UP4051- Directed Research Projects

Faculty: Rutul Joshi

Planning for TOD (Transit Oriented Development) in Indian Cities – TOD assessment and re-development potential analysis, unlocking urban land near transit – Total 3 DRPs in 3 cities.

Indian cities are facing a rapid urbanization and increasing demand for land for infrastructure services and urban development, which is in short supply. Demand for built space for residential, office, commercial and industrial use is higher to accommodate both new urban growth as well as increased consumption of per capita floor space for citizens to work, live and play. Cities can increase the supply of serviced land through expanding into peripheral greenfield areas, redeveloping of existing built-up areas (i.e., brownfield development), or a combination of both. While greenfield expansion can be beneficial for getting ahead of the curve on urban expansion, redevelopment of built-up areas is also a key element of productive, sustainable and liveable cities.

However, to date, not very substantive works have been completed to examine the tools and lessons learned from redevelopment of built-up areas despite the critical demand to improve service delivery and meet the required urban development for core city areas considering land-value capture and public private partnership before costs and populations rise further, and the fact that most mass transit investments are implemented in already built-up areas within cities. The need for a study on urban redevelopment near transit lines, focusing on built spaces - as opposed to urban expansion, to intensify the current use of land (e.g., higher, or optimized density with higher floor area ratio and multi-use purpose) through the redevelopment of already built-up areas is keenly felt. Very little research has been done on urban redevelopment in India.