Desai Drashti Ketan

UP4000-1

The Development Plan for Surat focused on steering the city’s rapid industrial expansion toward a more sustainable and resilient future. Surat, known for its thriving diamond, textile, and petrochemical industries, has seen accelerated growth, particularly in the eastern corridors. While this economic momentum offers immense potential, it has also triggered environmental degradation and a decline in overall livability. The plan envisions transforming Surat into a climate-resilient and inclusive urban center—where economic prosperity is reinforced by environmental safeguards and quality infrastructure. Our approach emphasized flexible, market-driven strategies through liberal mixed-use zoning, while applying regulatory measures in ecologically and socially sensitive areas. Rather than heavy state intervention, the plan favors enabling mechanisms that allow organic urban growth, backed by clear frameworks to mitigate negative externalities. Sectoral proposals addressed key areas such as transport, housing, ecology, and urban infrastructure, ensuring an integrated development vision. This vision was developed through a layered and collaborative process, beginning with detailed spatial analysis and city profiling, stakeholder engagement, and benchmarking with planning models from other cities. Smaller teams then worked on zoning, DCRs, road network design, and costing to ensure the proposals were actionable and context-specific. The final output presented a comprehensive and strategic roadmap tailored to Surat’s unique urban dynamics, aiming to balance growth with long-term livability and resilience.