OVERVIEW

Key characteristics and challenges

There are two key characteristics which define growth in the fringe areas. Firstly, there is conversion of agricultural lands to piecemeal development. In the absence of a plan, individual farmers sell it to developers leading to piecemeal development. Secondly, infrastructure is largely privatized. This implies that there is no public infrastructure and people use their individual resources. Fringe areas are looked upon as grounds for spatial expansion due to availability of low cost vacant land

These areas also possess major challenges such as lack of systematic street network and public infrastructure in place, piecemeal and haphazard unplanned development. However, in the absence of a plan, this scenario will continue which is why we need to pay attention to these areas.

Ahmedabad and its fringe

Ahmedabad has been relatively successful in managing its fringe areas owing to the TP (Town Planning) scheme mechanism. TP scheme mechanism is a framework which allows for fair land readjustment and infrastructure building. It is a land pooling system in which all stakeholders have equal gains and equal losses. This framework reserves some percentage of land completely dedicated for public amenities and infrastructure. It allows the authorities to plan for the fringe areas in advance before their haphazard expansion.