National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy-2007JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Presentation looks at the intent, content and scope of National Housing Policy 2007; Housing Finance Institutions, PMAY(U), in the context of housing for all in urban India
National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy-2007JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Presentation looks at the intent, content and scope of National Housing Policy 2007; Housing Finance Institutions, PMAY(U), in the context of housing for all in urban India
UAPVP launched many schemes available for different segments of the society including EWS, LIG, MIG, BPL and HIG categories.
UPAVP the development agency of Uttar Pradesh know as Uttar Pradesh Awas Vikas Parishad is going to implement the government housing mission, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
About 20,000 houses will be constructed in the state.
On the construction of housing units, the UPAVP will spend about Rs. 3,000 Crore and the implementation work will be started once it get the approval from the government.
The comprehensive plan for Fiscal year 2017-18 has been prepared by the agency and the houses units in these projects will be constructed under UP government Vrindavan & Awadh Vihar Yojana.
Under PMAY UP, about 2,000 houses have been registered by the government and creating further plan for the scheme, the UPAVP is planning to open the registrations for additional 3,000 houses.
A slum is a condition which is unfit for human habitation. Therefore, this pdf talks about one of the densely populated slums of Delhi and its characteristics.
Affordable housing in India- A Myth or RelityJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Paper makes an attempt to look at the housing as a major issue in the urban area, identify the major roadblock and options to make housing for all a distinct reality
Affordable housing for all in india- Issues and OptionsJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Occupying largest space and having largest count in human settlements, housing, despite being critical for human living, quality of life and occupying higher rating in all government policies and programs, has remained elusive for majority of the people belonging to lower end of economic/social pyramid. Housing has emerged as the most complex human problem, ever evolving, ever devolving, never static, never finite and never nearing solution. Increasing human numbers, rapid mass migration/ movement of the people due to shifting of residence in search of better economic opportunities within/across nations have emerged as the major cause of the problem. getting more vexed. Having different connotations and meaning for different communities across the globe , Housing has defied all solutions to make housing for all a distinct reality. As major consumer of energy, resources, land, materials, money, labour and time , housing has assumed complex dimensions in different nations/states /communities. Housing also is known to have impact on environment, ecology and global sustainability. Housing does not remain confined to four walls ; it needs a large network of amenities and services to support it. It has high degree of linkages with the human habitat. Paper looks at the housing in the Indian context, tries to identify different issues and roadblocks which are hindering the growth and development of affordable housing and makes an attempt to define agenda for increasing housing numbers in the affordable housing for the EWS/LIG segment of population.
UAPVP launched many schemes available for different segments of the society including EWS, LIG, MIG, BPL and HIG categories.
UPAVP the development agency of Uttar Pradesh know as Uttar Pradesh Awas Vikas Parishad is going to implement the government housing mission, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
About 20,000 houses will be constructed in the state.
On the construction of housing units, the UPAVP will spend about Rs. 3,000 Crore and the implementation work will be started once it get the approval from the government.
The comprehensive plan for Fiscal year 2017-18 has been prepared by the agency and the houses units in these projects will be constructed under UP government Vrindavan & Awadh Vihar Yojana.
Under PMAY UP, about 2,000 houses have been registered by the government and creating further plan for the scheme, the UPAVP is planning to open the registrations for additional 3,000 houses.
A slum is a condition which is unfit for human habitation. Therefore, this pdf talks about one of the densely populated slums of Delhi and its characteristics.
Affordable housing in India- A Myth or RelityJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Paper makes an attempt to look at the housing as a major issue in the urban area, identify the major roadblock and options to make housing for all a distinct reality
Affordable housing for all in india- Issues and OptionsJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Occupying largest space and having largest count in human settlements, housing, despite being critical for human living, quality of life and occupying higher rating in all government policies and programs, has remained elusive for majority of the people belonging to lower end of economic/social pyramid. Housing has emerged as the most complex human problem, ever evolving, ever devolving, never static, never finite and never nearing solution. Increasing human numbers, rapid mass migration/ movement of the people due to shifting of residence in search of better economic opportunities within/across nations have emerged as the major cause of the problem. getting more vexed. Having different connotations and meaning for different communities across the globe , Housing has defied all solutions to make housing for all a distinct reality. As major consumer of energy, resources, land, materials, money, labour and time , housing has assumed complex dimensions in different nations/states /communities. Housing also is known to have impact on environment, ecology and global sustainability. Housing does not remain confined to four walls ; it needs a large network of amenities and services to support it. It has high degree of linkages with the human habitat. Paper looks at the housing in the Indian context, tries to identify different issues and roadblocks which are hindering the growth and development of affordable housing and makes an attempt to define agenda for increasing housing numbers in the affordable housing for the EWS/LIG segment of population.
Looking at policy framework, technological innovations,, financial and operational context, affordable housing can become a distinct reality only if all the stakeholders including Governments, parastatal agencies, financial institutions, private sector, builders, developers, colonizers, industry, beneficiaries, NGC/CBO and professionals including Architects / Engineers/Planners etc are brought on common platform. For achieving the goal government need to incentivise supply side and remove all roadblocks. Role of parastatal agencies shall be that of facilitators rather than provider with key responsibility given to the private and co-operative sectors. Reform linked policy framework; calling for making land market effective and efficient; rationalising government levies/fees/taxes; incentivising industries involved in producing pre-fabricated components and making building materials from waste; providing housing loans at concessional and affordable rates with flexible options of repayment; making landowners active partners in creating affordable housing on a mass scale; bridging gap between demand and supply sides; bringing enablers, providers and executors on the same platform; making all stakeholders work in a concerted/committed manner, would be critical in making affordable housing a distinct reality in the Indian context. Affordable housing can be effectively leveraged to create/ expand large job market for unskilled/ semi-skilled rural migrants; revitalize Indian industry; promote economy; achieving high growth rate and marginalize poverty in urban India. Housing, as a sector, can help making urban centres inclusive, resilient, smart , more productive, more effective, highly efficient, healthier, better habitable, better organized, well planned and more sustainable with assured quality of life. It is hoped, Pradhan Mantri Shehri Awaas Yojna, launched by the Government of India in 2015 , for constructing 10 million housing in urban areas by 2022, will usher a new era of providing housing for all besides creating adequate stock for rental housing and bringing new technologies and innovations to make available affordable housing to all targeted beneficiaries a distinct reality
Designing for smart and Inclusive Cities in indiaJitKumarGupta1
Making cities Smart remains an illusion/ mirage and a fallacy in this world, which is illogically and irrationally being chased and promoted by politician, administrators and people in the power. How can cities be made Smart, both conceptually and physically, when cities are marked by dualities and contradictions, when it cannot take care of its stakeholders; Create ownership among them; provide them basic infrastructures, amenities and services; assure them appropriate employment and economic options; provide them with reasonable shelter; ensure healthy living. Cities cannot be made Smart till poverty continue to rule the cities; where planning remains marginalized/diluted; where multiplicity of agencies continue to operate and rule in contradiction to each other; where decision made remain mired with subjectivity; where there is total lack of ownership; where leadership has no understanding of the city growth and development and where manpower deployed remain inadequately qualified to understand and address the issues of urbanization. Cities would require more focus and will need care and caution, provided with the input of professionals who can lead the cities to make them more livable. I think need is to move from and focus on promoting livability rather than smartness. How can we achieve the objective of livability, should remain the agenda for all professionals and stake holders involved with making cities Smart.
Paper looks at the current status of cities and urbanization, issues faced by urban sector and suggest strategies to make cities more smart and sustainable.
WAY FORWARD—Making Affordable Housing- A Distinct Reality JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Making house available to all remains the most challenging task for any nation, communities and states. Nations have been experimenting to bridge the gap between demand and supply for housing. However, few nations have met with success but there are often failures to achieve the objective. Housing being never static, with demand invariably increasing, no permanent solution can be made applicable. Housing remains relevant to policies and programs evolved by the government, prevailing socio- economic conditions, state of economy, available resources, legal framework in position, affordability, poverty, land pricing , technology, speculation, number of beneficiaries etc. Accordingly multiple options are needed in capturing housing for all. Paper makes an attempt to list down different options, which can be used to increase supply of the housing and bridging the gap between demand and supply.
Re-inventing and Re-defining Urban Planning for Promoting Sustainable Mega Ci...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Paper make an attempt to understand the planning related issues and options for the mega cities with focus on capital City of Lahorein Pakistan, its growth and development post 1947 and the options which can be leveataged to make the city sustainable and livable. Paper looks at the good practices used in the planning of capital city of Chandigarh and also at the option of decentralising these cities. Look at the size, economic role and its criticality in the development of the state/region, --suggestion has been made to plan and devlop these mega cities in the regional/ national context.so as to enable them to play their designated role. However, these cities need to be made resilient to make them withstand any manmade/natural disasters. These cities despite their criticality and importance remain diffficult to manage and govern.
Globally, cities are being treated as commodity, used , traded and speculated for generating more money and large wealth for individuals, communities, states and nations for making them rich and prosperous. Despite creating large space for human living, working, care of body & spirit, mobility and employment, cities are made to reel under enormous stress bordering on deficient infrastructure and services. Despite consuming minimum land for housing large population in a limited area, cities are being made places of large land speculation. Considering the major implications of cities in promoting sustainability, economy, productivity, employment, quality of life ;urban spaces need care and healing on priority. It is not the city which are culprits for all the social, economic and environmental ills, it is in fact the way cities have been treated and made to grow, develop and expand. Cities need care and focus to understand the genesis of their problems and evolving appropriate solutions to heal them. Cities need appropriate empowerment, supportive planning, enabling resources and state of art technologies which enable them create happy and healthy spaces for human living. Cities need to be treated like organic/ living entities, requiring appropriate environment, infrastructure and services to enable them to play their designated role in human emancipation and promoting global sustainability effectively and efficiently. Cities would require innovations and out of box thinking to make them safe, resilient, inclusive and sustainable.
During last 100 years, India witnessed, urbanization level going up by 3 times; urban settlements growing merely 4 times; total population multiplying 5 times; urban population increasing by 15 times and rural population increasing by merely 3.5 times. Massive shift of population to urban areas, is not simply a shift of demographics but places cities/towns at the centre/core of India’s development Cities remain engines of growth for the economy of every nation, including India. As per Smart City Mission agenda; nearly 31% of India’s current population lives in urban areas and contributes 63% of India’s GDP (Census 2011). With increasing urbanization, urban areas are expected to house 40% of India’s population and contribute 75% of India’s GDP by 2030.Globally, India is presently ranked as second largest urban system in the world after China. Considering the existing rate of demographic profile, India will be the most populated country by the year 2050 with population placed at 1.6 billion. Further, 800 million people are estimated to be living in urban areas in 2050, as compared to 379 million living in the year 2011.Being the most populated country and having large share of urban population, urban India will bring large number of challenges and opportunities for the nation in the urban development .Challenges posed by rapid and massive urbanisation will include ensuring rational and planned development of the urban settlements, growing vulnerability to climate change, overcoming problems of shortage of housing, increasing pressure of migration, minimising poverty, removing spatial inequalities, making cities safe and resilient; overcoming problems related to promoting inclusive and rational economic development.. Text tries to quantity the prevailing urban challenges for finding appropriate solutions/options to make cities sustainable, safe, resilient and inclusive
Planning Smart cities- Concepts and Practices.docxJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Planning remains universal for making cities growth rational and logical. In the absence of planned development, cities cannot be made to grow in an orderly manner. Planners have been making cities different and distinct using different agenda for planning and development of cities. Currently planners are making cities safe, resilient, sustainable and livable. Many nations are vouching to make cities smart. Smart city is not a new concept .It has been followed globally to improve the quality of living and promote operational efficiency and productivity of the cities. It is an attempt to make cities more livable, sustainable and for creating a brand image to attract investment and make them a tourist destination. Globally , smart cities are characterized by high degree of environmental consciousness; using information technology to promote energy/ resources efficiency; creation of knowledge infrastructure; promoting sustainable economic development and high quality of life; ensuring wise management of natural resources through participatory action. According to Forbe, the structure of smart cities will have to be built on eight pillars involving: ‘smart governance, smart energy, smart buildings, smart mobility, smart infrastructure, smart technology, smart healthcare and smart citizens. Based on detailed studies and in depth analysis made of the most successful case studies globally, as how to transform cities into great places to live and make a city great, Mckinsey’s suggests three pronged strategies involving, achieving smart growth, do more with less and win support for change. Considering the entire gamut of urban settlements , a city can be made Smart only if it is planned smart, developed smart, operated smart, financed smart and governed smartly .
Urban planning and urban governance invariably remain people centric having prime concern/focus on looking at/ promoting the welfare of the people, improving their social, physical, economic and environmental conditions besides improving quality of life. Both are mandated to create supportive/enabling conditions and environment to help people to perform their basic functions involving living, working , care of body & spirits and circulation, in a most effective / efficient manner. Accordingly urban planning and urban governance remain interlinked /integrated, and have close relationship. No good urban governance can exist in isolation/ without the input of good and rational planning. Looking at the entire context of good urban governance, it can be fairly concluded that effective urban planning holds the key to good urban governance. Poor urban governance has its genesis in poor urban planning. For enabling urban planning to play its desired and designated role in urban governance, it will be essential that operational mechanism of existing pattern of urban planning is critically looked into, reviewed, revised and re-defined to made it more responsive to the emerging urban dynamism/challenges. Unfortunately, in India, role of urban planners has been diluted and marginalized and has never been given appropriate recognition. Limited numbers of planning institutions have contributed to restricting the number of qualified professionals. With urban centres holding the key, future growth and development of the cities will be contingent largely upon the proficiency, efficacy and efficiency of ‘Planning Profession and Professionals’. However, , for planners/planning to play its ordained role, they have to be made more responsive , professionally competent, having capacity /expertise to understand /appreciate the complexities of urban growth and development, based on prevailing ground realities, and evolving appropriate options. .Planning tools will also require review and redefining to make them more effective and efficient.
Indian Options for Managing Global Warming Through Ruralisation and Rationali...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Paper looks at the option of adopting dual strategy , revolving round not only rationalising the development of cities but also promoting ruralisation through effective planning. New option will look at making villages more self-contained, self-sufficient, providing basic amenities and services besides generating employment for the rural inhabitants, creation of synergy between rural and urban settlements, rationalising planning, promoting accessibility, minimising mobility, planning for people not for vehicle and creating green built environment..
Leveraging the housing for the Urban Poor through innovative Resource Mobili...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Considering the fact that Housing for Poor is a major challenge which the Government of India is trying to overcome through PMAY- paper tries to provide few options for making housing for all a distinct reality
Strategy for Promoting Sustainable Cities in IndiaJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Paper is an attempt to look at the options to make cities more livable, sustainable, productive, effective, efficient and inclusive in the face of rapid, massive,unplanned and haphazard urbanisation.
Paper tries to look at the planning, growth and development of cities and the manner in which they can be made sustainable in the context of 17 SDG. It tries to define agenda for their planning and governance while considering the new urbanism.
Similar to Approaching Inclusive Housing in India (20)
Role and Relevance of Architects and architecture in SustainabilityJIT KUMAR GUPTA
This brief text on Role, Relevance and importance of Architects and profession of Architecture in making this world and human settlements more livable, climate responsive and sustainable has been prepared as commitment of the professionals and profession of Architects on this World Environment Day ; June 5th , 2024 , with the hope that profession would be understood, valued ,appreciated and empowered in the right context for enabling it play its designated role in making built environment qualitative, cost-effective, energy-efficient, eco-friendly, safe and sustainable.
Bridging gap between resources and responsibilities at Local level.JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Text refers to need, role, relevance and importance of empowering urban local bodies by bridging gap between resources available and responsibilities bestowed, for enabling ULBs to operate and function as institutions of local governance more effectively and efficiently.
Construction Industry Through Artificial Intelligence -.docxJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Considering the role, relevance and importance of construction sector in promoting economy, generating employment and creating wealth besides providing infrastructures and amenities, there is need to make the sector more effective, efficient, productive and sustainable. Driven manually, construction sector remains in the slow lane of creating quality built environment which are cost-effective, energy efficient, least consumers of resources and generators of waste. Artificial intelligence can help and empower the construction to make it more valuable, productive and qualitative besides supportive of environment and ecology. However, construction sector must be ready to co-operate and collaborate with IT industry to look for options and opportunities to make construction sector more qualitative and productive. Majority of urban ills and climate related issues can be resolved if Artificial intelligence can be embedded as integral part of the construction industry right prom planning, designing, construction, operation and management of the built environment and infrastructures. Communities and nations will save lot of valuable non-renewable resources if the construction sector is transformed from human led to technology led by the induction of Artificial intelligence. However, Construction industry has to search the areas where Artificial intelligence can be used effectively and intelligently.
Making Urban India a Role Model of Planned Urban Growth a.docxJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Known for productivity, promoting economy, employment and innovations cities, when properly planned, rationally developed and professionally managed, have been labelled and recognized as engines of economic growth. Prosperity and urbanisation are known to have positive co-relation with rational urbanisation, leveraging growth and development of any community, city, state and region. In majority of developing countries, where urbanisation remains unregulated, forced largely by rural push and less by urban pull, cities invariably remain in crisis, crisis of population, crisis of poverty, crisis of development and management. Cities need to be cared ,incentivized, empowered and made more productive, effective, efficient and humane.
Redefining Globalization, urbanisation and LocalisationJIT KUMAR GUPTA
If cities are to made more livable, humane and productive, it is time that intent, contents and scope of globalization must be revisited and reviewed, both critically and objectively. Globalisation would need redefinition for promoting universality and inclusiveness among people and nations to have basic amenities and quality of life for all its residents , including poorest of the poor to lead a dignified life. Failure to redefine globalization, rationalise urbanisation, restore localization empowering poor and promoting universalisation and inclusivity; will invariably lead to making SDGs merely a paper exercise. In addition, making the world, cities and communities sustainable, livable, safe and inclusive, would remain merely a dream and a mirage, for future generations and communities, making planet earth as their preferred place of residence.
Knowing, Understanding and Planning Cities- Role and Relevance Physical Plan...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Cities are known for its complexities and operational inefficiencies. cities remain dynamic ,ever evolving, ever devolving, never static and never finite.
All cities remain different, distinct, unique and universal. No two cities are similar. Each city has its own strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Accordingly, problem faced by any city cannot be viewed, dissected, analyzed and enumerated, while sitting within the four walls of the air-conditioned rooms and by the so called intellectual sitting in the so called offices determining the future of cities and towns. Neither the cities can be made more rational by limited knowledge agencies providing consultancy to cities , states and nations.
For realistically and rationally understanding, analyzing the cities and having simple, cost-effective and quality solutions to the problems and challenges faced , Cities have to be walked through and concerns of the various communities have to be properly understood and appreciated.
Prime reason for inability and lack of capacity on the part of majority of physical planners, engaged in the art and science of planning, designing and developing the cities, to address the issues and challenges faced by cities , realistically and rationally, has genesis in the lack of understanding of the origin, growth and development of cities.
Lack of capacity in majority of town planners, has roots in the quality of education imparted and seriousness and commitment on the part of both teachers and taught involved. As it stands today, majority of institutions involved in imparting education in planning are being run on an ad-hoc manner and by proxy. Only few institutions have regular teachers and regular students. Majority of planning institutions are being run on proxy with proxy students and proxy teachers. Education system including curricula used for teaching, needs, review, revision and redefinition to make it more relevant to rational for addressing the issues and challenges faced by the cities and towns.
Land as a Resource for urban finanace- 24-1-23.pptJIT KUMAR GUPTA
PPt tries to brief Land, as a gift of nature, is being grossly misused, abused , manipulated Land is globally used for providing platform for all human driven activities, based on living, working, culture of body/ mind and travel.
Limited availability, coupled with large number of human beings trying to source land, has invariably created large demand for land resource for human consumption. Land, in urban context, is required for meeting the specific needs of urban dwellers for residential, commercial, institutional, recreational, travel& traffic purposes besides providing space for infrastructures , amenities, services, trade and commerce etc. Land in urban context remains under large demand and command high price due to concentration of large population in small physical area, with stakeholders making competing claims.Rapid and uncontrolled growth in population experienced by urban areas has adversely impacted and generated considerable pressure on land resource in cities and towns , leading to large scale conversion, sub-division and illegal occupation of urban land. Unregulated and regulated pressure on land has largely been met by means of both formal/informal sub-division and development of land. Growth of the urban settlements and entire mechanism of urban planning and development remains land based/ land focused. In order to make optimum use of land resource on 24x7x365; making city planning, growth, development and management ,both rational. realistic, orderly and promoter of quality living, it will be critical and essential, that all ULBs are made to focus on eliminating culture and practices promoting un-authorized/ illegal sub-division of land for ushering an environment and era of planned urban development in the cities. Land needs to be effectively leveraged to generate resources for ULBs to make cities vibrant.
COST-EFFETIVE and Energy Efficient BUILDINGS ptxJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Built environment is known for its capacity, capability, role, relevance and importance to change the quality of life of the occupants and communities. Presentation focuses on options which need to be leveraged to make buildings sustainable, cost-effective, energy efficient, resource efficient, qualitative over its entire life-cycle through designing, construction, operation. It calls for making buildings green and sustainable.
Making Buildings cost-effective , Energy Efficient ptxJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Presentation focuses on options which need to be leveraged to make buildings sustainable, cost-effective, energy efficient, resource efficient, qualitative over its entire life-cycle
Ppt briefs about role, relevance, importance of the rating systems applicable in India, criteria used in assessing
greeness, weightage allocated, , brief of how these rating systems are applied, parameters involved; weightage granted, levels of rating granted , incentives given by states for green rated buildings and brief of suggestions, how to make rating system more effective, efficient, objective and transparent.
The phenomenon of global warming remains more pronounced in the urban areas, for the reason cities house large concentration of people and activities in a small/compact urban space.Densely-built downtown areas tend to be warmer than suburban residential areas or rural areas.. UHI not only raises urban temperatures but also increases ozone concentrations because ozone is a greenhouse gas whose formation will accelerate with the temperature. Tokyo, an example of an urban heat island. Normal temperatures of Tokyo go up higher than those of the surrounding area. However, it needs to be understood and appreciated that climate change is not the cause of urban heat islands but it is causing more frequent and more intense heat waves which in turn amplify the urban heat island effect in cities. Major reasons for ever growing global warming and climate change can be attributed to the; Nature and natural; Human-Driven; population; Rapid Urbanisation; Irrational Urban planning; High Density; Inefficient Transportation ;Large generation/consumption of fossil fuel based Energy; Unsustainable Buildings; Polluting Industry & Manufacturing; Unsustainable Agriculture; Irrational Development; Large scale Deforestation; Lack of open spaces and individual life-choices;
Making and Unmaking of Chandigarh - A City of Two Plans2-4-24.pptJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Presentation is a narrative of a
capital city- known for its innovative planning, designing, construction and management of a new capital . It briefs about the principles used in the planning and designing of city -by the first team of planners led by Albert Mayer and Mathew Nowicki-- followed by the second team led by Le- Corbusier, P Jenerette, Jane B Drew , Maxwell Fry. It also details about the various aspects of the city planning, planning of the sector as a neighbourhood, typologies of
various developmental controls used for regulating the construction of buildings. Innovations used for regulating the growth and development of periphery; redensification of city in case city exceeds its planned population of half a million, creating a narrative of city and periphery, innovative landscaping, defining an edict for the city to educate the future citizens of the capital city to safeguard the future growth and development besides lessons learnt from planning and designing the new cities.
Planning and Designing Green buildings-.issues, options and strategiesJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Affordability and sustainable development are considered anti-thesis across the world. Generally there exists conflict between the approach to sustainable built environment and affordable buildings. Sustainable development is considered more expensive. According to Middleton, ‘Sustainability and affordability aren’t mutually exclusive goals. It’s not about adding extra, but thinking more carefully about the design of buildings and incorporating technologies that can offset the rising costs of energy, water and other services. Affordability and sustainability are known to fit together perfectly’.
Through excellent design, buildings can be made more sustainable and affordable. Smaller the footprint of buildings, lower will be the upfront costs and embodied energy and lower shall be the running costs of buildings. Looking at the entire context of health, rising cost of amenities/services; Sustainable/Green designs are now being increasingly adopted, to make built environment more cost-effective and affordable. Considering the enormous amount of built environment to be created, India will have no option but to tread the path of sustainability and sustainable development in the built environment. Sustainable built environment would also help in and go a long way in achieving the majority of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the reason, built environment is known to be the largest consumer of energy, avoid wasteful use of resources and minimise generation of waste. Global sustainability will be largely contingent upon how effectively and efficiently we can make our buildings sustainable and qualitative through innovative/green design solutions based on local climate and culture, valuing site planning, embedding orientation, cross ventilation, using renewable/waste materials and involving state of the art building technologies.
_Neighborhood Planning in Capital City of Chandigarh- An Appraisal (2) - Copy...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Neighborhood as an idea, concept, option and strategy has been extensively used locally and globally by the Urban Planners to plan and decentralize cities, create cities within cities, promote self-contained communities and to make cities more humane, safe and socially vibrant. Neighborhood has also been used recently to define the city in terms of travel time - making 10/15 minutes city
Accordingly, large typologies of NH ,in terms of planning and designing , with varying shapes, sizes and contents have emerged in the urban context. Americans have used superblock and French using Sector for defining the neighborhood. Despite distinct advantages, holding high degree of relevance in urban and local area planning , NH planning has not been able to deliver the envisioned objectives of safety and social vibrancy. Cities in the process have been socially, economically and physically fragmented, leading to clear division of cities into different communities with little economical and social connectivity. Variance of planning and designing norms followed at NH and sub-neighborhood levels have promoted more dichotomy and contradictions with varying quality of life inducted at local level. Differential population and infrastructures have divided the city into the categories of high/low end NH units. Fabric and morphology of cities, in large cases, has been distorted with urban settlement emerging as a distinct social map of communities graded economically and socially,on the basis of area/location . In the process, the way NH planning concept has been used, neighborhood planning has emerged as an instrument of social and economic segregation/division. In fact in number of cases, concept has been used, misused, abused in intent and content to divide the cities into distinct social and economic layers. Instead of unifying , concept has led to division of cities.
Genesis of modern application of NH can be found in the planning and designing of Chandigarh where entire city fabric of capital city was woven around Sector as the basic unit of planning, concptulasied as self-contained and self-sustaining unit at the local level. However, the way sectors have been planned, it has led to dividing the cities into different and distinct communities. Individual status in Chandigarh can be judged from his/her residence. Concept of Sector has done more damage than good to the fabric of the city. Chandigarh is likely to face considerable problem in making city socially and economically cohesive/vibrant,. Sectors in Chandigarh remain anti-thesis to the basic concept of NH planning of safety, involving walkability, vehicular movement, putting commercial space in the centre. Considering role, relevance, importance and usability , NH needs to be planned, designed with care and caution, in order to make cities socially and economically vibrant, inclusive. NH planning deserves a new definition and approach to make it relevant and rational.
Reviewing, Revising and Redefining Master Plans and Development Plans to Ma...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
Looking at its efficacy and efficiency, it can be seen and observed that Master Plans/ Development Plans have done more damage than good for the planned growth and development of the cities to which they have been made applicable. These plans have been violated with impunity both by the people, communities, cities and parastatal agencies; for the betterment/welfare of which these plans were prepared. These plans have been visualized as controller of development rather than promoters of development. Instead of planned development , these plans have been usherers of the unplanned development. These plans are known to be responsible for promoting large number of slums besides making quality of life poor for majority of the urban inhabitants. Cities under Master Plans are also known to promote exclusion rather than inclusion. Master Plans/Development Plans are known to promote prosperity for few and marginalize the large proportions of the local community by making them poor. Instead of catering to urban dynamism, Master Plans/Development Plans try to freeze the city, for next two decades, to which it is made to serve. Accordingly, these plans need to be reviewed , rationalised, revised and redefined to make them better Master Plans/Development Plans
Rationalizing the Planned Growth of Urban India- paper.docxJIT KUMAR GUPTA
Rapid and uncontrolled growth in population experienced by urban areas has adversely impacted and generated considerable pressure on land resource in cities and towns , leading to large scale conversion, sub-division and illegal occupation of urban land. Unregulated and regulated pressure on land has largely been met by means of both formal/informal sub-division and development of land. Growth of the urban settlements and entire mechanism of urban planning and development remains land based/ land focused, based on a strategy of sub-division of the land, dictated by the economic forces prevailing in the market. Irrational and ineffective public policies of urban planning and land sub-division, devoid of prevailing ground realities, have turned out to be incompatible with the demands of urban expansion, leading to large scale un-authorized and illegal sub-division of land. In the process, valuable land resources, gift of nature, has been misused, abused and mutilated in this race of uncontrolled and irrational urbanisation. In order to make optimum use of land resource; making city planning, growth, development and management ,both rational. realistic, orderly and promoter of quality living, it will be critical and essential, that all urban centres are made to focus on eliminating the culture and practices promoting un-authorized/illegal sub-division of land for ushering an environment and era of planned urban development in the country.
Suggestion and Options for integrating villages. within the framework of the...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
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Approaching Inclusive Housing in India
1. Approaching Inclusive Housing in India
*Ar. Jit Kumar Gupta
Chief Town Planner
Sahara Prime City Limited
Email-jit.kumar1944@gmail.com
Introduction
India is fast urbanizing with pace of urbanization picking up in the post-Independence period (1947), when
Pakistan was created as a distinct and separate nation. In the process, large number of people made homeless
migrated to India. Majority of migrants preferred urban areas as their place of residence, considering better
opportunities of livelihood offered by these centers. This launched urban India on the fast trajectory of growth
and development making it as the second largest urban system in the world after China. Census 2011, placed
the population of Urban India at 377.10 million with level of urbanization at 31.16% as against 279 million in
2001 when level of urbanization was of the order of 27.8%. Census 2011 will be known as landmark in the
demographic history of India for the reason that for the first time urban areas added more population (91
million) as compared to its rural counterpart (90 million) during the decade 2001-2011. Based on the prevailing
urban growth rate of 3.18% against 1.22% for rural India , it is estimated that by the year 2031, urban India will
house 600 million people out of a total population of 1400 million and by 2051, urban and rural areas will have
equal share with total population placed at 1600 million .
Census data for the year 2011 reveals existence of large variations at state and regional level with regard to
level of urbanization and distribution of urban population marked by high degree of concentration observed in
large cities with every 6th
urbanite living in 4 super- metros of India namely Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and
Chennai, 42% urban residents housed in 53 metropolitan cities and more than 70% urbanites preferring class 1
cities. Concentration of population in urban centers is becoming more and more pronounced with number of
urban centers going up from 5161 in 2001 to 7935 in 2011 and million plus cities (Metropolitan Centers)
recording 50% increase, with numbers going up from 35 in 2001 to 53 in 2011. It is estimated, number of such
centers will be 85 in 2031 and 100 in 2051. Out of 26 ten million plus cities of the world, three cities namely
Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi are located in India. As per estimates made by the United Nations in its report,
‘World Urbanization Prospect, The Revision 2014’, the number of such cities will go up to 7 in 2031 and 9 in
2051 with Delhi ranking second among largest urban agglomerations in the world.
Urban areas known for higher productivity, larger capacity to generate employment, make greater contribution
to the economy and prosperity of the nation and communities In addition, they are also known to be centres of
innovations, promoters of entrepreneurship and providers of state of art services and amenities. However,
despite distinct advantages, large number of dualities, contradictions and peculiarities mark urbanization. UN
Habitat Report, State of World’s Cities 2008/2009- Harmonious Cities, defines the cities in their basic
characteristics and growth pattern in terms of:
Cities contain both order and chaos. In them reside beauty and ugliness, virtue and vice. They can bring out the
best or the worst in humankind. They are the physical manifestation of history and culture and incubators of
innovations, industry, technology, entrepreneurship and creativity. Cities are the materialization of humanity’s
noblest ideas, ambitions and aspirations, but when not planned or governed properly, can be the repository of
society’s ills. Cities drive national economies by creating wealth, enhancing social development and providing
employment but they can also be the breeding grounds for poverty, exclusion and environmental degradation.
Indian cities are no different from the global pattern where growth and development is marked by deprivation
and opulence. Despite distinct advantages and critical role, urban centres have not been growing in a planned
and rational manner. Emerging urban scenario on Indian canvas portrays large number of slums over-shadowing
the city growth; where slums and state-of-the-art buildings rub shoulders; where poverty and prosperity
2. compete; where unplanned development has emerged as the order of the day; where informal sector govern the
growth and development of cities and where basic amenities and services are eluding the majority of urban
residents. Urban centres continue to face problems of acute housing shortage and rapid uncontrolled growth
resulting into haphazard expansion with sub-standard infrastructure, adversely impacting the quality of life of
majority of urban residents. The existing inadequacies have resulted into uncontrolled rapid growth and
proliferation of informal sector. Poverty, population, pollution and inadequate housing have emerged as the
major issues and greatest threat to the urban living.
Housing
As provider of social security, distinct identity and assured quality of life, securing ownership of an appropriate
home has emerged as the lifetime ambition of every individual and family. Besides social connotations, housing
has major economic implications for both human beings and nations. Being one of the key promoter of
industrialization, with more than 290 industries involved in producing materials used in the construction,
housing has been found to be one of the largest contributor to the economy besides providing large employment
to both skilled and unskilled manpower. Considering the multiple connotations, providing housing has emerged
as priority for both society and nation. In order to focus on housing, number of steps were taken and housing
policies were put in place by the Government of India.. First such policy put in place in 1988 aimed at providing
shelter to all with the objective that every family must have a dwelling unit of appropriate quality and space,
duly supported by basic amenities of life. This was followed by National Housing Policy, 1994 which focused
on transition of public sector role from provider to facilitator. The policy also enlarged the scope of housing by
making it integral part of neighborhood and city. However, National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy 2007,
was the first policy, which made urban housing as the theme and emphasized the need for providing and
promoting housing on a large scale in urban areas with priority for EWS and LIG categories. June 25, 2015
marks a watershed in the history of housing with Prime Minister launching Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna
(PMAY) to provide housing to all by the year 2022, when India completes 75 years of independence. Based on
the efforts made, housing sector is being given priority and ranks high on the agenda of state and central
Governments.
Rapid urbanization and concentration of population in urban areas has numerous implications in terms of
creating appropriate level of spaces for living and working besides creating institutions for healthcare,
education, entertainment, trade and commerce and Industry which have their specific context in urban setting.
However, getting an appropriate shelter remains priority for each individual and family. Since migration
constitutes fair proportion of urban population growth, accordingly, providing shelter becomes all the more
critical for orderly development of urban areas and providing appropriate quality of life. In India, majority of
migrants are from lower economic strata of financial pyramid with poor capacity and ability to rent a house etc
which makes securing appropriate shelter for majority of urban residents more difficult. With ever-rising land
and building material prices besides large financial resources required for creating appropriate shelter through
legal means, the poor urban residents and rural migrants have no option but to encroach upon available public
and derelict land in the city to create temporary and makeshift arrangements due to poor financial capacity. This
leads to mushrooming of slums, jhugi jhompris and shantytowns in urban areas. This pattern of urban growth
has high visibility in large urban centres with 54% of population living in slums in Mumbai whereas Kolkata’s
share is placed at 33%. In India more than 60 million people are residents of slums and shanty towns and the
proportion is increasing rapidly. The makeshift shelter, lacking in the basic necessities of life and proper air,
light and ventilation leads to poor health and hygiene, with poor quality of life emerging as the natural corollary
of urban living for these migrants. With shelter made on the encroached public/private land, the poor are in
perpetual fear of being displaced by the parastatal agencies with possible destruction of makeshift shelter. The
fear of demolition acts as a major deterrent for poor to improve their shelter, with savings available at their
disposal, leading to ever increasing housing shortage with gap between demand and supply getting wider and
wider.
Housing Shortage
Technical Group constituted by Ministry of Housing and Poverty Alleviation (MHPUA), estimated urban
housing shortage at 24.71 million dwelling units at the end of 10th
Five Year Plan for 66.30 million urban
3. households. Group estimated 88% shortage in the EWS category and 11% in LIG whereas MIG/HIG groups
had an estimated shortage of merely 0.04 million dwelling units. For the 11th
Five Year Plan (2007-12), the
Group placed housing requirement in urban centers including backlog at 26.53 million dwelling units for 75.01
million households. Based on current trend of increase in backlog of housing, 30 million houses would be
required by the year 2020 to achieve the national goal of providing affordable shelter for all. Technical
Committee also critically looked at the housing shortage in all categories and it was observed that housing
shortage in EWS category was highest with shortage placed at 99.9% of total EWS households, 10.5% in LIG
whereas it was only 0.2% in MIG/HIG categories. The details of housing shortage in urban India at the end of
10th
Five Year Plan (2007-12) are indicated in Figure -1.
Figure 1 Housing Shortage in Urban India
Category
Monthly per Capita
Expenditure in Rs.
Estimated
Number of
Households in
Million (2007)*
Housing
Shortage in
Million (207)
Percentage
Shortage
EWS 0 - 3300 21.81 21.78 99.90%
LIG 3301-7300 27.57 2.89 10.50%
MIG 7301-14500
16.92 0.04 0.20%
HIG 14501 and above
Total Shortage 66.30 24.71 37.30%
Source: Report of the Technical Group (11th Five Year Plan: 2007-12) on Estimation of Urban
Housing Shortage. *Distribution of 66.3 million households estimated from percentage of
MPCE classes in NSS 60th Round (Jan-Jun 2004) NSS Report No. 505
Despite the fact that large volume of housing stock has been created since the involvement of private sector but
shortage of housing has increased over the years because majority of housing created falls under the category of
higher and upper- mid housing segments for the reason these categories fetch high premium over the low income
housing. Housing for the poor and EWS categories is essentially being looked after by the parastatal agencies and to
some extent by the private developers, who are required to provide housing stock for economically weaker sections
to meet the legal obligation of license granted to them for setting up colonies/ townships. But in majority of cases
such obligation is discharged in the shape of plots, which are beyond the affordability and capacity of the poor to pay
for the cost of land and make construction of the minimal shelter. Accordingly, these minimal opportunities are
siphoned off by the speculators and high income categories. With limited capacity and resources available with
parastatal agencies, housing for the poor has remained in perpetual neglect and shortage. Ever rising cost of land,
cost of construction and large number of externalities have put housing beyond the affordability of majority of urban
residents. Operational mechanism of housing market has pushed large number of urban migrants on the fringe,
excluding them from formal process of owning/ renting an appropriate shelter. However, considering enormous
shortage of housing in these categories, existing shortage can be leveraged as an opportunity to create housing stock
for LIG/EWS categories, based on their affordability.
Affordable Housing for Poor
Affordable Housing, as a concept, approach, strategy and opportunity, has been gaining currency and attracting
attention of providers and developers involved in housing because of the focus of the government to create larger
stock of housing for the economically weaker sections based on their affordability. However, affordability cannot be
precisely defined because of large number of variables and determinants, involved into the making of affordability.
‘RICS Report on Making Urban Housing Work in India’, defines affordability as provision of ‘adequate shelter’ on
sustainable basis, ensuring security of tenure within the means of the common urban households. Further,
Affordable Housing is that which is provided to those whose needs are not met by the open market . KPMG Report
on Affordable Housing- A key Growth Driver in the Real Estate Sector’ has defined affordable housing , ‘in terms
of three main parameters, namely income level, size of dwelling unit and affordability .US Department of Housing
4. and Urban Development defines housing affordability in terms of expenditure of household on housing as proportion
of annual income that should not exceed 30% of the total income. Task Force on Affordable Housing set up by
Ministry of Housing and Poverty Alleviation, 2008, has defined affordable housing in terms of, size of dwelling and
household income whereas JNNURM Mission has defined affordable housing in terms of size of dwelling units
involving super built up area/carpet area and EMI/Rent not exceeding 30-40% of gross monthly income of the
buyer. Government of India has put a ceiling of 30 sq.m of carpet area along with other conditions as the limit for
EWS category housing under PMAY. Jones Lang LaSalle has defined affordable housing in terms of volume of
habitation instead of area, provision of basic amenities, cost of the house (including purchase cost and maintenance
cost) and location of the shelter.
This definition enlarges the scope and dimensions of the concept of affordable housing by:
Adopting volume based approach instead of area, for the size of the dwelling unit, providing more
flexibility in designing .
Adopting provision of the minimum physical and social infrastructure on prescribed norms, as the basis
to ensure appropriate quality of life .
Making cost of shelter broad based by including operational and maintenance cost for a reasonable
period to the actual cost of the house.
Making project attractive and affordable by limiting the cost and travel time between place of work
and place of living
Based on the studies made and analysis carried out, highest gap between demand and supply of housing is found to
be in the annual income range of Rs 2-3 lakhs because of the limitations imposed by minimum disposable income
surplus placed at 30-35%. This considerably reduces the capacity of this income group to own shelter, which is
highly cost- intensive. Based on the defined norms and the concept given above, the cost of the dwelling unit in the
affordable category calls for rationalization to be brought within the affordability limits. The cost of house can be
made more rational and affordable if developer’s margin is lowered down and cost of construction is reduced using
state of art/ cost effective technologies, cost- effective local building materials, materials made from waste and
production of houses on a mass basis leading to economy of scale. Affordable housing is said to be essentially a
volume game and not a margin game. However location, cost of land, FAR, density, number of dwelling units
permitted per unit area and government charges will be major determinant of cost of dwelling unit. Considering the
present status, housing cost can be made affordable with the enabling environment, active involvement of
beneficiaries, innovative technologies, cost-effective materials and supportive policies of the Government
Issues in Developing Affordable Housing
Housing, as already stated, is both labor and capital intensive activity with land and construction as the major
components. Considering the multi-lateral implications of the housing, there are large numbers of economic,
regulatory and urban challenges in developing the affordable housing. Ever rising cost of land and cost of
construction are the constraints that have emerged on the supply side whereas lack of access to home finance is the
major demand side constraint, which are the major roadblocks in supplying adequate number of houses in the
affordable category. Based on the existing scenario, major issues identified in developing adequate housing have
been enumerated below :
a) Low availability of developed land
Low-availability of developed land remains a major challenge in the domain of creating adequate housing
stock in India. With 2.4% of global land and 16.7% of world population, India is under perpetual shortage
of land needed to meet the basic requirements of more than 1.21 billion Indians for food, clothing and
shelter. With rapid urbanization and industrialization, asking for more and more land to be brought under
non-agricultural uses, the pressure on the land is increasing rapidly. With low land-man ratio coupled with
ever rising demand and numerous constraints emerging out of speculation, legal framework, planning tools
and building bye-laws, the supply of developed urban land is diminishing very fast and accordingly, cost of
land rising very rapidly, making the cost of shelter highly unaffordable for majority of urbanites. Major
issues leading to shortage of urban land have been identified as:
i) Excessive parastatal control on the development of land.
ii) Lack of marketable land parcels
iii) High degree of encroachments on public land
5. iv) Poor land information system
v) Cumbersome legal and procedural framework for sourcing land
vi) Restrictions imposed by the planning mechanism including master plans, zonal plans etc
vii) Restrictive government policies and approach
b) Rising Threshold Cost of Construction
Construction cost is estimated to constitute 50-60% of the total selling price in the case of affordable
housing. In order to make the housing cost-effective and affordable, it will be critical to optimize the cost of
construction. However, due to rapidly rising cost of building materials, cost of labor, cost of transportation,
government levies and globalization and liberalization of economies, the cost of housing is rising rapidly.
c) High degree of Government charges
Charges levied by the parastatal agencies for granting change of land use, approval of the layout and
building plan, licensing fee, internal and external development charges, registration of land and registration
charges for the finished house etc are major contributors to the escalation of the cost of the house. These
would need rationalization and brought to the realistic level in order to promote affordability in the housing
sector.
d) Rigid land use planning
Existing pattern of urban planning has done more damage than good to the urban fabric .Master Plans,
Development Plans, Controlled Area Plans prepared for the rational growth and development of the city and
periphery do not provide space for most of the urban residents and migrants. The informal sector and poor
find no place in the planning process/strategies. This leads to their exclusion and their demand for shelter
and employment remain unfulfilled. For making affordable housing a reality, mechanism, approach, intent,
content and scope of these plans need to be re-defined by making poor and informal sector integral part of
city planning and development process.
e) Irrational Building Bye-Laws
Existing Building bye-laws and subdivision regulations are fast leading to emergence of large number of
operational inefficiencies in land utilization, poor space utilization, use of cost-effective and state of art
building materials and construction technologies .They need critical review on priority for optimizing land
resource and adopting cutting edge technologies.
f) Delay in Project Approvals
Complicated procedures, cumbersome processes, involvement of large number of personnel, duplications
of processes/procedures and lack of decentralization of powers, invariably result in delay in approving the
projects and building plans (16-24months) leading to time over- runs and cost over- runs . Delays in project
approvals are estimated to add 25-30% to the project cost. For making affordable housing reality, project
approvals must be put on fast track and made time bound.
g) Lack of access to cheaper housing finance
Lack of access to cheaper housing finance for low income groups has its genesis in the non- availability of
large number of documentations involved in approvals based on providing securities, proof of assured
sources of income and residential address etc, which needs rationalization and simplification for increasing
access to housing.
h) Multiplicity of agencies involved
Study made by the KPMG and NAREDCO has revealed that real estate projects are required to pass
through 150 tables in about 40 departments of central, state and urban local bodies before approval is
granted which invariably delays the projects and makes housing cost-inefficient.
i) Outdated and irrational legal frame work
Existing legal framework has put spokes in creating adequate housing stock in the country. Rent Control
Act has emerged as the major road block in creating adequate rental housing stock. Legal framework needs
rationalization, review and revision on priority to make housing for all a reality
j) Non- involvement of Private Sector
Considering the magnitude of the backlog, resources involved and spread of the housing shortage, it appears
a difficult task for the government to create adequate housing stock of its own. Involvement of all the
stakeholders will be critical for achieving the goal of housing for all. Role of private sector, which has been
marginalized, will be critical in creating large housing stock for the poor considering the resources,
innovations, technology and operational efficiency available with private sector.
6. k) Outdated technologies and poor project management
Outdated technologies and conventional methods of construction besides poor project management have
invariably led to the wastage, delays in construction and rising cost of dwelling units.
k) Non- availability of Trained manpower
Despite the fact construction sector is one of the major contributor to the national economy and provider of
the largest employment, still the sector is dominated by manpower that has no understanding, training and
expertise available with them to undertake construction in a scientific manner. This invariably results in
delays, wastage, cost and time- over run. Absence of institutions for imparting formal training in the domain
of art and science of construction, new and emerging building technologies and materials besides low
priority accorded to skill development has led to construction sector becoming highly inefficient and
unproductive. This calls for creating a pool of trained manpower to bridge the gap between demand and
supply to create large housing stock at the most competitive cost within a given time frame.
l) One Solution fit all Approach
Considering the existing scenario, it is observed that present approach to housing shortage does not look at
the fine grains of housing typologies required to meet the housing shortage and is limited only to the EWS
and LIG housing. Considering the large number of migrants and persons who come to urban areas for
working, learning and staying for a short period, formal housing should not be the only choice and option
for shelter. For such residents rental housing, creating temporary shelter and hostel type accommodation
would suffice which requires lesser resources and funds forcreation . Thus a variety of living spaces need to
be created to overcome the shortage.
m) Lack of Research and Development
Major cause of housing maladies have their roots and genesis in the absence of adequate research in the area
of housing typologies, building materials, building technologies, standardization of building components,
pre-fabrication , pre-casting and other related issues which can lead to creation of large housing stock on the
affordable basis. Few institutions, which exist have failed to deliver the result due to various internalities
and externalities. There is need to focus and accord high priority to research and development by creating
more institutions at regional, state and national levels duly supported with adequate resources and
manpower to launch housing on fast trajectory.
n) Absence of Adequate and Reliable Data on Housing
Country is still in search of adequate and reliable data, both qualitative and quantitative, which can
realistically showcase existing scenario with regard to housing shortage, housing stock, housing need and
demand, congestion, derelict housing and housing requiring replacement, up-gradation and improvement.
Absence of factual data has led to creating mismatch in policy framework and ground realities, making
policies and program which has number of limitations, inadequacies in projections made for housing needs
at national, state and local level. Creation of adequate and reliable data bank would be critical for making
realistic assessment of status of housing and putting in place rational policy framework for housing.
WAY FORWARD
Conventionally, housing for EWS/LIG sections of the economic/social pyramid has been largely the responsibility
of the parastatal agencies with limited role assigned to the private sector. Considering the large demand for housing
in this segment, most of the developer’s have started working on the affordable housing to explore the depth, breadth
and length of the demand on a long-term basis. With major initiatives in the urban development being taken at the
national/ state level including launching of National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2007(NUHHP); Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) 2005; Basic Services for the Urban Poor (BSUP); Integrated
Housing and Slum Development Program (IHSDP); Rajiv Awas Yojna ( RAY) , Affordable Housing in Partnership
(AHIP) and the Pradhan Mantry Awas Yojna (PMAY), 2015 focusing on the lower end of the pyramid, affordable
housing has emerged as the priority area. Further, industry analysts and developers have started believing that if the
government takes the initiative to remove the roadblocks, the segment could move to fast track. Developers feel it is
possible to have a profitable proposition in affordable housing if the project and cost management are made very
strong. Improved technologies can help in reducing timeframe and cut down cost of construction to a large extent.
Context of design of dwelling unit and standardization of housing units/components can help in cost reduction.
Further, economies of scale and developing a standard product can keep the cost low. Thus project design and
construction management can lead to making the affordable housing projects risk free and profitable, considering the
7. huge latent demand with salability not an issue. To create large stock of housing in the country and to put affordable
housing on fast track of growth and development, following options are suggested:
• Adopting project based approach
Considering elements of cross-subsidy and cost - reduction, a project based approach should be adopted for
creating mass housing. Housing project should invariably involve mixing of all categories including HIG,
MIG besides EWS and LIG, to make project viable and self-sustaining. Making provision and addition of
commercial component would help in making project profitable and attractive for both public and private
sectors.
• Promoting strong project and cost- management
In order to minimise time span for completion of the project, bring high degree of cost- efficiency and to
eliminate time and cost-over run, it will be critical to adopt strong project and cost- management approach
in the planning, designing and construction of the project to achieve the desired results.
• Single Window Clearance
For ensuring early completion of the project and to avoid any cost escalation, it will be important to put in
place an effective and efficient mechanism of single window clearance to ensure approval of the projects on
a time bound basis within a prescribed time frame not exceeding three months.
• Creating Land Bank
In order to ensure the creation of large stock of affordable housing through the active involvement of private
sector, it will be important to put in place a dedicated Land Bank for making available off the shelf land
parcels ,with all required clearances, to developers under a Joint Venture .
• Innovative and state of art architectural designs
Innovative and state of art architectural design would be a pre-requisite for creating cost-effective
affordable housing. State of art architectural design will provide for highest building efficiency, optimum
utilization of land resource, optimum structural design, cost-effective building technologies/services, use of
large prefabricated components and minimum of maintenance and upkeep.
• Green Buildings
Designing affordable housing on the concept of Green Buildings will help in considerable reduction of
operational cost of the house over the entire life cycle of the building due to reduced energy and water
consumption besides lower generation of waste to make the dwellings really cost-effective and sustainable.
• Standardisation of building components
Standardisation of various building components, based on available size of materials to promote pre-
fabrication, reduce wastage, minimise cost, promote quality and achieve economy of scale will go a long
way to reduce time frame of construction and labour component for the housing.
• Providing Higher Floor Area/ Density
Floor Area Ratio and Density are the two major determinants for achieving optimization of land resource
and rationalizing the housing cost. Making available higher Floor Area Ratio and redefining density
accordingly will help in optimising land utilisation, create larger housing stock and making housing cost-
effective by lowering cost of land for each dwelling unit.
8. • State of Art Building Technologies
Promoting state of art and cost-effective building technologies will be critical in reducing not only period of
construction but also and lowering the cost of construction.
• Reducing and rationalising government levies, charges, fees and taxes
Government charges, fees, taxes etc form considerable proportion of the total cost of housing. In order to
reduce the cost of the house, it will be desirable that these charges are rationalised and minimised, to make
housing affordable in real sense of the term. Reducing these charges would involve redefining land use
conversion charges, plan scrutiny fee, internal and external development charges. In all affordable housing
projects, no land use conversion and licensing charges should be levied, building scrutiny fee should be
charged @25% of prescribed rates whereas EDC should be charged @50% for EWS and@ 75% for LIG
categories. Haryana model for affordable housing can be considered for adoption with appropriate
modifications.
• Long term tie up of conventional materials
Due to longer gestation period of the projects and other externalities, it is observed that not only the cost of
essential materials invariably goes up but also sometimes their supply is also disrupted, which adversely
impacts the sustainability of the project. In order to hedge the project against the cost-escalation of essential
materials including cement, steel, bricks, tiles sand, wood etc and to ensure the assured supply of critical
materials during the project life cycle, it will be desirable to have long term tie up with the
producers/suppliers of such materials.
• Using locally available building materials
Using locally available building materials and materials based on industrial and agricultural waste would be
critical for promoting cost-effectiveness and utilizing waste. Accordingly, government should encourage
research and development and promote industries producing materials from industrial and agricultural waste
in order to increase the availability of cost-effective materials and reduce depletion of non-renewable
resources used for creating conventional building materials.
• Adopting co-operative based approach
Creating co-operative societies of beneficiaries, adopting co-operative based approach and promoting co-
operative culture would be vital for involving stakeholders, sourcing their support and resources for creating
adequate housing stock, minimising transfer of such units and procuring easy loans from financial
institutions.
• Treating Affordable Housing a volume Game
Affordable housing is not be treated as a profit game but a volume game based on the principle of creating
large housing stock with minimum cost, within a short span of 18-24 months and disposing off the entire
stock within the time span of the project. Taking up large housing projects with number of units ranging
from 1000-1500 for promoting economy of scale have proved to be highly successful in promoting
affordable housing.
• Separating ‘Right to Shelter from Right to Ownership of Shelter’
For achieving the objective of housing for all the, ‘Right to shelter must be separated from Right to
Ownership of Shelter’. This concept will help in promoting optimum utilization of the available housing
stock, minimising speculation and eliminating transfer of affordable housing to non-beneficiaries/ higher
strata of society
9. • Creating Multiple Options for Shelter
Multiple options of providing affordable shelter needs to be considered on priority based on affordability,
family size, shelter requirements, marital status, type of avocation, skill, tenure etc. Night shelters, mobile
housing, bachelor/single accommodation etc at various places should be used as options for augmenting
shelter and minimising quantum of formal and expensive housing.
• Creating Built up Houses for EWS in Private Colonies/Townships
Reservations made for the LIG & EWS categories in the approved colonies/townships, under the legal
framework, must be mandated to be provided in the shape of built up houses in order to create readily
available affordable housing stock in various cities. Existing provision of providing plots for these groups
must be dispensed with and replaced with built up houses. In order to avoid the misuse such parcels of land
should be transferred to the Housing Board/ Development Authority, who should be mandated to construct
such houses and make them available to identified beneficiaries. In addition, the proportion of such housing
to be constructed must be increased keeping in view the prevailing housing shortage. Reservation should be
made irrespective of the size of the colony or group housing. Under the Pradhan Mantry Awas Yojna
(PMAY), the proportion of economically weaker sections housing placed at 35% , minimum project size
under PPP model to be 250 houses with carpet area of the house limited to 30 sqm, needs to be adopted
and made integral part of state and local legal framework.
• Siting of the affordable housing projects
Siting of the mass housing projects will have to be done with utmost care and caution in order to ensure
success and viability of the projects. Such projects should not to be constructed far away from place of work
leading to considerable loss of time in travel and increased expenditure on travel. Making available cost-
effective, efficient and reliable public transport from the project area would be critical to promote the
acceptability/success of the project.
• Providing Essential/ Basic Amenities as Integral Part of Project
Basic amenities involving education, healthcare , recreation , child care, shopping, community centre, open
spaces etc should be made integral part of the project to make it self- contained and self-sustainable.
• Using Peri- urban areas
Peri- urban areas in metropolitan cities with basic infrastructures, services and transport should be permitted
to be used for creating affordable housing due to lower prevailing land cost.
• Formulating well defined, transparent and objective guidelines
Formulating well defined, transparent and objective guidelines with a networked system of sharing
information, would be critical and essential for identifying right beneficiaries eliminating speculators,
minimising multiple ownership and illegal transfer/ sale of units at the local ,state and national level.
• Using PPP Model
Housing, being largely a private sector activity, leveraging land for market based strategies and PPP
models, would help in improving supply of affordable housing.
• Revolving Fund
Promoting easy access to institutional finance at an affordable cost for creating cost-effective housing
through a dedicated Revolving Fund, created at the national and state level with contributions made by
10. central and state governments, urban local bodies, development authorities and assistance provided under
different centrally and state sponsored schemes, would be a pre-requisite, critical and essential to ensure
creation of affordable housing on large scale. Under the recently launched PMAY scheme, rate of interest
has been pegged @6.5% with a central grant of Rs one lakh per house for slum re-development projects to
make them viable.
• Involving Beneficiaries
Active involvement and participation of beneficiaries ,in cash, kind or both , in project would be critical for
the success of the project involving slum up-gradation and provision of shelter.
• Making land market more efficient
Making land market more efficient by streamlining the land ownership record, rationalising stamp duties,
minimising benami transactions, eliminating speculation by taxing vacant urban lands, minimising
monopolisation, regulating land use conversion, creating dedicated land use zones for affordable housing in
the Master Plans, rationalising building bye-laws, zoning regulations , development controls, densities,
ground coverage, floor area ratio, height etc would be pre-requisite for making land market more efficient
and promoting affordable housing.
• Ticket Size of the Project
Studies and analysis of ongoing housing projects have revealed that affordable housing projects having area
in the range of 15-35 acres, with number of dwelling units ranging between 1500-3500, located not beyond
20-25 kms from the city centre of metro cities, with area of dwelling units ranging between 250-350 sft,
constructed as low rise G+3/G+4 walk up apartments , completed within 18-24 months and provided with
all basic amenities have proved to be successful and should be taken as role model for constructing the
affordable housing.
Based on the options suggested above, it appears that providing affordable housing can become a reality only if
concerted efforts are made in tandem and in a holistic / sustained manner by all the stakeholders including
Governments, parastatal agencies, financial institutions, private sector, builders, developers, colonizers, industry, and
professionals including Architects / Engineers/Planners etc. Affordable housing friendly policy framework will have
to be put up on priority by the government, providing required incentives and removing all roadblocks to achieve the
desired objectives. Role of parastatal agencies shall be that of facilitators rather than providers with key
responsibility given to the private and co-operative sectors. Reform linked policy framework ,calling for making land
market effective and efficient; cutting down government levies/fees/taxes; promoting industries involved in
producing pre-fabricated components and making building materials from waste; providing housing loans at
concessional and affordable rates with flexible options of repayment; making landowners active partners in creating
affordable housing on a mass scale and making all stakeholders work in a concerted/committed manner ,would be
critical in making affordable housing a reality in the Indian context. Looking at the role and importance of housing,
affordable housing can be effectively leveraged to create/ expand large job market for unskilled/ semi-skilled rural
migrants; revitalize Indian industry; promote economy; achieving high growth rate and marginalizing poverty in
urban India. Housing as a sector can be effectively leveraged in making urban centers smart , more productive, more
effective, highly efficient, more healthier, better habitable, better organized, well planned and more sustainable with
assured quality of life.
References:
• Government of India, (2011) Census of India- 2011, New Delhi.
• McKinsey Global Institute (2010) India’s Urban Awakening: Building Inclusive Cities, Sustaining
Economic Growth, New York: McKinsey & Company. .
11. • United Nations (2014) World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision, New York: United Nations.
• KPMG International & NAREDCO ,(2012) Bridging the Urban Housing Shortage in India:kmpg.com/in
• Jones Lang Lasale (2012),Affordable Housing in India- an Inclusive Approach to Sheltering the Bottom of
the Pyramid
• Government of Haryana (2013) , Policy of Affordable Housing: Chandigarh
• Knowledge @Wharton (2012 ), What is Holding Back Affordable Housing in India:
• Government of India, Ministry of Housing and Poverty Alleviation(2012), Report of Technical
Group(TG12) on Urban Housing Shortage 2012-17: New Delhi
• Kulshrestha S K ( Vol.22 No.3 MAY-JUNE 2015), Spatio- economic Development Record, SDR News
Notes-Smart Cities, AMRUT and Housing for All: New Delhi.
• Gupta J K (2014), Making Affordable Housing A Reality in India,
he study: ‘Bridging the Urba
Urban Housing