Page 1 of 7
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 02 Issue 6
June 2016
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 152
Technology and Future of Urban Planning in India
Aditya Ajith
Project Coordinator, Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence
Abstract
The article is an attempt to predict the
future of urban India with respect to the
change in space required for different land
uses owing to technology induced urban
planning. The first part of the article will
derive from the predictions made by Aaron
Fleisher in 1961 and introspects the
present scenario of urban planning and
development in India. Subsequently, the
future of cities will predicted in terms of
the transformation in the space required
for different land uses in cities.
1. Introduction
In India, there is a recent thrust on
promoting technology based urban
development in the form of smart cities, e- governance initiatives and SLB Connect.
The author looks at these initiatives as
‘technology induced urban planning
measures’ as these initiatives shall shape
the way urban areas would grow and be
governed. At this juncture, it wouldn’t be a
bad idea to introspect as to where we are
heading to by such actions and envision a
hypothetical city 100 years into the future
from an urban planning perspective. Here,
we also need to look at what kind of
technology is being pushed during these
initiatives, like for example the idea of
having 100% Wi-Fi zoning of cities or
service level benchmarking (reporting of
water supply faults) through mobile
applications. The Smart City initiative
website launched by the MoUD states that
“the key features of a Smart City is in the
intersect between competitiveness, capital
and sustainability. The smart cities should
be able to provide good infrastructure such
as water, sanitation, reliable utility
services, health care; attract investments;
transparent processes that make it easy
to run a commercial activities; simple
and on line processes for obtaining
approvals, and various citizen centric
services to make citizens feel safe and
happy” (MoUD, 2014). The emphasis on
attracting private sector and infusing the
IT sector into the realm of planning can be
clearly seen in the vision statement. This
reinforces the argument that the State
clearly promotes technology oriented
urban planning as the future of cities
which is being actively backed by the
private sector.
This paper is not about smart cities or
commenting on any other initiative by the
State. The author tries to predict the future
of cities in the wake of the State’s
initiatives to promote technology oriented
urban planning. This shall be demonstrated
by predicting the change which is likely to
occur to land uses in the wake of the
technological revolution that Indian cities
are going to undergo. An article by Aaron
Fleisher on ‘The Influence of Technology
on Urban Forms’ written in 1961 can be
the starting point for shaping this
discussion. In 2015, the predictions that he
had made seem quite relevant. This makes
Page 2 of 7
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 02 Issue 6
June 2016
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 153
us want to look into where we have
reached at present (in terms of the
predictions he made) and also try to
predict the future of cities, 80 or 100 years
down the line.
“An inadequate supply of water seems to be the only
condition that may stunt the growth of cities. In all
other respects, a city of fifty million is a reasonable
extrapolation. The future capabilities of communication
are not likely to favour any particular form of the city.
Automation in production and administration will
change the profile of jobs and the length of the work
day. The effects may be greater on the smaller than on
the larger cities. All cities will be faced with the
problem of providing for the increase in leisure.
Aircraft may become the dominant mode of
transportation over long distances, in which case, the
relative growth of cities will depend in some measure
on their position in the transportation network. If the
amount of time devoted to local travel at present is to
be maintained, then the span of large cities in the future
makes it likely that aircraft will become a necessary
component of metropolitan travel. If uncontrolled, this
use of aircraft will encourage diffuse and formless
growth. Local congestion, however, is not a
technological problem. The patterns of density within a
city appear to be largely independent of technological
developments. I think we should be unhappy if it were
otherwise, for the fight for control is difficult enough as
it is. Technology is now sufficiently versatile to meet
most reasonable specifications. We need no longer wait
and wonder” (Fleisher, 1961; pp.60)
2. An Introspection of Aaron Fleisher’s
arguments in Indian Context
The predictions stated by Aaron Fleisher
(1961) seem quite valid in this point of
time. A severe water crisis prevails in
almost all urban areas especially in the
developing world even though the city
population has not reached the reasonable
extrapolation of 50 million that the author
predicted. The big urban agglomerations
of India like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata
are around 15 million (Census of India,
2011).
We observe advances in automobile sector
influencing the pattern and growth of cities
in a big way. The urban form is fast
transforming along the major transit
corridors. This concept has also got the
support of the Government which is quite
evident by the launch of ‘Policy
Guidelines and Norms’ as well as
incorporation of Transit Oriented
Development as a key concept in Master
Plan of cities (GoI, 2007 and UTTIPEC,
2012). Such an initiative has resulted in
cities growing like a ribbon (ribbon
growth) along these transit corridors. Also,
there are separate height and built up
specifications along this transit routes.
Aircraft has certainly become the
dominant mode of travel for longer
distances and has almost entirely replaced
ships which was the earlier mode of
transport. Growth of cities along major
transportation corridors has become an
accepted phenomenon. With better
transport infrastructure, access has
increased which can be seen in terms of
exchange of goods, ideas and culture. The
effect on smaller cities in Indian context
have not been fully realized yet as India is
still young in the technology revolution
but transformations are evident. The
penetration of mobile phones and internet
into rural sphere coupled with
Government’s pro–active initiatives to
have e-governance has ensured that
information can be dispatched to far
corners within no time.
Apart from this, the increasing use of
technology demands huge supply of power
required for functioning of these
technologies. Power can be generated from
both renewable and non–renewable
sources but at the present the share of
renewable energy in India is only 12.3%
Page 3 of 7
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 02 Issue 6
June 2016
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 154
(EY, 2014) which means that we are
putting enormous pressure on our non–
renewable sources which are nearing
saturation in the next 100 years (UK
Essays, 2010) at this rate.
The rising population and use of
technology (electronic equipment,
packaging, manufacturing) results in huge
accumulation of wastes in the city. This
can be seen through the expanding land- fill sites as well as new land-fill sites
coming up in cities. The filth lying across
corners in the city is yet another proof of
this mismanagement and rise in wastes.
Add to this the lack of sewers and
dumping of untreated sewers into water
streams. All this sums up to a colossal loss
in aquatic ecosystems.
3. Predicting the future of urban India
Looking at the growing population and its
increased dependence on technology, it is
quite evident that this trend is going to
continue. At this point, we need to
examine the sectors that are going to
flourish because of technology induced
urban planning in the future and which
sectors shall become redundant. The
closing down of the telegram system as a
mode of communication is one such
example. The infrastructure laid for
transmission of telegrams has now become
obsolete since faster modes of
communication are now available.
Similarly, with the increasing use of
internet and mobile banking, would there
be a point where banks become obsolete
too? Online shopping may result in
shutting of retail stores. E–learning may
replace the need for schools. We could
imagine a scenario where everything we
require would be available on our couch.
The only requirement for a human being
would be a habitable space (if he has the
means to sustain it). Every material thing
(food, clothing) one wants would be
available online. It would also be possible
to make all interactions through social
networking. Learning and governance
could also be shifted to an online system.
This shall considerably reduce the number
of trips required for such activities. But on
the flipside, the time that this would save
shall be converted into leisure activities.
Hence, the number of leisure trips shall
increase (social outings, fitness outings).
The growth of online services shall result
in enormous warehouse and storage
spaces.
The future of cities is being predicted in
terms of the transformation in the space
required for different land uses in city
in the following table. The space required
is seen in terms of the total area allocated
in the city for a particular use category in
the urban land use classification. This shall
help us visualize the kind of city we are
going to The following table details out the
future prediction of status of spaces for
different kinds of activities.
Table 1 Justification for Change in Space Required for Urban Land Uses in India in the 22nd Century
Land Use Sub - categories Justification for change in space required
Residential Group Housing
Owing to constraints in space and advancement in
technology, the general tendency shall become to grow
vertical. Hence, area for group housing shall increase.
