Urban spaces need better designed homes and an egalitarian housing policy | The Indian Express

Urban spaces need better designed homes and an egalitarian housing policy | The Indian Express

Written by Gautam Bhatia |Updated: August 2, 2019 12:05:41 pm

Bhatia is a Delhi-based architect and writer.

Urban spaces need better designed homes and an egalitarian housing policy

Divides between private colonies, flats and government housing reinforce the city’s isolating character. It is no exaggeration to say that housing in India is both inefficient, poorly constructed, thoughtlessly designed, and conforms to outmoded ideas that still hark to the bungalow prototype.

Is this a sane policy for providing homes? When an idea has failed consistently wouldn’t a different approach make more sense? (Illustration: C R Sasikumar)

To say that there is no housing crisis in India is to make a statement of little value. Homelessness is on the rise, and has been for the past half a century. Eight years ago, after the 2011 Census, the demand for new housing was at 25 lakh units. With a great burst of building — mostly sub-standard and low cost units — the central government and state housing agencies added a sizeable number to the mix. But with demand rising exponentially and related to increasing migration numbers, the current requirement for shelter stands at 30 lakh units, more than double from the turn of the century.