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Mumbai’s Orphan Plan: How the EDDP 2014–34 was Conceived, Crafted and Abandoned
Journal
Exploring Urban Change in South Asia
ISSN
23670045
Date Issued
2022-01-01
Author(s)
Krishnankutty, Malini
Abstract
The chapter offers a practitioner’s analysis of the plan-making process undertaken by the planning consultant team for the Mumbai EDDP, of which the author was a member. The detailed account analyses the technical planning process as well as the challenges faced by planners. In particular, it illuminates the underlying technical considerations and objectives driving the plan. These, unfortunately, have never been the subject of reasoned debate in the wake of the controversy surrounding the plan. The chapter outlines lesser-known technical innovations of the controversial plan, including the participatory process that was designed into the process from the outset (and evolved over the plan preparation period) to improve on the existing top-down model. The chapter thus provides a reasoned corrective to the populist vilification the plan suffered. More broadly, it also identifies structural conditions, inherent gaps and weaknesses underlying land-use planning practice in India that constrain any effort of critically restructuring planning. As a complement, the chapter also raises questions about the role and pitfalls of civil society opposition to planning, in the quest of inclusive and sustainable planning.
Subjects