Land as Resource for Financing Urban Development: The experience of Navi Mumbai

Urbanization is a process of increase of modernization system which improves the socioeconomic activities and revolutionizes the land use practice according to need and time frame. The change of land use has become the main challenge of the present world. Urban development has enlarged the modification of natural resources and has changed land use patterns. Contrary to what has been reported in literature on urbanization, the process of emergence of a new city - Navi Mumbai, which started in 1970, was somewhat different: It involved transformation of local rural habit-ants and shifting of people, offices and markets on a large scale from the adjacent mega city – Mumbai. This paper presents that in Navi Mumbai land is used as a resource for financing urban development namely physical and social infrastructure. Firstly it provides the process of pricing of land and land disposal strategy for various uses to make a city self sustainable. Secondly it presents the challenges faced and opportunities seized in development of city in providing facilities and services to meet the needs of two million inhabitants of planned city which has taken place during last 42 years.