Urban Planning: How Satellites Can Help Plan Cities

The Narendra Modi-led government's recent move to join hands with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to use space technology demonstrates a fast-emerging trend - modernisation of the urban planning process in India.

The space technology tools, developed by the space agency's National Remote Sensing Centre in Hyderabad, will map 500 cities in India, capturing details such as the extent of land use, urban occupation of a city, wastelands, etc. It will also study the areas and geography closely and predict flood hazards. After the initial phase, the city mapping project will be extended to over 4,000 urban bodies.

The government is undertaking training programmes in the urban planning department to ensure complete and seamless adoption of this technology.

Remote tools to help

The details obtained through technology will help urban planners make informed decisions in designing master plans and also ensure high success rate of various infrastructure projects.

Apart from accurate and up-to-date information on a city, urban planners will be able to assess the needs of a city through technology. The tools will also help the government in provisioning for adequate water supply, better cleaning of sewerage, access to storm-water drains and other similar disasters, besides other things. Urban planners can also get a better view of utilities like pedestrian walks and plan parks in cities to ensure a good mix of greenery.

The government is also coming up remote sensing applications to get instant and regular updates on construction of projects. Such apps could be of great help to implement large-size projects such as Housing for All by 2022, which involves construction of over 20 million homes across 300 cities. Not only will these apps help in getting authentic information on the progress of these projects, they will also help plan affordable housing projects better.

Citizen participation

The details, which will be uploaded on the ISRO portal Bhuvan, will help the public access details of cities, plans, and projects that are underway. The dissemination of information will get better participation from citizens at the planning stage itself. The portal will host forums where citizens can post their grievances online, offer feedback on ongoing projects and also give suggestions on specific plans.