2.5     PROPOSED LAND USE PLAN

2.5.1    Keeping in view the basic ideals of the township and the innovative approaches being developed in Auroville, the land-use structure is based on the following premise:

2.5.2     The vision behind Auroville's planning and development right from its conception to the present day is that there will be an intense and close interrelationship between the City Area and the outside rural area, including the Green Belt, which will be of a synergical nature. Each would complement the other, and support the activities in the 'urban' and 'rural' sectors, thus reducing the urban and rural divide that has crept into urban planning so far, and encouraging a rural - urban continuum.

2.5.3     Land Use in the City Area: In view of the concept discussed earlier, the City Area is proposed to have the Peace Area with the Matrimandir, the Banyan Tree, the Lake, the Amphitheatre and the Gardens in the centre and the following use zones around it:

2.5.4    There is another special use zone, which traverses all the four zones in a concentric fashion with a width of about 75 meters, consisting of a circular road with buildings facing it. This is termed as the 'Crown Area'. This Crown area will provide most of the service facilities required to support the activities in the four zones mentioned above. The developments in the Crown area will naturally be somewhat different, depending upon its proximity or interface with each zone. For the purposes of zoning regulations, the crown area is considered as a separate zone under each of the four zones.

2.5.5    The basic principles / parameters adopted in land use planning are given in Table 11.

2.5.6    The proposed land uses zone wise are detailed out in Table 12 and depicted in the Drawing 6 of the Proposed Land Use.
The proposed land use in the green belt is indicated in Table 13 and the re-grouping of the land uses as per the general land use classification is given in Table 14.

2.5.8        Land Use in the Green Belt Zone: The unbuilt area in the Green Belt Zone will have three broad categories of land use, viz. Agriculture and Farming, Forest and Land Regeneration and Recreational areas. Their development is designed to promote bio-diversity, environmental restoration, land regeneration, water management, and technology transfer of the above activities for wider application. This will make the Green Belt not only an asset to Auroville and the surrounding villages, but also a National Resource Centre (NRC) for sustainable development.

(a)   Agriculture and Farming

The western part of the Green Belt, consisting of eris, natural drainage channels and village settlements, is reserved for intensive agricultural development. They cover approximately 500 ha. At present these lands are vacant or marginally used. They will be utilised to set up prototype farms for raising appropriate crop varieties that can be efficiently produced in differing geographic conditions in Tamil Nadu, in order to replicate them for the benefit of farmers in these areas. The geographic regions will correspond to the five-fold traditional regional classification in Tamil Nadu of Kurinji, Mullai, Marudam, Neithal and Palai.

Auroville's ongoing work in water management, soil conservation, organic farming and seed collection, which is being carried out in collaboration with state, national and international research institutions and agencies, will promote food security and optimise the agro-economic potential both locally and nationally.

(b)     Regenerated land and plantations

The eastern part of the Green Belt, which has already been developed with dense plantations of trees, acts as a barrier against cyclone-strong winds coming from the coast, which were until recently the main cause for soil erosion, gully formation and degradation of land.

These lands occupy about 560 ha. They will be utilised to strengthen the ongoing work of land regeneration, to re-establish indigenous forest vegetation, to propagate biodiversity through gene pools and seed banks, and to institute zero-runoff parameters and practices. This part of the Green Belt will also serve the Auroville township by carrying out waste water treatment and recycling, solid waste management and experiments for producing alternate energy through the use of biomass and wastes. In this regard Auroville is already collaborating with state and central government agencies.

(c)     Recreation

Another purpose of the Green Belt is to provide open-air recreational facilities for the inhabitants. An extent of 256 ha. has been designated for this purpose, which will also include a botanical garden and agro and social forestry for the benefit of neighbouring villages. Within this zone, a modern burial and cremation site is also proposed.

2.5.9    The summary of uses in the green belt along with implementing partners is given in table 15.