According to world bank the urbanization in India is only 33%, whereas the size of the urban population is about 429 million. In addition Indian cities are among the fastest-growing in the world (JLL’s Cities Momentum Index 2017). Though it is an indicator of positive development, rapid urbanization is also accompanied by a host of challenges.

According to world bank the urbanization in India is only 33%, whereas the size of the urban population is about 429 million. In addition Indian cities are among the fastest-growing in

The growing urban sprawl in India is leading to increased use of private vehicles, congested roads, increased pollution, public safety issues, increased household spending – and the stress that increasing population puts on the existing infrastructure of our cities. Many of these problems can be solved or at least significantly reduced by cities augmenting their public transport systems and also integrating land use planning and development with the transport network. Transit oriented development holds key here.

Essentially, TOD is any macro or micro development focused around a transit node which results in improved ease of access to the transit facility. When done correctly, such developments encourage citizens to prefer walking and using public transportation over using private vehicles. TOD will result in

1) Releases under-utilized urban lands: The major reasons for urban sprawl and shortage of urban land is the fact that urban lands are not exploited to their optimal potential. TOD opens up dense developments near transit nodes through relaxed FSI norms, thereby increasing the developable area in the same piece of land.
2) Ensures sustainable urban growth: TOD curtails urban sprawl and hence reduces the strain on existing infrastructure. This helps in achieving compact and controlled developments within the cities, and reduces the average travel time and household spends on transportation.
3) Increased modal shift towards Non-Motorized Transport (NMT): Done correctly, TOD creates a balanced mix of land use through concentrated residential development at a walking distance of 500 to 800 m along the transit corridor, or from the transit station. This increases ‘walkability’, encourages public transport use and also makes ‘last-mile’ options such as cycle sharing systems much more viable.
4) Increased financial viability of transit investments: Increase in the modal shift increases the ridership (the number of passengers using a particular form of public transport) by improving access to transit stations through seamless connectivity. This enhances the economic and financial viability of transit investments. It also helps in better channelling of peak hour traffic along both directions, improving the efficiency of existing vehicle fleets.
5) Improved quality of life with better places to live, work and play: Factors such as increased walkability, reduced traffic congestion and shorter commutes result in more leisure hours, reduced pollution, more reliable and safer public transport systems, mixed-use development, and efficient and shared open spaces. All these add up to significantly improved quality of life for citizens.
6) Efficient management of infrastructure spending: In a city, a lot of infrastructure investments are often planned for the fringe areas owing to the urban sprawl and lack of infrastructure facilities. Infrastructure spends also need to be concentrated to benefit the core cities; it costs less to build roads/ expressways and other physical infrastructure for the urban sprawl. Also, transit options are first developed within city limits and later scaled to outer areas.

Effectively optimizing these spends within the city limits is critically important, and is the perfect solution.

Also, TOD exploits available urban lands to the maximum, thereby making enough space available to meet the growing demand for affordable housing. Along with it TOD could also lead to more stable property prices and improved municipal revenues, Increased availability of EWS housing, Expanded economic opportunities and public safety, especially for women, who prefer to travel shorter distances to work in India etc.

In short we can say that TOD is literally the last lap to achieve sustainable urban transformation in amalgamation with various initiatives and concepts such as Smart Cities, AMRUT, NMT, MMI (Multi-Modal Integration), Last Mile Connectivity options, Green Mobility Schemes, etc. As the indubitable future of urbanization in India, TOD requires dedicated fund allocations from governments (depending on the size and positioning of the city) for its effective implementation