7. Can Haphazard Growth in Urban Villages Be Prevented? Experience from the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Region

This chapter examines the challenges associated with planning and regulating haphazard growth in urban villages in the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar region of Gujarat, India. The capital city of Gandhinagar, also known as the Gandhinagar Notified Area, was developed in the 1960s by the state government using eminent domain. The Gandhinagar New Capital Periphery Control Act was enforced in 1961 to maintain pristine rural environment in the peripheral area of Gandhingar, freezing urban development for over 40 years, even thought here was high demand in the local land market. The private sector was not allowed to participate in Gandhinagar’s development, which constrained the local land markets, created artificial scarcity, and inflated prices, resulting in illegal and haphazard growth around urban villages. This chapter discusses the specific strategies undertaken to adopt more market-oriented land readjustment (LR) mechanism to accommodate new growth around high growth villages. The villages experiencing intense development pressure were identified, and LR plans were systematically planned and implemented that carved lands for installing village infrastructure, curbed informal growth, while providing a framework for planned, organized, and regulated development. It further highlights the opportunities that smart visualization technologies can offer for enhancing urban design scenarios for improved outcomes for formulating place-based regulations.