New Delhi: The National Real Estate Development Council (Naredco), has proposed changes to the Delhi Development Authority's newly introduced Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) policy, arguing that relaxing restrictions on apartment size, pricing, parking and mandatory commercial space would help spur residential and commercial development in the national capital.Under the policy, planned, high-density and mixed-use development will be promoted within a 500-metre radius around Metro and RRTS corridors, covering an area of around 207 square kilometres.The real estate body suggested that the policy should also include national highways and expressways. While the policy was long awaited and will give a much-needed boost to Delhi's real estate sector, we recently met Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal and requested some minor changes, said Harsh Vardhan Bansal, president, Naredco Delhi. The restriction on the size of the unit should be as per the definition of Rera carpet area, and there should not be any price cap; otherwise, developers will be hesitant to undertake projects. The policy enables the development of smaller plots of 2,000 square meters under the TOD provisions.A maximum floor area ratio (FAR) of up to 500 is permitted in TOD zones on plots measuring 2,000 sq. m. and above, with an 18-metre road. Of this, 65% of the total permissible FAR has been mandatorily earmarked for residential use, with units having a built-up area of 100 square metres, thereby providing for affordable housing along the Metro corridor. TOD cannot succeed through proximity alone, said Dikshu C. Kukreja, managing principal at C.P. Kukreja Architects. It must be supported by a rich mix of uses and a spatial structure that encourages constant activity. The future of Indian cities lies not in endless expansion, but in intelligent consolidation, where infrastructure, architecture and public life are seamlessly aligned. The current policy has a corridor-based approach and opens up an area of 207 sq. km. (500 metres on either side of Metro corridors and within a 500-metre radius of RRTS and railway stations), primarily for the provision of affordable housing through planned development and redevelopment.Of this 207 sq. km., about 80 sq. km. of land under land pooling, low-density residential areas and unauthorised colonies, excluded under the earlier TOD policy, have been brought under the purview of the new policy. Transit-Oriented Development is not only about increasing density around transit corridors, said Anand Kumar, chairperson of Delhi RERA. It is about creating more efficient, accessible and future-ready urban ecosystems where planning, infrastructure and housing evolve together...