Mumbai’s planners have proposed taking a brave new, liberal approach to the city’s new Development Plan (DP)-2034. They have, for example, liberalized floor space index (FSI) limits to dispel the artificial scarcity created by earlier plans; rightly recognized that FSI limits do not limit population densities, but only limit floor space consumption; integrated land use proposals with the city’s transportation networks; simplified FSI regulations to ease governance and unshackle architecture; adopted policies for more efficient land use; abandoned the policy of reserving specific plots in favour of a fairer approach that distributes the cost of creating public benefits more broadly; they have liberalized rigid zoning in favour of mixed-use zoning; and they have proposed new regulations to provide better accessibility for disabled people.

Despite the fact that these are all very sane and urgently needed changes, DP-2034 has run into rough weather for two reasons. It is being criticized for many “errors” and, more importantly, it is being vehemently opposed for its policy departures. In view of the strident criticisms, on Tuesday the Maharashtra government asked Mumbai’s planners to take the plan back to the drawing board and revise it within the next four months. The extent of revision expected by the government is not clear at this stage.

Mumbai’s planners are learning, the hard way, that the politics of planning is far more important than its technical aspects.