Union Housing and Urban Development Secretary Manoj Joshi has noted only those towns and cities successful in creating jobs are progressing in leaps and bounds. He was taking part as the chief guest in CII seminar on Real Estate development. Availability of affordable houses in urban setting and developing such low-cost houses systematically is the responsibility of the real estate developers as well as that of the urban planners. Urban planning has emerged as one of the major challenges before the nation. Urban population constitutes more than half of country’s population.
But, what kind of cities are they staying in? What kind of wealth are we creating? What kind of urban planning do we do with all that? A lot depends on the jobs created in urban areas, he said observing that Pune and Surat developed manifold because of the employment generation. “Employment generation propels urban areas forward”, he said adding that suggestions and advice from real estate industry in urban planning would be greatly appreciated.
Real estate developers are currently focusing on development of housing properties and planned development of urban areas. All realtors have been mainly concentrating on development of residential units, while leave the job creation to winds. He quoted the examples of Noida, Greater Noida and Gurugram as examples to support his argument. He wanted realtors to note the differences between Noida and Greater Noida and Gurugram. While Noida-Greater and Noida are full of houses, job opportunities have been created in Gurugram’, he said. In this backdrop, he said that the realtors’ mindset should undergo sea change. Apart from paying attention to construction of houses, the realtors should pay attention to creation of office, commercial space and industrial space.
