Form-Based Approach: The Indian Experience

Exploring how Form-Based Codes are reshaping urban regulations in India.

Indian cities are in a phase of Urban Planning reforms, where new tools of planning and designing cities are being developed and adopted. Planning paradigms like Transit Oriented Development Planning, Local Area Planning, Town Planning Schemes and Transfer of Development Rights are being adopted by various planning authorities, with encouragement and support from the Union Government.

These tools have also established a demand for revision of Development Control Regulations and Building Byelaws. In this context, the Form-Based Codes approach has emerged as one of the most sought after to make these regulations and byelaws contextual, market responsive as well as flexible. The Union Government through the National Institute of Urban Affairs, laid down processes, principles and tools for cities to refer to in adopting the Form-Based Codes Approach. One such tool in the Guidebook for adoption of Form Based Codes, which has now been converted into an online course by NIUA for cities to learn. Creative Footprints, led by Somi Chatterjee and Adarsha Kapoor, and supported by various sector experts, documented the Form-Based Response from various Indian Cities to prepare the Guidebook.

The talk will discuss these responses and how they have contributed towards creating a palette of tools that cities are now integrating into Development Regulations and Byelaws.

12pm GMT / 5:30pm IST

Adarsha Kapoor is the Principal Urban Designer at Creative Footprints, an Urban Design and Conservation Practice based out of New Delhi. He is also an advisor to the World Bank for Transit Oriented Development projects, and a guest faculty at the Department of Urban Design, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. In the past, he has advised various government agencies in Urban Design Policies, Railway Station Redevelopment works and institutionalising the Form-Based Codes approach. He has also given lectures and led capacity building for educational institutes, centres of excellence, and Ministries across India.

Chaired by Meenakshi Bhagat, Fellow Member IUDI.