ahmedabad for a change town planners from across the country who had converged on ahmedabad for the institute of town planners india itpi annual congress avoided talk on buildings touching dizzying heights multimilliondollar investments or shiny cities instead they posited that cities should boast of community life healthy air efficient transport and should include a plan for conserving heritage the planners also maintained that the fruits of development should percolate into neighboring villages and towns boniface fernandes a senior member of the itpi said cities are human habitats and it is us who live in them who are in transition today burgeoning growth of cities has raised environmental concerns with this in mind planners should think of making cities more livable increase access of citizens and also make it walkingfriendly fernandes said seconding him was another planner b v doshi who emphasized the need for planners to understand that every city has a growth limit much like human bodies any townplanning model should take into account the time of travel and activities in a city and how the city channelizes its energies doshi said if these aspects are not sustainable cities will move towards dilapidation we as planners should ask what quality of life are we providing to citizens have planners ever taken into account that in times of an oil crisis when cars disappear from the streets what will cities do doshi asked have we ever pondered over facts like smart cities that are walkingfriendly he said do we give importance to public spaces cities in the end should not become a burden on citizens lives e f n rebeiro the chairman of board of governors school of planning and architecture bhopal said cities should become sustainable and encourage community life dinesh mehta professor emeritus at cept university said when i look at ahmedabad a 600yearold city i feel sad our town planning rules today cannot replicate a walled city of ahmedabad anywhere else practically it is the pol culture that is intrinsic to amdavadis this aspect should percolate into town planning schemes he said p s n rao of delhi school of architecture said that any citys inclusive growth would bear fruits if planners think for all sections of society today basic social objectives like education for all ews housing and public consultation in planning should become the prime focus among planning bodies in the country rao said darshini mahadevia of cept university who has extensively studied street vendors said that most planners do not think for the 55 of people involved in the informal sector in ahmedabad alone nearly 55 of the population is involved in the informal sector and there is practically no space for it in town planning schemes mahadevia said