Spatial development planning in peri-urban space of Burdwan City, West Bengal, India: statutory infrastructure as mediating factors

Abstract

Population growth, economic development, and rural–urban migration have contributed to the rapid growth of peripheral areas in Indian cities. The immigration of population and emergence of new activities are changing these areas, as seen in changes in land use and occupational structures, reduced agricultural activities, and built-up structural development. The city of Burdwan is no exception to this phenomenon of accelerated population growth. With the passage of time, this city is expanding towards peri-urban villages, thereby strongly influencing the peripheral rural settlements in the dimensions of both natural and social resource. Thus, advance spatial development planning of land use and infrastructure for a speedily growing population that is projected is highly important. In the current decade, the use of an environmental approach in the planning of peri-urban areas has gained significant recognition. However, desegregation of socio-economic sectors has been mentioned very loosely. This paper seeks to achieve spatial development in peri-urban areas by taking into account socio-economic and demographic factors along with environmental principles. Hence, the objective for the study is based on a mixed-method approach to assess major problems of a peri-urban space. We applied an interdisciplinary approach which merged household survey and temporal change analysis over three time periods (1991, 2001, and 2011) based on geographical information systems. Results show substantial built-up growth and that agricultural workers drastically decreased in the last twenty years. Finally, considering the structural and functional potential of peri-urban areas, land use zoning plan was prepared. Further, zone-wise development plan was designed for sustainable and intensive development of the city. This study has explicitly focused on quantifying physical and social infrastructure at various spatial scales, which can be implemented in other cities for balanced regional development and in identifying and mitigating disparities for balanced regional development.