Alleviating the scarcity of land

Authored by Rohit Poddar, Managing Director, Poddar Housing and Development Ltd. Urbanization has been sinking-in rapidly in the Indian society and it has become a feature of this developing nation. The ever-growing population has encumbered the existing infrastructure of the major urban regions which are smaller in size and bigger in terms of inhabitants, which calls for an infrastructural overhaul of these cities. In the wake of this rapid urbanization sprawl, the available land bank in space-crunched cities like Mumbai has shrunk drastically. The available land for the development in the prominent localities of the city is negligible. It is a graving issue that has left the metro cities with a crucial constraint, scarcity of land and resources. Expanding the proximities of the metro cities is a viable option to tackle this troublesome situation and ease-out the pressure on existing infrastructure in these cities. Currently there’s a shortage of 18 million homes across the country and unavailability of land has exacerbated the situation. Expanding proximities of the cities will help in abbreviating the land scarcity issue and on the other hand it will help in bridging the gap between the demand and supply of the housing units. Eventually it will pave the way for a better livability and infrastructure in metro cities. Need for redevelopment: The land scarcity will always be a recurring concern for metro cities owing to the hysterical migration of the rural population towards the urban regions in the search of better career opportunities and a better lifestyle. Considering the extent of the problem, redevelopment is the need of the hour for the metro cities. At the moment, cities across the globe are rated on their potential to adapt and become a source of inspiration, productivity advancements, well-being support and their ability to attract individuals and institutions. Redeveloping the disarray of slums and unorganized zones in the metro cities and developing integrated townships along with industrial clusters can meet the impending demand for organized and sustainable housing, while also generate employment opportunities and decongesting larger, over-crowded cities. Redevelopment will give the needed propulsion to widen the scope of integrated urban planning for the existing metro cities across the country. Development of tier 2 and tier 3 cities (Infra-projects and SEZs for employment): The scarceness of land has had a major influence on the sky-rocketing property prices in the metropolitan cities of the country, making consumers look for an affordable opportunity to own a home. Developing the socio-economic infrastructure in these cities can pave the way for a planned and integrated urban development in these zones. Enhancing the infrastructure by upgrading the MRTS, improving the connectivity and developing new SEZs will help in meeting the socio-economic needs of the inhabitants in the region. A meaningful intervention of the government through apt policies to develop these areas is gaining traction from the home buyers and the developers as well. A huge chunk of inhabitants in metro cities are now migrating towards the outskirts of the metro cities and preferring space and better lifestyle over the location. The government has pro-actively introduced the guidelines to speed up the growth in the tier-2 and tier-3 cities to tackle the situation of space scarcity and lack of resources in the metro cities. Government has encouraged the development in these regions with the incentives for residential developments under the affordable segment and has consolidated the sentiments of the market in these cities.