Land, as a gift of nature remains most valuable. Providing platform for all human activities, land always remain in demand. Increasing number of human beings, getting concentrated in small area, makes land most valuable. Options which are being used to leverage land for generating wealth, has made land as a commodity, which is being traded to generate maximum profit and revenue. All parastatal agencies and all urban local bodies are looking land as a goldmine for providing maximum wealth for the city. Speculation, holding land as investment is gaining currency. Land is being manipulated, used , abused at various levels for investing/generating large amount of black/unaccounted money. Land has emerged as the most preferred agenda for power to be as a medium of corruption. Large syndicates are emerging in metro cities which are dealing in land purely for speculative purposes. Looking at the limited availability of land and its numerous applications in the urban and rural context, land needs to be respected and valued not as a commodity but as a gift of nature, to be preserved, conserved, protected and promoted by making value addition to promote larger public interest and not the personal interest. Issue assumes importance for land stressed country like , India which has only 2.4% global land holding 17.6% of global land. India will do well to evolve a policy option which does not allow land to be traded as a commodity.

1. Land – Role, Importance and Implications for Human Living
and Urbanization
*Jit Kumar Gupta; ** jit.kumar1944@gmail.com
 Land – defined as the solid part of the surface of the earth. A portion of the
earth's solid surface distinguishable by boundaries or ownership; the surface
of the earth and all its natural resources. (Webester)
 Land - means not merely land in the strict sense of the word, but whole of the
materials and forces which nature gives freely for man’s aid in land, water, in
air and light and heat – Dr. Marshall.
 Land – Totalsurface area ofplanet earth, has been estimated to be ofthe order
of 510 million km2.
 Land - comprises only 29% of earth surface (149 million km2), whereas
Oceans occupy remaining 71% of surface area of planet (361 million km2).
 Land –Out of total land surface of 149million km2; Habitable land accounts
for 71% (104 million km2), whereas Glaciers occupy10% (15 million kms2)
and Barren land accounts for remaining 19% of land (29 million km2.).
 Land- Habitable land (104 million km2) available on the earth is further
apportioned as; land used for Agriculture 50% (51 million km2), Forests
occupy 37% (39 million km2) and Shrubs 11%( 12 million km2), Urban &
Built up land constitutes 1% ( 1.5 million km2) whereas land under Fresh
water is also !% of habitable land ( 1.5 million km2).
 Land-Out of 51 million km2 of Agricultural land, 77% ( 40 million km2) is
put mainly under the use of Livestock, meat and dairy whereas area under
Crops remains merely one-fourth of total area- 23%( 11 million km2).
 Land – under forest/Forest area on this planet-- is equal to Africa (minus
Libya), Middle East and South Asia;
 Land- under global freshwater (inland water bodies)--approximates to the area
of Mongolia
 Land – under human habitation--total build-up land (villages, towns, cities &
infrastructure) -would fit into an area of the size of Libya; However land
under urbanization/urban use is increasing rapidly.
 Land—locked under Glaciers (permanent ice & snow) approximates to an
area of-- Antarctica & Greenland combined

2.  Land – its use/transformation remains largely outcome of the Human
numbers/ activities- in recent centuries. By 2000, 55% of Earth’s land
converted into cropland, pasture, and urban areas; leaving only 45% as
‘natural’/ ‘semi-natural’ land. -- Ellis et al. (2010)
 Land-Area of USA, Canada and China remains short of 1,000 million ha --
USA 963 million ha, China 932 million ha, Canada 909 million ha.
 Land- area of India is merely 328.7 million ha- around one-third of the area
of USA - but housing 3.5 times larger population than USA. Considering the
total number ofhuman countIndia, as a nation, remains poorlyplaced in terms
of availability of land resource.
 Land--India remains- both unique and unfortunate regarding the availability
of the land resource. Available land/man ratio remains very poor. - 2.4% of
global land sustaining/housing every sixth global residents ( 17.6%) in Indi
 Land—total geographical area of India stands at; 3,287,263 sq.km,
apportioned between land--2,973,193 and sq.kmunder water
3, 14, 070
sq.km
Land --India- ranks 7th globally, in terms of land area and 12n in terms of
population; Land in India - divided into 28 states and 8 Union Territories.
 Land--remains unique gift of nature to the mankind and living/non-living
organisms- creating life and livelihood; meeting all basic human needs and
creating space for growth and development of mankind on this planet.
 Land –a basic economic resources, fundamental/critical to the
economic development – when used for agriculture- produces means of
subsistence- when used for urbanization - modulates cities, defining patterns
how they evolve, devolve and perform.
 Land- remains prime factor of production; providing platform for sustaining
all human activities Land- rightly called sourceofall material wealth; definer
of economic prosperity, occupation and standard of living of people/
communities/ countries. Everything existing on this planet earth has genesis
in land.
 Land –as gift of nature, remains mostunused, misused, abused and traded like
a commodity for speculation and profiteering.
 Land- its rational planning, optimum use and sustainable development; -
holds key to address majority of environmental problems facing this planet

3. including; global warming, creating heat island, depletion of ozone layer,
increasing carbon footprints etc
 Land - changing its use/nature involving conversion of its use from
agricultural/forest to non-agricultural uses and its sub-division for human
habitation, are two mostcritical factors, undermining the sustainability ofthis
planet.
 Land- remains the basic resource and input for providing, creating and
meeting the three basic human requirements of-- Roti, Kapra and Makan
 Land --as a factor ofproductionremains unique & different from other factors
of production.
 Land - remains the most valuable and free gift of nature: -It can neither be
produced, normanufactured by human intervention, except created byhuman
intervention by converting part of area under sea/waterbodies.
 Land – remains incapable ofgetting physically delivered -- buyer can only go
to the piece of land- but land cannot be brought to the person.
 Land - as a resource remains, well defined and limited in area: -Efforts made
to reclaim land from searemains negligible in proportion, as compared to total
area and forms only a small percentage of the total land surface of the world.
Reclaiming land from sea remains very expensive and prone/vulnerable to
natural calamities/disaster
 Land --remains largely permanent/inelastic --not easily created/destroyed
 Land- as a resource remains static/lacks mobility: cannot be
moved/transported physically from one place to another; lacks geographical
mobility.
 Land - has the capacity / potential to be used for innumerable/alternative
purposes.
 Land-- remains infinite in variety-- differing in physical quality, fertility,
location, uses, purposes, flora & fauna, size and shape.
 Land-- varies in productivity- depending upon natural/human factors. -
Natural Factors-soil, climate, rainfall, topography; Human Factor: Situation,
planning, land uses etc:
 Land--remains the index/key resource/major determinant of nation’s
economic activities /employment /development /prosperity /growth/
development of different nations/communities.

4.  Land- its character, problems, potential, strength, weaknesses vary from
country to country/continents and within countries/continents.
 Land – remains indestructible and primary factor of production on planet
earth - because all systems /network /processes of productionhave genesis
in land.
 Land – works as a passive factor of production, because land by itself is
incapable of producing anything of its own.
 Land- Human civilization/ society had its origin/genesis in organized
agriculture/cultivation of land.
 Land- and human beings remain inversely related- increasing human
population leads to lesser per capita availability of land, causing congestion,
over-exploitation of resources and putting environment and ecology at the
greatest risk
 Land- large per capita availability of fertile/productive land has positive co-
relationship with physical growth and economic development of any
community/ society/nation.
 Land --Land grabbing/poaching’ by nations - is fast emerging as global trend-
having genesis in the spike of global food prices in 2007-2008.
 Land – Large areas of land being grabbed/acquired by few developed nations
in developing nations –Madagascar/Ethiopia -to grow food for their own
people/ for overcoming threat of food scarcity/ controlling land/ controlling
resources like water, minerals or forests.
 Globally, large-scale land deals have been on the rise with land sourcing
placed at 20 million hectares between 2005 and 2009; 45 million hectares
since 2007-2008; and 227 million hectares since 2000 .
 Land—its allocation to various uses and its intensity of use differs vastly on
this planet. Nations having less productive landmass and less population, are
known to make better/optimum use of land resource- Japan, as compared to
nations blessed with more land and less population.
 Land- and its Change of use- primarily responsiblefor extinction / threatened
with extinction - large number ofanimals/birds/reptiles/species onthis planet
 India land profile remains vast and varied-- extending from snow-capped
Himalayas in the north-- to tropical rain forests in the south . Extensive
floodplains are formed by three river basins – Indus, Ganges& Brahmaputra.

5.  Ganges- remains heartbeat of India—as one of the most significant rivers
on the planet.
 Land in the North western part of India is barren in nature, occupied by the
Thar Desert.
 Land – remains central and key to rational planning of human settlements.
 Land- remains most critical factor in determining shape and size, pattern of
development of human settlements- Singapore/Hongkong going vertical-
due to limited availability of land.
 Land- its identification and sub-division, under physical planning is
generally based on the pre-defined principles involving determining use of
land and intensity of development on the sub-divided land.
 Land- remains the basic resource/platform for carrying out the professions of
both town planning and architecture
 Land- all master plans/development plans/zonal plans/area plans are,
primarily and essentially, land use plans, defining the pattern /use of land
and related parameters
 Land- Urban planning is largely related to and a derivative of land use
planning and orderly development of land.
 Land- Majority of urban ills have their genesis/roots in the land /developed
land arising out of its non-availability in adequate quantity/ quality at
affordable cost;restrictive use of land; inappropriate location ; disputed
land ownership; outdated legal framework and restrictive planning
framework.
 Land – remains most valuable resource in urban context. Value of urban
land - largely dictated by the land- use prescribed/ permissible in the Master
Plans/Development plans/Building bye-laws/zoning regulations governing
the concerned land.
 Land – urban land commands higher premium as compared to rural land;
developed land commands higher premium as compared to undeveloped
land; commercial land is always priced higher than residential/industrial/
institutional land; land in the city is always priced higher than peri-urban
land; land price remain positively related to the size of the town.

6.  Land- In adequate availability of developed land and its unaffordable price
remains the root cause of all slums/shanty towns -mushrooming in the urban
areas.
 Land- largest ownership of land rests with the government and parastatal
organizations.
 Land- Land based instruments like – property tax, advertisement rights,
parking charges, tradeable floor area ratio, Transfer of Development Rights,
Accommodation Reservation, Transit Oriented Development etc remain the
best instruments for raising resources for the urban local bodies/parastatal
agencies
 Land- its accumulation and speculation has emerged as the best option for
increasing the price of the land and making large profits. Parastatal agencies
have emerged as the major players in promoting the art and science of
speculation/manipulation of the land for generating large profits from urban
development process.
 Land- Urban land have more density and higher intensity of land use as
compared to rural land. Density/Intensity of development goes on
increasing with the increase in size/population of settlement and land-use
defined for the said land.
 Land –Urban land pricing remains largely a function of factors involving;
use of land/location/size/shape/ physical features/ physical encumbrances/
boundaries/area/accessibility/ floor area ratio/ permissible height/
density/number of stories permitted/legal encumbrances/ Zoning/ views
/neighborhood development/ future development/ suitability for the
project/demand & supply etc
 Land-Ownership pattern remains critical for planned/orderly development
besides shaping cities/communities and neighborhoods at the local level.
Singapore has used the mechanism of leasing land for a period of 99 years to
the houseowner- instead of transferring its ownership- to create large scale
development/ creating highest ownership of housing globally. Ownership of
land vest exclusively with state. Only development rights are made available
to private sectorthrough a process ofopen bidding.

7.  Land- as a gift of nature, needs to be valued, preserved, conserved, protected
and promoted with value addition, in order to optimize its potential for the
preservation of communities, environment and ecology.
 Land- for conservation and preservation, would require redefining and
relooking at the planning norms and zoning/building regulations prescribed
for planned development of human settlements. Land for preservation,
would require community amenities/facilities to be used, on the basis of
27x7x365, which would reduce land component for cities by minimum 25-
30%.
 Land- for preservation would require putting an end to frequent extension of
limits of urban local bodies, which convert large agricultural land into urban
land. Municipal limits should be extended, as an exception and not as a rule.
Before extending urban limits, detailed study and critical evaluation of
existing urban land resource needs to be made, for assessing the additional
requirement of land for human habitation.
 Land- For preserving agricultural land, change of land use from agriculture
to non-agricultural uses should be done as an exception rather than as a rule.
All permissions for change of landuse should be based on detailed study and
analysis of the possibleimpact on the surrounding habitations, environment
and ecology. Detailed policy framework needs to be evolved and put in
operation in all state town planning departments, with prime focus on
preserving and conserving the land resource.
 Land- for preservation and conservation would require, land to be put to
multiple uses instead of single use, based on objectivity, compatibility and
planned development.
 Land --for preservation and conservation, would also require carrying out a
detailed land suitability analysis of planning area, before preparing the
development plans/master plans of any settlement. All development/long
term plans should focus and define best options to preserve/conserve the
valuable land resource and promote value addition and optimum utilization.
An exclusive/ dedicated chapter, focusing on land and its effective
utilization/management, should be mandated to be made integral part of all
master plans/development plans.

8.  Land- National/state /local level policy framework must be evolved/put in
place on priority, so as to clearly define the agenda/framework/objectives for
regulating/rationalizing the optimum use of available land resource.
 Land – for preservation/conservation would require cities/urban settlements
to be made more compact. Melting of cities needs to be stopped by
minimizing /eliminating uncontrolled urban sprawl, haphazard and
unplanned development taking place in peri-urban areas. City shapes/sizes
must be redefined to minimize use of land for urbanization/urban uses.
 Land- All urban planning related tools / plans- Development Plans/ Master
Plans/Zonal Plans/Zoning Plans/Layout plans - should be prepared with the
prime objective /focus on minimizing quantum of land and maximizing its
utilization for urban purpose
 Land- All building bye-laws, zoning regulations, permissible height and
floor area ration for any area should be defined on the basis of making
optimum use of available land resource .

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