The Maharashtra Region and Town Planning Act specify that every municipal corporation must prepare a development plan to be implemented over 20 years. The last time the development plan was prepared for Mumbai was in 1981 and it was adopted only thirteen years later, in 1994. Thus a new plan, which is valid for 20 years, will need to be prepared and ratified by 2014 and will be in force till 2034.
The current development plan defines land reservations- (that is land that is set aside for a specific public purpose) amenities, transportation networks and services through a coloured land-use map of the entire city. In order to prepare this plan, Mumbai’s municipal corporation has selected an international consultant through a tendering process and it will be expected to collate and compile all of the data available on the city before making such a plan.
The Urban Design Research Institute is currently engaged in looking at how a public participation planning process can be created to inform the making of this development plan. The Institute has initiated a public participatory process to support the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai in its preparation of the new development plan. We feel it is necessary to reach out to the entire cross section of the city and build stronger networks that can be part of a public participation process for informing the Development Plan of the MCGM.
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