LOCAL Area Plans As a Tool for Inclusive City Planning

Inclusive city has been defined by several researchers, scholars, professionals of various disciplines ranging from sociology, economy, urban planning and governance as well as by UN bodies, i.e. UNESCO and funding organisations, like World Bank. The connotation incorporates the concepts of social and economic inclusion, inclusive planning and empowered, place- based democratic institutions. The inclusive city encompasses the concerns of stakeholders, equal rights, opportunities and ability for access to affordable land, housing, services, employment and participation in the processes of city development and governance. Inclusive city thus targets to overcome the issues related to marginalisation, exclusion, gentrification, inequality and inequity. At the heart of the “Inclusive City” are three inter-related ideas that contribute to the realization of full citizenship: respect for human rights, good urban governance and equitable growth.

Whereas the policies, guidelines and approaches have echoed the same thought, however in reality it has been a challenging task to plan for and achieve inclusive cities. There have been problems pertaining to participation in development and decision making; one of the significant reasons being the top down approach in existing situation fails to effectively involve the citizen in the process of development planning.

Local Area Planning has been conceptualised as a participatory, collaborative, bottom up approach to city growth and development so as to counterbalance the top down approach. The Master Plan of Delhi 2021, has put forth Local area plans as the third tier of plan with Master Plan and Zonal Development plan being the first two tiers respectively. “Local area “for the city of Delhi is understood as ‘Ward’ as the administrative unit. Local area plans is the right scale of plans that would help to achieve inclusive cities.

The paper thus explores the role of local area plans as a tool for inclusive city planning.