A Geo-Spatial Information Model for Rurban Planning

The Indian context of planning primarily focuses on urban settlements comprising approximately 30% of our land area. The rest two-thirds are composed of spatially isolated rural communities which lack access to adequate infrastructure, services and connectivity for which the absence of a standardized planning methodology is a pertinent reason. Since a spatial entity is never disconnected from its context, planning is most effective when undertaken in the context of a region, joining settlements in need of physical, economic and social connectivity. Within a region, the availability of a multihierarchical geo-spatial database is fundamental to spatial planning, and research identifies that it requires conspicuous attention in our rural planning strategy. The proposed paper addresses this lacuna of data infrastructure at the micro-regional level. An example of micro-region is the rurban cluster, comprising several village settlements around a central town, displaying potential for spatially integrated development. The rurban cluster is in compliance with the Shyama Prasad Mukherji National Rurban Mission (SPMNRM), a flagship programme initiated by the Ministry of Rural Development (Government of India) in 2016. The planning, implementation and execution of this scheme also sufferes due to the lack of geo-spatial database management. Borrowing from past experiences in the country and abroad, this paper constructs a model for geo-spatial planning of rurban clusters. The model takes care of all the stages of rurban cluster planning such as delineation of the micro-region, database design and management, analysis, evolution of alternative scenarios and finally implementation and monitoring through geo-spatial information systems. Once developed and applied, it objectively evaluates the corresponding stages of the SPMNRM (non-spatial) and the new model (geo-spatial), to demonstrate how the latter adds value to the planning process and produces superior results on ground.