KOCHI: While every town planning document waxes eloquent on the need to arrest the unplanned urban sprawl experienced in and around Kochi , an aspiring global city, available data shows planners have been violating acts and rules intended to keep the city safe from urban blight.A comparison of the current land use pattern of Kochi with the Urban Development Plan Formulation and Implementation (UDPFI) norms published by the ministry of urban development, would reveal the dismal state. There is also a great deal of inequality in the distribution of open spaces in the city region.While the percentage of net residential area in Kochi is double that of UDPFI-recommended 35, zones created for parks, playgrounds and open spaces is a meagre 0.49% as against the 20% norm. Areas demarcated for transportation(6.42%) and public & semi-public (6.65%) are less than half of UDPFI norms. Considering the population as 21,19,724 and available open space as 113.79 ha, the per green space for a resident of Kochi would be around 0.53 sqm, which is less than Thiruvananthapuram (0.55). This stands at 1.89 sqm if we consider the municipal region.The World Health Organization has recommended the availability of a minimum nine metre square of green space per individual with an ideal UGS value of 50 metre square per capita.Availability of per capita open space varies from 0.81 sqm in Chennai to 278 sqm in Greater Noida, the largest in India. Cities like Varanasi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Bhopal, Allahabad and Noida have more per capita than WHO-prescribed norm.As per the estimate provided in the draft development plan for the Kochi City Region (KCR) 2031, around 2,200 hectares of land is additionally required to be planned for parks, open spaces, play fields and recreational facilities. KCR is considered the Planning Area in this Development Plan comprising Kochi City and the immediate surrounding area, which is within the influence of the developments in the city.The draft plan for 2031 proposes a modest figure of 7% of the total area of City Region be developed for parks and recreational open spaces/facilities. The available water bodies, water fronts, agricultural/ cultivation areas, and marshy lands may satisfy the requirement, if developed with suitable strategies, it suggested.But the key question is the availability of land. “We still have some land in areas like Mundamveli and Vaduthala , which can be developed into green areas. Such areas can also be developed as part of the Mobility Hub,” said K J Sohan, former mayor of Kochi Corporation.May Mathew, former senior town planner and secretary of GCDA, feels a practical option would be to protect the existing green areas and also bring in a redevelopment Act. “Such an Act can look at deviations from layout norms and prevent conversion of open space,” said May, chief planner and trustee of Centre for Environment Efficiency.As per the Structure Plan for Central City, the standard of open spaces is 1 hectare per 1,000 population, which is to be distributed at various levels. The future requirement of additional land under this amounts to 1018.5 hectares.Sohan feels there is a need to develop open spaces that are not gated. “They are secular spaces in which our children should grow up. If we don’t give such community spaces for our children to grow it will have an impact on the country’s secular fabric,” said Sohan.