APPROACH

Stakeholder Suggestions

Stakeholder and public consultations were carried out with government officials from RUDA authority, the industrial workers, academician from educational institution such as IPSA and other citizens of Rajkot. The highlights of this consultation touched upon the subjects related to land prices, workers population, growth pattern in the city etc. These inputs were studied and reviewed to include in the formation of proposals for the Development plan 2036.

Occupational Pattern

Rajkot has a strong manufacturing economic base.The maximum percentage of working population is within the manufacturing and the service sector. The state has also positioned the city as a key node on the proposed “Economic Corridor” along the Surendranagar-RajkotMorbi-Kandla link which adds to Rajkot’s growing economic importance.

“There are no proper road connections in the eastern part of the city.”

“People come here more on Wednesdays and Sundays because the factories remain closed for 2 days.”

Population Projections

“Land prices are relatively high in Rajkot because of it’s central location into Saurashtra region.”

A Pproach For Z Oning

As per Census 2011, RUDA area has witnessed an increase in population from approximately 10.94 lakhs in 2001 to 15.35 lakhs in 2011. The estimated population presently (2018) is approximated at 19 lakhs. Assuming the current growth pattern, the projected population in Rajkot would be approximately 36 lakhs in 2036. The built up area assessed for this population would be approximately 59.70 sq.km. for an additional 17 lakh population.

over the past decade a large amount of land in Rajkot has come under development. To accommodate the growing population additional supply of land and built spaces will be required. Shifting from the traditional methodology of restrictive planning , a LIBERAL approach is taken for the Development Plan of Rajkot 2036.This provides more choices for the development thus facilitating more supply than demand.Separate zones need to be allocated for activities causing nuisance like industrial(general & obnoxious) and protection of eco-sensitive areas.Taking road as criteria and completing the second ring road the idea is to densify the development, inside the inner ring road to utilize the already laid infrastructure and vacant land available. Providing high intensity development along the potential corridors. Provision of ring road will open the land for development and development zone are provide inside and outside the ring road with different FSI.

E XISTING S CENARIO :

Rajkot is situated in the physical center, so it is very well connected by the major roads passing through its spine. These major roads included national Highway 27 and State Highway 23, 24, 25 and 27. So as Rajkot city developed from the intersection of these major roads, it had developed radial road network. Presently the total road lengths is about 2203 km including arterial, sub-arterial, collector and local roads within RUDA and RMC jurisdiction. 150 ft wide road (developed in 2005) is present complete ring which is acting as a by pass of national highway and also connect southern region of the city to the north parts. Due to the growth in recent years, this ring was undergoing congestion, so the part of 2nd ring road was being constructed, having a vision that it may decongest the existing ring and also act as a bypass road for the national highway. Also, the development was seen towards the western region of the city due the in complete road network and physical barriers.

E XISTING T RAVEL PATTERN :

Rajkot is the center for social, commercial, cultural, political, industrial and educational activities for the whole of Saurashtra Region. These activities are mainly concentrated in the central part of the city as well as on Gondal Road, Bhavnagar Road, Kuvadava Road, University Road, Kalavad Road, Raiya Road and Ring road. The major industrial development is on Gondal Road and Bhavanagar Road. The major commercial activities are in the central part of the city and on Kuvadava Road and near Lakhajiraj Station area. The major educational institutions are located Yagnik Road and Kalawad Road. This has resulted in most unsatisfactory relationship between places of working and living areas. A large number of people have to commute from one end of the town to another end to reach their working places. This causes undue delays, traffic jams, accidents, parking problems and unavoidable heavy pressure on public transport during peak hours. According to the primary survey, one can analyse the condition of congestion in the major roads of the inner core.

on the basis of the primary survey done by the transport studio, if we look upon the desire lines, we can analyse that the freight connection are not proper major trips are from the inner core to the outer regions of the city. Also, it can be seen that the incomplete road network are their from north western regions to the eastern parts of the city. Some of the regions are the presence of the natural physical barriers like the Aji dam and river.

P ROPOSED R OAD N ETWORK :

Growth is inclined towards the major roads in any city. Due to incomplete road network and the presence of physical barriers in the middle of the city, much growth is seen only in western region and not in the eastern parts. And also, to divert the freight traffic from the inner part we will need to complete the 2nd ring road. Radial sub-arterial roads are also proposed from the inner existing ring to the new ring to decongest the core traffic and to connects the major regions on the eastern side to the main city areas.

Source : Transport studio

C OMPLETING S TREET N ETWORK :

There are many streets which are either terminating or not connecting to the main roads which in result gives to a larger and non-walkable block sizes. So, we are completing those street network and connecting the existing roads by laying new roads. This might open up land for development and will provide accessibility.

Collector and Local Streets are to be carved out through TP Schemes

With complete road network and the proposing new street to achieve smaller block sizes and opening up new lands in the eastern areas. So, for the final street layout we will have one new ring road, which is incomplete and also many radial sub-arterial roads which might open up new lands for development. Also, third ring road is introduced which might come up in future development plan and will bind all the radial roads coming from the central part of the city.

P ROPOSED ROAD LAYOUT:

INTEGRATED PROPOSED ROAD NETWORK WITH EXISTING LANDUSE:

As the road network play a vital role in commencing development. The intersection of major roads acts as the growth nodes. So the proposed road network when overlaid on the existing landuse we can identify that the road network is supporting the existing landuse and also various types of growth nodes can come up in future. These centers are defined according to the current use i.e. Economic Centers where major industries are present ; Regional Centers where the major recreational places are situated ; Community Centers are those centers where major public places like airport, stations and educational institutes are situated; and Potential Centers are those which have a future probability to be developed as growth centers due to presence of factors like lakes, major intersections and proposed projects.

Proposed Development plan of Rajkot(2036)

The map of zoning proposals along with the area table for Development Plan 2036 incorporating various zoning proposals is given below :

Zoning is one of the important planning tools to manage growth, regulate density .Zoning combined with development regulations determines the supply of developable land and built space available.

Proposed Zone in development plan are:

Core city zone

Retaining existing character- traditional organic character of the old city area. Encouraging compact development through redevelopment and retrofitting through incentivizing.

Urban development zone-1 (UD1)

Urban Development area within the 2nd ring road. Concentration of development within the developed area by utilizing the vacant plots and fallow lands.Mixed use development is allowed only obnoxious industries are restricted. Strengthening of inner infrastructure which will: cost less than laying out new infrastructure. High FSI of (2+1.2) is permitted for the full utilization of land

High intensity-1(HIZ1)

HIZ1 is proposed along the outer ring road and major arterials within the UD1 zone. The Buffer of 500m is given along the road which will give higher accessibility to plots. Mixed use development is allowed only obnoxious industries are restricted. To encourage high density development, high FSI is provided(2+2) is permitted for the full utilization of land.

Urban development zone-2 (UD2)

Urban development zone is proposed outside the 2nd ring road. Less existing growth which will allow the development which prefers less volume. Mixed use development is allowed only obnoxious industries are restricted. Laying of new infrastructure and strengthening the old one. Provide less FSI (1.5+0.5).

High intensity-2(HIZ2)

HIZ2 is proposed along major arterials within the UDZ2 zone, outside the 2nd ring road. The Buffer of 500m is given along the road which will give higher accessibility to plots. Mixed use development is allowed only obnoxious industries are restricted. Medium density charter is envisaged and therefore lower FSI(1.8+0.7) is provided.

General Industrial Zone-(IG)

Small scale industries , logistics , industrial housing, commercial are allowed in IG zone .non hazardous industries are permitted only obnoxious industries are restricted. Expanding the existing industrial zone as Rajkot has potential of more industrial development.FSI of (1.2+0.3) is provided in this zone

Agriculture Zone- (AG)

Promoting primary sector through agriculture based activities. and permitting very less permissible ground coverage(5-15%) .Encouraging very low intensity development and the FSI provided is 0.1-0.45.

Eco sensitive zone

Buffers (100m-200m) around the major water bodies. to protect them and use the buffer for the recreational development and increasing the green cover in the city.

Gamtal –(GM)

Gamtal are the growth areas of the city. Full ground coverage is permitted with Low FSI to retain the existing built form.

Gamtal extension

Buffer of 200m around the Gamtal zone to allow natural growth and the expansion of Gamtal with low FSI.

Proposed Zoning of RUDA area for 2036

Below is the proposed zone table along with the area and permissible uses for Rajkot Development Plan 2036 incorporating various zoning proposals .

Proposed FSI for various zones of RUDA area for 2036

In order to encourage growth and to enhance corridor oriented development, the zoning proposals are prioritized in the following order

01 Incentivize development in existing zoned area

02 Encourage development along transit corridors

03 Allow for natural growth around Gamtals while preserving prime agricultural land

Based on existing land uses, currently, about 17.15 sq.km. of area is still vacant and available for development. In order to optimize the utilization of these zoned areas and to encourage development on this serviceable land, it is essential to provide incentives for densification to underutilized areas. The table below identifies the incentives in terms of payable FSI

A case is taken to see city’s built volume and density. A plot has been taken as example with different adjacent roads. Further by providing mandatory margins, developable area has been carved out. With different ground coverage , like 100%,70% and 50%, the structure has been extruded as per permissible and purchasable height. Hence here we see the range of heights coming in different zones like below..

Rajkot has two modes of public transport namely Rajkot Municipal Transport Service (RMTS) and Bus Rapid Transit system (BRTS) . The existing RMTS network covers the major roads within city limits. Presently 45 routes are there which are not sufficient in the peak hours. Moreover, BRTS network runs on 10.7 km of the 150ft Ring Road.