Evaluating Quality of Master Plans: A Case Study of Master Plan of Amritsar: 2010-2031

The purpose of a Master plan is to promote growth and regulate the present and future development of towns and cities. It is a vision document giving perspective of 20 to 25 years keeping in view the future growth of population, economic development potentials and ecological improvements likely to come up during the plan period. Therefore, the quality of Master plans is of great concern. Literature reveals that the Master plans in India have not produced a satisfactory physical environment (Tiwari, 2002) and have not been effective in the outputs as well as outcomes (Meshram, 2006) requiring a reform in the traditional Master plan making approach by incorporating evaluation right from the beginning making it an integral part of plan making exercise. For improving the quality of Master plans and plan making processes, an evaluation criteria has been prepared by the author based on the theoretical framework and evaluation principles given by various authors in various time periods. An attempt has been made to analyze the quality of Master plan Amritsar prepared by SAI consulting private limited, based on the criteria developed and the conclusions have been drawn from the results for further improvements in the quality of Master Plans of Indian cities.