Institute of Town Planners, India Journal 12 x 3, July - September 2015 Editorial The first paper in the series written by Ankita Singh on the theme ‘Better Health with Plants: A Forgotten Wisdom’ begins by pointing out that inadequate ventilation leads to poor air quality which could be the main reason for more pollutants getting indoors resulting in stressful life, depression, and less work efficiency. This study establishes that overall indoor air quality can be improved with the help of common houseplants. Plants can reduce toxic pollutants from outdoor as well as indoor sources by producing fresh air required for adequate ventilation. Species of plants have also been mentioned in this paper, which may represent a long term, low cost, and an attractive solution to reducing exposure to many contaminants and lifetime risks, and further improve work performance, life quality and welfare of citizen occupants of building. This study also shows that this is an important public health issue, especially as it promotes human health by increasing life expectancy in a more natural and sustainable way. The second paper focuses on the city as a contested place, a place marked by social and cultural conflicts. Appropriately titled ‘Place of Social and Cultural Diversity in Planning Theory’, this paper is written by Ashok Kumar. The author argues that cultural diversity has remained one of the core concerns of planning theory since the inception of the subject in early 1900’s. Theories of internal city structure emanating from the Chicago School of Urban Sociology made culture as the significant explanatory element of the growth of a city. Period leading up to the implementation of vast urban renewal and freeway construction programs further led planner’s to theoretically confront the adverse consequences of these programs by framing new theories. However, planning theory took an important turn in early 1980’s leading to the birth, what is now known as collaborative planning theory. Drawing on the theoretical insights of a number of theorists, a new approach is presented in this paper to handle cultural differences peacefully and in dignified ways. An attempt is also made to show to what extent planning can contribute to resolving cultural conflicts in the cities. The third paper touches upon an important issue of a code of conduct for the planners in India. The paper “Role of Professional Ethics in Town Planning: A Case of Developed and Developing Countries” is written jointly by Mervyn Joy Daniel and Navneet Munoth. Ethical professional behavior is regarded crucial in implementing planning proposals, which are in the public interest. Code of professional conduct of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and code of ethics and professional conduct framed by the AICP, along with code of professional conduct of Institute of Town Planner’s, India (ITPI) are discussed in order to show relevance of codes of conduct in conducting ethical planning practice. This paper argues that the Institute of Town Planners India should revisit its Code of Conduct for town planners in India as same was framed in 1951, by taking into consideration global examples. The forth paper is titled ‘An integrated Approach to Urban Renewal, Redevelopment and Regeneration in Kumartuli: Issues, Challenges and Prospects’, and is written by Debashish Das. History of Kumartuli potters is traced back to Krishnanagar in South Bengal. Although government has been trying hard to develop this area as a socio-cultural heritage site, the problem is that this project has been less than being successful in terms of an objective oriented approach, which is based on identifying the beneficiaries, target groups, other stakeholders, decision makers, financers and implementers. An integrated approach towards urban renewal under objective oriented approach has been recommended to bring about desirable development in the area. Cover Design by Prof. Diwakar S. Meshram, Ph.D. i Institute of Town Planners, India Journal 12 x 3, July - September 2015 An important issue of sanitation is handled in the fifth paper by Jaideep Kharb. The paper is titled ‘Access to Toilets - Need for Behavioral Change’. Sanitation in India remains one of the critical challenges for planners and other policy makers as there are more than 620 million people practicing open defecation in India. Inadequate sanitation causes India considerable economic losses, losses equivalent to 6.4 percent of India’s GDP in 2006. These losses are incurred in the form of adverse economic impacts, death and disease, and losses in education, productivity, time, and tourism. It is estimated that 1 in every 10 deaths in rural India is linked to poor sanitation and hygiene. India loses more than 600,000 children under the age of five due to diarrhea and pneumonia. This is almost 30 percent of the global total. A number of creative suggestions have been offered to achieve 100 percent access to sanitation in villages, towns and cities. “Assessing Policies in Relation to Water Resources for Resiliency : Case Study Bhopal” is authored jointly by Anchal Choudhary and Jagdish Singh, which states that the notion of resiliency appears to have gained attention and interest of planners in recent years. The concept of resilience seems to be embedded indirectly in public policies but there is no direct involvement of resilient water resource policies in urban planning. In this paper the city of Bhopal has been taken as a case example and various policies in relation to water resources of the city have been studied and assessed through a framework of resiliency. After an analysis of major water policies the author found that the National Water Policy, which is a core water policy, shows a nearly 60 percent resiliency, which is the maximum among the policies assessed. The seventh paper is co-authored by Sanjaykumar G. Sonar, Dillip Kumar Das, and Isha R. Pawar, is titled ‘Assessment of Tourism Potential in the Vidarbha Region’. The authors highlight that Vidarbha Region has great tourism potential for diversified tourism development. Exploration of some of the sites for tourism development can attract large numbers of foreign and domestic tourists and can help earn revenues through tourism for state government and local communities. However, in the absence of information, publicity, connectivity, non- availability of infrastructure, integrated strategic approaches; tourism sector in Vidarbha Region remains unexplored. In this paper strategic implementation approach based on the assessment of tourism potential of various tourist destinations in Vidarbha Region has been carried out and categorized as per the typology defined by the World Tourism Organization. The paper titled as ‘Transformation of Neighborhood in the Context of Modern Urban Development in Bhubaneswar’, is written by Mayarani Praharaj. The author argues that transformations are inevitable and presents a comparative analysis of the neighborhood development in the city of Bhubaneshwar over a period of time has been carried out in this paper. It is shown that neighborhoods developed on government lands have more open space than areas developed on private lands. In planned residential neighborhoods under government schemes, allocation of land for recreational use is found in abundance whereas sufficient space for recreation is not available in private ownership lands. In addition to these factors, the present building regulations play an important role in determining the character of a neighborhood. There is a need to understand neighborhood dynamics by identifying stages in the process of neighborhood change. Prof. Ashok Kumar, Ph. D. Editor ii Institute of Town Planners, India Journal 12 x 3, July - September 2015 Content Better Health with Plants : A Forgotten Wisdom 1 Ankita Singh Place of Social and Cultural Diversity in Planning Theory 9 Ashok Kumar, Ph.D. Professional Ethics in Town Planning : 33 A Case of Developed and Developing Countries Mervyn Joy Daniel and Navneet Munoth, Ph.D. An integrated Approach towards Urban Renewal, 50 Redevelopment and Regeneration in Kumartuli - Issues, Challenges and Prospects Debashish Das, Ph.D. Access to Toilets - Need for Behavioral Change 59 Jaideep Kharb Assessing Policies in Relation to Water Resources 66 for Resiliency : Case Study Bhopal Anchal Choudhary and Jagdish Singh, Ph.D. Assessment of Tourism Potentials in Vidarbha Region 79 Sanjay kumar G. Sonar, Ph.D.; Dillip Kumar Das, Ph.D.; and Isha R. Pawar Transformation of Neighborhood in the Context of 93 Modern Urban Development in Bhubaneswar Mayarani Praharaj, Ph.D. Cover Design by Prof. Diwakar S. Meshram, Ph.D. iii Institute of Town Planners, India Journal 12 x 3, July - September 2015 INSTITUTE OF TOWN PLANNERS, INDIA Library Guidelines 1. Following members of the Institute shall be only eligible to borrow / refer books. (a) Fellows (b) Associates (c) Students appearing for AITP Examination. 2. Entry to the Library shall be permitted on showing ID Card issued by the ITPI. The Institute reserves right of entry into the Library. (a) No belongings shall be permitted to be taken inside the Library. (b) Silence shall be maintained in the Library. (c) In case of loss or mutilation of Library card, the following shall be charges for issuing of duplicate card. Loss of Cards : Rs. 100 per card. Mutilated Cards : Rs. 50 per card. 3. Persons, other than those mentioned in Section 1 of these guidelines, may refer to books in the Library on showing their ID Cards and after signing the visitors’ register. 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