit them, the DDA has much to answer for. As the junior minister of urban development and Delhi MP Ajay Maken points out, the DDA has developed just a sixth of the total commercial space it was supposed to have till date""so, where were the shops that were needed to meet Delhi's needs? Not just shops, the problem extends to houses. The fact that there are lakhs of persons in queue each time the DDA opens up one of its housing schemes is testimony to the same problem of shortages and poor development. The development beyond Delhi's borders of flourishing mini-cities like Gurgaon and Noida is a direct result of the DDA's failure in Delhi. It has had a virtual monopoly on land in the capital, and done precious little with it, other than to create scarcity and send prices beyond the reach of all but the upper crust. The proposal now to unlock 270 square km of land for private developers to acquire, as this newspaper reported last week, will provide the wherewithal for housing nearly 40 per cent of Delhi's growing population by 2021""but the job has to be done properly.

The authorities need to make sure that the re-development of Delhi (for that is what this could mean) is done with proper planning and standard-setting, to meet the requirements of a modern metropolis in the 21st century. The present picture of a chaotic city, with traffic snarls, absence of mass transport and parking, and effective zoning, does no credit to the capital of a country that hopes to have the second-largest economy in the world, in a quarter century from now. Also to be kept in mind are environmental issues, green lungs and public spaces, and the development of commercial complexes. If everything is left to private developers, the capital will see a repeat of what has happened in Gurgaon""where expensive properties sit amidst general squalor, with no room for parking, no public utilities worth the name (like a transport service), inadequate water and power, and poor sewage. To repeat that story now in the capital would be a disaster.

The challenge lies in the fact that while the DDA needs to get cracking on detailed zonal plans and infrastructure development, its ability to perform these tasks is suspect. There is a general shortage of quality urban planners in the country, and on top of that a lack of imagination, as well as a lack of understanding of how China has been building Beijing and Shanghai. Private developers can put up good buildings quickly, and know how to market property, but their incentive will be to maximise the area that can be sold, whereas a well-laid-out city needs a proper mix between public and private spaces. What needs to be avoided most of all is the release of land in small lots (as has been happening in Mumbai's mill area), which is what private developers would want because it would keep land prices high. Given the hunger for housing and the shortage of commercial space, a great deal of real estate needs to be thrown on to the market quickly so that housing becomes affordable for ordinary people, and offices can be located in legitimate areas.