Since the beginning of civilisation, humans have used the land. As the population grew, so did the demand for land, which resulted in using land resources, referred to as "land use." In India, land use planning has become essential as land is scarce. Due to fast urbanisation, competition for multiple land uses exists, and severe shifts in land uses have been recorded, necessitating a thorough land-use planning procedure. Therefore, this paper focuses on land use, land-use history at the national (India) and international levels, and the selection of criteria based on the comments and views given by various authors to examine its effectiveness.The research seeks to determine how and to what extent the land use planning process is effective. The work has been executed by listing the four main criteria and various sub-criteria compiled through literature sources. The expert questionnaire survey was conducted and analysed with the help of AHP by calculating the weights of each criterion by using a pairwise comparison matrix to understand the significance level of each criterion for land use planning. Some solutions and dimensions of the land-use allocation process have also been framed. In broader terms, the paper's findings highlight the past and present systems of the land use planning process, its effectiveness, and unachieved goals and provide us with the set of criteria that can act as the basis for the systematic land use planning process in India.

Efficient public participation results in the effective implementation of plans, policies, and programs since the proposals are best-reviewed, suggested and accepted by the public. However, in a heterogeneous society like India, where there are a wide array of individuals, communities, and social groups creating enabling methods for public participation is still difficult for city-level development authorities. The paper aims to ascertain the current state of public participation while formulating Urban Development Plans, focusing across three Indian cities. It argues that the current practices of involving the public are limited to stakeholder consultation primarily comprising of expert groups where no robust methods exist to capture the say of the common public during the formulation of the development plan for the city. The analysis reveals that the inclusion of citizens and the implementation of a suitable participatory method amongst the three selected case studies still pose a question since the primary approach is inviting the influential stakeholders for suggestions. The research paper also brings in arguments from literature for how public participation aids the development process. An exploration of few approaches for public participation is also discussed along with considering the challenges of implementation in the Indian context.