Participatory Planning

TYPE OF DETAILED AREA PLANS AND THE CURRENT PROJECT

Based on above ideas and review of current micro level planning typologies in practice the consultant classified DAPs into two broad categories: •

Participatory Detailed Area Plans;

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Compulsory Land Acquisition Based Detailed Area Plans.

Participatory Detailed Area Development Plan This kind of DAP can be prepared for a potential residential area going to develop or has already developed as a sprawl area when there are still scope for improvement or upgrading through provisional infrastructure. The plan will be prepared taking the local land owners as development partners supported by other stakeholders including local service agencies. Four important types of plans under this category are, Guided Land Development (GLD) Plan, Land Readjustment (LR) Plan, Infrastructure Led Development Plan (ILDP), and Area Improvement Plan (AlP).

a. Guided Land Development Plan (GLDP) Guided Land Development Plan (GLDP) is a participatory type of DAP usually prepared for an area where there area large number of small land parcels belonging to many different owners. The main features of GLDP are,

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usually prepared for urban fringe areas; where agri-land is on the profess of conversion

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land will remain under the existing land ownership;

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the development authority will prepare the development plan with active participation of the beneficiary community and other service giving agencies; development agencies will construct road and after infrastructure facilities.

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development authority can realize cost of development from the beneficiaries through negotiation or share the cost with beneficiaries; NGOs can play active role in negotiation, planning and development;

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the land owners will provide land free of cost for road and other infrastructure;

In this method the community participation will play most important role in planning and development. Without the cooperation and participation of local community GLD planning and development can not be achieved at all. A sample Guided land development Plan is shown in fig……. b. Land Readjustment Plan (LRP) Land Readjustment Plan (LRP) is also prepared for an area where there area large number of land owners with of small land parcels awaiting development of infrastructure in the area. In this type of Detailed Area Plan the development authority plays greater role in planning and development in cooperation with land owners and other service giving agencies. The features of LRP are as follows:

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prepared for undeveloped urban fringe areas where structures are yet to develop;

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the land owners need to surrender their land development rights temporarily to the developer; there will be an understanding between the developer and the land owners that on project completion the developer shall return a certain proportion of developed land (smaller than

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original land); the developer shall take over the entire tract comprising small land parcels; small land parcels are consolidated and the entire area is developed according to a redesigned plan, where the entire tract is subdivided into suitable sizes of plots; the area is developed and provided with road and other services and infrastructure; the after development the plots are allotted to the original land owners as per agreement and the surplus land remained after allotment is sold out to recover the project cost. NGOs may be engaged for negotiation with the land owners.

In this method also involves the community participation. Without the willingness desire surrounded of development rights by the land owners LRP projects cant not be implemented at all. . A sample Land Readjustment Plan is shown in Figure: c. Infrastructure Led Development Plan (lLDP) Infrastructure Led Development Plan (lLDP) can be prepared for an area which is located in the fringe or peri-urban area and which is a potential growth area. The key features of this type plan are as follows:

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the development authority provides road and other basic infrastructure:

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community mayor may not share space or the cost of infrastructure and services

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development;

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people's cooperation and participation in planning and development is essential;

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NGOs may be engaged for negotiation.

Through this approach the development authority creates a livable environment and enables the land owners to build their structures. In case the beneficiaries fail to share development cost the RDA can change betterment fee as per it ordinance to realise the cost. A sample Infrastructure Led Development Plan is shown in Figure:….. d. Area Improvement Plan (AlP) Area Improvement Plan (ARP) is prepared for existing spontaneous areas that are threatened by degradation of physical environment due to sprawl development and unplanned development. The area is developed according to an improvement plan comprising provision of physical infrastructure, particularly, roads. The objective of such plans will be to promote civic facilities and improvement of livable environment. Thjs category of plan will also require local people's participation in planning and development. The main features of AlP are as follows: • •

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widening of existing narrow roads to appropriate level to allow smooth movement of traffic; new link roads are created to open up congested areas; wherever, possible social service facilities are provided; contribution of the local community may be sought to share development cost in the form of land or money development authority will bear the initial cost of development;

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development cost may be realised from the beneficiaries through development of appropriate mechanism; initiative for development may be taken up by local development authority or any other agency. NGOs may be engaged for negotiation between the developer and the local beneficiary.

Though AlP is normally prepared for housing areas where there is scope for improvement of any congested area, it can also be prepared for any area irrespective land use. Attempt may be made to recover cost of development using existing power of levying betterment tax. Three selected Area Improvement Plans (prepared under the current project) "are presented in Figure: 10.8a, Figure: 10.8b and Figure: 10.8e as samples. Volume II of the report illustrates 65 AlPs prepared under the current project. 10.2.2 Who will Prepare Participatory Detailed Area Plans? Formulation of participatory DAPs, like, LRP, GLDP may take a few years due to involvement of the process of negotiation with land owners. Execution of the plan may take even longer time. As a result preparation of such plans shall, primarily, rest with the development authority (RDA or any other development agency). What the consultant can best do is prepare some sample plans for these category of DAPs, identifying the potential sites for particular type of DAPs and plan major road and sites for basic service facilities in the Functional master Plan. However, such plan proposals may be subjected to drastic changes during negotiation with the land owners. For planning and execution of participatory DAPs RDA will have to play important role in negotiating with the land owners for convincing them in favour of such development. These efforts are time consuming and takes a lot of patience. Besides, the authority will be also need a large of planners to carry out the paint taking taste of negotiation and planning. However, in case the authority do not have sufficient manpower and ability to undertake these efforts such projects may also be undertaken by NGOs and real estate companies or RDA can collaborate with these organisations under a private-public partnership development programme. Compulsory Land Acquisition Based Detailed Area Plan These kinds of DAPs can be under taken through compulsory acquisition of private land against a predesigned Detailed Area Plan. In fact, this is a conventional type of plan undertaken by urban development authorities regularly. These projects have been divided into categories - Site and Services Detailed Area plans and Specialized Detailed Area Plans. a. Site and Services Plan (SSP) Site and service is a conventional local area based housing development plans undertaken by the urban development authorities in Bangladesh. Under this category of plans the total land of the planning area is compulsorily acquired for development using the legal powers of compulsory land acquisition. The main features of this category of plans are as follows: •

land is compulsorily acquired before development;

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land development is carried out according to a pre-designed plan; original land owners are

compensated as per law; •

all necessary services and facilities are provided;

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after development developed plots are allotted to applicants on payment;

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original land owners mayor may not be resettled.

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These categories of plans usually take a long time to execute due to involvement of a lengthy process of land acquisition and compensation.

A sample Site and Services Plan is presented in Figure…. b. Specialised Detailed Area Plans (SDAP) Specialized Detailed Area Plans (SDAP) can be undertaken for special development projeci land already under the possession of the public development authority or by compuls acquisition of land or by purchase of land. This kind of project will serve special developm needs. Such DAP plans mayor may not involve people's participation. A sample Specialized Detailed Area Plan is presented in Figure: 10.5.