HUMAN

SETTLEMENTS AND
TOWN PLANNING
TOPIC : GANDHINAGAR
CONTENT
S
• HISTORY/ INTRODUCTION
• CHARACTERISTICS
• PLANNING
• ACHIEVEMENTS
• ISSUES
 GANDHINAGAR
INTRODUCTIO
N
COORDINATES - 23.22 0 N 72.68 0 E ELEVATION - 265 feet (81 m)
 LOCATED 23 KM NORTH OF AHEMDABAD (FIN. CAP. OF
GUJARAT)
 PLANNED IN 1960S BY, PRAKASH M APTE & H. K. MEWADA,
AFTER PARTITION OF BOMBAY
 STATE : AHEMDABAD WAS MADE AS THE CAPTAL OF
GUJARAT.

AREA LANGUAGES
TOTAL : 177 KM2 GUJARATI, HINDI, AND
ELEVATION : 81M ( 266 FT ) ENGLISH

 54% GREEN COVER ON ITS LAND

POPULATION (2011) AREA
TOTAL : 206,167  THE CITY SITS ON THE BANKS OF THE
DENSITY : 1,200/KM2
SABARMATI RIVER, IN NORTH-CENTRAL-
EAST GUJARAT.
CLIMATE
 TROPICAL WET AND DRY CLIMATE
 SUMMER : MAXIMUM - 36 to 42 °C
MINIMUM - 19 to 27 °C
 WINTER : MAXIMUM - 29 °C
MINIMUM - 14 °C
 MONSOON : THE AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL IS AROUND 803.4 MM
HISTORY
• IN 1960, THE INDIAN STATE OF BOMBAY WAS SPLIT INTO TWO
STATES, MAHARASHTRA AND GUJARAT LEAVING GUJARAT
WITHOUT A CAPITAL CITY.

• AT THE TIME, AHMEDABAD WAS SELECTED TO BE THE FIRST

CAPITAL OF THE NEWLY CREATED STATE.

• IT WAS LATER PROPOSED THAT A NEW CAPITAL CITY BE

CONSTRUCTED FOR THE STATE.

• GANDHINAGAR GOT AN IDENTITY OF ITS OWN WHEN THE STATE

OF MUMBAI WAS DIVIDED INTO TWO SEPARATE STATES OF
GUJARAT AND MAHARASHTRA.

• IN THE BEGINNING, AHMEDABAD - A COMMERCIAL HUB OF

GUJARAT WAS CHOSEN AS THE STATE CAPITAL AND IT WAS
PROPOSED THAT A NEW CAPITAL SHOULD BE CONSTRUCTED ALONG
THE LINE OF OTHER NEW STATE CAPITALS, PARTICULARLY
CHANDIGARH.

• THEREFORE TWO WELL-KNOWN INDIAN ARCHITECTS, H.K.

MEWADA AND PRAKASH M. APTE (WHO WORKED AS BEGINNER FOR
THE CHANDIGARH CITY) DESIGNED THE NEW STATE CAPITAL.

• NAMED AFTER MAHATMA GANDHI THE FOUNDATION STONE OF

THIS CITY WAS LAID ON 1965 AND IN 1971 THE CAPITAL WAS
SHIFTED FROM AHMEDABAD TO GANDHINAGAR
 CHARACTERISTICS
• MEWADA, AND APTE HAD WORKED AS TRAINEES
UNDER LEGENDARY ARCHITECT LE CORBUSIER IN THE
CHANDIGARH PROJECT IN THE 1950S.

• GANDHINAGAR'S STREETS ARE NUMBERED (EG.

ROAD NO. 1, ROAD NO. 2 UPTO ROAD NO. 7)

• CROSS STREETS NAMED FOR LETTERS OF THE

GUJARATI ALPHABET (E.G., "K", "KH", "G", "GH", "CH",
"CHH", "J")

• ALL STREETS ARE ALIGNED AT 30 DEG. N-W AND 60

DEG. N-E, TO AVOID DIRECT GLARE OF MORNING AND
EVENING SUN WHILE DRIVING

• THERE ARE 30 SECTORS EACH OF 1KM X 0.75KM

• THE GUJARAT ASSEMBLY BUILDING IS IN THE CENTRE

OF THE CITY TO MAKE IT CLOSE TO ALL THE RESIDENTS
GANDINAGR PLAN
PLANNING
• PLANNED AND IMPLEMENTED BETWEEN 1965-1970

• DETERMINATION TO MAKE GANDHINAGAR A PURELY

INDIAN ENTERPRISE, PARTLY BECAUSE GUJARAT WAS THE
BIRTHPLACE OF GANDHI.

• PLANNING WAS DONE BY TWO INDIAN TOWN PLANNERS:

PRAKASH M APTE & H. K. MEWADA, WHO HAD
APPRENTICED WITH LE CORBUSIER IN CHANDIGARH.

• TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN A SEPARATE IDENTITY FOR

THE NEW CITY THE SURROUNDING AREA OF ABOUT 39
VILLAGES WAS BROUGHT UNDER A PERIPHERY CONTROL
ACT (AS IN CHANDIGARH)

• THE AREA LATER CONSTITUTED A SEPARATE

ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT OF GANDHINAGAR.

• THE CITY WAS PLANNED FOR A POPULATION OF 150,000

BUT CAN ACCOMMODATE DOUBLE THAT POPULATION WITH
INCREASE IN THE FLOOR SPACE RATIO FROM 1 TO 2 IN THE
AREAS RESERVED FOR PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT.

• THE RIVER BEING THE BORDER ON THE EAST, AND THE

INDUSTRIAL AREA TO THE NORTH, THE MOST LOGICAL
FUTURE PHYSICAL EXPANSION OF THE CITY WAS
ENVISAGED TOWARDS THE NORTH-WEST
 LINKAGES AND CONNECTIVITY
• NATIONAL HIGHWAY (NH) 8 AND 8C RUNS THROUGH THE
DISTRICT CONNECTING IT WITH MAJOR CITIES (20 km from city)
• CONNECTED WITH AHMEDABAD BY THE SARKHEJ-
GANDHINAGAR HIGHWAY (28 KM) AND WITH VADODARA BY
THE AHMEDABAD-VADODARA EXPRESSWAY (139 KM)
• DISTANCE FROM MAJOR INDUSTRIAL CENTRES IN THE
STATE:
o RAJKOT (249 KM)
o JAMNAGAR (337 KM)
o VALSAD (373 KM)
o ANKLESHWAR (223 KM)
o BHAVNAGAR (228 KM)
o MEHSANA (68 KM)
o SURAT (306 KM)
• DISTANCE FROM MAJOR CITIES IN INDIA:
o MUMBAI (573 KM)
o DELHI (943 KM)
o KOLKATA (1952 KM)
o CHENNAI (1854 KM)

ROAD SECTION
PHASE 1: AFTER THE CITY'S INFRASTRUCTURE WAS COMPLETED IN
1970, AND UNTIL 1980, IT WAS KNOWN AS ‘ GANDHIAN CITY,' SINCE IT
WAS BASED ON GANDHI'S CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES.

PHASE 2: BETWEEN 1980 AND 1990, A TIME OF LOW POLLUTION, IT

WAS KNOWN AS 'UNPOLLUTED CITY'. ROAD NO. 5 – ROW 45M

PHASE 3: AFTER 1990, MANY TREES WERE PLANTED, AND THE CITY
BECAME THE 'GREEN CITY.‘

PHASE 4: IN 2002, GUJARAT'S CHIEF MINISTER, NARENDRA MODI,

PROPOSED A NEW, TRIPLE FOCUS FOR THE CITY: IT SHOULD BE GREEN,
IT SHOULD USE SOLAR ENERGY, AND IT SHOULD BE COSMOPOLITAN. “CH” ROAD – ROW 100M
NODE HIERARCHY
THE DIFFERENT NODES ACCORDING TO THEIR
ACTIVITY AND THE STREET LENGTH COUNTERPARTS
(LONGER STREETS WILL HAVE MORE IMAGEABLE
NODES) SHOW A HIERARCHY OF NODES IN
AHMEDABAD WHEREAS GANDHINAGAR IS UNIFORM.

HIERARCHY
THE MAPS PLOTTING THE HIERARCHICAL VARIANCES OF
STREET LENGTHS IN AHMEDABAD ARE MUCH WIDER AS
OPPOSED TO THE GAUSSIAN SIMPLISTIC GEOMETRIC
PATTERN IN GANDHINAGAR. THUS AS A DIRECT
CONSEQUENCE GANDHINAGAR LACKS THE LIFE AND
‘MEMORABILITY’ DUE TO ITS LACK OF COMPLEXITY AND
INTERCONNECTIONS.

FURTHER TO ASSESS DETAILS ON A SMALLER SCALE TWO
AREAS WITHIN THE CITY WERE CHOSEN. THE AREAS OF
SECTOR 21 IN GANDHINAGAR AND THE MANEK CHOWK
AREA IN OLD AHMEDABAD BOTH A COMPOSITION OF
MIXED USE AREAS INCLUDING RESIDENCES AND
COMMERCIAL AREAS AND INSTITUTIONAL BUILDINGS, ARE
ANALYSED
ROAD PATTERNS
• THE MAJOR FACTOR WHICH CREATES TRAFFIC
PROBLEMS IN OUR COUNTRY IS THE MIXTURE OF
SLOW AND FASTOMPLETE SEGREGATION OF THE TWO
IS ACHIEVED BY A TRAFFIC SYSTEM ENSURING
RELATIVELY SAFER AND SWIFTER PASSAGE FOR BOTH.
• THE SYSTEM CONSISTS OF A GRID (1 KM. X 0.75
KM.) OF MOTOR ROADS AND ANOTHER GRID (1 KM.
X 0.75 KM.) OF CYCLE PEDESTRIAN WAYS
SUPERIMPOSED ON EACH OTHER SO THAT EACH
RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY IS SERVED BY MOTOR
ROADS ON THE PERIPHERY AND CYCLE WAYS WITHIN
IT.
ORIENTATION OF ROADS
• THE MAIN TOWN ROADS HAVE BEEN SO ORIENTED
AS TO BE HELPFUL IN ORIENTING THE VARIOUS
BUILDINGS CORRECTLY WITH RESPECT TO LIGHT AND
AIR VENTILATION.
• THE ALIGNMENT OF THE DISTRIBUTOR ROAD
WITHIN THE SECTORS IS TAKEN IN SUCH A WAY THAT
IT FACILITATES TO ORIENT THE RESIDENTIAL
QUARTERS IN A CORRECT MANNER.
• PRACTICALLY IN ALL THE SECTORS, NEARLY 60% OF
THE RESIDENTIAL QUARTERS HAVE BEEN CORRECTLY
ORIENTED WITH REFERENCE TO LIGHT AIR AND
VENTILATION.
HIERARCHY OF OPEN SPACES
AND DWELLING UNITS
NEIGHBOURHOOD BASED PLANNING
 SCAPE FOR INFORMA
SECTOR

FORMAL OPEN
SCAPES
 COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL
PLAN AND NEW PLAN

 CONSCIOUSLY DESIGNED AND

PLANNED AXIALLY BASED ON
EGALITARIAN AND GANDHIAN ETHOS.
THE RE-PLANNING OF GANDHINAGAR
BY THE CONSULTANTS OF
GANDHINAGAR URBAN DEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY (GUDA) HAS OBLITERATED
ITS IDENTITY AS A CAPITAL CITY. OLD PLAN

 UNBRIDLED CAPITALISM HAS LED TO

ITS DEBASEMENT AND INORGANIC
EXTENSION RESULTING IN
GANDHINAGAR BECOMING JUST
ANOTHER SUBURB OF AHMEDABAD.

NEW PLAN
 FAMOUS
AKSHARDHAM TEMPLE-
BUILDINGS
MONUMENTAL 10 STOREY
HINDU TEMPLE

SYMBOLIC BUILDINGS

INDRODA NATURE PARK-

NATURE PARK WITH A ZOO
AND EXHIBITS

MAHATMA KUTIR
 ISSUES DURING THE PLANNING
• A MAJOR AREA FOR CULTURAL FACILITIES, IN THE CITY
SQUARE IN SECTOR 17 OF THE CITY CENTRE IS PROPOSED TO
BE CONVERTED TO COMMERCIAL USE, KILLING GUJARAT'S
TRADITIONAL CONCEPT OF A 'CITY SQUARE' & DESTROYING A
MAJOR ELEMENT OF 'URBAN DESIGN' OF THE NEW CAPITAL
CITY.

• AN AREA ALONG J ROAD (ALONG THE RIVER SABARMATI)

ACROSS SECTOR 9 COVERED BY RAVINES, WAS PROPOSED FOR
CONSERVATION AS AN ADVENTURE PARK. IT IS NOW
DESIGNATED BY THE CONSULTANTS FOR RESIDENTIAL
TAKING AWAY A UNIQUE RECREATIONAL FACILITY.

• THE OPEN SPACES AT THE JUNCTIONS OF ALL MAIN ROADS

OF THE CITY, LEFT OPEN IN THE ORIGINAL PLAN TO IMPROVE
ROAD GEOMETRICS IN FUTURE, ORNAMENTAL LANDSCAPING,
ROAD SIGNAGE, GUIDE MAPS ETC. ARE PROPOSED TO BE
FILLED UP WITH ROADSIDE PETTY SHOPS & HUTMENTS FOR
THE IMMIGRANTS GIVING THE CITY A SLUM LIKE LOOK

TRAFFIC ISSUES
• NO DEDICATED CYCLE TRACKS BUT WERE PART OF THE 1965
MASTER PLAN WITH BRICK SURFACE AND NOW HAS BEEN
ENCROACHED BY ROADS FOR MOTORIZED TRAFFIC

• NO TRAFFIC SIGNALS IN MOST ROAD INTERSECTIONS IN CITY HAVE

A ROUNDABOUT WHICH SLOWS THE TRAFFIC BUT DOESN’T STOP IN
THE CASE OF TRAFFIC LIGHT.
 GANDHINAGAR URBAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
DRAFT FIRST REVISED DEVELOPMENT PLAN – 2024
• PROVISION FOR LAND FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN
GMC AREA
• PROVISION OF LAND FOR URBAN AMENITIES
• PROVISION OF LAND FOR NEW SCHOOLS
• PROVISION OF LAND FOR FARMERS’ MARKET
(SECTOR-6) AND WHOLE-SALE MARKET (SECTOR 30)
• FACILITATING HIGH-RISE COMMERCIAL
DEVELOPMENT
• GREEN STREET NETWORK, PUBLIC TRANSIT AND
CYCLE SHARING PROJECT WILL BE IMPLEMENTED
• REJUVENATION OF INACTIVE URBAN AREAS
THROUGH REDEVELOPMENT
• REDEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS FOR PRIVATE
PLOTS UPTO 135 SQ M.
• IMPROVING LAND-USE EFFICIENCY TO IMPROVE
AFFORDABILITY (OUTSIDE GMC AREA)
• CREATION OF EAST GANDHINAGAR- AN
INSTITUTIONAL CITY
• REGULATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
• LAKE DEVELOPMENT BEAUTIFICATION PROJECTS
• HI-TECH AGRICULTURAL CLUSTER AT DABHODA FOR
WHICH 11 HA ARE EARMARKED
• PLANNING FOR SOLID-WASTE MANAGEMENT, WATER
TREATMENT PLANT AND SEWAGE TREATMENT
PLANT FOR FUTURE REQUIREMENTS
EAST GANDHINAGAR
 REFERENCE

• https://guda.gujarat.gov.in/download/Revised%20DP/First
%20Revised%20Development%20Plan%20%E2%80%93%20
2024.PDF
• https://www.ijser.org/researchpaper/Patterns-Of-City-Maki
ng.pdf
• http://guda.gujarat.gov.in/resources.htm
• https://issuu.com/harsheetagupta/docs/urban_planning_i
n_gandhinagar
THANK YOU

ROLL NO: 17091AA034