City Planning Toolkit
Who is the Master? What is the Plan?
40k+ Recommendations Submitted
Duration: 1 year, 2021
Key Contributions
Creative Production
Workshop Facilitation
Brand Identity
Social Assets
Social Assets
Play-testing
Backstory
Every 20 years, the Delhi Development Authority prepares the Master Plan for New Delhi, India, to guide the city’s development and construction activities. The plan outlines strategies for housing, infrastructure, employment, and other key urban needs, and is published in two forms: a detailed report and a land-use map. The Main Bhi Dilli Campaign, launched by a coalition of over 40 organizations, seeks to make the city’s planning process more participatory and democratic.
“I don’t know what is the Master Plan and who makes it..”
The State of Participation
In an assessment conducted by the Indo-Global Social Service Society (IGSSS) and the Main Bhi Dilli campaign, it was found that 80% of the respondents did not have a clue about what the Master Plan is and its purpose especially those from low-income neighborhoods
How might we design an inclusive participatory method
to capture the needs of the city’s residents residing in low-income neighborhoods?
A City of the Common
Synthesizing insights from surveys and user interviews across three Delhi neighborhoods provided a clear understanding of our target users. The city’s master plan needed to address the needs of older adults, mothers, and students with accessibility requirements.
Early Mockups
1. Online Survey Tool
2. Experiential Map
3. Toolkit of Activities
Play-testing the Toolkit
We built a low-fidelity mockup of the toolkit with all its components and tested it in three communities across New Delhi. This process helped us assess the toolkit’s feasibility and gather user feedback to make its activities simpler, more effective, and scalable.
Final Product
The toolkit, designed for easy portability, was packaged in a compact box divided into six sections—each dedicated to a theme such as Transport, Housing, or Utilities—and contained all materials needed for the workshop activities. A facilitator’s manual was also included, and the box was spacious enough to hold an A0-sized map.
Key Findings From the Field
We get sewer-like water; it smells really bad!
The community workshops revealed significant challenges in transport, housing, and basic services. On average, participants spent 25–30 minutes traveling about 5 km, paying ₹40–50 per trip, as buses often didn’t stop for women, forcing them to rely on rickshaws. There was a strong demand for more RTV and metro feeder buses. In terms of housing, rent averaged ₹180 per square foot, with households typically spending around one-third of their income on rent. Many lived in overcrowded conditions—about six people sharing a dwelling where each person had only 4 square feet of space—captured in one participant’s words: “We don’t live, we adjust.”
