The spread of unauthorized construction in our cities has assumed significant proportions. It is estimated that in Delhi, the population resident in unauthorized colonies is about 4 million.

Recently the Delhi Government issued ‘provisional regularization’ certificates to about 1400 of the unauthorized colonies, and started the process of redevelopment / renewal to bring these into the urban mainstream. However, the morphology and the urban structure of these colonies is different from the ‘greenfield’ development guided by the Delhi Master Plan.

A new paradigm is required to address and resolve the complex set of environmental, cultural, and legal issues arising from this ‘spontaneous’development.

One such provisionally regularized unauthorized colony is Aya Nagar, situated in South-West Delhi, on the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, adjacent to the Delhi-Haryana border.