7/31/2019 The Changing Landscape of Urban Housing Ver. 2

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The Changing Landscape of Urban Housing

Lead

Big is no longer beautiful - at least in the housing industry. Despite a vibrant housing market in India, decent

housing in the formal sector is beyond the reach of the vast majority of lower income households.Affordable housing is todays buzzword, with developers increasingly eyeing the lower-income and middle-

income segments.

Main Article

Affordable housing is todays buzzword, with developers increasingly eyeing the lower-income and middle-

income segments. The reasons are not far to seek: a gloomy economy, stagnating housing market,

dwindling investors and falling demand for luxury homes.

According to the Planning Commission Report, the urban housing shortage in March 2007 was around

24.71 million and is estimated to increase to 26.5 million by 2012 - 99 per cent of this shortfall is in

economically weaker sections (EWS) and low-income groups (LIG). And providing them adequate housing

will be the biggest challenge to the government.

Larger developers and corporate houses have entered the market, and have announced aggressive plans

to construct hundreds of thousands of houses on a mass-manufacturing model. But, the traditional mode of

construction for individual houses is inadequate for the affordable mass housing construction industry in

view of the rapid rate of construction. For undertaking such works, it is necessary to have innovative

technologies which are capable of fast rate construction and are able to deliver good quality and durable

structure in cost effective manner.

Smart Dynamic Concrete (SDC) from BASF Construction Chemicals division addresses the key constraints

of affordable housing segment i.e. issues of time and shortage of skilled labor. The concrete is made

flowable with no segregation and bleeding maintaining the properties of mix by addition of admixtures

(Glenium 6100). The contractor saves on energy and manpower as very minimal or no vibration is required

for compaction of concrete. SDC not only enhances the speed of construction which was a prerequisite for

affordable mass housing projects but also ensured that there was good concrete finish with no voids, thus

reducing the repair/refinishing cost.

No single approach and solution is available which can satisfy the affordable housing segment at large.

However, what is ideal and desirable is to have a system which can provide choice for people and also

appropriate techniques to meet the situation. The essence lies in the system approach in building

methodology and not necessarily particular construction type or design. Herein lies the opportunity for BASF

where it can combine its expertise in various fields and overcome the barrier between the industry andfundamental human need for a valued home.