City to grow taller under CMDA's third master plan

Time of India

17-07-2025

Chennai: Soon, residents can look forward to living closer to work, more housing options, and better civic infrastructure. CMDA's upcoming third master plan is considering a higher FSI in key zones, mixed-use development, and phased upgrades to support compact, vertical growth across the city.
Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) is preparing the third master plan (TMP) for the 1,189 sq km of Chennai Metropolitan Area. To reshape Chennai's skyline, the plan proposes higher FSI in targeted zones such as metro corridors, entertainment zones, commercial centres, and industrial belts to boost vertical growth.
"We need to make better use of city space — increasing FSI near metros, malls, green zones, and industrial areas in a planned manner, rather than blindly, will help more people live closer to work and transport, while making the most of existing infrastructure," said a CMDA official.
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Meanwhile, CMDA is also planning to improve underground amenities to support vertical growth. "We understand that increasing FSI without adequate infrastructure upgrades — particularly underground sewage, water supply, and roads — could strain already overstretched civic services. We recommend phasing utilities based on carrying capacity," the official said.
Another critical aspect is the integration of slum communities into the urban framework.
With an estimated 40% of the city's population living in informal settlements, experts say the master plan must go beyond relocation and focus on in-situ redevelopment.
"This includes scaling up FSI in legally recognised slum areas, providing employment linkages, and creating essential social infrastructure. We are not doing justice if we don't take care of their needs," the official added. "Relocating them far away breaks their social fabric and denies them dignity."
There is also a demand to rethink land use strategies. Planners say Chennai needs a more practical and flexible land use map that reduces agricultural zoning and increases mixed-use zones to reflect evolving urban patterns. Such flexibility would ease the burden of land use change processes, which are currently mired in bureaucracy.
K P Subramanian, urban planner, said that flexible land use zoning is a welcome move.
"The second master plan has more than 10 land use zones, making the plan rigid. It may be reduced to a few such as urbanisable, conservation, and hazardous to make the master plan development-friendly," he said.
He added that a cautious approach is required to increase FSI. It calls for a detailed study to match the infrastructure. "The objective of the first and the second master plans was to decentralize the CBD and the city, and the plans proposed six urban nodes and four new towns to achieve the objective. That strategy is valid even today and can be pursued. Another critical issue is the inter-institutional coordination.
The onus to make other functional agencies have a sense of ownership for the master plan lies with CMDA," he added.
CMDA minister P K Sekarbabu said that the master plan will be rolled out on time.