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BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN PRACTICE AND EDUCATION:
APPROACH TO TEACHING ZONAL PLAN STUDIO
DR. POONAM PRAKASH
School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi
DR. MAYANK MATHUR
School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi
ITPI
JOURNAL
www.itpi.org.in
ITPI JOURNAL
4 : 3 (2007) 44 - 53
ABSTRACT
For the past few years, in various seminars and conferences Zonal Plans have been singled out for being of little use
and that the planning system can be made much more efficient if the middle level planning detailing out required for
detailing out the policies could be done away with. This paper shares experience of undertaking a Zonal Plan Studio
Exercise in which real time problem was taken up for understanding the role of Zonal Plans in effective plan
implementation and in the process developing a studio exercise with a potential of continuous engagement in real
life so as to enhance learning through experience.
1 INTRODUCTION
Delhi High Court on 14 July 2006 in its judgment
in the Writ Petition (C) 5007/2002 and 5009/2002
states:
The respondent DDA is under a statutory
obligation in terms of the Act and the MPD-1962
and 2001 to provide EWS and LIG housing and
in particular in the zone in which the petitioners
are residing. Thus the petitioners can enforce their
entitlements under the MPD-1962 and 2001 to
housing against the respondent DDA, which owes
them a statutory duty. In other words the
petitioners have an enforceable right against the
respondent DDA in terms of the Act and the MPD-
1962 and 2001. The facts brought on record by
the petitioners and the details provided by the
respondent DDA show that there is an
implementation backlog in the area of low income
housing in Zone-F and that respondent DDA is
squarely responsible for this failure on its part to
fulfill its statutory obligation (Delhi High Court,
2006).
On 23 July in a public notice inviting suggestions
and objections for Mixed Use Policy in Hindustan
Times states:
Whereas the Master Plan of Delhi was modified
vide notification S.O. no. 425 (E) dated 28.03.06
…
Whereas several representations were received
since then for further modification and
rationalization…
Whereas the central government had already
constituted a committee…
… Therefore the following modifications are
proposed…
This (Mixed Use) Policy recognizes the need for
permitting land uses other than the ones for which
it were planned
Hence it is proposed to follow a differentiated
approach in the application of the mixed use policy
in Delhi (HT, 2006).
Above two statements capture the contrast that
planners have been faced with in the last few years
in Delhi. While at one level there is a growing
recognition of implementation failures and
therefore the need to strengthen tools for
implementation at another level there are
processes at work subverting and attempting to
replace planning laws. The court judgment directs
the DDA to implement a scheme for the
economically weaker section as per the Master Plan
and to fulfill its statutory obligations of implementing
Zonal Plans and Master Plan. The public notice on
the other hand suggests that activities in violation
of the law can also be considered planned
development now in the name of participation.
This notice was published within four months of
modification of the MPD-2001 for mix use
regulations that had supposedly carefully
considered all aspects. It also provided no details
of number and nature of these ‘various
Dr. Poonam Prakash / Dr. Mayank Mathur / ITPI Journal 4 : 3 (2007) 44 - 53
45
covered at in other undergraduate or
postgraduate programme.
While academic institutes have traditionally placed
emphasis on classroom learning and research,
there has been growing literature, which argues
for more active role for educational institutions
through community-university partnerships (Wolff
and Hart, 2006). This paper shares our experience
of undertaking a zonal plan studio exercise in
which real time problem was taken up for
understanding the role of zonal plans in effective
plan implementation and in the process developing
a studio exercise with a potential of continuous
engagement in real life so as to enhance learning
through experience.
First part of the paper identifies pedagogical
requirements of the zonal plan studio. In the
second part we focus on the experience of taking
zonal plan studio at undergraduate level and
provide a background of our experience of
teaching Area Planning Studio for the last few years
and the issues that were recurrent. In 2006 studio,
a shift in approach was made possible because of
the two significant situations, discussed in third
section of the paper, that were presented in Delhi
which provided an opportunity to explore the
possibility of a different approach. Final part of the
paper makes a comparison between two
approaches of undertaking such a studio for
developing an understanding of middle level
planning. It also identifies advantages and
conditions for undertaking real time and problem
based studio and shares some of the other aspects
which are not made explicit like the value systems
for professional planner and group processes.
2 PLANNING STUDIOS – ZONAL
PLANNING
There has been criticism of the gap between
theory and practice. Academicians are criticized
for being in ivory towers and uninterested in the
day-to-day realities of planning (Hall, 1989,
Friedman and Kuester, 1994). One of the reasons
for this gap is our approach to learning, which
continues to remain teacher centric, and
information based rather than student centric and
problem based. Research in education and
teaching has developed various models of
teaching. These can range from lecture based
representations’ received based on which major
modifications were being made. These two
examples discussed in detail in later sections
highlight not only the contrast in the meaning of
planned development but also the process by
which planning will be done in future. This has
implications for middle order plans like zonal plans,
which in case of Delhi have been much in news
recently and are required to act as a link between
Master Plan and layout plan.
For the past few years, in various seminars and
conferences Zonal Plans have been singled out
for being of little use and that the planning system
can be made much more efficient if the middle
level planning detailing out required for detailing
out the policies could be done away with. Main
reasons for such remarks are invariably the
efficiency arguments of time delay in zonal plan
preparation. While there is some merit in the
argument of delay but to do away with zonal plans
is like throwing the baby with the bath water. In
many cases court has held that while Master Plan
provides a broad framework, Zonal Plans are the
real executants of the plan. This dilution of the
role of zonal plans can be seen in recently prepared
draft zonal plans which consider these documents
as ‘policy guidelines’ or even ‘structure plan’ rather
than a tool for implementation and feedback as
envisaged in the DDA Act (DDA, 2006). This shift
in the interpretation of zonal plans as providing
‘policy guidelines’ is important to understand in
the context of urban reforms, which is promoting
more project based development. This is likely to
create more ambiguity and chaos as can be seen
in case of mix use policy regulations. Objective of
planning to achieve equity will be increasingly
difficult to achieve if Zonal plans, are not viewed
as a tool to implement the plan and act as
feedback mechanism.
As planning educators, especially as part of studio
team for Zonal Plan studios, these two cases
provided interesting examples to understand the
significance of middle order plans as well as
examine the process of much advocated
participatory planning. In the undergraduate
programme planning programme at the School
of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi one
semester covers understanding of middle order
plans. As far as we are aware, this detailing is not
Dr. Poonam Prakash / Dr. Mayank Mathur / ITPI Journal 4 : 3 (2007) 44 - 53
46
had attempted studios outside Delhi in cities like
Jaipur and NOIDA, which though do not have
delineated zones, were given certain delineated
areas and prepare zonal plans. A typical
methodology for the Zonal Plan studio would
include literature search about examples of
different type of plans, background studies for
the selected case study areas including planning
proposals for all aspects, primary survey in the
field including household surveys and quick
observation surveys, data from offices related to
infrastructure facilities, education and health
facilities, organization and finance, transport, etc;
data analysis of different selected areas and
comprehensive as well as aspect wise proposals
for selected zone / area.
Invariably by end of the studio we confronted
the issue of outcomes. Because the plan prepared
by students developed to an extent some
understanding of the aspect they were assigned
but it did not provide enough opportunity for the
students to understanding the significance of the
policy framework or its comprehension at zonal
plan in a meaningful manner. At best scenarios
were generated, zonal plan showing land use
proposal was prepared with some demographic
inputs and criticism of existing plan if available
without adequate monitoring data. Further
detailing at layout level was expected from the
students, which ended up in a quick layout
preparation. It was also felt that the scope
including preparation of zonal plan and layout plan
was very wide especially for cities like Delhi. More
importantly with significant reinterpretation of
given policy framework many a times it remained
more of an academic exercise.
For the past three years, there have been efforts
to reduce the scope of the studio and trying to
make it more focused. In 2004, an exercise in
preparation of Town Planning Scheme in
Ahmedabad was much better in outcomes
primarily because of narrow scope and availability
of good database. Similarly in 2005, for Zone-C in
Delhi an attempt was made to examine only the
implications of redevelopment proposals. By this
time as faculty we found this shift more
satisfactory, however it was still at the end of the
day an attempt to prepare a zonal or sub zonal
plan which still left much scope for detailing. It was
(cognitive learning) at one end to experiential at
another end (Weil and Bruce, 2003).
Planning studios as an instructional method
provide an opportunity to bridge this gap with
well designed problems. In a comparison between
various instructional methods Shepherd and
Cosgriff (1998) characterize planning studios or
workshops as these are called in many parts of
the world as method where role of instructor is
that of guide for students’ problem solving
approaches and of evaluator. Students are semi
active, perform analyses, follow guidelines, present
and defend results. They also practice and apply
received knowledge. Studio problems are
moderately well structured and are often a real
world problem.
In planning programme at the School of Planning
and Architecture student learning is heavily
dependent on studios. Almost forty percent of
the total teaching hours are devoted to studios in
every semester. Approach to a particular studio
therefore would contribute significantly to learning
or otherwise. There is a need for a more detailed
research in how studios are approached in planning
programmes in India particularly with a view to
their relevance to practice as well as to students
learning.
We have been taking zonal plan studio for the last
six to seven years. As part of its curriculum in fifth
semester, Area Planning Studio requires students
to develop an understanding of preparation of
zonal plans. Methodology for the studio was quite
similar to the of Master Plan preparation and most
of the time as an academic exercise, students were
given liberty to reinterpret or suggest a new
framework at Master Plan level even at times
undertaking population projections. Most limiting
part of these exercises was non-availability of
authentic data for existing situation. Quick primary
surveys were conducted by students but in the
absence of detailed data there were gaps.
Students were required to work in groups on one
aspect of the exercise for analysis and finally the
whole class was required to prepare two scenarios
for preparation of complete zonal plan or part zonal
plans. Over the years in the Department, zonal
plans have been prepared for various zones / sub
cities in Delhi like Narela, Rohini, and Dwarka. We
Dr. Poonam Prakash / Dr. Mayank Mathur / ITPI Journal 4 : 3 (2007) 44 - 53
47
3.1 Arjun Camp Judgment - Master Plan
as Document of Entitlements
In July 2006, a High Court judgment was
pronounced on a four year old case (WP(C)
NO.5007 / 2002 and 5009/2002) of a small
settlement of construction workers staying in a
location near Vasant Kunj in the south-western
part of Delhi. Residents of the area with advice
from consultant planner filed a case asking for
housing as per the provisions of Master Plan of
Delhi-2001. The residents were not opposing
demolition but demanded their settlement as per
the plan. The case specifically drew its strength
from what is provided in MPD-1962 as well as MPD-
2001 which advocates integrated neighborhoods
with 25 percent of housing in the area for the
EWS including city service personnel. Standards
for low-income housing are also clearly stated in
the Plan and do not normally permit plots sizes
less than 25 square meters and densities higher
than 250 dwellings per hectare (MPD-2001).
The court said that despite demolition of the
settlement the prayers of the petitioners are not
rendered infructuous because: they raise
significant questions concerning the
implementation of the Master Plan for Delhi
(hereinafter referred to as MPD) and their
entitlements to low income housing in terms
thereof read with the relevant provisions of the
Delhi Development Act, 1957 (hereinafter referred
to as Act (Delhi High Court, 2006).
On a contention of the DDA’s, Vice-Chairman that
MPD provides only broad guidelines the court
noted citing various other judgments:
The position in law is therefore that the MPD is of
a statutory character and is enforceable as such.
The provisions of the MPD are binding on the
respondent DDA and will have to be complied with
fully by the respondent DDA in order to ensure
the planned development of Delhi. The stand taken
by the Vice-Chairman, Mr. Anil Baijal in his additional
affidavit dated September 10, 2003 that the
norms specified in the MPD-1962 as further
amended in 1990 (and is now referred to as MPD-
2001) are only broad guidelines and cannot be
taken as scheme specific is clearly misconceived
and not based on a correct understanding of the
legal position.
felt that understanding of interrelations and
interpretation of policies by the students needed
strengthening.
3CONTEXT FOR ZONAL PLAN STUDIO
IN 2006
Delhi has been divided in 15 Zones out of which
eight are urban and seven rural zones. Upton
2006, all the urban zones have notified zonal plans
and others were at various stages of development.
Zonal Plans have been defined as a link between
the master plan and layout plans. The DDA Act
defines Master Plan as document providing land
allocation, extent of land users and to act as a
broad patter of framework, Zonal Plans are further
defined to contain use zones.
In Delhi, draft Master Plan-2021 was notified in
2005 and final notification came in February 2007.
In December 2005, demolitions of unauthorized
construction and sealing of commercial premises
in residential areas in violation of the plan provisions
started through a court order in two separate
court cases in the Supreme Court and the High
Court. While media showed the protests of
traders demanding relief and politicians finding
ways to change policies and laws, in a four year
old case for a small settlement of about two
hundred residents on 14 July, 2006, a significant
judgment based on the interpretation of the
Master Plan as a document for entitlements for
slum residents was passed by the high court for
Zone-F. Simultaneously in response to the events
unfolding in case of commercial misuse and
unauthorized construction on 23 July, 2006 the
Delhi Development authority invited objections /
suggestions in a public notice for mixed land use
provisions based on report of Tejinder Khanna
Committee. These two situations discussed in detail
provided the context for the Zonal Plan Studio
for 2006. Instead of reinterpreting the policies for
the purposes of academic exercise it was decided
to detail out the policy framework at zonal plan
and understand the missing link and
inconsistencies, if any. For the purpose of the
exercise, significance of Master Plan as a statutory
document was highlighted and focus was to not
frame new policies but to interpret existing policies
for a solution.
Dr. Poonam Prakash / Dr. Mayank Mathur / ITPI Journal 4 : 3 (2007) 44 - 53
48
Thus the MPD-1962 and MPD-2001 objective of
integration of EWS / LIG housing into the
neighborhood at the sub-zone and community
levels appears to have been defeated. The plea
that the achievement of targets must be examined
by taking the city as a whole as suggested in the
additional affidavit of Mr. Anil Baijal is clearly
contrary to what the MPD-1962 and MPD-2001
envisages and is clearly a desperate attempt to
explain away the abject failure of the respondent
DDA to comply with its statutory obligation of
providing integrated low income housing.
On the issue of resettlement too the court noted
that the current resettlement with 18 and 12.5
sq mt plots do not conform to the MPD
requirement.
The court directed the DDA ’To now evolve a time
bound scheme for resettlement of the petitioners.
The scheme must be evolved in a transparent
manner and after consulting the petitioners or their
authorized representatives. As part of the scheme
the respondent DDA is bound to formulate the
criteria for determination of such eligibility for
allotment of an EWS plot or LIG housing unit. It
has also to show a degree of flexibility in devising
such norms consistent with ground realities where
the poor face a lot of hardship in being able to
demonstrate their identity and their residence at
a particular place. The approach should be to
enable and facilitate to enforce their entitlement
rather than to exclude them’.
This case judgment was presented to students
to arrive at proposals in conformity with the
Master Plan as directed by the court. The main
thrust of the case was that adequate percentage
of EWS housing was to be ensured at a level of
community i.e. at one lakh at sub-zonal or at zonal
plan level. Task of the students was to understand
the framework of MPD with specific focus on
residential use in Zone-F with equity and efficiency
parameters and prepare a scheme in compliance
with court directions. It required them to
understand the structure of the plan in terms of
its policy provisions, development code and
monitoring framework. Interpretation of the Plan
for the purposes of integration and interpretation
of the court orders for the purposes of identifying
That these entitlements were to be translated at
the Zonal Plan and require monitoring data for
such implementation to be effective was also
clearly demonstrated by the petitioners.
Even assuming that Zone-F has to be considered
as a whole, the DDA is bound to provide specific
details of the LIG / Janta flats constructed in the
said Zone and at which time as also the quantum
of accommodation under the said categories.
Not only the quantum of housing (25 percent
EWS plots and 20 percent two room units) is
specified in the Plan, the Plan also provides for
integration:
Housing should be related to affordability and
should be integrated. The community (about 1
lakh population) may contain a complete cross
section of the income groups, also including hostel
accommodation for single. This would have
minimum 25% as site and services development
and about 45% housing up to 2 room dwellings
to provide shelter for low income families in the
community.
The Court therefore stated that ‘It is clear that
the MPD, both in its 1962 and 2001 versions, is a
statutory document which is binding on the
respondent DDA and is required to be implemented
by the respondent DDA both in letter and spirit.
The MPD also stipulates the percentages of low-
income housing that is required to be provided. It
also anticipated the growth of population and
further stipulates not only the number and types
of housing (both houses, plots and built
structures) but also the minimum standards for
both forms. It also emphasizes the integration of
low income housing with the larger community at
the sub-zonal and community levels. All these flow
from the MPD itself’.
This case established the entitlements of the
petitioners for the low-income housing and that
they were not ‘encroachers’ but implementation
backlog.
The MPD provisions, read with the provisions of
the Act unmistakably show, that the respondent
DDA has a statutory obligation to provide low-
income housing.
Dr. Poonam Prakash / Dr. Mayank Mathur / ITPI Journal 4 : 3 (2007) 44 - 53
49
done for revision of Master Plan. Based on these
surveys restricted mixed use activity was
permitted in residential area with certain conditions
so as to not compromise the residential amenity.
It provided for extent of activity and non-
permissible activities in residential areas and made
provisions for systematically incorporating mixed-
use provisions in new layouts. Over a period of
time there were relaxations in non-permissible
activities through public notice. In draft MPD-2021
further relaxations in the extent of activity and
permissibility were given.
In end 2005 and early 2006, under the directions
of court, MCD started demolition and sealing of
unauthorized construction and commercial
establishments in residential areas. On 14
February, 20 0 6, the M i nistry of Urban
Development, Government of India constituted
a committee to look into aspects of unauthorized
construction and misuse of premises headed by
then ex-LG Tejinder Khanna currently the LG and
the ex-officio Chairman of the DDA while the
revision process for MPD-2021 was at a stage of
hearing by the Board of Enquiry. The committee
proposed a more flexible land use policy implying
differentiation on the basis of property tax paid.
Higher taxpayers had more restrictive mixed-use
provisions. It also recommended setting up of new
organizations and groups like Delhi Vision Group,
Delhi Urban Regulatory Authority, Delhi Real estate
Commission, etc. The Committee based most of
its recommendations from views of the selected
groups, NGOs or ‘eminent’ persons rather than
systematic methodology to make an assessment
of the magnitude of the problem. Based on the
recommendations of the committee a public
notices inviting objections / suggestions were
issued on 22 and 23 July for relaxing the
development control norms and permissibility for
commercial use in residential areas. With
unprecedented hurry, final notification for these
was issued in September. The notification shows
that ‘the policy acknowledges the need for
permitting use of land for purposes other than
that for which it was originally envisaged’.
Whereas the purpose for which DDA was enacted
was to secure development according to plan,
the policy also stated criteria for identifying mix-
use streets and areas:
components of the scheme were some of the
tasks for the studio. For scheme preparation
availability of sites and efficiency of layout was
made.
Preparation of the Scheme in time specific real time
case affected them as a group in terms of their
involvement and commitment to the task. It also
gave them a sense of pride as a planner and that
their decisions make a difference. Students did not
conduct usual primary survey for this case
because most of the information was available
through petition and affidavits which gave them
more time to understand and analyze. They also
invited the community representatives and the
consultant and were required then to make the
presentation. Students through their work
demonstrated that without the monitoring data
it is not possible to effectively implement the Plan.
Various alternatives were generated fo r addressing
the issue of backlog and issues arising out of
boundary conditions of the zone were also
addressed. Students generated options for dealing
with housing backlog within the zone or in the
contiguous zone.
3.2 Mixed Use Policy Notification –
Response to Failure of Plan
Enforcement
In the second exercise public notice for Mixed Use
provisions was taken to understand the
implications of policy change at a zonal / sub zonal
level. This case provided an interesting contrast
with what was learnt before. The process of
notification suggested that the planning now
could be what is not permitted in the plan. It
sought to legalize violations of the plan in the name
of ground conditions. The notification was made
in Section 11 and not in Section 57 which allowed
for case by case conditional permission of
regularization The problem identification and
solutions proposed were not based in usual
survey-analysis-plan methodology but through
participatory planning which included
representations and hearing of selected persons
and probably collation of their views.
To pr ovi de a bac kg r ou nd to t h e n ot i fi c at io n , m i x-
use regulations were introduced for the first time
in MPD-2001 based on the studies and surveys
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50
•The Residents Welfare Association (RWA) shall
be a body registered before 21.07.06, or
registered for at least three years under any
statute, such as Societies Registration Act
•Consultation with the RWA concerned for the
purposes of declaring mixed-use streets shall
be done by the local bodies concerned
•Genuine efforts for meaningful consultation
with RWAs shall be made by the local bodies.
Such efforts may include wide publicity to the
proposed consultations, maintenance of
record of consultation and providing access
to those records to RWA concerned and
public
•Consultation with the RWA concerned shall
be limited to identification of mixed use streets,
and not for grant of permission in individual
cases. However, RWAs shall have a right to
be heard in cases of complaints of public
nuisance and non-permissible uses
With this background students were required to
undertake primary survey in three sub-zones of
Zone-F consisting of Munirka, Vasant Vihar and
Vasant Kunj, which included colonies of all tiers to
understand the implications for implementation of
the policy modification clause by clause at zonal
level. This included mapping of all streets, which
could now be declared as commercial / mixed use
after the notification. Students found that, tier III
colonies, which are already stressed for
infrastructure, had maximum number (79%) of
commercial and mixed-use streets. Further, they
undertook a census of existing mixed use activity
and found that the maximum activity in Munirka
village. Even that was about 26% and almost all
of them were operating from ground floor
contrary to general perception given by the
Tejinder Khanna Committee for magnitude of
commercial establishments in residential areas.
After this notification in most of these streets /
areas, supply of existing commercial supply was
also surveyed and findings of these surveys were
compared with media reporting, resident and
traders perception. In the final analysis it was
established that while the norms given in the MPD
2001 for commercial areas were adequate.
Reasons for misuse were therefore not so much
the planned provisions but a complex interrelation
of, inadequacy of developed commercial areas,
Where more than 50% of the plots in a stretch /
street are having shops on ground floor, such
streets / stretches shall be eligible for notification
as mix-use street.
Within a mix-use policy notification provisions
strangely provisions for identifying commercial
areas were also given. It said ‘the following streets
/ stretches of streets or areas may be notified as
commercial streets or commercial areas by the
local authority.
(a) Where more than 70% of the plots abutting
roads of ROW of 24 mt or more, in a stretch
of at least 300 mt, in regular plotted
development are under commercial use,
provided that no street in colonies in A and B
categories shall be notified as commercial
street.
(b) Where more than 70% of the properties
abutting roads of less width than 24 mt ROW,
in a stretch of at least 100 mt, in rehabilitation
colonies, regularized-unauthorized colonies,
resettlement colonies’.
Inconsistencies and implications of these two
clauses were made clear when students tried to
identify mix-use and commercial areas in their
exercise. The first clause providing no basis for 50
percent cut off percentage was open to various
interpretations and actually encouraged
commercialization especially if read with second
clause for commercial areas. It also provided no
clue about how these commercial areas will be
adjusted in allocation for planned commercial areas
or the provisions for compensatory residential use
which will be absorbed by this policy in commercial.
The policy also was ambivalent on provision of
parking spaces wherein it states that: ‘If no parking
space is available, land / plot on the said street
may be made available by the traders association...’
It also introduced a process of consultation with
groups like RWAs without actually clarifying the
justification for how this process will be a better
alternative than already existing process of
statutory citizen participation provided in the Act
or how these consultations will be considered
representative:
Table 1 Comparison of two case studies for Zonal Planning Studio
Issue Arjun Camp Case Mixed Use Notification
Approach Focuses on seeing planning within Focuses on condoning violat i o n s a n d s e e k s
equity and efficiency framework. to resolve enforcement and
Master plan as documents of entitlements implementation issues through policy
and interpreting equity provisions in modifications.
housing at zonal plan signifying the
importance of middle order plans.
Seeks strength from interpreting existing Seeks to change law in a manner to suggest
law to ensure plan implementation. redundancy of planning.
Methodology Based on interpretation of policy Fuzzy statements based on consultations
framework provided in the Master Plan for which no details are provided. And
and survey and analysis of existing assessment of problem based on
situation. perceptions and dated records at city level.
Action by Implementation of the Scheme as per Demolitions are carried out as per the court
Authorities the court order still awaited order
DDA appeals the order requiring it to fulfill DDA notifies public notices requiring it to
its statutory mandate abandon planning
Dr. Poonam Prakash / Dr. Mayank Mathur / ITPI Journal 4 : 3 (2007) 44 - 53
51
focused and limited approach of detailing and
understanding the implications of one or two
aspects of policy provisions in equity and efficiency
framework. A comparison of the approach is
summarized below (Table 2):
In order to approach Zonal Plan studios in this
manner, the most difficult task is problem
formulation. It requires database and should fit in
with pedagogical goals as well as the allotted time.
The important aspect about this approach is that
the students are motivated because they feel their
work makes a difference. During this exercises we
experienced fear and uncertainty while doing
surveys on the days of Bandh. They brushed up
their Hindi and learnt to communicate with
community representatives. A problem that is not
too large in scope land can actually contribute to
finding a resolution. Manner and form of
engagement with the real world is still an issue.
Traditionally students work remains in the
Department in a form of report. This approach
may require that this work be used by
organizations and community dealing with the
problem since it is a real time problem, which can
create conflict. It is important for students to be
motivated and learn that they move beyond
classroom and serve as a resource to the
community. A more formalized form of this
pricing and lack of monitoring, which has led to
vacancy and amalgamation. The exercise also
established that the notification is inconsistent and
promotes commercialization in the name of mixed
use. Perception and demand of the traders and
resident was not very different from what was
already provided for in MPD-2001. This notification
effectively paved the way for post facto
regularization (SPA, 2006).
These two cases established that due to lack of
monitoring at the zonal level and inadequate
provision of housing and shops, the residents and
traders in the city are being forced to be labeled
as ‘encroachers’ or ‘violators’. Any Zonal Plan
preparation without monitoring data will lead to
inequitable and inefficient solutions. These
commonalities apart, these two cases presented
the contrast in more ways than one in terms of
approach to planning, and methodology as shown
in Table 1.
4APPROACH TO TEACHING ZONAL
PLANNING STUDIO
Above two cases presented an opportunity for
us in the studio to initiate a shift from the earlier
approach to understanding Zonal Plan where a
complete Zonal Plan was prepared to a more
Table 2 Comparison of Approach to Teaching Zonal Plan Studio
Issue Comprehensive approach Case Centric approach
Framework Not necessarily as provided by Interpretation of existing framework
Master Plan
Proposals Preparation of Zonal Plan Detailing out of a particular policy of higher
order plan.
Relevance Hypothetical at times but has Real time situations with possibility of
possibility of weaving in existing continuous engagement
practice
Concept Building Interrelations and significance of Specific focus leads to greater depth than
policy framework weak but spread
coverage is more
Skills Understanding of Sectoral aspects Complexity of issues can be explored due
by each group. Complexity of to limited focus but process of
issues become simplistic in comprehensive proposal is not covered.
proposals
Group Process and Master Plan seen as a policy Real time situation places students in direct
learning document with a distant view experience. More potential for experiential
about the real people. More learning.
oriented to Cognitive learning
Methodology Standardized Methodology Requires greater pr eparation and increased
uncertainty
Limited possibility of focus on Potential of focusing on politics of
political process since exercise is development
not real time
More generalized in nature Focused around a core issue and specific
task
Remains primarily as a classroom Students can be seen as a resource to the
activity community during learning process
Dr. Poonam Prakash / Dr. Mayank Mathur / ITPI Journal 4 : 3 (2007) 44 - 53
52
together.” And in the words of another student,
“for the first time I was able to explore my ideas
without being scared of criticism.” That should be
sufficient reason for further working on this
approach so that students begin to own the
problems and learn to find solutions and recognize
that there can be more than one acceptable
solution.
5 CONCLUSIONS
Middle order plans would continue to play an
important role if plan implementation has to be
made more effective. In order to achieve this
component of monitoring is crucial which has been
almost absent leading to inequitable distribution
of land amongst various uses and groups. It has
approach can resolve this. This approach focuses
more on implementation issues. The problem
formulation thus has to be such so as to provide
opportunity to explore implementation issues
rather than only plan preparation issues. Finally a
balance between experiential learning and
cognitive learning has to be drawn. There still
remains a lot that can be improved especially as
far assessments and process evaluation is
concerned. This approach however, provides an
opportunity for improved learning of students
because of higher motivation and sense of
relevance and meaning that students derive from
their work. As one student said, “what we did in
this studio was radical. Initially we did not know
what we are doing but now it all seems to hang
Dr. Poonam Prakash / Dr. Mayank Mathur / ITPI Journal 4 : 3 (2007) 44 - 53
53
comprehensive proposals which led to students
in some senses connecting with the day to day
activity of planning requiring specificity rather than
generalizations. Equity and efficiency are many a
times implicit in the way exercises are approached.
Explicitly stating equity as parameter and
connecting the studio work repeatedly with this
parameter resulted in anchoring the work as well
bringing a sense of larger purpose in routine
actions.
REFERENCES
Delhi Development Authority (2006) Draft Zonal Plan
for Zone O and J, http://www.dda.org.in/planning/
zonal_plans.htm accessed on 14 July 2007.
Delhi Development Authority (2006) Public Notice
(Master Plan Section), Hindustan Times, 23/07/06.
Friedman, J and C. Kuester (1994) Planning Education
for Late Twentieth Century: An Initial Enquiry.
Comment, Journal of Planning Education and Research,
Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 55-64.
Hall, P. (1989) The Turbulent Eighth Decade: Challenges
to American City Planning, Journal of American Planning
Association, Vol. 53, No. 3, pp. 275-282.
Jagdish and Others vs. DDA and Bansraj and Others vs.
DDA (2006), Delhi High Court, http://courtnic.in/
dhcorder.
SPA (2006) Zonal Plan F- Mixed Land Use: Area Planning
Studio, unpublished report, Department of Physical
Planning, SPA, New Delhi.
SPA (2006) Zonal Plan F- Residential Use: Area Planning
Studio, unpublished report, Department of Physical
Planning, SPA, New Delhi.
Weil, M. and J. Bruce (2003) Models of Teaching,
Prentice Hall India, New Delhi.
Wolff, D. and A. Hart (2006) Developing Local
communities of Practice through Local University
Partnerships, Planning Practice and Research, Vol. 21,
No.1, pp.121-138.
been established that Master Plan is a broad pattern
of framework whereas Zonal Plans are real
executants of plan. To approach Zonal Plans from
entitlements perspective is to bring a larger
purpose and responsibility to the action of
planners. In last few years there is a trend to
legalizing plan violations in the name of flexibility,
people’s wishes compromising fundamental basis
of planning i.e. health, safety and convenience.
There is also a trend to supplant instead of
complement detailed surveys with so-called
participatory planning without the expertise to
actually undertake such planning. In the name of
participatory planning ad-hoc comments, selective
representations and perceptional expertise are
being used to justify major policy and institutional
changes. Current round of Zonal Plan preparation
also seem to be done with undue hurry citing
court orders while the status of MPD-2021 is still
not clear due to court case.
As planning educators, connecting the practice
with the academic is becoming increasingly difficult
with fast paced, complex change in urban
development. Question of relevance, methods of
teaching and its purpose need to be continuously
asked for students to become active citizens and
responsible professionals. Role and options of
academic institutions to engage institutionally with
local communities is being debated in many parts
of the world. It requires different ways of looking
at planning studios, which form a major part of
planning education at present. This paper was an
attempt to share one such change made in
teaching Zonal Plan studio where its role of being
a detailed plan and mechanism for feedback was
explored though cases instead of preparing a
