Floor Area Ratio explained: Why does it matter as Delhi grapples with building collapses
Delhi is considering a new Master Plan that increases the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) to encourage the redevelopment of aging, unsafe buildings. This policy aims to allow for denser construction, providing financial incentives for owners to replace dilapidated structures.
Why it matters
Urban planning policies like FAR are critical for managing safety and density in rapidly growing, historic cities facing infrastructure challenges.
The recently deadly building collapse in Delhi's Satya Niketan, which killed seven people at a paying-guest accommodation, has pushed the capital's new Master Plan into the spotlight, which considers redevelopment of the old buildings with a renewed Floor Area Ratio (FSR).Floor Area Ratio is the ratio between a building's total constructed floor area, added up across every storey, and the size of the plot it stands on. Planning authorities use it to control how densely a piece of land can be built upon, and therefore how tall or bulky a building can be.For example: A 1,000-square-metre plot with an FAR of 1.5 permits 1,500 square metres of total built-up area, spread across as many floors as other rules (like height and setback norms) allow.
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