Existing Practices for Land Use Planning Practices in Hill Cities of India

Abstract

Land Use Planning is a key component of Urban Planning and is important for planned development. It ensures that the resources are used efficiently, and orderly development is taking place. However, Land use planning in relation to hill regions is not a well-known or researched topic in India. Many scholars and researchers have expressed their views related to inappropriate development in the hills due to the lack of land use planning in these eco-sensitive areas but there are no in-depth studies on the land use planning pertaining to the hill towns of India. Therefore, the paper, focus is on understanding the prevailing land use planning process in Indian hill towns. The methodology opted is the in-depth literature study of the land use planning in the hills followed by a semi-structured interview of various town planning officials in the hill states of India such as Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, Kashmir, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura and Uttarakhand. In addition, mapping of the steps to be followed for land use planning provided by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and followed in hill states of India has been analysed in order to understand the gaps and problems in the land use planning process in India's hill cities. The current study uses land use suitability and seeks to identify various criteria from literature and expert interviews that can serve as the basis for land use planning in the hills. The determination of weights of the criteria is also carried out with the questionnaire expert survey. As a result, the study contributes to the understanding of how and to what degree the land use planning process is effective at present and provides a set of criteria that can be the basis for land use planning for hill cities of India.

Introduction

Land Use is an essential component of Urban Planning and is important for national growth and planned development. Rapid urbanization has created competition for various land uses and led to significant alterations in those uses, making it necessary for a comprehensive land-use planning process (S. Sharma, Saini et al., 2023). Land use planning ensures that the resources are used efficiently, and orderly development is taking place according to the local context (Mashima and Kawakami, 2014). It helps to determine the future land uses by creating an environment for sustainable development of land resources which meets people’s needs and demands. With the increase in the population, the demand for development has increased and drastic changes in land uses are observed that require a systematic land use planning process (Wang, Shen et al., 2014; Han and Lin, 2017). This effect is more pronounced in the sensitive hilly areas of India where the planning is a challenging task due to topography, climate, limited availability of land, proneness to hazards etc. There are numerous issues pertaining to the land use planning of the hill towns to be concerned about such as scarce availability of land, high prices of land parcels, irregular shape land holdings, insufficient land use practices in hills, depletion of green areas, overcrowding, lack of building bylaws, lack of information or data on land use, destruction of built as well as the natural environment in the hills etc. that requires a systematic land use planning of the hills (S. Sharma, Saini, et al., 2022). However, the literature on land use in the context of the hill town is limited. A little or no attempt has been made in land use planning in India, especially in the case of hill towns that require the best allocation of land uses. Many scholars and researchers have expressed their views related to inappropriate and unplanned development in the hills due to the lack of land use planning in these fragile areas and have forged ahead in various studies related to building bye-laws, socio-economic development, the urban design matrix, strategies for eco-sensitive zones, climate Responsive Passive Design, the impact of urbanisation, environmental hazards, transportation issues, traditional construction techniques, vernacular architecture, safety against hazards, tourism in the context of hill towns. However, there are no in-depth studies on land use planning pertaining to the hill towns of India that have led to the unplanned development of these areas. Hence, there is a need to understand the Existing Land Use Planning practices prevailing in the Hills of India to have contextual development of these eco-sensitive areas.

Methodology

Detailed systematic research has been carried out to understand the existing practices for land use planning in hill cities of India as shown in Figure 1. Methodology used in the study to understand the existing practices for land use planning in hill cities of India. The focus is on the studies that help to analyse the current land use planning process in the hills. A systematic and transparent way of searching; through the Web of Science, SCOPUS and various government documents, master plans are carried out. The search keywords included land use, land use planning, literature of India, hills, suitability, development in hills, hill cities etc. and the research is being carried out in the fields of urban planning, architecture, geography, and social sciences. Since the literature on land use in the case of hill areas of India was limited, therefore, to validate the literature, a semi-structured interview is conducted to know the ongoing practices of land use planning in hills. The experts were from the hill states of India such as Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand. To comprehend the ongoing process of land use planning in the hills, face-to-face or telephone interviews with experts were conducted to discuss the questions posed to them.

Also, mapping of the steps to be followed for land use planning given by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and the process being followed in these hill states of India (Indian Himalayan Region) has been analysed to understand the lacunas and problems in the land use planning process in the hill cities of India.

As a result, land use suitability is followed in the study and a list of land use criteria is derived from the literature and semi-structured interview. For the final determination of weights, a questionnaire survey is conducted to list out the most weighted criteria that can be the basis for land use planning in the hills. The conclusion provides a review of the entire process and an assessment of how effective the land use planning process is in the hill cities of India.

Figure 1. Methodology used in the study to understand the existing practices for land use planning in hill cities of India

Overview of Hill Areas

The National Building Code defines hilly places as "any area above 600 metres above mean sea level, or any area with an average slope of 30 degrees, taking into consideration the sensitive and fragile ecosystem of hills and mountains" according to the Town and Country Planning Organisation in 2015. Hill regions have been divided into three categories based on height and prevailing climatic conditions: foot-hill regions (below 1200 m), mid-hill regions (1200-3500 m), and high-hill regions (above 3500) (A. Kumar, 2016). Hills are naturally raised areas of terrain that are not as high as mountains and are categorised based on gradient (Pushplata, 2000).

According to the India State of Forest 2011 report, the entire geographical area of India is 32.78 lakh square kilometres, of which 7.08 lakh square kilometres pertain to hill areas, with a population of 7.5 crores according to the 2011 census (Planning Commission, 2013). Over the years, the urban population in numerous hilly towns has rapidly increased, transforming them into an important growth centre for India's economy. Due to the migration influx of the rural population to urban regions, the towns of these hilly areas are expanding in terms of both land and population as urban development increases (S. Sharma, Saini, et al., 2022).

A listing of various hill states is shown in Table 1, which includes states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Assam, Karnataka, Kerela, Maharashtra, Tamandu, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and out of these hill states Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, and Uttarakhand are completely covered by hilly terrain (Planning Commission, 2013).

Table 1. Land area under Hilly terrain within States in India

S. No.	State	Geographical Area(km²)	Geographical Area in Hill Districts (km²)	Percentage of land under Hilly terrain
1	Arunachal Pradesh	83,743	83,743	100
2	Assam	78,438	19,153	24
3	Himachal Pradesh	55,673	55,673	100
4	Jammu & Kashmir	222,236	222,236	100
5	Karnataka	191,791	48,046	25
6	Kerala	38,863	29,572	76
7	Maharashtra	307,713	69,905	23
8	Manipur	22,327	22,327	100
9	Meghalaya	22,429	22,429	100
10	Mizoram	21,081	21,081	100
11	Nagaland	16,579	16,579	100
12	Sikkim	7,096	7,096	100
13	Tamil Nadu	130,058	22,789	18
14	Tripura	10,486	10,486	100
15	Uttarakhand	53483	53483	100
16	West Bengal	88,752	3,149	4

Source: Compiled by Author

The land in the hills is scarce and thus there is a shortage of suitable land for development (TCPOHP, 1979). The development in the hills cannot take place in all directions as in the case of plains, due to the steep gradients and slopes. The population in the hills is scattered along with visual separation between the spaces and due to the steep gradient, the accessibility and construction activities become more challenging which results in a high cost of construction and maintenance. Thus, for the development in the hills, the per capita cost is also high than the plains (Pushplata, 2000). In terms of income levels, social and economic infrastructure and human development indicators, the growth in the hill states of India has been below potential as compared to the non-hill states. The hill states lag far behind in development outcomes, productivity, human and institutional capacity from the rest of the country. There are huge variations, particularly between the people living in the hills and plains, as well as between those who live in urban and rural areas. This difference is mainly due to environmental constraints, connectivity issues, a lack of human capital, skill development, developmental policy, and governance deficit in the hill areas (Planning Commission, 2013). As the characteristics of urban development in hills are different from the plain regions, therefore, planning in hill cities becomes more difficult. Hills having a difference in natural and geographical settings requires a different approach to land use planning (TCPOHP, 1979). The approach once evolved for the plains and the criteria, or the factors considered for the land use planning in plains should not be duplicated for hills. The planning in the hills needs to emphasize the ecology and the environment of an area. Also, the development in the hills needs to be monitored and should be given special attention.

Existing Approaches for Land Use Planning at International Level

For the land use allocation, the countries follow various models, tools, and techniques in Nepal, Land Capability analysis, Socio-Economic data analysis, multi-Criteria analysis and subjective analysis are performed to designate the land use zones. Similarly, for the U.K., Land Suitability Analysis, Situational analysis etc. are performed for land use allocation.

Models for land use allocation

Land use models are essential tools as they help to gather information on land and its uses and guide to prioritize the conservation action (Soesbergen, 2016). However, these models have failed in the allocation of land uses because models have their own assumptions and results come out to be different for every model (Nkonya, 2012). Land use models are the tools that support to provide backing to the analysis of the land use change (Koomen and Stillwell, 2007).

The main characteristics of models with their strengths and weakness are mentioned in Table 2.

Table 2. Various characteristics of land-use models with their strengths and weakness

Type of model		Example	Strength	Weakness
Geographic land-use models	Statistical model	CLUE (Brazil)	Use the historical data to predict the future. Regression approach is used to have better knowledge.	Unsustainable for long term projections. Less accuracy for climate change or global scenarios. Use of historical data may give unusual trends.
	Rule-based model	SALU (West Africa.)	Combination of qualitative approaches with quantitative approaches. Follow the process of land use intensification.	Qualitative approach may not lead to appropriate results and also complicate the application of model.
Economic models	Partial equilibrium models (PEM)	IMPACT	Focuses on a few sectors only, therefore in-depth analysis can be done.	It only considers a particular market type or subset of the market while ignoring all other markets at the same time E.G agriculture.
	General Equilibrium models (CGEs)	IMAGE	It considers all market types in an area or society in an equilibrium. Thus, this helps in getting the feedbacks of all the sectors. Creates good relationship between production and consumption.	No detail analysis is there.
Integrated land-use models	Integrated Assessment models	GLOBIOM	Are on the larger scales and they are formed by the combinations of two models.	Land use change can be seen but at very coarse resolutions.
Other models	Urban growth model, Agent based model, machine learning models.	Sleuth UGM, IMSHED, etc.	Define for the specific use of land.	Have their own limitations.

Source: Compiled by Author.

The models don’t consider the factors that are not under the researcher's discipline leading to disagreement between the models. E.g., Traditional economic models don’t consider the biophysical aspects. Also, even if the models are the same, the results vary among them also which makes confusion about which model to follow. Since there is improvement in the data due to better geospatial technology now but still the historical data is not available mostly, this leads to variation in results. Moreover, technology is rapidly changing and many of the models are unable to incorporate and predict new technological progress. There can be changes in the pattern and the trend and thus models can fail here (Nkonya, 2012). Therefore, due to the above-mentioned factors the land use models are not used widely now.

Tools and techniques for land use allocation

There are various tools which help us to analyze the land use to a particular piece of land. Some of the tools and techniques used in the Land use allocation process such as Land capability classification, Land evaluation, Land suitability, The design model, Multiple objective mathematical programming model and Scenario Development. Out of all the techniques land use suitability is used in the study as suitability tells about the capability of the land to have its best use (Morales and de Vries, 2021).

In URDPFI guidelines it’s been mentioned that some relevant criteria (parameters and indicators) are required for delegation of the planning regions. Some of the parameters mentioned in URDPFI are Environment and land suitability, demography, quality of life, flow, economy etc. Therefore, the study uses various criteria that are derived from an in-depth literature review and semi-structured interviews of officials of hill regions and further analysis is carried out.

Land Use Planning in Hill Cities of India

Land use planning is defined as "administrative and statutory activity that seeks to regulate and order land usage in an efficient and appropriate manner, thereby avoiding land use conflicts; land use planning could control and determine future land-use development in planned areas" (Wang, Shen et al., 2014). It entails the formulation of some criteria for the allocation of a specific use to a piece of land and is the process of allocating a new land use or re-allocating an area's current land use (Aerts, Van Herwijnen et al., 2005). The land is a limited and precious resource, and governments work hard to develop policies, regulations, plans, and strategies to maximise its utilisation (Aijaz and Knopf, 2019). The land is a state subject in India's constitution; hence land administration is the responsibility of the state government. It is the responsibility of the Panchayats in rural regions, and a District planning committee at the state level to consolidate the plans generated by the panchayats and municipalities and develops a draught development plan (Nukala and Mutz, 2015). However, the maximum use of earth resources such as land has resulted in the emergence of several urban issues. The inefficiencies in land management abound, not only in India but globally; unplanned land uses and violations of land use legislation also pose several issues to the environment and society. Unauthorised development on hill slopes, indiscriminate land use modification in peri-urban areas, the proliferation of unplanned housing in cities, urban sprawl, and other examples can be found throughout India (Aijaz and Knopf, 2019). These issues are more pronounced in the hills where Land Use Planning or development is a challenging task due to its topography, terrain, slope, climate, and proneness to natural hazards (Chawhan and Kamal, 2021). For a long time, hill areas have been neglected in terms of appropriate development and land-use planning, due to which most of these areas remain unplanned. However, the Government of India introduced the Hill Area Development Program in 5th Five-year plan to ensure appropriate development in these areas (Planning Commission, 2010). With the change in time, the urban fabric and image of the hills have been completely changed and have become a challenge for sustainable development in these areas. The land use demand is increasing continuously with the influx of population leading to uncontrolled development patterns (Shekhar and Thirumeni, 2002). At the international level, the hill cities in Nepal, Bhutan, the UK, the US etc follow various models or tools and techniques for land use planning as mentioned in section 4. But in the case of India, there are very few hill cities that were planned such as namely Bilaspur, New Tehri and Lavasa. These towns (Bilaspur, Lavasa and New Tehri) were planned and developed as a part of rehabilitation efforts due to the construction of dams. However, these towns are continuously facing the pressure of population growth and development. The major issue still faced by all three towns is related to inappropriate land-use allocation without looking into the context of the site. The basis of land use allocation for Bilaspur town and New Tehri Town was not done with proper scientific methods or models and was only done on the basis of projection for the future population. (Vishwapremi, 2016; A. S. Sharma and Sood, 2020; Kaur and Garg, 2020).

For land use planning in Indian hills, there is no information on any method, such as how land use planning in India's hills is carried out, in the literature. The details of the preparation of the land use maps are not provided in the development plans or master plans for the hills. The plans simply provide information on the predicted population for the next 20 years, as well as suggested land uses such as residential, commercial, and industrial, but there is little discussion of the process or reason for allocating a specific use to a piece of land. It is a serious concern because the hills are already facing a significant increase in development activities and there are no set criteria for the land use distribution procedure. Therefore, a semi-structured interview was done to verify the literature and learn more about the current land use practices taking place in the hills.

Master plan analysis and interview survey with town planning officials of hills

Land use planning is essential to be documented to understand how the land use for a particular area is decided. A development plan or master plan is a document used for land use planning in emerging cities (S. Sharma, Saini, et al., 2022). However, the existing literature has limited information about the procedure such as statistical evidence or analysis for land use planning. Therefore, to understand how land use is allocated in the Hill Areas, a semi-structured interview was conducted through a questionnaire survey to understand ongoing Land use practices in the hill states of India. Various officials from the town planning departments of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand (locations marked in Figure 2) were interviewed. The purpose of the information is to know the current practices, lacunas, processes, problems, and issues in the current practice going on in the hills of India.

To learn about the process of allocating/planning land for use in the hills, several questions were posed. The specialists and professionals who work in the town planning department were questioned regarding the creation and implementation of plans.

Figure 2. Location of the hill cities where semi-structured interview was conducted

The question types were based on ranking, objective kind, and opinion and the experts were questioned on the preparation of land use plans, including which agency is in charge of the preparation of plans, the procedure or the steps followed, and whether they refer to any guidelines for the allocation process, Is the suitability analysis done before allocation process, what are the criteria or the basis of its preparation, Is the plan holistically enforced, Is there any activity change noticed after the allocation is being done, How the procedure for land use allocation followed in hills different from the one followed in the cities or towns located in plain regions, Challenges faced by the expertise during the preparation process etc.

Srinagar, Kashmir

As per the master plan of Srinagar, Kashmir to develop sustainably, it is essential to integrate environmental considerations into land use planning. The September 2014 floods served as a turning point in the Valley's future "planning and development." Srinagar is situated in a region with numerous geographical limitations, ranging from the topography to the ecosystem. The environment's quality is rapidly declining as a result of uncontrolled urbanisation and rapid population expansion. Therefore, the goal is to organise the land use planning process in a thorough, hierarchical manner based on scientific data considering flood zone, eco-fragility, and seismic vulnerability. According to the town planning officials of Kashmir, either the Town planning organisations prepare master plans or land use plans for these areas that are notified by development authorities under the Jammu & Kashmir development act of 1970, or development Authorities outsource master plans to consultants under the general supervision of Town and Country Planning Organisations headed by Chief Town planners of respective divisions. The decisions are based on a growth trend and land suitability analysis considering various factors such as distance from ecologically sensitive areas like lakes, forests, rivers, etc., buffers for heritage zones, high flood levels, flood absorption basins, wildlife areas, already congested or dense areas, prime agricultural areas, and slopes greater than 30 degrees. As per land suitability analysis, the lands have been divided into four categories: highly suitable, moderately suitable, suitable, and unsuitable from the perspective of urban development. The majority of proposals are based on the most and moderately suitable areas, while the unsuitable areas have been reserved for environmental sustainability. Land use planning is carried out by scientific criteria coupled with institutional mechanisms.

Kohima, Nagaland

With each tribe or hamlet having its own distinct traditional land management regime, Nagaland has the most complex and unique system of land tenure and land use planning in the entire north-eastern region. The Urban Development Department is responsible to ensure a smooth transition of urban growth through the creation of development plans, master plans, and other documents, as well as the implementation of numerous programmes and schemes to enhance future liveability in urban areas in Nagaland. In the state, the growth trajectory and the planner's expertise serve as a basis for land use decisions. To determine the zones that are suitable or not suitable for development, slope analysis is performed. The major challenge in the state for land use planning is land ownership, which is totally in the hands of individuals and communities. Approximately 90% of the state's land is thought to be community-owned and unclassified (Siddiqui and Chohan, 2015). In the state, there isn't a scientific method employed for land use planning. Without using adequate procedures and surveys, the land uses are planned according to the current growth pattern which makes the planning of the state ineffective as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Urban Development in Kohima City

Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh

The Department of Town Planning and ULBs have taken a pioneering step in Arunachal Pradesh development by commencing Master Plan preparation for notified towns in the region. Itanagar's master plan has not yet been formulated. However, the development pattern and demand are taken into consideration by the specialists working on the Itanagar master plan as the basis for the allocation of land uses. By initiating the Master Plan preparation of the notified towns in the state, the Department of Town Planning and ULBs have identified 33 towns and taken a major role in the development of Arunachal Pradesh. The master plan for Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh was formulated in 2019 and is based on three-dimensional planning concepts covering socioeconomic issues, economic growth, environment and cultural resource protection. To restrict growth along existing city centres, near to employment, transportation, and amenities, and to safeguard fertile agricultural fields and ecological regions from overdevelopment, land suitability based on overlay analysis and carrying capacity analysis were performed for allocation of the land uses (All India Institute of Local Self Government, 2019).

Gangtok, Sikkim

As per the experts in Gangtok, the city is having a high density in the core area and there is a need to control the development in the region, in a planned way. The growth trend and the planner's expertise serve as the basis for land use decisions. However, as per the master plan, the experts (consultants) have conducted a thorough review of the existing condition to find new potential areas for development in the future. The land parcels for potential development have been chosen after taking various factors/criteria into account. Different parameters taken into consideration are Slope, Natural hazards (floods, landslides, earthquakes, fire, stability etc.) vulnerable areas, Natural features (Rivers and their tributaries), Eco-sensitive areas, Low lying areas, Connectivity and missing links, Existing Growth trend, Available vacant land, Fertile agricultural land etc. Decongestion of the current city has been prioritised because it is already congested in the centre of the city and there are few parcels available for future development inside the existing city limits. The only city covered under the AMRUT Scheme is Gangtok, the capital of the Sikkim state. The consultants created the three alternatives and presented them to the client together with the benefits and drawbacks of each identified pocket, and the best development possibilities in each identified pocket. During the CERC meeting, it was mutually decided on one suitable alternative for land use allocation. The consultants prepared the recommended land use based on the client's comments and recommendations (Urban Development Department, 2020).

Manipur, Imphal

With the rise in population owing to natural development as well as migration from rural regions, Imphal's infrastructure is under significant pressure. The city of Imphal is now dealing with a wide range of issues, including traffic congestion, a shortage of parking spaces, floods caused by poor drainage, a lack of water supply, a lack of a sewerage system, environmental deterioration and loss of agriculture cover etc. These issues are concerned with the poor development and use of land, which requires the need to take up urban planning from a new perspective with holistic development of the city and planned land uses (Singh, 2017). According to the expert interview, the experience of the planner is the basis for land use decisions in the city. Based on secondary data information and projected needs, land use is decided. Additionally, the scarcity of government land makes the allocation procedure challenging. The locals are unable to comprehend the decision-making process, hence they are not included in the process. As a result, there are no systematic procedures or planned methods for distributing the land uses in Imphal, Manipur.

Guwahati, Assam

Guwahati is developing rapidly due to its enviable location, excellent transportation options, and expanding population (Pawe and Saikia, 2020). In the master plan for Guwahati, Assam there are no such steps or procedures mentioned followed by the urban professionals in the land use allocations (Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority, 2009). As per the expert interview, the basis for the land use decision in the city is the growth trend for which different surveys are performed and provisioning of the zoning regulation is carried out.

Shimla, Himachal Pradesh

Shimla is referred to as the "Queen of Hill Stations" and has developed into a multifaceted city, dominated by institutional, administrative, and tourism-related activity. For the allocation of land uses in the city, firstly the base map is developed in compliance with the NRSC guidelines and training provided by TCPO to know the existing land use distribution. Land use suitability is carried out based on the criteria such as no development zones, slope, sunlight, forests & vegetation and water bodies. These criteria helped to identify the (high/moderate) environmentally sensitive areas for Shimla. Further, by providing the weightage, ratings to the criteria and finally overlapping the maps is done to get the best land use. However, the detail of the analysis of the weights is not provided in the document (Consultant MaRS Planning and Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad, 2022). The TCPO-HP department's specialists, however, had a different opinion, stating that in Shimla, land use decisions are mostly based on growth trends, development patterns, and the expert's experience. They also added that the Slope analysis is performed before the allocation process. The land use plan is made for 20 years and is enforced holistically only to some extent as the various requirement of the people such as living standards, income levels, awareness, and stakeholder acceptability, alter over time. The decisions taken for land use need to be flexible, not static. This is the reason why CLU (Change of land use) is applied. Figure 4 represents the haphazard planning happening in Shimla city.

Figure 4. Haphazard planning in Shimla City

Aizawl, Mizoram

Mizoram's capital city, Aizawl, serves as the state's political, commercial, educational, and cultural hub. Aizawl suffered from haphazard growth of its physical condition due to the emergence of slum-type hutments, encroachment on forest land and precious green cover, upcoming structures on nallahs spreading dirt and filth, intrusion of commercial activity, traffic chaos, confusion in the tourism industry, inefficient service infrastructure, overcrowding of institutional area, and congestion in prime locations in the absence of effective urban legislation by the appropriate municipal authority. To maintain the ecological balance and avoid soil erosion, areas with low and moderate landslide susceptibility are identified for land use planning. According to the consultant, they comprehensively prepare Land use maps by placing higher-order functions under 36-degree slopes and parks, playgrounds, and other recreational areas in the range of 36 degrees to 45-degree slopes. However, the land use suitability (by using a multi-criteria decision model (MCDM) combined with a GIS-based methodology) has been carried out for the selection of site (specific zone) only for the cultural hub, considering criteria such as Slope, Accessibility, Environmental Concerns, and Visibility (Aizawl Development Authority, 2012).

Dehradun, Uttarakhand

Dehradun is located in the fertile Doon Valley at the foothills of the Himalayas. The valley is well-known for its pleasant climate and scenic beauty. However, the city is confronted by several issues related to physical growth and the built environment, including overcrowding, haphazard development in the core area, unplanned division of peripheral fringe areas, a lack of developed land, ribbon development along major transportation corridors, slow progress in Master Plan implementation etc. There is no scientific method for planning land use in the city, and it has been planned based on the existing growth pattern (Infrastructure Professionals Enterprise, ENC Consulting Engineers, 2007). According to experts, they prepare land use plans in accordance with URDPFI and AMRUT guidelines and the appropriate basis for land use planning in the hills is to identify vulnerable areas, decrease migration, and involve local people in the planning process.

Agartala, Tripura

For the city of Agartala, master plan preparation is in progress. However, there is currently no master plan for the city's development. The Tripura government initiated the CDP City Development Plan (CDP) for Agartala city as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) under which they considered the physical constraints, land suitability, land availability, proposed major activity nodes and stakeholder's perception for land use planning. However, the report doesn't mention any details of the city's land use decision-making process (LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2006). As per the expert (consultant working on the preparation of the current master plan of Agartala), sector-wise analysis for land use is carried out followed by land suitability and land projections are made. Figure 5 shows the planning in Agartala, Tripura.

Figure 5. Encroached roads in Agartala, Tripura

Challenges faced by experts for land use planning in hill regions of India

The issues encountered by various specialists in hill areas for land use planning include a lack of data such as socio-economic data, occupation distribution data, disaster risk data, multi-hazard data, spatial data, lack of local experts/professionals, funding, and resources.

Hill regions of India lack guidelines specific to hill development and there is a requirement for hill-specific provisions in fragile areas.

The department's roles in land use planning, development, maintenance, and enforcement are not clearly defined, and this has led to an ineffective and disorganised decision-making process.

Another issue is the officials' lack of understanding of the planning process, as consultants are hired to conduct surveys and prepare the GIS map. The process is not well understood by the officials which makes the process of land use planning inefficient.

Since there is more vegetation (forest area) in the hills, the areas are environmentally sensitive to development. Also, states in the hills are in earthquake zones IV and V, and the preferred development here is low rise and high density. Therefore, the land is limited due to the hilly terrain and the construction, or the planning of the land uses cannot go vertical due to the seismic zones.

Most of the land in northeast India is privately owned, and techniques such as land acquisition, pooling etc. are not common in the region leading to limited land for development in the region that gives limited scope for development control and regulations to be strictly imposed on the land.

Land availability in hills remains restricted due to sinking areas/highest flood level areas, topography, forest areas, hazard-prone zones etc. and has to remain untouched making the allocation process in the hills somehow more difficult than the allocation process in the plains.

Due to the small settlements in the hills, it is difficult to regulate land use, and surveying and mapping of contours are difficult.

There is pressure for further urban growth in the outskirts of the hill towns, but there is less planning and development control there, which has resulted in the conversion of prime agricultural land and forest land for urban uses. This necessitates control and planned way of development of the peripheral areas of the hill towns.

Additionally, the time frame required for the approval of master plans is time-consuming, and new advancements in the land take place until the master plans are approved.

Lack of awareness amongst the policymakers and the stakeholders is another challenge in these eco-sensitive areas.

As per the experts, the documentation of the land use process is shown through the growth trend (GIS maps) in the development plans of the various towns, and they reference the URDPFI guidelines. However, there is a requirement for a scientific and systematic basis for land use planning and its documentation process in the case of fragile areas.

Issues pertaining to land use planning

The process of allocating land uses is determined by the planner's point of view, not by reality. Land use is decided by only projecting the population for the next 15-20 years; however, this process must also consider the economy, society, technology etc (Doughty, 2020).

For land use, there are no standard definitions, standards, formats, or comparable studies. Land use planning is viewed by planners as merely physical planning (Vestal and Reid, 1973).

The methods of allocating land uses are uncertain. In the decision-making process, there is no fixed law or rule (Doughty, 2020). Each state has its own set of rules, and no particular model or method is used to achieve the desired result (Nallathiga, 2016).

One of the most important issues in land use allocation is the ownership of land. Due to the irregular topography of hills, private landowners have limited land holdings that do not have a regular shape, resulting in unplanned development (Central Ground Water Board, 2013).

Master plans in India lack information about the land use process used to allocate land uses. In India, land use planning must be refined and systematic (Nallathiga, 2016).

Land use practices are insufficient in the hill towns of India. The rapid increase in built-up area is a major issue due to lack of land use practices in the hills leading to deforestation, and soil erosion (Sahdev and R. Kumar, 2020).

There are unplanned land uses in the hill towns of India due to which these fragile areas are suffering from numerous issues like haphazard development, depletion of green spaces, overcrowding, and traffic congestion, affecting the overall image of the town.

As hill regions have a different topography than the plains, the land use planning for a hilly area is more restrictive than the plains (Chawhan and Kamal, 2021). However, same regulations are implemented in the hills and as well as plains for land use allocation (A. Kumar and Pushplata, 2015).

The land use process is continuous, it requires time for the urban professionals to deal with the continuously changing trend of land use (Fricker, 1969).

According to the World Economic Forum and the World Bank, one of the most significant challenges in India's urban development is a lack of adequate governance, which may act as a barrier to planning and urban development (Wegener, 2017).

In Indian cities, numerous public sector organizations/agencies—ports, railways, ULBs etc. have land under their jurisdiction. Each land parcel's planning needs to be integrated into a single comprehensive spatial strategy in order for a city to develop holistically, but this is currently lacking due to ineffective channelization of the land use allocation process (NITI Aayog, 2021a).

Inappropriate land use planning is due to a lack of information or data, such as reliable hydro-climatic data, associated natural resource data, and socio-economic data. Research for scientific land use planning is required in India specially for the hill regions. Land use planning needs to consider various tools such as land use multi-criteria analysis, geographic information system, remote sensing, land suitability, land evaluation etc. to make the process more efficient (Patil, Chaturvedi et al., 2015).

There is also an issue related to the enforcement of the land use plans in the case of agriculture land use, the farmers are unable to grow crops as per soil suitability addressed in the land use plans due to socio-economic compulsions (market availability, family needs, cash crop), management issues (spatial distance from village, labour availability, land size) and resource availability (credit, tools) (Patil, Chaturvedi et al., 2015).

With reference to the above study, there is no such method or process for land use allocation in the hills, on the other hand, there is a rapid increase in the population, density and built-up areas which are resulting in poor development in these areas. These pertaining issues of land use allocation are observed in most hill towns and these issues need a structured and holistic framework for appropriate urban development to combat the negative impacts of unplanned land uses on the environment. Land use planning is an essential component for the development of the hilly area which requires a dedicated land use plan covering the socio-economic, physical, cultural and environmental issues (A. S. Sharma and Sood, 2020).

Mapping of land uses planning process in hill states of India

For the Mapping of the Land use planning process in the Hill state of India, firstly the list of the states which fall under hill regions is classified in a tabular form. A thorough analysis of each state's master plan is conducted as part of the mapping process. Additionally, the experts were consulted and asked to describe the process they use for land use planning to validate the literature for the land use planning procedures followed in each state. To identify the gaps and issues in the land use planning process in the hill cities of India, the procedure used in each state for planning land use in the hills is documented and compared with the guidelines provided by the FAO.

Steps followed for mapping of Land use planning process in hill states of India are as follows.

Identification of states which come under the Indian Himalayan Region

According to the India State of Forest 2011 report, 7.08 lakh pertaining hill areas, which had 7.5 crore people living there as of the 2011 census. The Indian Himalayan Region is spread across 12 Indian States and the percentage of share of the geographical area of these states in the IHR is listed in Table 3. With a total area of more than 5.3 million square kilometres, the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) spans more than 2,500 kilometres between the Indus and Brahmaputra River systems (Ministry of Science and Technology; Government of India). The region is home to about 50 million people and is distinguished by diversified demography as well as flexible economic, environmental, social, and political systems (NITI Aayog, 2021b). For the expert opinion and literature analysis, the land use planning procedures followed in the Himalayan region of India such as Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, and Uttarakhand were analysed due to the high percentage of Hilly Terrain land in these states.

Table 3. Share of the geographical area of States in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR)

S. No.	State/region	% Share of geographical area of States in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR)
1	Jammu & Kashmir	41.65
2	Himachal Pradesh	10.43
3	Uttarakhand	10.02
4	Sikkim	1.33
5	West Bengal	0.59
6	Meghalaya	4.20
7	Assam	2.87
8	Tripura	1.97
9	Mizoram	3.95
10	Manipur	4.18
11	Nagaland	3.11
12	Arunachal Pradesh	15.69
	Total	100

Source: Nandy, Dhyani et al. (2006)

The mapping process is carried out for the ten states - Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. The master plan for Meghalaya is not available, and West Bengal only shares 0.59 per cent (a low percentage) of hilly terrain land. As a result, the mapping phase is not performed for these two states that fall in the IHR.

Description of land use planning process by FAO

The FAO defines Land Use Planning as a systematic and iterative procedure carried out to create an enabling environment for the sustainable development of land resources which meets people's needs and demands. It evaluates the potentials and limitations of the physical, socioeconomic, institutional, and legal features of optimal and sustainable use of land resources and equips individuals with the knowledge necessary to choose how to allocate those resources. A common process can be followed consisting of the 10 steps for land use allocation as per FAO (as shown in Figure 6) (Soil Resources, 1993; Ashnani, Danehkar et al., 2018).

Figure 6. Land-use process by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

Description of process in master plans and expert survey of each state

Table 4. Comparison of the land use process given by FAO and in Indian hill states

FAO Land use planning steps.	Step 1	Step 2	Step 3	Step 4	Step 5	Step 6	Step 7	Step 8	Step 9	Step 10
Srinagar, Kashmir	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	0
Kohima Nagaland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gangtok, Sikkim	*	0	*	0	0	*	*	*	*	0
Manipur, Imphal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Guwahati, Assam	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shimla, H. P	*	*	0	0	*	0	0	*	*	*
Aizawl, Mizoram	*	0	*	*	0	0	0	*	*	0
Dehradun, Uttarakhand	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Agartala, Tripura	0	*	*	0	*	0	0	*	0	0

* Step mentioned by FAO, is followed by the state.

0 Step mentioned by FAO, is not followed by the state.

A comparison of land use practices is drawn from the literature and expert interviews conducted in the various hill states of India. Table 4 compares the land use planning processes followed in ten hill states to the FAO guidelines where * represents the step mentioned by FAO is followed by the state, whereas 0 represents that, the step is not followed by the state. Also, the states with all 0 mean that the land uses are allocated based on the demand and the growth trend. Land use suitability is an important step in land use planning, but only a few states consider it in the planning process. Furthermore, if land use suitability is followed, the scientific method of calculation is not employed. In the master plans, the criteria for land use planning are either not mentioned, or if given, the methodology or how they are weighted is not specified.

Selection of Criteria for Land Use Planning

The identification of critical criteria for land use planning in hills is from the literature review and their weights are determined through expert interviews. The literature review is from the national and international studies (research) on hills and master plans for the hill regions of India as shown in Table 5.

Table 5. Detail of the number of papers referred for selection of criteria

S. No.	Criteria	Hill region of India (Author) (N=10)	Hill region At International level (Author) (N=10)	Hill region of India (Master Plans) (N=9)	Total (29)
1	Slope	9	8	4	21
2	Road proximity	8	6	2	16
3	Land use/Land cover	8	3	0	11
4	Land Values	3	1	0	4
5	Soil	3	3	0	6
6	Geological data	5	2	0	7
7	Altitude	1	0	0	1
8	Environment	2	6	3	11
9	Drainage/Surface runoff	3	2	0	5
10	Aspect	3	0	1	4
11	Aesthetics	1	2	0	3
12	Hazard proneness	1	4	2	7
13	Eco-sensitive zones	1	0	1	2
14	Existing urban utilities	2	2	1	4
15	Climate	1	0	0	1
16	Wind direction	1	0	0	1
17	Socio-economics	1	4	0	5
18	Safety	0	1	0	1
19	Historic or cultural sites	0	2	0	2

Criteria like slope, road proximity, Land use/Land cover, Land Values, Soil, Geological data, altitude, Environment, Drainage/Surface runoff, Aspect, Aesthetics, Hazard proneness, eco-sensitive zones, Existing urban utilities, climate, wind direction, socio-economics, safety and historic or cultural sites are frequently used for assessment of land use decisions.

The selection of the criteria that can form the basis for land use decisions in hill towns of India, involves three stages. The first stage of the selection procedure incorporates the criteria found in studies (literature) at national and international hills, as well as the master plan document for hill areas in India for land use suitability mapping. The criteria that contain the largest sum according to the three studies are used in the second round of selection as shown in Table 6.

Table 6. Selection criteria for land use in hills

1st selection criteria	2nd selection criteria
Slope	Land use/ Land cover
Accessibility/road proximity	Land Value
Environment/vegetation	Aspect
Existing urban utilities	Geological data
Hazard prone areas/ vulnerability	Surface run-off/Drainage
	Aesthetics
	Soil
	Socio-economics

In the third stage, a detailed literature analysis of hill development and expert opinion in various hill states of India is conducted to determine the critical components that might influence land use. Additionally, three primary categories i.e., Natural, Built Environment, and Proneness to Hazards are defined, and each of them comprises the criterion that is listed underneath them as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. List of main categories and criteria under them for land use in hills

Questionnaire survey

After the selection of the criteria (under the main categories), finally, a questionnaire survey was conducted for determining the percentage influence of each criterion for land use planning in the hills. Firstly, a draft questionnaire was prepared, and a pilot survey was conducted with 5 experts on the hills for the pre-testing of the questionnaire. The purpose of the pilot survey was to evaluate any additions needed to the number of criteria, the relevance of the questions, and the clarity of the questionnaire. Based on their comments, appropriate changes were made to the questionnaire, and the final questionnaire was mailed to the experts for the survey. The questionnaires were filled up by forty experts following Saaty’s 9-point scale. The experts were Academicians (15%), Architect planners (27.5 %), Researchers (7.5%) and Urban Planners (50%) having expertise in the hills.

The survey comprises five sections, amongst which respondents have to fill in their basic details in section 1. The second section explains the structure of the questionnaire. Section 3-5 includes a set of criteria, namely under Natural Aspects, Built Environment, and Proneness to Hazards categories, where the ranking for the most important and least important criterion is to be done based on the respondent's competence, with 9 being the most important criteria and 1 being the least significant criteria for land-use planning in India's hill areas.

Calculation

As per the questionnaire, the results are compiled by the formula mentioned below:

$Mean=\sqrt{\frac{{\sum }_{}^{}(f_i\times x_i)}{N}}$ (1)

where: f_i= Frequency of occurring; x_i= value (weight); N= Total number of respondents. The mean value of each criterion is calculated using the formula, and the weights are listed in the Table 7.

Table 7. Calculation of weights of the criteria for land use in hills

Category	Criteria	Weights
Natural	Slope	8.28
	Aspect	7.25
	Proximity to Natural Features	5.05
	Existing Vegetation	6.12
	Geographical Location	7.05
	Aesthetics	4.08
	Geological Conditions	5.65
	Natural Drainage Pattern	7.60
Built Environment	Road Width	5.63
	Preservation of heritage sites and historic remains	5.0
	Distance from Road	7.22
	Location WRT City Centre	6.35
	Distance from Health facility	7.97
	Land Value	5.12
	Access to Water	8.13
	Access to sewerage facilities	7.60
Proneness to Hazards	Earthquake	7.88
	Landslide	8.35
	Cloud Burst	7.32
	Floods	5.57

Under the category of natural aspects, slope and natural drainage patterns are given the maximum weightage by the experts. Due to the higher cost of construction on steep slopes, the slope of a site is crucial in any development activity. A steep slope's stability is also impacted by any development on it, which increases the risk of hazards in hilly areas. The natural drainage pattern is also an essential criterion in the case of hills to analyse the risk assessment as higher runoff can result in landslides and flooding in these fragile areas. Aspect and Geographical location have been given importance after slope and natural drainage pattern, followed by existing vegetation, geological conditions, proximity to natural features and aesthetics respectively.

Similarly, under the built environment category, access to water and distance from healthcare facilities holds the highest weightage, followed by access to sewerage facility, distance from the road, location with respect to city centre road width, land value and Preservation of heritage sites and historic remains and respectively. While considering hazard proneness as a major category for land use planning in India's hill regions, landslides and earthquakes are given greater weight than floods and cloud bursts.

Thus, the criteria essential for the planning of land use in the hills are primarily researched in detail with the support of the literature, semi-structured interviews with town planning officials of various hill states and a questionnaire survey. Then, using the methodology for the selection of criteria described in the study, the criteria are sorted, and finally, the mean weights are computed from the questionnaire survey.

Discussion

The land parcels in the hills are scarce and the development is happening at a very high pace. Before planning hill towns, it is important to study the terrain and historical development of the area. The ecological carrying capacity should be the priority because hill cities are getting converted into concrete jungles and land use planning must be based on scientific criteria. For the land use allocation process in India, the URDPFI guidelines suggest the Land Use Suitability analysis must be considered. Suitability helps to identify various criteria that need to be considered for the allocation of land uses and that will provide a systematic way for the allocation of land uses in India.

However, the literature on land use planning in the hills tells us that there are no set criteria or methods to allocate the land uses in an area i.e., there is limited information about the procedure such as statistical evidence or analysis for the land use planning. There are no predetermined standards or procedures for allocating/planning the various land uses in the hill region, as per the literature on land use planning in the hill cities/towns of India. Though numerous researchers, academics, and institutions have raised concerns about India's unplanned land uses, master plans do not explain the basis for land use planning and do not give information on the methodologies or procedures employed in the land use planning process.

To understand the master plan process of allocating land uses, the detailed review of the master plan of various hill states of India that falls in the Indian Himalayan region such as Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, Kashmir, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Uttarakhand are carried out followed by a semi-structured interview of various town planning officials in these hill states of India. According to the experts, they follow URDPFI guidelines, which mention suitability as a key phase in land use planning, but it is clear from the master plan and official documents that only a few states consider suitability in the planning process. Additionally, if land use suitability is followed, the scientific method of calculation is not used. There is a gap between the existing literature on land use and the expert opinion from the semi-structured interview, which depicts that there is a requirement for a systemic way of the allocation of land uses for the planned development of the hill towns of India. It is alarming that the techniques for allocating/ planning land uses are not included in the plans and that the land use processes for the hills are not documented for the hill cities of India.

Therefore, from the in-depth literature review of national, and international hill studies, master plan documents and semi-structured interview surveys with the officials of hill regions of India, a major issue in the hill regions for land use planning is the lack of a quantitative approach. To preserve the distinctive and traditional character of hill towns/cities, it is necessary to monitor and plan the growth in the hills and the scientific way for the distribution of land uses. Therefore, the study presents a methodology that includes the selection of criteria that can form the basis for land use allocation in hill cities of India and by providing the weights to these criteria, through a questionnaire survey of various experts of the hill regions, the significance of the most essential and the least essential criteria can be attained.

Conclusion

The land parcels in the hills are scarce and the development is happening at a very high pace. Inappropriate land uses have led to uncontrolled development in the hills, which has created numerous problems for hill cities. Hills have to face various issues and challenges due to a lack of land use planning practices and information. The literature on land use planning in the hills tells us that there are no set criteria or methods to allocate the land uses in an area. It’s a matter of concern that the land use processes for the hills are not documented and the methods for allocation of land uses are not described in the plans. Though numerous researchers, academics, and institutions have raised concerns about India's unplanned land uses, master plans do not explain the basis for land use planning and do not give information on the methodologies or procedures employed in the land use planning process. Also, the approach used for the plains is duplicated for land use planning in hills. The approach once evolved for the plains and the criteria, or the factors considered for the land use planning in plains should not be duplicated for hills as the characteristics of urban development in hills is different from the plains.

As a result, the study assists in comprehending the current land use planning process present in Indian hill towns, for which a semi-structured interview is conducted with the intent of learning about the ongoing process of land use practises in hills. The process followed in these hill states of India has been analysed and compared with FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) guidelines to understand the gaps and problems in the land use planning process in India's hill cities. For the suitability analysis followed in the research, the criteria required for the planning of land use in the hills are first thoroughly studied, then sorted using a methodology described in the study, and finally, the mean weights from the questionnaire survey are calculated, which enables to analyse the important factors that must be considered during the planning of land uses in the hills. Thus, the study provides a basis or procedure that can be followed further for land use allocation in the hill cities of India with little or no modifications.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, S. S. and A. K.; B. S., methodology, A. K. and B. S.; investigation, S. S. and A. S.; resources, writing—original draft preparation, S. S.; A. S.; and A.K writing—review and editing, S. S., A. S.; and A. K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Ethics Declaration

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of the paper.

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