Now , after much deliberations a draft Master Plan has been prepared to proceed to a final Master Plan that would catalyze the development of a beautiful Trivandrum . The draft has covered almost all important aspects for development . Main objective of the Master Plan is spelt out as , to make Trivandrum city an ideal state capital .
It envisages strengthening of the economic base of the city through hi-tech enterprises . The plan aims at making the city a multi-functional one with heritage , technology , knowledge and healthcare as the main areas . The draft Master Plan highlights the importance of preservation of the rich blue-green environment of the city . It also aims at developing a closeknit urban pattern for the city through planned development . It also aims at providing high-level infrastructure and facilities through good transportation network and other basic facilities .
A very apt objective of the plan is to develop the city as a Knowledge
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Rainwater management and watershed management have to be given priority . Ponds , wetlands , streams , rivers of this region have to be restored .
Hub with state of the art facilities in the existing educational institutions and also in the institutions to come up in future . Also the Master Plan envisages development of the city as a healthcare city with state of the art facilities . The Master Plan talks about green open spaces developing green networks and developing a greenbelt defining the city limits . The goals and objectives are expected to be attained by 2031 .
I am indeed disappointed that the stakeholders who are part of this city were not consulted in a meaningful way in the development of the Master Plan . It is a fact that most of the people involved in the planning are not well exposed to international city planning process . Mod- ern international norms for planning cities are not adopted in making the Master Plan . I strongly feel that international expert planners should have been consulted for this very important purpose .
It is also seen that zoning of the city should have been based on the prominent activities of the zone . Without such a study of the activities and the characters of zones , a jumble of zones are created , so that residential zones , commercial zones , and green zones are mixed-up obstructing growth and development of the region . Essentially a scientific study to assess the activities of zones should be conducted to decide zoning .
While appreciating the
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