If we are to build the City of our Dreams- A City of Opportunities, what exactly would we want in our Dream City? The core idea of a City as distinct from a Village is its ample facilities and its size. Hence, our dream city must have access to all imaginable services to a large population, round the clock and over centuries into the future. “Easier said than done” will be the first natural reaction to such a demanding fore-statement. However, if we look around with intent, talk to people, read and travel a bit harder than the average citizen, some of us may be able to see the clues of this grand puzzle, of building a sustainable city of the future strewn across the globe amidst cultures, across timelines and inside the precincts of several academia’s and organizations. What will be required is a glue to connect the pieces; and this glue must emanate from us, because the content of it is ninety percent “intention” and ten percent “technicality”.
“Cities of Opportunities” the topic of this essay incidentally is also the title of a famous report occasionally published by PriceWaterhouseCooper Inc. In the report the firm lists the basic amenities of a great city. Then it goes further to measure and compares cities on these amenities. For a start, we may borrow few of these measurable variables to add to our City of Opportunity. Twenty six cities feature prominently in its 2011 version; the Indian city of Mumbai makes it to the list as the bottom-most entry, and New York City tops the list. The firm argues for a list of ten must-haves for a great city namely, Intellectual capital and innovation, Technology readiness, Transportation and infrastructure, Health, safety and security, Sustainability, Economic clout, Ease of doing business, Cost of living, Demographics and livability, and lastly Lifestyle assets. On a quick perusal of the report the reader will be convinced that not one city can boast of scoring top marks in all the ten parameters at the same time. So it might be futile to ask for all facilities in our Dream City at all times. Volatility is the reality in the real world. This leads us to the classic problem of Choice. We are to choose the ones which we must have at all times and those which must be avoided at any point in time i.e. the resources vis-à-vis constraints.
Talking of resources, it must be clear that resources are the per-requisites which will help us acquire the ten qualities mentioned beforehand. So these are the building blocks we seek for building our City. Society may be the most important point to kick-start our resource list. A healthy society that is open, innovative, cooperative, democratic and responsible forms the heart of any great city. Economy may well take the second position. A vibrant, dynamic yet stable economy ensures that the people of the city continue to remain employed, wealthy, well-fed, secure and powerful. With society and wealth comes the thirst for Power. So Politics is the necessary evil of any great city. A health political system that is governed through a democratic consultative procedure and executed through a scientifically driven and transparent public administration ensures that a city keeps growing against all vagaries of time. Technology adoption is next. Any city or society that is averse to adopting newer technologies on a continuous basis becomes in-efficient, costly, un-sustainable and un-attractive. Investing on newer technology infrastructures from individual, social, state and defense standpoint is the key to acquire an edge over others. For instance the case of London city may be considered. Great Britain’s very source of world domination and subsequent wealth is technology. Industrial revolution in Britain is what turned the table heavily towards them, in such a strong way that they have survived the ravages of two world wars, continue to blossom and attract the best and wealthiest talents from across the globe till date. Environment is and has always been a cause of greatest concern for any city developer. The trick of building a plush modern city is to pack -in too much in too little space. This artificial imbalance obviously creates a pressure on the environment around. So the challenge of building our Dream City is to ensure that natural environment is not taxed to a point where it cannot sustain, renew and repair itself. Environment pollution and turmoil must be curtailed at every step to guarantee a city that runs smoothly, sustainably and healthily for long into the future. A green and clean city reduces energy consumption, leading to energy security. So being in “sync” with Nature creates a “Domino” effect which is profitable for us all throughout.
Next is “Constraint”, the devil we would like to avoid at all costs. It is interesting to note that each of the resources we desired for our great city has its own embedded constraint. Starting with society, the people are its constraints. If the members of our society are weak in their minds and intents, there can be no start. People are the most valuable assets for a great city. So by all means we must attract people in our city who are innovative, entrepreneurial and intent on contributing to the formation, maintenance and evolution of a great city. Here arises the need for great housing plans and projects which can create a desire in talented people to flock to our City to work, live, grow and contribute to its evolution. They must “feel at home” in our city. Regarding economy, volatility is its very hallmark. For sustaining a great city, financial volatility on the negative side must be continuously managed and mitigated. This calls for expert financial risk management planners and executors to be housed in our City. Banks and other financial organizations help to mobilize wealth across cities thus creating a stable economic order. To house such technical institutions require specialized buildings and infrastructures as well. Third is Politics and Administration. Both are like the two sides of the same coin. So both combined produce a pair of constraints as well. To attract, house and develop the most sincere political leaders and advanced political setups require time, climate and opportunity. Similarly for the public administrators to execute the social leader’s ideas in the best possible way, requires social, legal, financial and infrastructural support. All these again demand proper real estate, infrastructure and technology development. It may be noted here that all the resources and constraints are so inter-twined that it becomes difficult at times to see which one is a resource we sought and which is a constraint or threat we ought to avoid. Investing in modern, effective and efficient technologies on a continuous basis is in itself a challenge when weighed against finance, public intent and pace of change. Lastly, the environment in itself presents a trove of opportunities and threats all sandwiched into one. Natural environment can become very un-predictable and un-accommodative for life at one moment, then again a friendly life sustain er for the next several decades. So our great city’s landscape must at all times respect the threshold capacity of the nature around. The catch here is to balance humans’ un-relinquishing demands via-à-vis nature’s capacity for sustenance. The biggest constraint here is synchronization. The beauty of an author’s essay is that it shows the pros and cons of an issue on a platter all nicely presented; giving the impression to its readers that it is so very real and achievable. However in the real world there is no author or god to synchronize all aspects of the writer’s ideas. Real world is a collective conscience of a host of peoples, each person having a mind different from the other. When all these minds interact, it often creates result that is very different from the author’s expected result.
For the time being, if we fancy a world devoid of the constraints listed above, we will have the unique advantage of seeing a host of opportunities that awaits each of us who seek to build the dream city. Just in case we manage to mitigate the constraints through intelligent ways, even a fool can list out the opportunities a dream city development project will present. To start with, real estate sector will be most profitable, followed by finance, trade, technology, government, environment and society. All these activities will naturally lead to increase in employment, wealth generation and equitable distribution of income. All said and done, but just how do we get rid of the constraints is where the fulcrum of this whole idea of a dream city rests. Handling one constraint at a time is the key to tilt the balance in our favor. Secondly, a time-bound and resource-bound concrete plan for every city project must be continuously managed by experts. An essential for our dream city to actually start reaping benefits for us is the pace of its completion. Each project must be completed with a war footing with aggression and accountability. Thirdly, for any city to actually shelter a productive and resourceful society which feels proud of its city, the members must be given opportunities to take part in its developments. Hence, public private partnership between individuals and administration is vital. Next essential is Community stimulation and education. A city may have diverse communities living together, each having distinctive thoughts, religions, beliefs and lifestyles. But to make them all feel for their “own” city and co-live with other communities is a challenge. So a prime duty of the public administration must be to regularly educate and stimulate each of the communities to work, interact and evolve with the other communities for theirs’ and their city’s best interest. Lastly, the city must have regular credit flowing to the development and maintenance of real estate and infrastructure.
BSHF is an international organization that annually rewards a community development project as part of world habitat day celebration. In the last several years the diverse winners have been communities with diverse aims and ambitions but all sharing one commonality. Each has decentralized the developmental works to its members and held the individuals accountable for their actions. This way each person of society “feels” responsible for his community, society or city. The question is, if such fantastic ideas could be conceived, implemented and the benefits reaped therein, what deters the other communities around the world from adopting such efficient models of habitat development?
A finalist entry for the BSHF 2011 competition may be cited and analyzed to better understand the magic at work in these “satisfied” communities. “The Federal Housing and Habitat Improvement Programme for Indigenous and Rural People is a state-run programme under the Under-secretariat for Urban Development and Housing (SSDUV), which aims to support and improve the living conditions of indigenous groups and low-income households in rural areas of Argentina. The construction of new homes, improvement of existing homes, development of rural infrastructure works and the creation of stable livelihoods are its four main areas of activities. National government funding is transferred to local partners or executive bodies, which work directly with beneficiaries and communities where the programme is operating. These bodies may be either provincial or municipal governments, NGOs and/or communities of indigenous peoples and are generally made up of professional technicians, social scientists and accountants. The total investment to date for 2,625 homes is US$ 70 million with an average of US$ 29,000 per unit. The autonomous programme’s work began in 2010 and is currently operating in 9 of the 23 provinces of Argentina… The programme sees the house as the center for social and economic activity and the basis for rural development, putting emphasis on investment that fosters the construction of rural infrastructure … The executive bodies (NGOs, local government and others) receive a grant from the national government to execute each of the signed agreements. Beneficiaries repay the cost of their houses to the executive bodies (which provide the loans) over 30 or 40 years with zero or low interest rates. Families unable to pay the installments can ask for an additional grant that covers the total amount needed. Repayment funds must be reinvested by the executive bodies in new houses or community facilities. NGOs as executive bodies can receive funds from the national government for up to 15 per cent more than the total received for the implementation of the programme, so as to cover their costs (e.g. logistical problems of working in remote areas, training services, technical assistance, etc” (source: BSHF website). Several notable and striking points can be extracted from the excerpt. To start with, the community programme is participative and democratic in its operations. Secondly, it is budgeted meaning that the source and usage of funds are planned and executed meticulously without any fiscal deficit problem. Hence, the programme seeks to live within its means, offering no “free meal” to anyone and thus economically viable in its design. Thirdly, the project employs the technical skills of the society’s own members, thus creating employment, involvement and ego centrism in the community. Lastly, the project is supported by national government in Argentina, backed by public bureaucrats and whole-heartedly implemented by the people at the grass-root level. The question now becomes, are the others in this world intending to commit to this grand plan of building such a city, which is backed by society from top rung to the grass root? The answer lies in the people from each such community because it is intensity of human intention that matters the most.
The case of India presents a marvelous opportunity for academics, scholars, architects, economists, regulators, planners, governments, private firms, investors, real estate developers and social organizations who intend to make a mark in the field of real estate development. Indian landscape and her population presents a “Pandora’s Box” of problems in all possible and impossible permutations, testing the wit and guts of the most successful and confident human beings. It is also true that every such human or organization that has solved even ten percent of the riddles that India presents, is always rewarded to the extent that makes it immortal across timelines. The challenge is to have the mind and consistency to delve into the ocean of constraints with a constant hope and diligence to come out successful, one day in the future. Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi did it in the capacity of a single individual, a just another returning NRI barrister. In his own confession he was not fully successful. But time transformed him into “Mahatma Gandhi - the Father of the Indian nation”. The Mughals and later the British both fancied visiting India for trade or wealth accumulation, faced a deluge of problems, but they never gave up. The final result for the Mughals was that they put their names in the pages of human history, not as just any barbarian plundering horde from central Asia, but as the Architects of medieval India. For the British the result was, the transformation of a group of insignificant European islanders into a world power, backed by unlimited wealth, natural resources and manpower constantly flowing out from the Indian subcontinent, to quench the thirst of the British monarchical ambition, of colonising the globe for furthering the British trade, politics and culture. Modern India is faced by a critical point in housing scenario that by design is not very different from problems faced by the Mughals, British or the Mahatma. The core of the problem rests in the enormity of the Indian subcontinent, the diversity of its climate and people, the limited resources and of courses its lack of thrust. In social terms India has always been and continues to remain nonchalant, non-directional, slow, sensitive and divided in her opinion. Under such a scenario, undoubtedly progress will be slow, but the onus lies with the Indian government, the regulators and all stakeholders and well-wishers of this great Nation to combine their forces, chalk out a time bound and resource bound plan to hit back hard at each of the core problems affecting everyday life. Issues of Housing, Food, Health, Inflation, Corruption, Growth, Education and Employment must have separate resource allocation and autonomous organisation devoted specifically to control, monitor and mitigate upheavals in these fields at all times.
Concentrating back to our original dream of building a City of Opportunity in the backdrop of India is now even more challenging. Normal constraints listed out upfront does not fit into Indian scenario in its “plain vanilla” form. India’s own set of generic problems adds many undesired dimensions to an already bleak scenario of housing, in a world of ever growing population. There is no point in being a “cry baby” to a debacle or shirking responsibility declaring a situation as out of human control. A solution must be found before things become malignant and goes hopelessly out of shape. To start with, India already has a long tradition of indigenous housing, supplemented by exotic technologies imbibed from foreign cultures brought in by the Mughals and British. India also has tough upright regulatory framework, a prudent budget system and a socially responsible democratic government. All these are backed by constant flow of international investors’ funds through FDI and FII route. What is needed is to “gel” all these strengths, declare a comprehensive pragmatic national plan and have every rung of society involved in Nation Rebuilding for its own good. Recently the sharp spike in price of real estate property in cities has eaten into the savings of people, leaving them “high and dry”. Consequently, a section of society has suddenly become richer leaving them “plenty and full”. So the housing problem has added to the eternal woe of “the rich becoming richer and the poor become poorer”; which forms the very bone of contention the world over between the so called “Socialist” and the ‘Capitalist”. Such imbalance in wealth distribution naturally leads to social confrontations and all myriads evils ranging from public grievance, demonstrations, work disruption and even “Naxalism”. So solving this single problem can naturally put an end to several others. Hence it stands to reason as to why an individual, a firm, a society or the government should not invest its time, money and energy in eliminating one such core problem of “Housing” which has a host of co-problems embedded into it!
There has to be a starting line or an ignition point or rather a first-mover to set the ball rolling. Time and again it has been the handiwork of one genius individual or an aggressive institution that has set in motion a revolution of changes. For example, during the European Renaissance, it was a handful intellectual in Italy who heralded an era of “Modernization” in Europe. James Watt’s discovery of the steam engine ignited the Industrial revolution in Britain. In modern trading practice, the extremely risky “block trades” and “proprietary trading” activities initiated by American trading firms gave birth to the famous “investment banking” field, which generated wealth and employment at a pace and to a volume never ever seen in the history of finance. For the Housing puzzle that we are presently riddled with, some such initiative has to be conceived at the bottom, at an individual firm level. In case of India the real-estate developing firms are simply doing the “business” of selling a commodity, “the house”, pricing it purely on demand, supply and competition factors. The funny thing is that no single firm is able to “grab” the market, since all are working on the same model or business plan. The worst thing is that the end user or customer is made to pay through his nose for a product, “the apartment” where he hardly has a say. The commercial banking system is happy because housing finance forms a sizable part of the assets of the balance sheet. At the end of the day, money changes hand, but no real value addition is found. Society continues to dwindle in the dark. May be a catalyst in the form of a strong regulator backed by a committed government plan is the need of the hour to incentivise the “ignition” in these private real estate developers.
To sum up, we continue and will continue to fumble in our own un-decidedness until we tell ourselves that “Enough is enough. It’s time to work”. Modern India has all the resources to nullify all constraints and move ahead towards building Cities, Towns and Villages of Opportunities. The benefits are for all to reap. The plan and process of making it happen can be formulated by hordes of brilliant minds lurking about the globe, provided they are given the opportunity to prove their talents. The American financial “meltdown”, the European debt crisis, the Chinese exports-import mismatch, the Japanese deflationary markets and so many mind boggling headlines keep our government and society busy. However things nearer home, which pinch daily, seem to rot in the back burner. Going by the trend, it seems that the society needs a headline declaring that they are in a housing crisis, in the midst of a “deep soup” and they need to act immediately at any price. But the solution to any crisis, say for example the 1991 debt default crisis that India faced and wriggled out with IMF loan, involves a high price. As the proverbial water starts going over the top, the price becomes dearer. Is India ready to pay and can she afford it, is the real question?
An author like any dreamer can only ponder, ruminate and feel the heat of the situation. He mostly fails to incite public opinion or mass action unless under exceptionally lucky situations. Nevertheless going by the religion of the author he will continue to dream. In this case the dream is of a City which delivers Value to the Society at the click of a button, in the wink of an eye. In his city everyone who seeks an opportunity is welcomed, groomed and assisted in a “laissez faire” environment to realize his dreams. If the seeker needs a job; the city has a choice of finest jobs to suite his aspirations. Next, if he seeks a family; the city offers a diverse set of communities to bond with. He seeks a home, the builders gives him customized apartment at his price. He seeks business opportunities; the city provides him a trade forum to connect to other traders. Funding, Protection, Child care, Education, Socializing, Health, Insurance and any service imaginable should be accessible and affordable round the clock, hassle free and over centuries in the author’s city of dreams. Any country or society which can dare to think of such a dream and dedicate their resources to building one such city would be truly benefited for ages to come. To end these whispering frenzies of imagination, hope and despair it is a great relief to brood over a fine figment of idea once expressed by G.K. Chesterton, “None of us think enough of those things on which the eye rests. Why should the eye be so lazy? Let us exercise the eye until it learns to see the startling facts than run across the landscape as plain as a painted fence. Let us be ocular athletes...”
“Cities of Opportunities” the topic of this essay incidentally is also the title of a famous report occasionally published by PriceWaterhouseCooper Inc. In the report the firm lists the basic amenities of a great city. Then it goes further to measure and compares cities on these amenities. For a start, we may borrow few of these measurable variables to add to our City of Opportunity. Twenty six cities feature prominently in its 2011 version; the Indian city of Mumbai makes it to the list as the bottom-most entry, and New York City tops the list. The firm argues for a list of ten must-haves for a great city namely, Intellectual capital and innovation, Technology readiness, Transportation and infrastructure, Health, safety and security, Sustainability, Economic clout, Ease of doing business, Cost of living, Demographics and livability, and lastly Lifestyle assets. On a quick perusal of the report the reader will be convinced that not one city can boast of scoring top marks in all the ten parameters at the same time. So it might be futile to ask for all facilities in our Dream City at all times. Volatility is the reality in the real world. This leads us to the classic problem of Choice. We are to choose the ones which we must have at all times and those which must be avoided at any point in time i.e. the resources vis-à-vis constraints.
Talking of resources, it must be clear that resources are the per-requisites which will help us acquire the ten qualities mentioned beforehand. So these are the building blocks we seek for building our City. Society may be the most important point to kick-start our resource list. A healthy society that is open, innovative, cooperative, democratic and responsible forms the heart of any great city. Economy may well take the second position. A vibrant, dynamic yet stable economy ensures that the people of the city continue to remain employed, wealthy, well-fed, secure and powerful. With society and wealth comes the thirst for Power. So Politics is the necessary evil of any great city. A health political system that is governed through a democratic consultative procedure and executed through a scientifically driven and transparent public administration ensures that a city keeps growing against all vagaries of time. Technology adoption is next. Any city or society that is averse to adopting newer technologies on a continuous basis becomes in-efficient, costly, un-sustainable and un-attractive. Investing on newer technology infrastructures from individual, social, state and defense standpoint is the key to acquire an edge over others. For instance the case of London city may be considered. Great Britain’s very source of world domination and subsequent wealth is technology. Industrial revolution in Britain is what turned the table heavily towards them, in such a strong way that they have survived the ravages of two world wars, continue to blossom and attract the best and wealthiest talents from across the globe till date. Environment is and has always been a cause of greatest concern for any city developer. The trick of building a plush modern city is to pack -in too much in too little space. This artificial imbalance obviously creates a pressure on the environment around. So the challenge of building our Dream City is to ensure that natural environment is not taxed to a point where it cannot sustain, renew and repair itself. Environment pollution and turmoil must be curtailed at every step to guarantee a city that runs smoothly, sustainably and healthily for long into the future. A green and clean city reduces energy consumption, leading to energy security. So being in “sync” with Nature creates a “Domino” effect which is profitable for us all throughout.
Next is “Constraint”, the devil we would like to avoid at all costs. It is interesting to note that each of the resources we desired for our great city has its own embedded constraint. Starting with society, the people are its constraints. If the members of our society are weak in their minds and intents, there can be no start. People are the most valuable assets for a great city. So by all means we must attract people in our city who are innovative, entrepreneurial and intent on contributing to the formation, maintenance and evolution of a great city. Here arises the need for great housing plans and projects which can create a desire in talented people to flock to our City to work, live, grow and contribute to its evolution. They must “feel at home” in our city. Regarding economy, volatility is its very hallmark. For sustaining a great city, financial volatility on the negative side must be continuously managed and mitigated. This calls for expert financial risk management planners and executors to be housed in our City. Banks and other financial organizations help to mobilize wealth across cities thus creating a stable economic order. To house such technical institutions require specialized buildings and infrastructures as well. Third is Politics and Administration. Both are like the two sides of the same coin. So both combined produce a pair of constraints as well. To attract, house and develop the most sincere political leaders and advanced political setups require time, climate and opportunity. Similarly for the public administrators to execute the social leader’s ideas in the best possible way, requires social, legal, financial and infrastructural support. All these again demand proper real estate, infrastructure and technology development. It may be noted here that all the resources and constraints are so inter-twined that it becomes difficult at times to see which one is a resource we sought and which is a constraint or threat we ought to avoid. Investing in modern, effective and efficient technologies on a continuous basis is in itself a challenge when weighed against finance, public intent and pace of change. Lastly, the environment in itself presents a trove of opportunities and threats all sandwiched into one. Natural environment can become very un-predictable and un-accommodative for life at one moment, then again a friendly life sustain er for the next several decades. So our great city’s landscape must at all times respect the threshold capacity of the nature around. The catch here is to balance humans’ un-relinquishing demands via-à-vis nature’s capacity for sustenance. The biggest constraint here is synchronization. The beauty of an author’s essay is that it shows the pros and cons of an issue on a platter all nicely presented; giving the impression to its readers that it is so very real and achievable. However in the real world there is no author or god to synchronize all aspects of the writer’s ideas. Real world is a collective conscience of a host of peoples, each person having a mind different from the other. When all these minds interact, it often creates result that is very different from the author’s expected result.
For the time being, if we fancy a world devoid of the constraints listed above, we will have the unique advantage of seeing a host of opportunities that awaits each of us who seek to build the dream city. Just in case we manage to mitigate the constraints through intelligent ways, even a fool can list out the opportunities a dream city development project will present. To start with, real estate sector will be most profitable, followed by finance, trade, technology, government, environment and society. All these activities will naturally lead to increase in employment, wealth generation and equitable distribution of income. All said and done, but just how do we get rid of the constraints is where the fulcrum of this whole idea of a dream city rests. Handling one constraint at a time is the key to tilt the balance in our favor. Secondly, a time-bound and resource-bound concrete plan for every city project must be continuously managed by experts. An essential for our dream city to actually start reaping benefits for us is the pace of its completion. Each project must be completed with a war footing with aggression and accountability. Thirdly, for any city to actually shelter a productive and resourceful society which feels proud of its city, the members must be given opportunities to take part in its developments. Hence, public private partnership between individuals and administration is vital. Next essential is Community stimulation and education. A city may have diverse communities living together, each having distinctive thoughts, religions, beliefs and lifestyles. But to make them all feel for their “own” city and co-live with other communities is a challenge. So a prime duty of the public administration must be to regularly educate and stimulate each of the communities to work, interact and evolve with the other communities for theirs’ and their city’s best interest. Lastly, the city must have regular credit flowing to the development and maintenance of real estate and infrastructure.
BSHF is an international organization that annually rewards a community development project as part of world habitat day celebration. In the last several years the diverse winners have been communities with diverse aims and ambitions but all sharing one commonality. Each has decentralized the developmental works to its members and held the individuals accountable for their actions. This way each person of society “feels” responsible for his community, society or city. The question is, if such fantastic ideas could be conceived, implemented and the benefits reaped therein, what deters the other communities around the world from adopting such efficient models of habitat development?
A finalist entry for the BSHF 2011 competition may be cited and analyzed to better understand the magic at work in these “satisfied” communities. “The Federal Housing and Habitat Improvement Programme for Indigenous and Rural People is a state-run programme under the Under-secretariat for Urban Development and Housing (SSDUV), which aims to support and improve the living conditions of indigenous groups and low-income households in rural areas of Argentina. The construction of new homes, improvement of existing homes, development of rural infrastructure works and the creation of stable livelihoods are its four main areas of activities. National government funding is transferred to local partners or executive bodies, which work directly with beneficiaries and communities where the programme is operating. These bodies may be either provincial or municipal governments, NGOs and/or communities of indigenous peoples and are generally made up of professional technicians, social scientists and accountants. The total investment to date for 2,625 homes is US$ 70 million with an average of US$ 29,000 per unit. The autonomous programme’s work began in 2010 and is currently operating in 9 of the 23 provinces of Argentina… The programme sees the house as the center for social and economic activity and the basis for rural development, putting emphasis on investment that fosters the construction of rural infrastructure … The executive bodies (NGOs, local government and others) receive a grant from the national government to execute each of the signed agreements. Beneficiaries repay the cost of their houses to the executive bodies (which provide the loans) over 30 or 40 years with zero or low interest rates. Families unable to pay the installments can ask for an additional grant that covers the total amount needed. Repayment funds must be reinvested by the executive bodies in new houses or community facilities. NGOs as executive bodies can receive funds from the national government for up to 15 per cent more than the total received for the implementation of the programme, so as to cover their costs (e.g. logistical problems of working in remote areas, training services, technical assistance, etc” (source: BSHF website). Several notable and striking points can be extracted from the excerpt. To start with, the community programme is participative and democratic in its operations. Secondly, it is budgeted meaning that the source and usage of funds are planned and executed meticulously without any fiscal deficit problem. Hence, the programme seeks to live within its means, offering no “free meal” to anyone and thus economically viable in its design. Thirdly, the project employs the technical skills of the society’s own members, thus creating employment, involvement and ego centrism in the community. Lastly, the project is supported by national government in Argentina, backed by public bureaucrats and whole-heartedly implemented by the people at the grass-root level. The question now becomes, are the others in this world intending to commit to this grand plan of building such a city, which is backed by society from top rung to the grass root? The answer lies in the people from each such community because it is intensity of human intention that matters the most.
The case of India presents a marvelous opportunity for academics, scholars, architects, economists, regulators, planners, governments, private firms, investors, real estate developers and social organizations who intend to make a mark in the field of real estate development. Indian landscape and her population presents a “Pandora’s Box” of problems in all possible and impossible permutations, testing the wit and guts of the most successful and confident human beings. It is also true that every such human or organization that has solved even ten percent of the riddles that India presents, is always rewarded to the extent that makes it immortal across timelines. The challenge is to have the mind and consistency to delve into the ocean of constraints with a constant hope and diligence to come out successful, one day in the future. Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi did it in the capacity of a single individual, a just another returning NRI barrister. In his own confession he was not fully successful. But time transformed him into “Mahatma Gandhi - the Father of the Indian nation”. The Mughals and later the British both fancied visiting India for trade or wealth accumulation, faced a deluge of problems, but they never gave up. The final result for the Mughals was that they put their names in the pages of human history, not as just any barbarian plundering horde from central Asia, but as the Architects of medieval India. For the British the result was, the transformation of a group of insignificant European islanders into a world power, backed by unlimited wealth, natural resources and manpower constantly flowing out from the Indian subcontinent, to quench the thirst of the British monarchical ambition, of colonising the globe for furthering the British trade, politics and culture. Modern India is faced by a critical point in housing scenario that by design is not very different from problems faced by the Mughals, British or the Mahatma. The core of the problem rests in the enormity of the Indian subcontinent, the diversity of its climate and people, the limited resources and of courses its lack of thrust. In social terms India has always been and continues to remain nonchalant, non-directional, slow, sensitive and divided in her opinion. Under such a scenario, undoubtedly progress will be slow, but the onus lies with the Indian government, the regulators and all stakeholders and well-wishers of this great Nation to combine their forces, chalk out a time bound and resource bound plan to hit back hard at each of the core problems affecting everyday life. Issues of Housing, Food, Health, Inflation, Corruption, Growth, Education and Employment must have separate resource allocation and autonomous organisation devoted specifically to control, monitor and mitigate upheavals in these fields at all times.
Concentrating back to our original dream of building a City of Opportunity in the backdrop of India is now even more challenging. Normal constraints listed out upfront does not fit into Indian scenario in its “plain vanilla” form. India’s own set of generic problems adds many undesired dimensions to an already bleak scenario of housing, in a world of ever growing population. There is no point in being a “cry baby” to a debacle or shirking responsibility declaring a situation as out of human control. A solution must be found before things become malignant and goes hopelessly out of shape. To start with, India already has a long tradition of indigenous housing, supplemented by exotic technologies imbibed from foreign cultures brought in by the Mughals and British. India also has tough upright regulatory framework, a prudent budget system and a socially responsible democratic government. All these are backed by constant flow of international investors’ funds through FDI and FII route. What is needed is to “gel” all these strengths, declare a comprehensive pragmatic national plan and have every rung of society involved in Nation Rebuilding for its own good. Recently the sharp spike in price of real estate property in cities has eaten into the savings of people, leaving them “high and dry”. Consequently, a section of society has suddenly become richer leaving them “plenty and full”. So the housing problem has added to the eternal woe of “the rich becoming richer and the poor become poorer”; which forms the very bone of contention the world over between the so called “Socialist” and the ‘Capitalist”. Such imbalance in wealth distribution naturally leads to social confrontations and all myriads evils ranging from public grievance, demonstrations, work disruption and even “Naxalism”. So solving this single problem can naturally put an end to several others. Hence it stands to reason as to why an individual, a firm, a society or the government should not invest its time, money and energy in eliminating one such core problem of “Housing” which has a host of co-problems embedded into it!
There has to be a starting line or an ignition point or rather a first-mover to set the ball rolling. Time and again it has been the handiwork of one genius individual or an aggressive institution that has set in motion a revolution of changes. For example, during the European Renaissance, it was a handful intellectual in Italy who heralded an era of “Modernization” in Europe. James Watt’s discovery of the steam engine ignited the Industrial revolution in Britain. In modern trading practice, the extremely risky “block trades” and “proprietary trading” activities initiated by American trading firms gave birth to the famous “investment banking” field, which generated wealth and employment at a pace and to a volume never ever seen in the history of finance. For the Housing puzzle that we are presently riddled with, some such initiative has to be conceived at the bottom, at an individual firm level. In case of India the real-estate developing firms are simply doing the “business” of selling a commodity, “the house”, pricing it purely on demand, supply and competition factors. The funny thing is that no single firm is able to “grab” the market, since all are working on the same model or business plan. The worst thing is that the end user or customer is made to pay through his nose for a product, “the apartment” where he hardly has a say. The commercial banking system is happy because housing finance forms a sizable part of the assets of the balance sheet. At the end of the day, money changes hand, but no real value addition is found. Society continues to dwindle in the dark. May be a catalyst in the form of a strong regulator backed by a committed government plan is the need of the hour to incentivise the “ignition” in these private real estate developers.
To sum up, we continue and will continue to fumble in our own un-decidedness until we tell ourselves that “Enough is enough. It’s time to work”. Modern India has all the resources to nullify all constraints and move ahead towards building Cities, Towns and Villages of Opportunities. The benefits are for all to reap. The plan and process of making it happen can be formulated by hordes of brilliant minds lurking about the globe, provided they are given the opportunity to prove their talents. The American financial “meltdown”, the European debt crisis, the Chinese exports-import mismatch, the Japanese deflationary markets and so many mind boggling headlines keep our government and society busy. However things nearer home, which pinch daily, seem to rot in the back burner. Going by the trend, it seems that the society needs a headline declaring that they are in a housing crisis, in the midst of a “deep soup” and they need to act immediately at any price. But the solution to any crisis, say for example the 1991 debt default crisis that India faced and wriggled out with IMF loan, involves a high price. As the proverbial water starts going over the top, the price becomes dearer. Is India ready to pay and can she afford it, is the real question?
An author like any dreamer can only ponder, ruminate and feel the heat of the situation. He mostly fails to incite public opinion or mass action unless under exceptionally lucky situations. Nevertheless going by the religion of the author he will continue to dream. In this case the dream is of a City which delivers Value to the Society at the click of a button, in the wink of an eye. In his city everyone who seeks an opportunity is welcomed, groomed and assisted in a “laissez faire” environment to realize his dreams. If the seeker needs a job; the city has a choice of finest jobs to suite his aspirations. Next, if he seeks a family; the city offers a diverse set of communities to bond with. He seeks a home, the builders gives him customized apartment at his price. He seeks business opportunities; the city provides him a trade forum to connect to other traders. Funding, Protection, Child care, Education, Socializing, Health, Insurance and any service imaginable should be accessible and affordable round the clock, hassle free and over centuries in the author’s city of dreams. Any country or society which can dare to think of such a dream and dedicate their resources to building one such city would be truly benefited for ages to come. To end these whispering frenzies of imagination, hope and despair it is a great relief to brood over a fine figment of idea once expressed by G.K. Chesterton, “None of us think enough of those things on which the eye rests. Why should the eye be so lazy? Let us exercise the eye until it learns to see the startling facts than run across the landscape as plain as a painted fence. Let us be ocular athletes...”
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