Urban Planning Technical Dictionary – Section-wise Q & A (Part 1)
A. Core Planning Concepts & Plans B. Land Use, Density & Urban Form C. Development Control & Legal Tools D. Transport Planning & Street Design
E. Housing, Slums & Urban Renewal F. Environment, Green Space & Infrastructure G. Methods, Data & Governance H. Acts, Institutions & Policy I. Programmes & Missions J. Valuation & Land Acquisition K. Methods, Models & Statistics L. Remote Sensing & GIS (Advanced) M. Social & Community Planning N. Urban Economics & Finance (Advanced) O. Classic Theories & Concepts
A. Core Planning Concepts & Types of Plans
- Urban Planning, Region, Settlement, Hierarchy of Settlements
- Master Plan, Structure Plan, Zonal Plan, Local Area Plan, TP Scheme
- Vision Statement, Planning Horizon, Planning Authority, Urban Governance, Metropolitan Planning
Q1. What is Urban Planning?
Ans. Urban planning is the process of guiding the physical, social and economic development of towns and cities through policies, spatial plans, regulations and design so that growth is orderly, efficient and sustainable.
Q2. What is a Region in planning?
Ans. A region is a larger geographical area, often including multiple settlements, defined for planning on the basis of functional linkages (commuting, rivers, markets, ecology) or administrative boundaries, used for regional development strategies.
Q3. What is a Settlement in regional planning?
Ans. A settlement is any inhabited place where people live in a cluster—such as a hamlet, village, town or city—characterised by built-up area, population, services and economic activities.
Q4. What is the Hierarchy of Settlements?
Ans. Hierarchy of settlements classifies settlements (hamlet, village, small town, large town, city, metropolis) according to size and functions, and is used to plan balanced distribution of services across a region.
Q5. What is a Master Plan (Development Plan)?
Ans. A master plan is a long-term statutory plan, usually for 20–25 years, that allocates land uses, prescribes development controls, proposes transport and infrastructure networks and sets policies for the planned growth of a city.
Q6. What is a Structure Plan?
Ans. A structure plan is a strategic spatial plan that outlines the broad pattern of land use, transport corridors and major infrastructure rather than detailed zoning, often used as an intermediate stage between regional strategy and detailed plans.
Q7. What is a Zonal Plan?
Ans. A zonal plan translates the master plan into detailed proposals for a specific zone of the city, including land use zoning, local street network, public facilities and development control parameters at a finer scale.
Q8. What is a Local Area Plan (LAP)?
Ans. LAP is a micro-level plan for a ward or neighbourhood focusing on street improvements, public spaces, building regulations and infrastructure upgradation, often used for retrofitting existing urban areas.
Q9. What is a Town Planning Scheme (TPS)?
Ans. TPS is a land readjustment mechanism in which land parcels in a defined area are pooled, re-planned with roads and amenities, and then reallotted to owners as smaller reconstituted plots after deducting land for public purposes and betterment charges.
Q10. What is a Vision Statement in planning?
Ans. A vision statement is a concise description of the desired future state of a city or region (for example, “compact, inclusive and transit-oriented”), guiding goals, policies and projects throughout the planning process.
Q11. What is a Planning Horizon?
Ans. Planning horizon is the time period for which projections and proposals in a plan are made—typically 20–25 years for master plans and 5–7 years for medium-term or sectoral plans.
Q12. What is a Planning Authority?
Ans. The planning authority is the legally empowered body such as a development authority, metropolitan authority or municipal corporation that prepares plans, grants permissions and enforces planning regulations within its jurisdiction.
Q13. What is Urban Governance?
Ans. Urban governance refers to the institutions, processes and rules through which decisions on city development, resource allocation and service delivery are made and implemented, involving government, private sector and civil society.
Q14. What is Metropolitan Planning?
Ans. Metropolitan planning deals with integrated development of a metropolitan area and its hinterland, coordinating land use, transport, environment and infrastructure across multiple local bodies and jurisdictions.
B. Land Use, Density & Urban Form
- Land Use, Land Use Zoning, Mixed Use
- FAR/FSI, Ground Coverage, Setback, Plot Subdivision
- Density (Net & Gross), Compact City, Sprawl, Ribbon Development
- CBD, Sub-Centre, Urban Growth Boundary, Urban Morphology
Q15. What is Land Use in urban planning?
Ans. Land use is the functional use of each land parcel—such as residential, commercial, industrial, public/semi-public, recreational or transportation—as designated in plans and zoning maps.
Q16. What is Land Use Zoning?
Ans. Land use zoning is the regulation that divides urban land into zones and specifies permitted, conditionally permitted and prohibited uses in each, along with development controls like FAR, height and setbacks.
Q17. What is Mixed Use Development?
Ans. Mixed use development allows more than one compatible use (for example, housing over shops, offices with retail) in the same building or area to create vibrant, walkable and compact neighbourhoods.
Q18. What is Floor Area Ratio (FAR) / FSI?
Ans. FAR is the ratio of total built-up floor area on all floors to the plot area. It regulates intensity of development, affects building height and massing, and links built form to infrastructure capacity.
Q19. What is Ground Coverage?
Ans. Ground coverage is the percentage of plot area covered by the building footprint at ground level, excluding open-to-sky areas such as setbacks, courtyards and internal roads.
Q20. What is a Setback?
Ans. Setback is the minimum required clear distance between the building line and the plot boundary on each side, provided for light, ventilation, privacy, emergency access and utilities.
Q21. What is Plot Subdivision?
Ans. Plot subdivision is the division of a larger land parcel into smaller plots as per an approved layout plan, following norms for access, minimum plot size, shape, frontage and open spaces.
Q22. What is Urban Density?
Ans. Urban density is the concentration of people or built-up units in a given area, expressed as persons per hectare or dwelling units per hectare, and is a key parameter in plan design and service provision.
Q23. What is Net Residential Density?
Ans. Net residential density is the number of persons or dwelling units per hectare of land used only for residential plots and internal access roads, excluding schools, parks and non-residential uses.
Q24. What is Gross Density?
Ans. Gross density is the number of persons or dwelling units per hectare of the total neighbourhood or sector area, including housing, roads, open spaces and community facilities.
Q25. What is Urban Sprawl?
Ans. Urban sprawl is low-density, scattered and car-dependent outward expansion of a city into rural areas, often with leap-frog development and high per capita infrastructure cost.
Q26. What is a Compact City?
Ans. A compact city is a development pattern characterised by relatively high density, mixed land uses and strong public transport, aiming to reduce travel distances, protect open land and improve sustainability.
Q27. What is Ribbon Development?
Ans. Ribbon development is linear spread of buildings along major roads or transport corridors, often unplanned, causing strip congestion, unsafe access and inefficient infrastructure provision.
Q28. What is a Central Business District (CBD)?
Ans. The CBD is the main commercial and business core of a city with high concentration of offices, retail, finance and services, characterised by high land values and strong public transport accessibility.
Q29. What is a Sub-Centre or Secondary Business District?
Ans. A sub-centre is a decentralised commercial node outside the main CBD, serving surrounding residential areas, reducing pressure on the CBD and promoting polycentric urban structure.
Q30. What is an Urban Growth Boundary (UGB)?
Ans. UGB is a planned limit up to which urban development is permitted; beyond this line, conversion of rural land is restricted to control sprawl, protect agriculture and phase infrastructure logically.
Q31. What is Urban Morphology?
Ans. Urban morphology is the study of the physical form of cities—street patterns, plot structure, building typologies and open space systems—and how they change over time.
C. Development Control, Economics & Legal Instruments
- Building Bye-laws, DCR, Zoning Regulation, Non-Conforming Use
- Development Permission, Occupancy Certificate
- Land Acquisition, Land Pooling, TDR, Betterment Levy
- Planning Norms, Standards, Right of Way
Q32. What are Building Bye-laws?
Ans. Building bye-laws are statutory rules that govern building design and construction—covering height, setbacks, FAR, structural and fire safety, parking and services—to ensure health, safety and orderly development.
Q33. What are Development Control Regulations (DCR)?
Ans. DCR are detailed rules that regulate land use, building bulk, open spaces, parking, access and other aspects of development to implement the intents of the master plan in day-to-day permissions.
Q34. What is a Zoning Regulation?
Ans. Zoning regulation specifies what types of land uses are permitted, restricted or prohibited in different zones and prescribes associated development controls such as FAR and height limits.
Q35. What is a Non-Conforming Use?
Ans. Non-conforming use is an existing land use or building that does not match current zoning or regulations but is allowed to continue, generally with restrictions on expansion, rebuilding or change of use.
Q36. What is a Development Permission / Building Permit?
Ans. Development permission is official approval by the competent authority to undertake development such as new construction, addition or change of use after verifying conformity with plans and regulations.
Q37. What is an Occupancy Certificate (OC)?
Ans. OC is the certificate issued after completion of construction as per sanctioned plan and norms, certifying that the building is fit for occupation and allowing its legal use and registration.
Q38. What is Transferable Development Rights (TDR)?
Ans. TDR is a mechanism where development potential (FAR) from a “sending” plot—often reserved for road, open space or heritage—is transferred to a “receiving” plot in designated zones, compensating landowners without full cash acquisition.
Q39. What is a Betterment Levy?
Ans. Betterment levy is a charge imposed on landowners who benefit from public improvements (like new roads or metro lines) to capture part of the increase in land value and finance infrastructure.
Q40. What is Land Acquisition in planning?
Ans. Land acquisition is the process by which government acquires private land for public purposes such as roads, parks and infrastructure, following due legal procedure and compensating owners under relevant acts.
Q41. What is Land Pooling / Land Readjustment?
Ans. Land pooling/readjustment is a technique where landowners contribute their plots to a common pool, area is replanned with streets and amenities, and each owner receives a smaller but better serviced reconstituted plot plus share in development benefits.
Q42. What are Planning Standards?
Ans. Planning standards are quantitative norms (for example, park area per capita, classrooms per student) used to determine land and facility requirements for different population levels in plans.
Q43. What is a Right of Way (ROW)?
Ans. ROW is the total width of land reserved for a street or infrastructure corridor, including carriageway, footpaths, medians, utilities and space for future widening between property lines on both sides.
D. Transport Planning & Street Design
- Transport Planning, Trip Generation, Modal Split
- TOD, Transport Corridor, ROW Hierarchy
- Pedestrian-Friendly Street, Complete Street, Traffic Calming, Parking Management
Q44. What is Transport Planning?
Ans. Transport planning is the process of analysing travel demand and planning infrastructure, services and policies to ensure safe, efficient and sustainable movement of people and goods in urban and regional areas.
Q45. What is Trip Generation?
Ans. Trip generation estimates the number of trips originating from or attracted to different land uses (housing, offices, schools) and is the first step in the four-stage transport modelling process.
Q46. What is a Modal Split?
Ans. Modal split is the percentage distribution of total trips among different modes such as walking, cycling, public transport, private vehicles and intermediate public transport.
Q47. What is Transit Oriented Development (TOD)?
Ans. TOD is a planning concept that promotes higher densities, mixed land uses and walkable urban design within walking distance of high-capacity public transport stations to reduce car dependence and support sustainable mobility.
Q48. What is a Transport Corridor?
Ans. A transport corridor is a linear band where major transport infrastructure such as highways, rail or metro lines and associated land uses are concentrated, often guiding the spatial structure and growth of the city.
Q49. What is Right of Way Hierarchy in road planning?
Ans. ROW hierarchy categorises streets into arterial, sub-arterial, collector and local roads, each with specific ROW widths, design speeds and functions to create an efficient and legible circulation network.
Q50. What is a Pedestrian-Friendly Street?
Ans. A pedestrian-friendly street provides continuous, safe and comfortable walking space with adequate footpath width, safe crossings, shade, lighting and universal accessibility, prioritising people over vehicles.
Q51. What is a Complete Street?
Ans. A complete street is a street designed to safely accommodate all users—pedestrians, cyclists, public transport and private vehicles—through appropriate cross-section, traffic calming and universal design features.
Q52. What is Traffic Calming?
Ans. Traffic calming uses physical and regulatory measures such as speed humps, raised crossings, narrowed lanes and chicanes to reduce vehicle speeds and improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
Q53. What is Parking Management?
Ans. Parking management is a set of policies and design strategies—pricing, time limits, shared parking, park-and-ride—that optimise use of limited parking supply and discourage unnecessary private vehicle use.
E. Housing, Informal Settlements & Urban Renewal
- Housing Shortage, Affordable Housing, Incremental Housing
- Slum, In-situ Redevelopment, Sites & Services
- Urban Renewal, Redevelopment, Conservation, Gentrification, Heritage Precinct
Q54. What is Housing Shortage?
Ans. Housing shortage is the gap between the number of households and the number of acceptable dwelling units available, including both quantitative deficit and qualitative deficiency such as kutcha or congested units.
Q55. What is Affordable Housing?
Ans. Affordable housing is adequate, safe housing that low- and middle-income households can obtain and maintain at a cost that does not overburden their income, usually defined as a percentage of household income by policy.
Q56. What is a Slum in planning context?
Ans. A slum is an area characterised by overcrowded, poorly built housing, inadequate access to safe water and sanitation, insecure tenure and environmental health risks, generally identified for improvement or redevelopment.
Q57. What is In-situ Slum Redevelopment?
Ans. In-situ slum redevelopment upgrades or reconstructs housing and services on the same site where slum dwellers currently live, minimising displacement and preserving social networks while improving living conditions.
Q58. What is a Sites and Services Scheme?
Ans. Sites and services scheme provides serviced plots with basic infrastructure (roads, water, sanitation) to low-income families who construct their houses incrementally, combining affordability with planned layouts.
Q59. What is Incremental Housing?
Ans. Incremental housing is a housing approach where families build and upgrade their homes in stages over time, supported by secure tenure, basic services and flexible design guidelines.
Q60. What is Urban Renewal?
Ans. Urban renewal is a planned process of improving deteriorated inner-city areas through infrastructure upgradation, rehabilitation, redevelopment, conservation and social programmes rather than only demolition.
Q61. What is Urban Redevelopment?
Ans. Urban redevelopment usually involves large-scale clearance and reconstruction of obsolete or underutilised areas with new layouts, higher densities and improved infrastructure, often via public–private partnerships.
Q62. What is Urban Conservation?
Ans. Urban conservation is the protection, repair and adaptive reuse of historic buildings, streets and precincts to maintain cultural heritage while allowing contemporary use and economic vitality.
Q63. What is a Heritage Precinct?
Ans. A heritage precinct is an area containing a group of buildings, streets and open spaces of historical or cultural value, where special development controls are applied to safeguard the overall character and setting.
Q64. What is Gentrification?
Ans. Gentrification is the process by which higher-income groups move into older, lower-income neighbourhoods, causing property values and rents to rise and often leading to displacement of original residents.
F. Environment, Green Space & Urban Infrastructure
- Environmental Planning, Urban Green Space, Green Belt, UHI
- Stormwater Management, IUWM, Sanitation, SWM
- Urban Resilience, Disaster Risk-Sensitive Land Use Plan
Q65. What is Environmental Planning?
Ans. Environmental planning integrates ecological and environmental considerations into land use and infrastructure decisions to protect natural resources, reduce pollution and enhance resilience to climate and disaster risks.
Q66. What is an Urban Green Space?
Ans. Urban green space includes parks, playgrounds, gardens, greenways and other vegetated open spaces within a city that provide recreation, ecological services and health benefits to residents.
Q67. What is a Green Belt?
Ans. A green belt is a designated band of largely open land around an urban area where development is strictly controlled to contain sprawl, protect agriculture and maintain ecological and recreational functions.
Q68. What is an Urban Heat Island (UHI)?
Ans. UHI is the phenomenon where urban areas are significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas due to dense built surfaces, limited vegetation and waste heat from human activities.
Q69. What is Stormwater Management?
Ans. Stormwater management involves planning and designing drains, retention ponds, infiltration systems and green infrastructure to safely convey, store and infiltrate rainwater, reducing urban flooding and pollution.
Q70. What is Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM)?
Ans. IUWM is a holistic approach that coordinates water supply, wastewater, stormwater and groundwater management with land use planning to achieve efficiency, resilience and environmental protection in cities.
Q71. What is Sanitation Infrastructure?
Ans. Sanitation infrastructure comprises sewer networks, on-site sanitation systems, treatment plants and public toilets that safely collect, convey and treat human waste to protect public health and environment.
Q72. What is Solid Waste Management (SWM)?
Ans. SWM includes collection, segregation, storage, transport, processing and disposal of municipal solid waste with emphasis on reduction, reuse, recycling and environmentally sound disposal.
Q73. What is Urban Resilience?
Ans. Urban resilience is the ability of a city to prepare for, withstand and recover from shocks and stresses such as floods, heatwaves, earthquakes, pandemics and economic disruptions while maintaining essential functions.
Q74. What is a Disaster Risk-Sensitive Land Use Plan?
Ans. A disaster risk-sensitive land use plan explicitly considers hazard zones, exposure and vulnerability and allocates land uses, densities and infrastructure in ways that reduce disaster risk and support evacuation and emergency response.
G. Planning Tools, Data, Evaluation & Governance Concepts
- Base Map, Thematic Map, GIS, Spatial Database
- Household Survey, Sample Survey, Urban Observatory
- Scenario Planning, CBA, EIA, SIA
- Policy, Plan Implementation, PPP, Urban Finance, User Charge, Property Tax
- Decentralisation, ULB, Functional Region, Central Place Theory, Location Theory
- Urban Design, Public Realm, Place-Making
Q75. What is a Base Map in planning?
Ans. A base map is a fundamental map showing features such as cadastral boundaries, roads, water bodies, contours and utilities, over which land use and other thematic layers are superimposed for planning.
Q76. What is a Thematic Map?
Ans. A thematic map represents a specific theme—for example land use, population density, slums or flood risk—helping planners understand spatial patterns and relationships for decision making.
Q77. What is GIS in urban planning?
Ans. Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer-based system for capturing, storing, analysing and visualising spatial data, widely used in preparation, monitoring and evaluation of urban and regional plans.
Q78. What is a Spatial Database?
Ans. A spatial database is an organised collection of spatial layers (parcels, roads, services) and their attributes, managed in a GIS to support mapping, queries and spatial analysis for planning.
Q79. What is a Household Survey in planning?
Ans. Household survey is a primary data collection method where information on demographics, housing, services, income and travel behaviour is collected from sampled households to inform planning decisions.
Q80. What is a Sample Survey?
Ans. Sample survey collects data from a statistically selected subset of units (households, shops, plots), and conclusions are generalised to the whole population using sampling theory, reducing cost and time.
Q81. What is an Urban Observatory?
Ans. An urban observatory is an institutional mechanism for collecting, analysing and disseminating data and indicators on urban conditions (housing, services, environment, economy) to support evidence-based policymaking.
Q82. What is Scenario Planning?
Ans. Scenario planning explores multiple alternative futures—such as compact vs. sprawled, transit-oriented vs. car-oriented—and evaluates their impacts so that planners can choose robust strategies.
Q83. What is Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA) in planning?
Ans. CBA is an economic evaluation that compares the present value of expected benefits and costs of a project over its life to assess whether it is socially desirable and to compare project alternatives.
Q84. What is Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)?
Ans. EIA is a formal process that predicts the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project, considers alternatives and recommends mitigation measures before decisions or clearances are granted.
Q85. What is Social Impact Assessment (SIA)?
Ans. SIA analyses how a proposed policy or project will affect people’s lives, livelihoods, social networks and culture and suggests measures to mitigate adverse social impacts and enhance benefits.
Q86. What is a Policy in urban planning?
Ans. A policy is a guiding principle or course of action adopted by government to influence decisions and outcomes in areas such as housing, transport, environment, land development or urban poverty.
Q87. What is a Plan Implementation Mechanism?
Ans. Plan implementation mechanism consists of regulations, institutional arrangements, financial tools, phasing and monitoring systems used to convert plan proposals into projects and on-ground actions.
Q88. What is a Public–Private Partnership (PPP) in urban development?
Ans. PPP is a collaboration in which public and private sectors share risks, responsibilities and returns to finance, build and operate infrastructure or housing projects according to agreed contracts and performance standards.
Q89. What is Urban Finance?
Ans. Urban finance refers to the mobilisation and management of financial resources by urban local bodies and agencies—through taxes, user charges, grants, loans and land-based instruments—to fund urban infrastructure and services.
Q90. What is a User Charge?
Ans. User charge is a fee paid by beneficiaries for specific services such as water supply, solid waste collection or parking, used to cover operation and maintenance costs and promote efficient use of services.
Q91. What is Property Tax?
Ans. Property tax is a recurring tax levied by local governments on land and buildings, usually based on area or value, and is a major source of revenue for municipal services and infrastructure.
Q92. What is an Urban Local Body (ULB)?
Ans. ULB is a constitutionally recognised local government institution—such as a municipal corporation, municipal council or nagar panchayat—responsible for local governance, planning and service delivery.
Q93. What is Decentralisation in urban governance?
Ans. Decentralisation is the transfer of powers, responsibilities and financial resources from higher levels of government to local bodies and communities to enable more responsive, accountable and participatory governance.
Q94. What is a Functional Region?
Ans. A functional region is defined by interactions and flows—such as commuting, trade or service catchments—rather than by purely administrative boundaries, for example a metropolitan commuting region.
Q95. What is Central Place Theory?
Ans. Central Place Theory, given by Christaller, explains the size, spacing and hierarchy of settlements as service centres (“central places”) in a region based on threshold population and range of goods and services.
Q96. What is Location Theory in planning?
Ans. Location theory studies how economic activities choose locations depending on factors like transport cost, land price, labour and market access, shaping the spatial patterns of industry and commerce.
Q97. What is Urban Design?
Ans. Urban design deals with the three-dimensional form and experience of public spaces, streets and built fabric, integrating architecture, landscape and planning to create functional and attractive urban environments.
Q98. What is the Public Realm?
Ans. Public realm consists of publicly accessible spaces—streets, squares, parks, waterfronts—where people move, meet and interact, forming the social and visual life of the city.
Q99. What is Place-Making?
Ans. Place-making is the collaborative process of planning, designing and managing public spaces to create meaningful, lively and people-centred places that reflect local identity and community needs.
Q100. What is a Planning Norm?
Ans. A planning norm is a quantitative benchmark, such as minimum open space per person or facility per population, used as a standard for provision of services and amenities in urban and regional plans.
H. Acts, Institutions & Policy Framework
- Town & Country Planning Act, Municipal Acts, Development Authority, Improvement Trust
- 74th Constitutional Amendment, MPC, DPC, ULB
- URDPFI Guidelines, National Urban Policy, SPV under missions
Q101. What is a Town & Country Planning Act (state TCP Act)?
Ans. A Town & Country Planning Act is a state-level legislation that provides legal framework for preparation of development plans, control of development and functioning of planning authorities within the state.
Q102. What is a Municipal Act in urban governance?
Ans. Municipal Acts are state laws that define the powers, functions, financial resources and structure of urban local bodies such as municipal corporations, councils and nagar panchayats.
Q103. What is a Development Authority?
Ans. A development authority is a statutory body created under a state TCP or special act to prepare and implement master plans, acquire land, undertake development schemes and regulate development in a notified area.
Q104. What is an Improvement Trust?
Ans. An improvement trust is an older form of urban development agency focused on slum clearance, housing and urban improvement schemes, especially under colonial and early post-independence legislation.
Q105. What is the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (74th CAA)?
Ans. The 74th CAA inserted Part IXA in the Constitution, providing constitutional status to urban local bodies, listing their functions (12th Schedule) and mandating devolution of powers and regular elections.
Q106. What is a Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC)?
Ans. MPC is a constitutional body envisaged under the 74th CAA to prepare a draft development plan for the metropolitan area, consolidating plans of municipalities and panchayats within that area.
Q107. What is a District Planning Committee (DPC)?
Ans. DPC is a district-level body mandated to consolidate plans prepared by panchayats and municipalities and prepare a draft district development plan for integrated rural–urban development.
Q108. What is a State Town & Country Planning Department?
Ans. It is the state-level technical department responsible for policy guidance, regional planning, technical scrutiny of plans and coordination between local planning authorities and the state government.
Q109. What are URDPFI Guidelines?
Ans. Urban & Regional Development Plans Formulation & Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines are national guidelines issued by the Government of India to standardise methodologies, plan contents and norms for urban and regional plans.
Q110. What is a National Urban Policy?
Ans. National urban policy is an overarching policy framework of the union government that sets out principles, priorities and strategies for managing urbanisation, supporting state and city-level reforms and investments.
Q111. What is an Urban Local Body (ULB) in this context?
Ans. ULB is a municipal corporation, council or nagar panchayat that is responsible for local-level planning, service delivery, regulation and implementation of many centrally sponsored schemes.
Q112. What is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in urban missions?
Ans. SPV is a dedicated company or entity created to plan, implement and manage projects under missions such as Smart Cities, enabling faster decision-making and project execution with multiple stakeholders as shareholders.
Q113. What is a Parastatal Agency in urban development?
Ans. Parastatal agencies are state-controlled but semi-autonomous bodies (e.g., housing boards, water boards, development authorities) that provide specific urban services or development functions parallel to ULBs.
Q114. What is a Building Regulation compared to a Planning Regulation?
Ans. Building regulations focus mainly on safety, structure, fire, services and building design, whereas planning regulations govern land use, density, layout and overall spatial development of an area.
Q115. What is an Enforcement Cell in planning authorities?
Ans. Enforcement cell is a unit within a planning/local authority responsible for monitoring violations, issuing notices, sealing or demolishing unauthorised constructions and ensuring compliance with planning and building regulations.
I. Programmes, Missions & Flagship Schemes
- JNNURM, AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission, PMAY-U
- Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban, DAY–NULM, HRIDAY, PM SVANidhi
- Service Level Benchmarks, Rurban Mission, NUHM (urban health)
Q116. What was the JNNURM programme?
Ans. Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was a major urban reform and investment programme launched in 2005 to support urban infrastructure, basic services to the urban poor and governance reforms in selected cities.
Q117. What is AMRUT?
Ans. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) focuses on providing universal coverage of basic urban services such as water supply, sewerage, green spaces and non-motorised transport in selected cities.
Q118. What is the Smart Cities Mission?
Ans. Smart Cities Mission aims to promote cities that provide core infrastructure, quality of life, and smart solutions through area-based development, pan-city initiatives and use of ICT for improved governance and services.
Q119. What is PMAY–Urban (PMAY-U)?
Ans. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Urban is a housing scheme with components such as in-situ slum redevelopment, credit-linked subsidy, affordable housing in partnership and beneficiary-led construction for urban poor households.
Q120. What is Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban (SBM-U)?
Ans. SBM-U is a flagship mission to eliminate open defecation, improve solid waste management, promote behavioural change and create clean and hygienic urban environments.
Q121. What is DAY–NULM?
Ans. Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY–NULM) aims to reduce urban poverty by promoting self-employment, skill development and social mobilisation of the urban poor.
Q122. What is the HRIDAY scheme?
Ans. Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) focuses on holistic development of heritage cities by improving basic services, streetscapes and public spaces around heritage assets.
Q123. What is PM SVANidhi?
Ans. PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) provides micro-credit to urban street vendors to restart or expand their livelihoods, often integrated with planning of vending zones and hawker spaces.
Q124. What are Service Level Benchmarks (SLBs) in urban services?
Ans. SLBs are standard quantitative indicators (coverage, per capita supply, continuity, quality, O&M cost recovery) used to measure and compare performance of urban services like water supply and sewerage.
Q125. What is the Rurban Mission?
Ans. Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission aims to develop “rurban clusters” by providing urban-like amenities in rural areas while preserving rural character, thus reducing rural–urban migration pressure.
Q126. What is the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM)?
Ans. NUHM is a sub-mission of National Health Mission focusing on health of the urban poor, slum dwellers and migrant populations through urban primary health centres and outreach services.
Q127. What is SBM 2.0 in urban context?
Ans. SBM 2.0 is the second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban, focusing on solid waste management sustainability, legacy waste remediation and moving towards garbage-free cities.
Q128. What are Area-Based Development (ABD) projects under Smart Cities?
Ans. ABD projects are focused interventions in a selected part of the city (e.g., retrofitting, redevelopment or greenfield area) to demonstrate model smart solutions that can be replicated city-wide.
Q129. What are Pan-City Solutions under Smart Cities?
Ans. Pan-city solutions are ICT-based interventions, like integrated traffic management or smart water systems, implemented across the entire city rather than in a limited ABD area.
Q130. What is an Urban Reform Conditionality in missions?
Ans. Urban reform conditionalities are policy and institutional reforms (e.g., property tax reforms, e-governance, double-entry accounting) that cities must undertake to access central assistance under certain missions.
J. Valuation, Land Acquisition & Real Estate Concepts
- Market Value, Guideline Value, Capitalised Value
- Rental Method, Land & Building Method, Depreciation, Obsolescence
- Freehold, Leasehold, Fair Compensation, R&R
Q131. What is Market Value of property?
Ans. Market value is the estimated amount for which a property should exchange on the date of valuation between a willing buyer and seller in an arm’s length transaction after proper marketing.
Q132. What is Guideline Value / Circle Rate?
Ans. Guideline value or circle rate is the minimum property valuation fixed by the government for stamp duty and registration, used as a reference for taxation and sometimes for compensation calculations.
Q133. What is Capitalised Value?
Ans. Capitalised value is the present worth of a series of future net incomes from a property, obtained by dividing the net annual income by an appropriate rate of capitalisation (yield).
Q134. What is the Rental Method of Valuation?
Ans. In the rental method, value of property is estimated based on its expected net rental income capitalised at a suitable rate, commonly used for income-producing properties.
Q135. What is the Land & Building Method of valuation?
Ans. Land & building method estimates value by separately valuing land (market rate) and building (cost of construction minus depreciation) and then adding them to obtain total property value.
Q136. What is Depreciation in building valuation?
Ans. Depreciation is the loss in value of a building due to physical wear and tear, functional obsolescence or external factors, usually accounted for as a percentage of the original cost over time.
Q137. What is Obsolescence?
Ans. Obsolescence is the loss of value of a property due to outdated design, technology or external factors (e.g., change in surrounding land use), even if the physical condition is sound.
Q138. What is a Freehold Property?
Ans. Freehold property is one where the owner has absolute ownership of land and building with full rights of transfer, inheritance and use, subject only to public regulations.
Q139. What is a Leasehold Property?
Ans. Leasehold property is held under a lease agreement for a fixed term, where the lessee has rights of possession and use subject to lease conditions, while the land ownership remains with the lessor.
Q140. What is Fair Compensation in land acquisition?
Ans. Fair compensation is the amount payable to landowners for acquired land, typically based on market value plus multipliers and solatium as prescribed under the land acquisition law.
Q141. What is Solatium?
Ans. Solatium is an additional amount paid over and above market value as compensation for compulsory nature of acquisition and related emotional or livelihood loss to the landowner.
Q142. What is Rehabilitation & Resettlement (R&R)?
Ans. R&R refers to measures taken to resettle displaced persons and restore their livelihoods through housing, employment, infrastructure and other support as part of land acquisition and large projects.
Q143. What is Net Present Value (NPV) of a project?
Ans. NPV is the sum of discounted cash flows (benefits minus costs) of a project over time; a positive NPV indicates that benefits exceed costs in present value terms.
Q144. What is a Capitalisation Rate?
Ans. Capitalisation rate is the rate used to convert net annual income into capital value of a property; it reflects investor expectations of return and risk in the property market.
Q145. What is an Impact Fee in development?
Ans. Impact fee is a charge levied on new development to fund additional infrastructure and services needed due to that development, based on the “growth pays for growth” principle.
K. Planning Methods, Models & Statistical Concepts
- Population projection methods, Growth rates
- Gravity model, Four-stage model, Accessibility index
- Rank–Size Rule, Lorenz Curve, Gini Coefficient, Location Quotient
- Sampling frame, Confidence level, Standard deviation
Q146. What is the Arithmetic Increase Method of population projection?
Ans. Arithmetic increase method assumes that the population increases by a constant absolute number each decade, calculated from past census data, and adds this to project future population.
Q147. What is the Geometric Increase Method?
Ans. Geometric method assumes that population grows at a constant percentage rate per decade, so each future population is obtained by multiplying the present population by (1 + growth rate)^n.
Q148. What is the Incremental Increase Method?
Ans. Incremental increase method combines arithmetic growth with the trend in increase itself by adding both the average increase and the average incremental increase to estimate future population.
Q149. What is the Cohort–Survival Method?
Ans. Cohort–survival method projects population by age–sex cohorts using fertility, mortality and migration rates, and is more accurate for demographic and social planning analysis.
Q150. What is the Logistic Curve Method of population projection?
Ans. Logistic method assumes that population growth follows an S-shaped curve with an upper carrying capacity, where growth slows as population approaches the saturation level.
Q151. What is the Gravity Model in planning?
Ans. Gravity model estimates interaction (e.g., trips, trade) between two places as directly proportional to their masses (population, size) and inversely proportional to some function of distance or travel cost between them.
Q152. What is the Four-Stage Transport Model?
Ans. The four-stage model consists of trip generation, trip distribution, modal split and traffic assignment, used to forecast future traffic flows and evaluate transport networks and policies.
Q153. What is an Accessibility Index?
Ans. Accessibility index is a quantitative measure of how easily people can reach opportunities (jobs, services, parks) from a given location, often using travel time, distance or generalised cost-based metrics.
Q154. What is the Rank–Size Rule for city sizes?
Ans. Rank–size rule states that in a balanced urban system, the population of a city is inversely proportional to its rank; the second city is half the size of the largest, the third is one-third, and so on.
Q155. What is a Lorenz Curve in spatial or income analysis?
Ans. Lorenz curve is a graphical representation of cumulative distribution (e.g., income or landholding) that shows degree of inequality by plotting cumulative share of income against cumulative share of population.
Q156. What is the Gini Coefficient?
Ans. Gini coefficient is a numerical measure of inequality derived from the Lorenz curve, with 0 representing perfect equality and 1 representing maximum inequality.
Q157. What is a Location Quotient (LQ)?
Ans. LQ is a ratio that compares the share of a sector in a region’s economy with its share at a larger scale (state/nation) to identify specialised or base activities in regional planning.
Q158. What is a Sampling Frame?
Ans. Sampling frame is the complete list or set of units (households, plots, establishments) from which a sample is drawn; its quality critically affects representativeness of survey results.
Q159. What is Confidence Level in sampling?
Ans. Confidence level (e.g., 95%) indicates the probability that the true population parameter lies within the estimated confidence interval from the sample survey.
Q160. What is Standard Deviation?
Ans. Standard deviation is a measure of dispersion that indicates how much individual observations deviate on average from the mean value of the dataset.
Q161. What is a Time Series in planning data?
Ans. Time series is a sequence of observations (e.g., population, traffic volume) measured at regular intervals, used to analyse trends, seasonality and forecast future values.
Q162. What is a Scenario Matrix?
Ans. Scenario matrix is a structured framework that combines different assumptions (e.g., high/low growth, high/low public transport investment) to create alternative planning scenarios for analysis.
L. Remote Sensing & GIS (Advanced Concepts)
- Remote Sensing, Spatial/Spectral/Temporal Resolution
- Raster vs Vector, DEM/DTM, Georeferencing, Projection
- Buffer, Overlay, Network Analysis, Interpolation, Geocoding
Q163. What is Remote Sensing?
Ans. Remote sensing is the science of acquiring information about the Earth’s surface without physical contact, using sensors on satellites or aircraft that detect reflected or emitted electromagnetic radiation.
Q164. What is Spatial Resolution in remote sensing?
Ans. Spatial resolution refers to the size of the smallest object that can be detected by a sensor, usually expressed as the ground dimension of each pixel (e.g., 30 m, 1 m).
Q165. What is Spectral Resolution?
Ans. Spectral resolution is the ability of a sensor to distinguish between different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, i.e., the number and width of spectral bands it records.
Q166. What is Temporal Resolution?
Ans. Temporal resolution is the frequency with which a sensor revisits and captures data for the same location, important for monitoring dynamic phenomena like crops or floods.
Q167. What is a Digital Elevation Model (DEM)?
Ans. DEM is a digital representation of terrain elevations at regularly spaced grid points, used for slope, drainage, visibility and flood modelling in planning.
Q168. What is a Digital Terrain Model (DTM)?
Ans. DTM is an enhanced DEM that represents bare-earth terrain after removing built-up features and vegetation, often with additional information on terrain break-lines.
Q169. What is the difference between Raster and Vector data?
Ans. Raster data represents space as a grid of cells (pixels) with values (e.g., elevation, land cover), whereas vector data represents features as points, lines and polygons with attached attributes.
Q170. What is Georeferencing?
Ans. Georeferencing is the process of assigning real-world coordinates to a map or image so that it aligns correctly with other spatial data layers in a GIS.
Q171. What is a Map Projection?
Ans. Map projection is a mathematical transformation used to represent the curved surface of the Earth on a flat map, inevitably introducing some distortion in area, shape, distance or direction.
Q172. What is Buffer Analysis in GIS?
Ans. Buffer analysis creates zones of a specified distance around points, lines or polygons (e.g., 500 m buffer around schools) to analyse proximity and impact in planning.
Q173. What is Overlay Analysis?
Ans. Overlay analysis superimposes multiple spatial layers (e.g., land use, slope, flood zones) to derive new information or suitability maps for decision making.
Q174. What is Network Analysis in GIS?
Ans. Network analysis examines movement through a connected network (roads, pipes), used for shortest path, service area, routing, logistics and emergency response planning.
Q175. What is Spatial Interpolation?
Ans. Spatial interpolation estimates values at unsampled locations based on values at nearby sampled points (e.g., rainfall, air pollution), assuming spatial autocorrelation.
M. Social & Community Planning Concepts
- Social Infrastructure, Community Facility, Catchment Area, Service Radius
- Child-Friendly City, Gender-Sensitive Planning, Age-Friendly City
- Universal Design, Informal Sector, Street Vendor Zone, Urban Poverty Line
Q176. What is Social Infrastructure in planning?
Ans. Social infrastructure comprises facilities such as schools, health centres, community halls, libraries and recreation centres that support education, health and social well-being of the community.
Q177. What is a Community Facility?
Ans. Community facility is a building or space used for collective activities and services such as community halls, anganwadis, youth centres and religious institutions within neighbourhoods.
Q178. What is a Catchment Area for a facility?
Ans. Catchment area is the geographical area from which a facility draws its users, often defined by walking distance or travel time (e.g., primary school catchment of 1 km radius).
Q179. What is a Service Radius?
Ans. Service radius is the maximum desirable distance from a facility to its users (e.g., park within 300–500 m of residences), used in location planning and URDPFI norms.
Q180. What is a Child-Friendly City?
Ans. A child-friendly city ensures that children’s rights and needs are considered in planning, providing safe play spaces, walkable environments, access to services and opportunities for participation.
Q181. What is Gender-Sensitive Planning?
Ans. Gender-sensitive planning recognises different needs, roles and safety concerns of women, men and gender-diverse people and incorporates these into design of transport, public spaces and facilities.
Q182. What is an Age-Friendly City?
Ans. An age-friendly city designs housing, streets, transport and services to be accessible and supportive for older persons, enabling active ageing and social inclusion.
Q183. What is Universal Design?
Ans. Universal design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialised design, including persons with disabilities.
Q184. What is the Informal Sector in urban economy?
Ans. Informal sector consists of small-scale, unregistered economic activities such as street vending, home-based work and casual labour, often with low job security and limited social protection.
Q185. What is a Street Vendor Zone?
Ans. Street vendor zone is a designated space or corridor where vending is formally allowed and organised with basic infrastructure, following the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act.
Q186. What is the Urban Poverty Line?
Ans. Urban poverty line is the threshold of per capita consumption or income below which an urban person is considered poor, used to identify beneficiaries for poverty alleviation programmes.
Q187. What is Social Impact Mitigation?
Ans. Social impact mitigation refers to measures taken to reduce or offset negative social effects of projects (like displacement, loss of livelihood) through compensation, R&R and community development.
N. Urban Economics & Finance (Advanced Concepts)
- Bid-Rent Theory, Land Value Gradient, Land Use–Transport Feedback
- Development Charge, Value Capture, Municipal Bond
- O&M Cost, Life-Cycle Costing
Q188. What is Bid-Rent Theory?
Ans. Bid-rent theory explains how different land users (residential, commercial, industrial) are willing to pay varying rents for locations, usually resulting in highest land values near the city centre or key nodes.
Q189. What is a Land Value Gradient?
Ans. Land value gradient is the pattern of land values declining with increasing distance from a central point (e.g., CBD), influenced by accessibility, amenities and planning controls.
Q190. What is a Development Charge?
Ans. Development charge is a fee collected by planning authorities from developers or landowners to cover part of the cost of providing off-site infrastructure and services needed due to development.
Q191. What is Value Capture Finance?
Ans. Value capture finance includes tools like betterment levy, impact fee, TDR and land value tax that harness part of the increase in land value created by public actions to finance urban infrastructure.
Q192. What is a Municipal Bond?
Ans. Municipal bond is a debt instrument issued by an urban local body or its agency to borrow funds from investors for infrastructure projects, to be repaid with interest from future revenues.
Q193. What is Operation & Maintenance (O&M) Cost?
Ans. O&M cost is the recurring expenditure required to operate and maintain infrastructure and services (e.g., staff, energy, repairs), distinct from capital cost of creation.
Q194. What is Life-Cycle Costing in infrastructure planning?
Ans. Life-cycle costing evaluates total cost of an asset over its entire life—including planning, capital, O&M and disposal costs—rather than only initial investment, to choose cost-effective options.
Q195. What is Land Use–Transport Feedback?
Ans. Land use–transport feedback refers to the two-way interaction where land use patterns influence travel demand and transport infrastructure, and transport improvements in turn influence land values and development patterns.
Q196. What is a User-Pays Principle?
Ans. User-pays principle is a financing approach where beneficiaries of a service (e.g., water, parking, toll roads) pay directly through tariffs or fees, improving cost recovery and demand management.
O. Classic Theories & Key Planning Concepts
- Garden City, Neighbourhood Unit, City Beautiful Movement
- Sector Theory of Urban Land Use
Q197. What is the Garden City concept?
Ans. Garden City, proposed by Ebenezer Howard, is a self-contained town combining benefits of town and country, with limited size, greenbelts and balanced mix of residences, industry and agriculture.
Q198. What is the Neighbourhood Unit concept?
Ans. Neighbourhood unit, given by Clarence Perry, is a residential community design based on a primary school catchment, bounded by arterial roads, with internal local streets and centrally located community facilities and open spaces.
Q199. What is the City Beautiful Movement?
Q200. What is the Sector Theory of Urban Land Use?
Ans. Sector theory, proposed by Homer Hoyt, suggests that urban land uses develop in wedge-shaped sectors along transport routes rather than concentric circles, with high-income residential sectors often extending along favourable corridors.
