TOD Planning – Unlocking urban redevelopment near transit and possible models of debt-financing
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 the 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.
Today, several cities in India are working on TOD proposals developed around large debt-financed investments in mass transit projects. The concept of TOD provides ample opportunity to mainstream the urban planning reforms in the Indian cities by implementing state-of-the-art methods of local area plans (LAPs) for brownfield urban (re) development. Given the transformative opportunities TOD provides, it is important to understand the larger ecosystem of urban redevelopment (near transit lines) in Indian cities, so that the ever-growing need for demonstrative cases of how TODs could be planned/designed for Indian cities could be demonstrated.
The task includes an overall assessment of policies, institutions, regulatory framework and past experience in urban redevelopment near transit lines in India, with a focus on the tools and mechanisms used for urban redevelopment and land assembly for urban infrastructure. The purpose is to understand the conditions for successful urban redevelopment through a detailed analysis of two international and at least three India case examples. Each case will involve identification of the tools and mechanisms, an analysis of governance, institutional and organizational issues, and the financing mechanisms (Including concessionary and commercial loans, the sale of public land, land value capture and PPPs). The analysis will confirm the degree to which the urban redevelopment promotes and strengthens urban livability, that is competitive, green, inclusive, and resilient.
