 of construction, whereas a private developer brings in investment in lieu of additional floor area made available to him by stakeholders/ state/local bodies by way of development control regulations. It is an alliance of convenience. TOD is seen as a relatively low-cost solution to problems ranging from housing affordability, traffic congestion, to global warming.
What is TOD?
TOD as a concept is not new. Historically, cities have grown rapidly along transportation networks, may it be railways or roads and internal networks within the cities. Before the arrival of automobiles, cities were compact and had mixed-land uses. Most of the development was around the transit routes because it provided better accessibility.
In the Indian scenario, Mumbai is a good case in point as the city expanded in a linear fashion along the railway lines, that is, along the central and western railway routes. This is one of the major reasons why the local trains are crucial to the survival of Mumbai city.
Similarly, the city of Jaipur, though planned in a gridiron pattern, uses a compact mix-use development along the major roads and streets. Therefore, TOD in many ways is just another name for traditional urban development.
In the past, life in towns moved at a slow pace and was socially more satisfying. Today the situation has changed. Urban cities are facing severe problems, such as traffic congestion, air pollution, and the uncertainties of climate change conditions.
In addition to this, large-scale migration to the cities has intensified the existing problem. Living in highly segregated urban neighbourhoods causes changes in lifestyle and within the social fabric as well. Given a chance, migrants may like to live in a mixed land use environment where people-to people contact is easy, thereby enhancing social security and safety. Cities are also investing a lot in transit systems, such as metros, bus rapid transit (BRT) system, new rail roads or the extension of old ones. As TOD also propagates high-density misuse development, TOD is modern-day version of a traditional, core city planning development.
National Policy on TOD
Taking into consideration the importance of TOD in the national context, the government has announced a policy, ‘National Transit Oriented Development’, dedicated to this. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, has announced a framework to promote development near mass urban transit corridors for addressing urbanization challenges. It seeks to promote TOD which enables people to live within walking or cycling distance from metros, monorail, and BRT corridors, etc. This policy will help states and union territories to understand TOD as a sustainable and affordable solution to many of the challenges, such as excessive urban growth, rapidly rising private vehicles on roads, pollution, housing choices, etc.
A community with a strong and dependable transit system and streetscaping elements can discourage vehicle dependence and congestion. In the new metro policy drafted by the government, TOD has been made mandatory and prioritized for receiving central assistance. Doing so will promote integration of land use planning with transportation and infrastructure development to avoid long-distance travel in cities. TOD is, essentially, about compact development as against the present pattern of unplanned and haphazard urban growth.
The union government’s TOD policy will help the states in developing an in-depth understanding of the challenges currently faced by the cities. TOD policy aims at inclusive development in the form of a range of housing choices, including affordable housing and ensuring spaces for street vendors. If properly executed, TOD could emerge as a means of financing mass transit projects for which the demand is growing. Financial needs for TOD will be met by channelizing a part of property values resulting from investments in transit corridors through betterment levies and value-capture financing tools.
The central government has notified the TOD policy in 2015, but there was no clarity