Planning for Transforming retail spaces : a case of Gurugram

Abstract

The liberalization opened up the Indian economy allowing entry of various multinational companies and the geographic dispersal of economic activities that marked globalization. These activities concentrated itself in a selected potential cities characterised by easy and cheap availability of vast tracts of land and relaxed government restrictions and regulations on business and trade. One such potential city of Gurugram is fast making its place on the world map and emerging to be a Global City. The city has witnessed rapid growth both in terms of population and economic development. The new employment opportunities and investment options, provided by it attract people from across geographies and cultures. The development of city, largely being private sector-led with no discretion of ULB, has over the years led to the creation of spaces that do not correspond to the demands of a global population for cultural vibrancy. There are large retail spaces lying underutilised in the city. There is no state policy, planning instrument or regulation that could respond to these spaces and changing city demands. The rising population continues to put increased stress on available urban land causing an increase in land values. The Urban Land Policy and National Land Utilisation Policy provide a nudge towards optimal utilisation of available land resources through specific regulations and policy mechanisms. Thus, in order to ensure equitable access to land for all in accordance with the changing role of cities, there is a need to make judicious use of available and underutilised spaces through planning tools and regulations. There is a growing need for the city of Gurugram to enhance its cultural vibrancy to respond to its newly emerging Global role and accommodate the novel demands of the rising new population mix. There is a need for land development and zoning tools and economic regulations to be made more responsive to city specific context. The study seeks to analyse the changing role of the city of Gurugram with focus on cultural vibrancy and its indicator retail spaces. It delves into understanding the changing role of city and identifying the policies and tools that made the city takes its present shape, the global city and concept and key components of cultural vibrancy, aspects that affect retail spaces, and uses that promote the cultural vibrancy of a city through literate review and on-site surveys and discussions. To understand the demand and supply gap, it further analyses changing consumer behaviour and identifies new user demands through structured surveys; and conducts discussions with developers and retail operators for supply-side perspective. The study also tries to assess the externalities caused by underutilised retail spaces and tries to evaluate the losses incurred by the same. To promote cultural vibrancy and make use of underutilised retail spaces, planning regulations and economic instruments like zoning strategies at two levels of land use plans, new permissible uses and incentives and disincentives like higher FAR and taxes are proposed. This will help regulate and guide future development, suffice local needs, promote vibrancy of existing and new development and help generate increased revenue for local authorities.