Participatory Planning and Development
Auroville Master Plan
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1. The community is aware that the
Master Plan for Auroville was approved by the Government of
India (HRD Ministry) at a meeting held on 14th February at new
Delhi with representatives of Urban Development Dept Government
of India and the Director of Town and Country Planning Tamil
Nadu being present.
2. This Master Plan, both the written
document as well as the two principal Land Use maps, showing the
existing and proposed land use are available for reference at
Auroville's Future. The document will also be made available on
website soon.
3. The 'Auroville Innovative Urban
Management' project under the Asia-Urbs program of the European
Union which commenced its work formally on April 11, 2001, is
designed to take the master plan work further and detail out
actions in collaboration with all stakeholders to achieve the
vision of The Mother in developing Auroville as a Universal
Township in the next 20 to 25 years.
4. The preparation of this Master Plan
followed an informed, open and participatory path. Many groups
and individuals from within and outside Auroville actively
contributed in this endeavor. It was also available for display
and several open discussions about it took place. To make it
further more participatory and accessible, we further request
the Aurovilians to participate in this unique and crucial work.
All are welcome to use this facility and provide their inputs
regularly, keeping in view the principal features of the
approved Master Plan.
5. The principal features on which the
further work will be detailed out are indicated below:
a) Auroville will be a township to
accommodate 50,000 persons.
b) Most of this population is
distributed as shown in table below:
Zone
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Area in Ha
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Population
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Peace
Area
Residential
International
Cultural
Industrial
City
Centre
Green
Belt
TOTAL
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28
160
63
91
94.5
38
1472
1963
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40,000
600
600
1,800
5,000
2,000
50,000
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c) Auroville would be entirely
dependent for its water supply, both for domestic as well as
green uses, on underground water, which in turn depends
entirely on the rainfall in the area. Hence water
harvesting, conservation and recycling of water have to be
practiced to the maximum extent possible. The Master Plan
has used a per capita domestic water supply of 150 liters
per capita per day (lpcd) as an optimum standard. Indian
average is 135 lpcd for planning the water service in urban
areas.
d) There will be four main access
roads leading into the township. The two from the East Coast
Road side will lead to the Residential Zone and to the
Cultural Zone. The two connections from the Tindivanam
roadside will lead to the International Zone and the
Industrial Zone. There will be 4 main service nodes and 4
sub-service nodes on these access roads to facilitate
pollution free traffic movement within the township.
e) The Green Belt extending over
1472 Ha has three principal sectors, each with its
predominant use:
i. Farm uses on the west
ii. Forest type uses on the east
iii. Settlement related uses including recreation on the
south
It would be clear that most of the building activities
have to be within the belt of land between the Matrimandir
area (28 Ha) and the line demarcating the inner boundary
of the Green Belt (1.25 km from center).
f) Auroville as on date owns only
383 Ha within the city area and 395 Ha in the Green Belt.
Securing land not owned by Auroville will continue to follow
the procedures followed so far, i.e. mostly by negotiation.
Considering constraints of finances priorities for securing
the land need to be identified taking note of the
developments contemplated. In special cases, Government of
India's and Government of Tamil Nadu's good offices for
acquisition may be sought.
g) Auroville's future development
is inextricably linked to the development of surrounding
village settlements as well as the larger bioregion
extending over 700 Sq.Kms. All possible ways have to be
explored to achieve overall harmony through joint efforts.
h) The underlying theme for all
development, particularly within Auroville will be to
explore and utilize cost-effective & eco-friendly
practices to ensure sustainable development.
6. The outputs under the Asia Urbs
project to take Auroville one step further in achieving the
vision of The Mother are the following:
A) Environmental Resource
Directory as a base document for all environmental
development interactive planning.
B) A detailed Land Utilization
Plan within the Auroville Township both in the city and the
green belt areas.
C) A Water Resource and
Infrastructure Plan for both water and wastewater.
D) A Traffic and Transport plan
including definition of main access to the township.
E) A Solid Waste Management Plan
including management of bio-medical and hazardous waste.
F) An Energy Plan incorporating
alternate energy resources.
G) A Built Environment Plan
crystallizing the City Image, Density, and relationship with
Open spaces, and
H) Urban Green work: Parks, Green
corridors.
I) A Plan to harmonize activities
both within the township and outside with the village
settlements through joint partnership program.
J) A Plan prioritizing land needs
for development.
K) A Five-year physical and
financial Implementation Plan.
7. Contribution to this work, which
is to be completed in two years, is needed from all
stakeholders. Aurovilians and other interested persons are
requested to indicate their preferred area or topic where they
can make a significant contribution. A library is also being
setup to support this activity. The objective of this
Interactive Facility is to provide a base to receive and
discuss the ideas from all interested people/groups on the
mentioned subject.
We propose to begin with the initial
consultation process with the groups/persons and arrange
awareness cum participative gatherings with community and
experts. The detailed program will be announced later.
Lalit is available at Aurofuture to
assist you in this regard. Please send any enquiry, comments,
studies, reports or links concerning this work to planning@auroville.org.in
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