The Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) approval of the draft Master Plan for Delhi-2047 (MPD) marks the next phase of planning for a city expected to have a population of around 3.2 crore by 2047. The plan will now go to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for final approval and notification.But what does the new Master Plan mean for people living in Delhi. At its core, the MPD seeks to make the existing city denser, open up new areas for planned development and make redevelopment easier.More development in selected areasThe plan proposes greater density through a higher floor area ratio (FAR) in selected areas. Transit-oriented development (TOD) will cover areas within 500 metres of Metro corridors and around RRTS and railway stations. The reported framework allows FAR of 400, extendable to 500 on payment of additional charges. The minimum plot size has also been reduced to 2,000 sq m.The TOD approach is also being extended towards expressways, potentially creating new high-density corridors.Outer Delhi gets a pushLand pooling remains a major route for developing Delhi’s remaining large tracts. The new framework reportedly removes the earlier consortium requirement, allowing landowners to approach the DDA directly. The minimum sector size has also been reduced to 20 hectares in the six land-pooling zones.* 70 villages can see commercial activityA green development area framework will cover around 70 peripheral villages, including Tikri Kalan, Mitraon, Dhansa, Mehrauli, Chhatarpur and Satbari. Areas where new commercial construction was earlier restricted could now see regulated commercial and institutional activity, with greater vertical development and higher FAR.Old homes can be rebuiltResidents of old DDA housing schemes could also see a major change. The DDA has approved a policy allowing reconstruction and redevelopment of old two-storey DDA-built dwelling units on individual plots. Many such units, developed under the MPD-1962, are now more than five decades old. They would receive redevelopment rights on par with vacant residential plots.Yamuna gets two zonesThe Yamuna’s O-Zone, covering about 9,934 hectares, will be divided into O-1 and O-2. No construction or development is proposed in O-1, which corresponds to the defined 1-in-25-year floodplain. O-2, outside that core floodplain, will permit specified recreational uses such as parks and green spaces, subject to regulation.The 2021 MPD-2041 draft had already listed O-I as the 6,295-hectare active floodplain and O-II as a 3,638.36-hectare regulated riverfront.Building approvals may become simplerThe DDA has also approved amendments to the 2016 Unified Building Bylaws aimed at reducing procedural requirements. The reported changes seek to delink prior NOCs from the pollution control committee, Chief Inspector of Factories, Delhi Jal Board and Forest Department for building permits.In short, the MPD-2047 is trying to do two things simultaneously – bring more development into selected peripheral areas while allowing the existing city to accommodate more people through redevelopment and higher density.It is, however, still a draft approved by the DDA and is not yet the final notified plan.