Poor urban design eats into 28% of urban land in Ahmedabad: Study
Parth Shastri
Overall in Ahmedabad, a study carried out by CEPT University students under City Studio project found that there are 28% such unutilized open spaces
AHMEDABAD: Not many may know that in the prime Gurukul-Memnagar area, the built-up area is 58% while open space is merely 4% with a major chunk of 38% lost to what is identified as a ‘setback’ in planning.
Overall in Ahmedabad, a study carried out by CEPT University students under City Studio project found that there are 28% such unutilized open spaces. These, if developed properly, can earn Rs 50 crore as property tax to the civic authorities, the study said.
The students took 1 sq km area of the city each in 2020-21 to understand the built form. The 100 sq km area analysis showed that 35% was built-up area and 37% was in the public realm (roads and public open spaces). The rest 28% was found to be setbacks and private open spaces.
The researchers, led by tutors Rutul Joshi, Narendra Mangwani and Amrutha Balan, claimed that if utilized properly, the proper management of these spaces can earn about Rs 50 crore to the civic authorities as property tax.
Prof Joshi said that in simpler language, the phenomenon could be understood as relatively poor urban design. “If there is an irregular-shaped plot, the planning leaves some space aside around the primary structure which cannot be developed. This space is often used for purposes such as parking, illegal frontage or construction or simply encroachment,” he said.
‘Illegal parking can be reduced with better planning’
Prof Rutul Joshi gave examples of grid planning in many cities around the globe. “In Barcelona city of Spain, the setbacks are as low as 11%. When such spaces are reduced even by 1%, the public spaces increase by 1.1% and per capita built-up space increases by 1.2%. Each such reduction also increases property tax revenue by 1.2%,” said Prof Joshi.
The urban planners pointed at the lack of proper public spaces in the city as even for the activities like leisure Cricket or other sport activities, the undeveloped land plots are used. They added that illegal parking and encroachments can also be reduced with better planning when the land pockets go for crores of rupees in several areas of the city.
Source Credit:TOI