Subdivision Surveys: Piecing the Landscape Puzzle 

Boundary survey in progress at the Mumbai Collective | January 2024

The recent boundary survey of the 122-acre Mumbai Collective allowed us to reflect on the complexities that come with on-ground execution. On paper, 122 acres can fit in a mere A4-sized sheet. How far do you think it can extend? Let’s paint a picture for you.

Imagine a cricket field. We’re sure all of you have cheered for your favourite player to hit the ball out of the boundary in many instances. Now imagine 30 cricket fields placed side by side, in no particular order, but ensuring continuity. Now imagine this gigantic stretch interspersed with trees, shrubs, and grasslands; crisscrossed with trails walked on; collaged with patches of food growing; speckled (and sometimes flowing) with sources of water.. all on an undulating terrain. 

This is a picture of the landscapes we are working with and gradually transforming – from a mosaic of earth’s best features to an ecosystem where these features help each other sustain and grow. But on the ground, where do you even begin to map the extent of this vastness? How do you consume this unfathomable area, let alone make a master plan for it? Here’s another analogy to help you understand how.

When you bake a cake, the first thing you do is cut it. Can you imagine consuming it whole without its lawful divisions? It’s not impossible, but it certainly is an overwhelming task. To give you another example, imagine the chaos in a 1500 sqft apartment without its separate rooms. Now imagine 100+ acres of land, almost 3500 times the area of an apartment! How do you cut this cake, and into how many pieces? This is where subdivision surveys play a part. 

What is a Subdivision Survey?

Dividing larger chunks into consumable portions, or in the case of a landscape, perceivable portions, is what subdivision surveys are all about. They’re like the pieces of the landscape cake divided to make selection and development easy. In more technical terms, a subdivision survey is a kind of land survey conducted to divide a large tract of land into smaller parcels or lots. 

Why is a Subdivision Survey Conducted?

Subdivision surveys are conducted for the purpose of creating new plots dedicated to specific land uses such as residential, commercial, industrial, etc. These specific land uses are derived from the zoning regulations laid down by the local/regional/national government bodies. For example, if a stretch of land falls under the ‘commercial’ development zone according to the by-laws, it may be divided into smaller plots for ease of location and identification. Now, if a business owner wishes to buy one or more of the plots to set up store, they would do so by picking the survey number(s) assigned to those plots within the larger commercial. 

But who defines these smaller lots, and what is the basis for creating these smaller subdivisions?

Who Conducts a Subdivision Survey & On What Basis?

A subdivision survey is typically conducted by licensed professional land surveyors who are trained professionals with expertise in measuring and mapping land, determining property boundaries, and providing accurate legal descriptions of land parcels. After initial field surveys and boundary mapping of the plat (the land that shall undergo subdivision), the surveyor creates a subdivision design considering factors like suitability for construction, extension of essential services like road access, electricity, water supply and drainage. Also, an accurate layout ensures that the improvements can be easily and correctly constructed at later stages. 

After the design, the surveyor creates the subdivision layout detailing the name, size, dimensions and relevant specifications of each lot. Once the layout plan is approved by regulatory bodies, the smaller plot boundaries are marked by installing physical ‘monuments’ (such as short stone pillars) to denote the boundary points.

How Do These Subdivisions Matter When Working With 100+ Acre Landscapes of Beforest?

When we are in the process of transferring the responsibility of a landscape to ourselves during the formation of our forest-friendly collectives, there are certain legal procedures from the first (and the most important one) being defining the site of the landscape itself. When we discover a new landscape, we look broadly at it from an ecological and functional perspective. Does it have the potential to grow food forests? What is its tentative carrying capacity? How close or far is it to schools, hospitals and towns? Are there natural resources (like water bodies and building materials) in the area? Once we know which parcel of the landscape we would like to shape a Collective in, it boils down to marking its boundary. 

But marking the boundary directly for a 100+ acre landscape is again like eating a cake whole. Additionally, most of these landscapes have had previous owners and pre-assigned legal names and descriptions, and, as you may have already guessed by now, subdivisions. These smaller plots inevitably help us in the boundary-marking process. The boundary of the entire Collective is marked by combining the boundaries of the individual subdivisions of the larger landscape. 

But that’s not all these subdivisions help us with. Plots with pre-assigned legal descriptions ease the legal verification process of the land owner(s) carried out by our legal consultants, which is one hurdle cleared in the legalities of the Collective formation. Additionally, the subdivision design created by the land surveyor serves as a guide to our team of landscape development designers as well because things like service channels, buildable areas, and more have already been taken into consideration.

The boundary marking is only the tip of all things that make the foundation of a Collective. Surveys and analyses of varying scales and levels of depth help us make informed, conscious decisions that are best for the community that is reliant on the landscape for all its needs (from members to biodiversity to the people working on ground). Some of them include biodiversity surveys, topographic surveys, hydrological surveys, and site analyses, to name a few. 

Head to the Beforest blog to learn more about the intricacies of building forest-friendly Collectives and the many stories that stem from them.