SUSTAINABLY SMART PUNE STUDY - Survey Analysis IV

In continuation to the series on survey data, housing is discussed in this part. Housing is analyzed with respect to structure condition, building typology, housing tenure and size.  

Survey Area

7) HOUSING – STRUCTURE CONDITION

Of the surveyed Slum population, 58% has semi pucca houses and 30% kaccha houses. Less than 20% slum has pucca houses. In slums, most of the houses are erected by the family members themselves with temporary/ semi permanent materials.  On the contrary, LIG group shows a good trend with almost 80% living in pucca houses.

8) BUILDING TYPOLOGY

Building typology shows an increasing trend towards apartment house culture compared to individual houses as a result of scarce land and rising real estate costs.

9) HOUSING TENURE

Housing tenure shows more than 68% residents of all categories own houses. People with rented housing are migrants to city, either new arrivals or are here for a short stay. For most of LIG and slums, rented housing is mostly temporary and in many cases illegal settlements.

10) SIZE OF THE HOUSE

32% households surveyed live in less than 300 sqft house area. A large portion of this number comes from slums, where people live in small one room houses (69%). For HIG, maximum people live in 1000-1500 sqft houses. For MIG, the maximum is for 600-1000 sqft two or one bedroom apartments and for LIG it is 300-600 sqft  apartments.

The above summarises the data related to housing that we obtained from surveys, but there were also some general observations. For example, while slum houses are not very well-built and congested, many of them are equipped with fairly modern amenities inside. The main complaint from the slum and LIG populations is lack of options for housing within affordable budget range, and in the neighbourhood where they are currently located. 

A look at advertisements from construction companies, and general observation of the type of constructions ongoing in and around Pune also justifies this complaint. Housing complexes being constructed in the so-called 'prime' locations (close to city centre, main business areas, etc) are targeted at the HIG and to some extent MIG families. The low income families are increasingly being forced to move to the periphery or even outside the municipal limits if they wish to look for better housing that is in line with their lifestyle and budget. Housing finance options available to these groups are also extremely limited. This, coupled with the poor public transport systems, adds to the hardships faced by these families. 

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Anu Kuncheria

SUSTAINABLY SMART PUNE STUDY - Survey Analysis II

In continuation to my previous blog, the next series of survey outcomes are below.

A brief of the survey:

As part of the Sustainably Smart Pune project, we conducted a household survey in Ghole road ward. The survey was aimed at understanding how various city services are being used by different income categories of people. It is important to assess the usage of different city functions/services by different income categories if you want to make real changes in the quality of life of those impacted by them.

To get a fair representation of the ward, we selected samples from 4 income categories of people : HIG (High Income group), MIG (Middle income group), LIG (low income group) and SLUMs.  It was an interview survey where our interns went to houses and filled the form online/paper.

In this blog, I will be writing on HH earnings and Occupation of the surveyed group.

4. HOUSEHOLD EARNINGS

HH earning details across the various categories in the surveyed group is  shown below. Large section of people were reluctant to give this data (as shown by no response bar in the graph). 

The number of earning members is 1 or 2 in all the categories, but in HIG, it is predominantly 2, while in SLUM, the families with 1 or 2 earching members is nearly equal. Also, a relatively larger number of families in SLUMs also have 3 earning members compared to the percentage in other categories. 

5. OCCUPATION

Occupation was analyzed for the highest earning male and female member for a HH. 

It can be noted from the survey that 53% of the HIG male is into business/ self employed, 33% is into  private service. For MIG, 35% is into some private service, for LIG self employed is the highest followed by private service. For Slums, private service and daily wagers are the highest.

For females, for all the income categories, home maker ranks first, however in HIG, the proportion of families with women engaged in some kind of gainful employment is higher than that with women being homemakers. 

Note: N/A implies no adult male in the family or adult male is not working.

Note: N/A implies no adult female in the family or adult female is not working

More on housing will be up in the next blog. Would love to hear from you.

Anu Kuncheria

anukuncheria@gmail.com 

MUSINGS FROM PRIYADARSHINI KARVE: Isn't SMART automatically Sustainable?

As I mentioned last week, Samuchit Enviro Tech is leading a study on Sustainably SMART Pune by 2030. Can a city ever hope to be sustainable? What are the limits of sustainability in the context of a city? And surely, if a city focuses on being SMART, doesn't it also make it sustainable automatically?

There are a couple of privately owned and run settlements around Pune that claim to be 'Smart cities'. Realistically speaking, these are at best townships or gated communities, that make use of modern technology to enhance the quality of basic services like energy, water supply, security, etc., delivered to the residents. However, let's for a while, keep the entire city out of this discussion, and let's focus on such settlements. 

One can even consider going a step further and consider a 'dream' gated community that has all buildings constructed as per the green building code, the vegetation used for landscaping and open spaces is in phase with the ecosystem, there is a well run, maintained, and non-polluting transport system for moving around the neighbourhood, there are renewable energy installations, waste segregation and management systems, waste water treatment and recycling systems, rainwater harvesting system, etc etc already in place, and running smoothly. Let's even suppose that there are schools, colleges, shops for basic daily needs, medical facilities, etc., too within the gated community. All of these features will make it an "environment friendly" settlement providing a good quality of life to its citizens, but not necessarily a "sustainable" settlement. 

Firstly, most likely the settlement has been established on land purchased or 'acquired' by hook or crook from the original owners, who themselves now have no place in the settlement, except may be working as domestic help, watchmen, gardeners, etc. The people living in the settlement will earn their living outside the settlement (unless it is the housing colony of a big manufacturing factory around which the colony has arisen!). The resources for constructing the settlement would have come from outside its geographical limits, and many of the resources such as food, water, energy, etc., required on a daily basis will continue to come from outside. Thus, this 'dream' settlement will still depend on money, human resource, and natural and other material resources coming in from outside. It therefore will have neither economic, social, or environmental sustainability. 

The point I am trying to drive home here is that SMART - whether it merely means IT enabled, or whether it touches upon the various aspects mentioned in the SMART Cities Mission document of Government of India - does not automatically mean sustainable, as some people may think. But can sustainable automatically lead to SMART? How will a gated community look like if it was close to the theoretical ideal of sustainability? What do you think? Why sustainability is more important and desirable than SMART (or is it??)?

 Please share your ideas, and I will come back with some of mine next week! 

                                                                                           Priyadarshini Karve

Director

Samuchit Enviro Tech

#BeModernBeResponsibleBeRespectful

    Samuchit Enviro Tech.     samuchit@samuchit.com     www.samuchit.com

MUSINGS FROM PRIYADARSHINI KARVE: Sustainably SMART Pune

I am very happy to announce that Samuchit Enviro Tech will be leading an ambitious study starting from October 2015. Our idea is to draw a plan for a sustainably SMART Pune in 2030. 

Let me first clarify that this initiative has nothing to do with the SMART city mission. It is true that the discussion about conducting such a study was triggered by the national level discussion on SMART cities a few months ago. However, Pune being shortlisted among the first list of 100 smart cities and this study being launched at about the same time, is just a coincidence. We do however hope that through the study we would be able to create some socially and environmentally positive impact on the SMART Pune project, whenever it gets launched. 

So what exactly is our idea? 

We see that there is not much clarity about what exactly is the meaning of SMART city in the Indian context. All the examples of so-called SMART cities in the world are in the developed countries. In the context of the developed world, SMART essentially means IT-enabled governance and operating systems. However, IT-enabling becomes possible if first a system is in place! Therefore in the Indian context, a SMART city will have to first and foremost focus on creating efficient and effective systems of governance, and in the process make use of IT and other responsive technologies to enhance the quality of life in an urban space. 

But what exactly do we mean by quality of life? Whose life are we talking about here? The other feature that separates Indian cities from the cities in the developed world is the huge social and economic differences between the various strata of urban society. The needs and aspirations of these socio-economic groups can be vastly different. Indian cities also have a huge floating population - from itinerant construction labour to students to IT professionals! So there is a huge socio-economic disparity in this group too! And what about the future citizens of the city? How are their needs and aspirations are going to be met? There are many unanswered and some unanswerable questions. 

Some of us therefore started thinking - how can we achieve development of a city like Pune that is (a) socially equitable, and (b) environmentally sustainable. In other words, is it possible to create a governance system, that will give a fair chance to EVERY member of the WEAKEST section of the city's socio-economic pyramid to improve her own quality of life, without putting an unsupportable burden on the local and regional resources and environment. 

The idea gathered momentum, and we have managed to raise some funding to launch this study, and have started working out the details. If you are living in Pune, and would like our city to retain its historical claim of being a progressive city in thought and action, I am sure you would be interested in knowing more and contributing to this effort. 

Please feel free to respond to this blog, or write an email to samuchit@samuchit.com, to know more!  

                                                                                        Priyadarshini Karve

Director

Samuchit Enviro Tech