Initially, the process of planned development was envisaged as a public sector-led process with very little private participation in terms of development of both, shelter and infrastructure services. The philosophy of public sector led growth and development process continued in general till the process of economic reforms was initiated in the early nineties. Therefore, MPD-2001 and further MPD-2021 substantially reiterated the planning process, which had been outlined in MPD62. These plans could be seen mainly as land use plans with three level hierarchies, i.e., Master Plan, Zonal Plans and Layout Plans for specific development schemes within each zone.
MPD 2001 focussed on the following areas:
- Delhi to be planned as an integral part of its region.
- Ecological balance to be maintained.
- Central City Area to be treated as a special area.
- The urban heritage of Delhi should be conserved.
- City centre to be decentralized (existing density in Old City-537pph (1981), proposed density-350pph (2001)
- The mass transport system is to be multi-model.
- Urban Development to be low-rise, high density.
- Urban development to be hierarchical.