Urban Land Use and Planning

Urban centres are of fundamental importance not only for providing home to more than fifty percent population but also for their pivotal role in socio-cultural life, economic activities, administration, and governance. Here, urban land acts as a base for growth and development. The issue of land use and planning is more and more important in any part of the world. Accelerated urbanization in last decades, especially in developing countries has not only lead to increase in the number of urban centres very fast, but also the number of their population. Consequently, lots of problems (e.g., increasing crowdedness, lack of houses, underdeveloped infrastructure etc.) have appeared, which can have a great impact on the urban land use and planning too. These unfavourable consequences and sustainable development require a more effective urban land use and urban land use planning policy. In this direction, thorough analysis of urban land use and critical review of urban master plans in India has been made for better understanding of urban land use and underlying processes in developing countries and to promote the activity of urban planners.