[EVOLUTION OF

TOWN PLANNING
IN INDIA ]

TOWN
PLANNING-IX
SUBMITTED BY-
ABHINAV DAHIYA (11001006002)

AMAN KUMAR (11001006003)

HIMANSHI (11001006013)

SMILE SINGH (1001006033)

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
HISRTORY OF TOWN PLANNING
URBAN PLANNING IN INDIA
TOWN PLANNING IN ANCIENT INDIA
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
CHANAKYAS ARTHSHASTRA
MUGHAL INFLUENCE
PRE INDEPENDENCE SCENARIO
POST INDEPENDENCE SCENARIO

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INTRODUCTION
Cities are probably the most complex things that human beings have ever created.
They are the wellsprings of culture, technology, wealth and power.
People have a love-hate relationship with cities.
We are torn between our needs for community and privacy and the conflicting attractions
of urban and rural life.

Urban Planning can be defined as the design and regulation of the uses of space that
focus on the physical form, economic functions, and social impacts of the urban
environment and on the location of different activities within it.

The various fields that are encountered in urban planning are:-

The need of the hour is sustainable development.

With increasing population and growing pollution, we cant ignore the ill effects of
planning on the environment.
Sustainable development refers to:-
Utilising the present resources keeping in mind the future needs of the society, so as
not to exhaust the resources.
It should not disturb the ecological cycle and hence preserve the environment.

HISTORY OF TOWN PLANNING

City planning has always been of chief concern since times immemorial.
Evidence of planning has been unearthed in the ruins of cities in China, India, Egypt,
Asia Minor, the Mediterranean world, and South and Central America.
Early examples of efforts towards planned urban development include:-
orderly street systems that are rectilinear and sometimes radial
division of a city into specialised functional quarters
development of commanding central sites for palaces
temples and civic buildings
advanced systems of fortification, water supply, and drainage.

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 Most of the evidence is in smaller cities that were built in comparatively short periods as
colonies.

URBAN PLANNING IN INDIA

India has characteristically drifted with history, rising periodically to accomplish great
things.
In no field has this been truer than in town planning.
From prehistoric Mohenjo Daro, to the imperial city of New Delhi, to Corbusier's
Chandigarh, India has pioneered in town building.
The technique of diagnostic survey, commonplace in planning practice today, is the
somewhat belated result of Patrick Geddes' work in India four decades ago:
the City Improvement Trusts in existence since the 1800's are models of their kind

TOWN PLANNING IN ANCIENT INDIA

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

TOWN PLANNING CONCEPT

Sophisticated & advanced urban culture
Streets in perfect grid patterns in both Mohenjodoro & harappa
Worlds first sanitation system Individual wells and separate covered drains.Along the
streets for waste water

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 Houses opened to inner courtyards & smaller Lanes
Impressive dockyards, graneries, warehouses,
Brick platforms & protective walls
Massive citadels protected the city from floods & attackers
City dwellers traders & artisans
All the houses had access to water & drainage facilities

IMPORTANT CITIES:-

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CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
Buildings masonry construction by sun dried bricks
Ranging from 2 rooms to mansions with many rooms
Underground sewerage & drainage from houses
Helical pumps for pumping water in great bath
Principal buildings monastry & bath indicating religious culture

GREAT BATH
12x7x3 m in dimensions
Earliest public water tank in ancient world
Ledge extends for the entire width of pool
Watertight floor thick layer of bitumen
Floor slopes in south west corner with a small outlet connecting to a brick drain
Rooms located in the east

HARAPPA
23000 POPULATION
150 hectares
Earliest city may have been formed during 2800 2500 bc
Earliest city covered an area of 25 ha.
It became a centre for trade networks extending from
baluchistan and afghanistan to the west of the seacoast in the south.harappa
Towns built over raised mud brick platforms

TOWN PLANNING FEATURES:-

Citadel mound and lower town surrounded by a massive brick wall.
Citadel had square towers and bastions.
Large open areas inside the gateway may have been used as a market or
checkpoint for taxing goods coming into the city

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 Outside the city walls a cluster of houses may represent temporary rest stops
for travellers and caravans
No division of the society is reflected in the layout of the city. since large
public buildings, market areas, large and small houses as well as craft
workshops have been found in the same neighbourhood.
Barrack-like group of single-roomed tenements were for the poorer classes

ARCHITECTURE LARGE PUBLIC STRUCTURES

Large buildings administrative or ritual structures.
: Access routes or provided thoroughfare from one area to another.
Markets and public meetings held in large open courtyards.
Houses and public buildings grouped with shared walls and formed larger blocks
& accessed by wide streets.
Most houses had private baths &toilets as well as private wells.

EXTRACTS FROM CHANAKYAS ARTHASHASTRA :-320-185 B.C

Some interesting extracts relating to Town and Country planning in Arthashastra
composed by Chanakya inthe Maurya period is given below:

Congested town, should be freed of surplus population, which should then

be housed in a new place.
Towns positioned to help each other.
Sangrahan (collection register / tax collector) 10 villages, sarvatik
among 200, dronamukh (chief) among 400 and sthaniya among
800
Migrated people in new settlement exempted from = payment of taxes
for some years.
NEW VILLAGE
HIGHER PROPORTION OF AGRICULTURISTS AND SHUDRAS.
MARKET SALE OF GOODS RECEIVED FROM TRADERS ON HIGHWAYS.
DAMS CONSTRUCTED OVER RIVERS NALAS.
TEMPLES AND GARDENS SHOULD BE PROVIDED.
ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE AGED, THE CHILDREN AND INFORMAL PERSONS.
CEREALS AND WEALTH WILL GROW IF THE AGRICULTURISTS ARE KEPT BUSY.

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 ANCIENT TOWN CLASSIFACTION:-

Another elaborate treatise on town planning in ancient India is Manasara

Vastushastra. It is perhaps of later date- about 6th century A.D. There were 8
diff. types of town and villages according to shapes.

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.

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MUGHAL INDIA :

Islamic Architects frequently left the layout of the streets to chance or allowed
this to develop origanically as the settlement grew in size.
It was not until the sixteenth century that Mughal Akbar took the task of
planning an entire residential town, comprising palaces , mosques or travelers
bunglows etc.

FATEHPUR SIKRI
Founded by Akbar
It was planned as the cultural, commercial and administrative centre of mughal
empire. Fatehpur Sikri is built in red sandstone, and is a beautiful blend of Hindu
and Islamic architectural elements.
The sandstone is richly ornamented with carving and fretwork.Fatehpur Sikri was
abandoned 14 years after its creation.

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SHAHJAHANABAD
By the time the emperor Shah Jahan (192858) came to the throne, the Mughal
empire had ruled continuously over northern India for almost a century and the
artistic tradition of Mughals had reached a stage of maturity and refinement.
During Shah Jahans rein the architectural development was remarkable due
to his interest and patronage of architecture. His buildings were characterized by
sensitivity and delicateness.

The site for the new capital in Delhi was ideally suited as a convergence point of
land routes, being centrally located geographical. The site was situated on the
western bank of river Yamuna where a natural projection formed a triangle with
theland and the river.

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Muslim Urban Life

By Shah Jahans time, the Muslims in India had partially Indianized.

Under the Mughals, they were mainly an urban community, and they disliked
village. Muslim life was closely linked to religious event, as well as to ceremonies
and festivals or ritual events.
Shah Jahan was a religious person and was very particular about observing
ceremonies. On the morning of the most important Muslim festival EidiQurba
(the fest of the sacrificed), Muslims go to Idgah,or place of prayer,
generallysituated outside the city or village in an open space. The Idgah of
Shahjahanabad is located on the crest of the ridge, west of the city.

Planning of Shahjahanabad
The city was planned according to hindu planning principles of shilpashastra
from vastushastra.
The site was placed on a high land as in the shastra and was karmukha or
bow shaped, for this ensured its prosperity.
The arm of the archer was Chandni Chowk.
The string was Yamuna river.
The junction of the two main axes is the most auspicious point in the whole
region and was therefore the red fort

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Jaipur
Reasons for Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh to change his capital from Amber to
Jaipur
Military Reasons
Geographical Reasons

The layout of the city of Jaipur wonderfully links the concept of a Shastric
city with the practicalities of the chosen site.
First, the straight line of the ridge suggested itself as the route for one of the main
eastwest thorough fares and building a road along its crest makes best possible use
of the topography for the purpose of drainage.
The point of intersection would be one of the citys main crossroads
(chaupar)

The central axis of the town was laid from East to West between the gates of the
Sun(Suraj pol) and the moon(Chandpol)
This was crossed by two roads at right angles dividing the town into nine almost
square, almost equally sized blocks, which were further sub divided by lanes and

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alleys all at right angles The citys division into nine wards y was also in
conformity with the Hindu caste system, which necessitated the segregation of
people belonging to different communities and ranks.

Following the directions of the Hindu Shilpa shastra, width of the main streets &
other lanes were fixed. Thus the main streets of the city were 111ft. wide,
secondary streets 55 ft. wide & the smaller ones 27ft. wide.

Jaipur is known as the Pink City, a rather idealized description of the

terracottacolored lime plaster that coats the old part of the city's
walls, buildings, and temples.

The reasons for painting the town pink are unknown, but various
theories have been tossed about, from using pink to cut down glare, to
Jai Singh II's apparent devotion to Lord Shiva (whose favorite color is
reputedly terra cotta).
Others believe Singh wanted to imitate the color of the sandstone used
in the forts and palaces of his Mughal emperorfriends.
The most popular reason (spread no doubt by "Britishers" during the
Raj era) is that pink is the traditional color of hospitality, and the city
was freshly painted and paved with pink gravel to warmly welcome
Edward VII for his visit here in 1876

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PRE INDEPENDENCE SCENARIO IN INDIA

Sanitary Commission in 1864 and the 1st CITY IMPROVEMENT ACT was enacted in major
cities (based on the model of British Government).
They were :
The Bombay Improvement Act - 1898
The Mysore Improvement Act - 1903
The Calcutta Improvement Act - 1911

WORK IN INDIA BY PATTRICK GEDDES:-

Sir Patrick Geddes (1854 - 1932) was an innovative thinker in the fields of urban
planning and education.
In India Geddes extended his ideas about regional surveying, cooperation between man
and the environment, synthesis of knowledge , historical traditions, involvement of the
people in their own betterment and the rediscovery of past traditions of city building.
Among the many problems in India were the extreme poverty and obscenely
overcrowded slums plaguing India's rapidily growing cities.
In addressing these problems, Geddes wanted to revive indigenous customs and use them
for modern purpose.
His work on regional surveying influenced Lewis Mumford and numerous others.
Mumford, however, did not totally accept Geddes' ideas on social reconstruction.
Yet, the method of considering social implications in city planning has carried over to the
sustainable city projects of today.

Accordingly for the first time in India the TOWN PLANNING ACTS were enacted.

They were: The Bombay Town Planning Act -1915

The Uttar Pradesh Town Planning Act - 1919

The Madras Town Planning Act 1920

BHORE COMMITTEE - (1946)

A Committee was appointed to look into the adaptability of the Town Planning Acts in
various states and the following Policies were outlined.

Regulating urban development through Town Planning

Separate ministries for various departments

Improvement of large cities

Formulate a Model legislation for the whole country

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POST INDEPENDENCE SCENARIO IN INDIA:-
After Independence of India the FIVE YEAR PLANS gave guidance for planning.
2nd Five year plan provided for
1. Preparation of plans of large cities
2. Organising planning activities
3. Regional plans for industrial and river valley projects

3rd Five year plan provided for

1. Enactment of Town Planning legislation
2. Provided fund for
Urban area planning
Industrial towns
Capital towns
Port towns
Other cities for preparation of master plans supported by legislation.

At the national level, two bodies were constituted during the 2nd and 3rd year plans to
provide guidelines for Planning Urban Development:

C O P P- Committee of Planning Projects

BOPE- Bureau of Public Enterprise

They formulated norms and standards for planning to be developed for various national
and state organisations.

The Institute of Town Planning India constituted in 1960 prescribed model Town
Planning legislation for all state.

The Fourth Plan (1969-74) stressed the need

to prevent the further growth of population in large cities and the need for Decongestion
or dispersal of population.
This was envisaged through the creation of smaller towns.
The Housing & Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) was established to fund
housing and urban development programmes.

The Fifth Plan (1974-79)

reiterated the policies of the preceding Plans to promote smaller towns in new urban
centres, in order to ease the increasing pressure of urbanisation.
The Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Act was enacted to prevent concentration of land
holdings in urban areas and to make urban land available for construction of

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The Sixth Plan (1980-85) focused on
The Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns (IDSMT) was launched in
towns with population below
Many of the 4,000-plus townships and urban agglomerations that are part of the 2001
census are a legacy of these moves.

The Seventh Plan (1985-90) stressed the need

to entrust the major responsibility of housing construction to the private sector.
The National Housing Bank was set up to expand the base of housing finance.
Building Material Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) was set up to promote the
commercial production of innovative building materials.

EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS OF ACTS :

Town Planning Act

1915 Bombay Town Planning Act

1956 Madras Town Planning Act

1948 Madhya Pradesh Town Planning Act

1963 Jammu & Kashmir Town Planning Act

Town and Improvement Trust Acts

1931 Bihar Town Planning and Improvement Act

1956 Orissa Town Planning and Improvement Act

Town and Country Planning Acts

1959 Assam Town and Country Planning Act

1961 Mysore Town and Country Planning Act

1964 Gujarat Town and Country Planning Act

Almost all states are now having Town and Country Planning Acts which deals with
comprehensive plans of all levels i.e. region, urban, local etc.

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REGIONAL PLANNING LAWS IN INDIA

Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act 1966.

Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act 1973.
Madhya Pradesh Town and Country Planning Act 1973.
Model Town and Country Planning Act 1973.
Haryana Regional and Town Planning and Development Bill

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