Today, Singapore has delivered the master plan for the development of the seed capital (administrative district of Amaravathi) proposed new capital city of Amaravathi. A 30-member team led by S Eswaran, second minister, Home Affairs and Trade, today presented the copy of the seed capital master plan to chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Rajahmundry. Preparation of Master Plan is the important stage in the development of capital Amaravathi. Now, the next stage of identifying the master developer and chief architect begins.In this connection, we are giving the brief history of the first stage of capital development for the benefit of readers.
Named after an ancient Buddhist city, the Capital City of Amaravati, is located between the cities of Vijayawada and Guntur. It will also soon be the seat of the Andhra Pradesh government.
To make the Capital City a world-class People’s Capital, the Government of Andhra Pradesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Singapore in December 2014.
The MoU envisages preparation of 1) Capital Region Concept Master Plan, 2) Capital City Master Plan, and 3) Seed Capital Area Detailed Master Plan.
During the deliberations between Singapore and Andhra Pradesh, K. Shanmugam, External Affairs Minister of Singapore met the Chief Minister on February 26, 2015.
The Government of Singapore had appointed Singapore’s Ambassador-at-large Gopinath Pillai as the special envoy to facilitate cooperation between the Government of AP and Singapore.
Three Stages of Master Plan
1) First Stage: In December 2014, the Government of Singapore, as per its commitment, had submitted the draft Capital Region Concept Master Plan in last December to the Chief Minister. Singapore-based consulting organisations Surbana and Jurong were engaged to prepare the Master Plan for Capital Region.
Following some revisions in the plan, the first stage – the Capital Region Plan – was completed and handed over to the Government of AP on March 30, 2015.
- The Capital Region Concept Master Plan is for an area of about 7,420 sq.km. The Capital Region Plan provides Development Corridors that connect the Capital City and the Regional Centres.
- The development Corridors provide opportunity for linear developments with Special Use Developments such as clean industries, Infrastructure projects, logistics-based activities are allowed along these corridors.
- The upcoming national Projects i.e. Dedicated Freight Corridor along East Coast Economic Corridor, High-Speed Rail and Waterway 4 are integrated in the Capital Region Plan.
2) Second Stage: On May 25, 2015, S. Iswaran, Second Minister of Government of Singapore along with the high-level delegation presented the Capital City Master Plan to the Chief Minister in Hyderabad.
- The Capital City Master Plan is for an area of about 217 sq.km. This Plan will guide the development of Amaravati upto the year 2050.
- The five key features of the Amravati Master Plan are: i) growing a vibrant economy; ii) creating a liveable Indian city; iii) enhancing connectivity and active mobility; iv) ensuring sustainability; and v) the People’s Capital.
- Amravati will be built on land pooled from the contributions of the residents of the region. In return, they will receive plots of commercial and residential land in the city and share in the fruits of development for years to come.
- The Capital City Area is planned for about 4 million people. Being developed as Capital City and a vibrant business hub, a total of about 1.8 million jobs are expected to be created in various sectors.
- This would comprise of public sector, light and green industry, service sector IT, Finance, Tourism and support services to meet the requirements of the urban ecosystem.
- The master plan provides zoning, urban design and development guidelines for the Capital City.
- This master plan also provides for affordable housing, easy access to amenities such as schools, healthcare services, markets, and shopping malls, libraries and a university.
- The master plan respects the sense of local identity and enhances appreciation for local heritage. It protects the existing religious and heritage sites and connects them to the network of MRT/BRT and roads to form tourism circuits.
- Sustainability and efficient management of resources will form another important pillars of this new capital.
3) Third Stage: On July 20, 2015, the Seed Capital Area (SCA) Master Plan for Amaravati was presented to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in Rajahmundry. This also coincides with the Godavari Maha Pushkaram in Rajahmundry to mark the great beginnings of a historic capital city.
- Seed Capital Area Master Plan is for an area of about 16.9 sq.km. The Seed Capital Area is planned for about 300,000 residents. Being developed as a vibrant business hub, a total of about 700,000 jobs are expected to be created in various sectors including government jobs.
- The Seed Capital Area aspiration is to create a thriving state of the art Central Business District (CBD) for business and living. The Seed Capital Area master plan provides nodes and development corridors from transit-oriented development approach.
- The city’s iconic developments include state-of-the-art government complex, city gateway, cultural centre, convention centre etc.
- The Seed Capital would be developed in overall 5 phases. The various zones would comprise of central business district, residential townships, institutions, parks and gardens, water bodies, recreational spaces, water front etc.
- Special emphasis has been laid to develop extensive walkways and pedestrianisation inter-linked with open and green spaces with a blue and green network of more than 25 kms to promote walk-to-work environment and non-motorised transport.
- The Seed Capital Area master plan provides extensive downtown waterfront, waste management systems that would enable innovative methods for waste collection, transportation, treatment and resource recovery such as Waste-to-Energy, thereby creating a resourceful, safe and healthy city.
