BOOK LAUNCH | Land supply for urban development: issues and options

On October 25, 2021, Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel unveiled the new book by real estate developer and town planner Narendra K. Patel titled “Land supply for urban development: issues and options”. The book is a comprehensive and one-of-a-kind book on the country’s highly regarded land pooling system for planned urban development and describes the idea, methodology, legal interpretations, applications, benefits and other aspects of town planning.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel launched the book, which was co-authored by NK Patel and Jit Kumar Gupta, former advisor to the Punjab Town Planning Department, during a reception at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay auditorium on Saturday 23 October 2021, in the presence of the who’s who of the real estate industry, leading city planners, architects, senior officials, among others.

On this occasion, NK Patel said: “I thank Chief Minister Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel for making time despite his busy schedule for this book launch ceremony. Shri Bhupendrabhai has extensive knowledge of the real estate industry and the urban planning industry. I have no doubts that we will see revolutionary advances in these areas in the coming months. I also want to thank Jit Kumar Gupta for allowing me to be a part of the book.

“Urbanization rates have accelerated due to population growth and economic expansion, but our cities are not planned or ready for it. There is a gap between planning and effective implementation on the ground due to the lack of suitable micro-land management tools. Land management is vital for the planned growth of cities. The town planning system, in force in Gujarat for over 100 years, is the most suitable and efficient self-financing land management tool in the current situation. The book talks about the success of the PT system mechanism, and I think it will help readers better understand development issues. It also suggests various options and solutions to resolve the issues ”, Mr. Patel added.

The book highlights critical issues related to land supply and suggests options for its optimal use. It reflects on different aspects of land, its peculiarities, its supply and use, and the practices that have been globally used to secure land to meet growing urban needs. It also suggests various options for land provision, including making landowners partners in the urban development process using the mechanism of pooling land and distributing land through town plans, including swapping raw farmland for developed land, among other things. He talks about options for exploiting land to increase resources to make the slum-free land market effective, efficient, productive and affordable for the majority of city dwellers.

Suresh Kumar, a former IAS official and Chief Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of the Punjab, wrote the book’s preface. This is the second book by NK Patel. The first, titled “Urban plan – A tool to make planning for the development of the city work” was released in February 2019.