Engineering the Future of Urban Living

Angad Bedi, Managing Director, BCD Group sharing his thoughts on future of urban living, and how the significance considering the rise of large Indian cities such as Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai as global metropolises and the efforts to build world-class cities on the lines of New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Angad Bedi began his illustrious career refining his skills at prestigious consulting firms such as KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has been instrumental in the Group's diversification into low-income housing, luxury residences, and corporate centres as well as middle- to affordable housing, thereby ensuring the delivery of exceptional commercial and residential spaces through strategic collaborative ventures.

1. What role does sustainable architecture play in shaping the cities of tomorrow?

As an increasing number of people are migrating from smaller towns and rural areas to large cities, there’s a greater stress on the existing infrastructure, both public and private, to accommodate this growing population while keeping environment sustainability in check. This necessitates the need for sustainable architecture which is essentially a design approach that promotes and prioritises environmental sustainability in property design and development. It encompasses all stages of real estate development - from design to construction materials, water and waste management to drawing power from renewable sources of energy in order to minimise the negative environmental impacts while enhancing occupant well-being, and building a healthier life.

This assumes significance considering the rise of large Indian cities such as Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai as global metropolises and our efforts to build world-class cities on the lines of New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Furthermore, it also ties back to India’s net Zero carbon emissions commitment by 2070 which makes it necessary to advance on our sustainable architecture efforts. In addition to this, it requires cohesive support and co-ordination from the government, industry, academia and the society in developing buildings which are sustainably sound while making economic sense.

2. How are urban developers balancing density with liveability in rapidly growing cities?

City planners are deploying a host of methodologies to balance growth in population while ensuring a sustainable and hassle free movement through the development of public infrastructure, such as metros, flyovers. They are also doing this by increasing the Floor Space Index which is used to regulate the permissible built-up area on a plot of land and opening up new markets in the form of micro markets. This is leading to the development of high rises, both for new and existing infrastructure, which plays a crucial role in balancing population growth while maintaining a healthy ratio of green spaces. These efforts can help in curating a city on the principles of sustainable architecture.

There are successful examples of sustainable architecture across the world with Singapore being a testament to the efficacy of this concept. According to a 2013 report by the Urban Land Institute and Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), a “people-first” approach is necessary, one that “weaves together the physical, economic, social and environmental aspects of urban living. Singapore relied on 10 principles including, building green, low-energy infrastructure and transportation systems, facilitating future-proofed, innovative developments with flexibility and long-term growth in mind, fostering “3P” (people, public, private) partnerships and initiatives and implementing mixed-use, affordable spaces which maximise the utility of even small places. It further spoke of breaking up urban density with a variety of green areas, and bringing nature closer to people, promoting and celebrating diversity and inclusivity and finally allowing the community to become “the eyes on the street” to increase security and safety.

Developers, on their part, are identifying the right mix of real estate segments which will balance density with liveability in rapidly growing cities by developing mixed-use properties such as office-cum-residential, retail-cum-residential properties etc. They are also developing land parcels around new transit hubs to encourage easy access to public transportation, reducing long commutes and reducing dependence on private vehicles while promoting a more sustainable lifestyle.

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3. In what ways is modular construction changing the pace and scale of urban development?

Large scale real estate construction on the back of robust demand for infrastructure is leading to the development of newer ways to accelerate the pace of construction while keeping costs in check. This gave rise to modular construction which essentially is achieved through standardisation of elements such as doors, walls etc and off-site fabrication, allowing developers to simultaneously conduct site preparation and module construction. This leads to quicker completion as compared to traditional methods while ensuring safety of site workers, given the factory presents a more predictable environment. In addition to this, modular construction also offers developers the flexibility in design and adaptability for future needs, which makes it well-suited for our rapidly growing cities. Other benefits include effectiveness and stability, durability, higher quality, lower labour costs, and reduction in training for the workers.

Furthermore, new innovations such as modular construction have also helped reduce construction timelines from 36 months or more to 18-24 months approximately. This ensures faster delivery of projects which helps urban planners better align their sustainable vision for the city while strengthening buyers’ trust. However, it also requires the developers to make decisions early, plan for continuous flow of funds to ensure no interruptions in development while ensuring design consistencies.

4. How can developers ensure eco-efficiency across all phases of urban projects?

According to a 2011 report by United Nations Human Settlements Programme or UN-Habitat, Cities are at a crossroads and the choices made in urban infrastructure development today will determine the success of cities in delivering services to everyone while growing competitively within a protected environment for decades to come. This brings eco-efficiency in the spotlight in order to deliver services to all at a time of rapid urbanisation while keeping environmental sustainability in check.

This becomes important on the back of the Asia-Pacific region experiencing rapid urbanization with 2.6 billion people, or 50% of the population in the region expected to live in cities and towns by 2030  – twice as many as in the year 2000.

This necessitates the need for developers to design, plan and build our cities in order to future-proof our growth and sustainability goals and large developers are already paving the way by leading with examples of reducing the consumption of resources and the impact on nature, increasing product or service value and helping develop the sustainable ecosystem around real estate construction.

By minimising air pollution, water discharges, waste disposal along with the proper management of toxic substances, developers are reducing carbon emissions as well as fostering the sustainable use of renewable resources. This also means following guidelines established by LEED Certification and Indian Green Building Council and encouragingly, over 65 per cent or 805 of the 1,362 Grade A office space in India’s top seven cities is green-certified, according to Bengaluru-based real estate consultancy Vestian Research, in a testament to the growing adoption of eco-efficiency across all phases of projects.

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5. What are the latest materials or building techniques being used to reduce carbon footprints in cities?

The clarion call to develop sustainable real estate by the government, occupiers, retail and institutional investors is leading to democratisation of technologies and rationalisation of prices of sustainable alternatives. These include technologies such as energy-efficient lighting, air-conditioned systems (HVAC), thermal insulation and natural ventilation, low-carbon materials like recycled concrete, recycled asphalt pavement, and bio-based binders in road construction while increasingly using sustainable materials including recycled steel and wood, and smart building technologies to reduce carbon footprints in cities.

Developers are also using low-carbon retrofits of existing buildings and using engineered biochar as a construction material to enhance carbon sequestration, thereby offsetting the carbon footprint of construction projects. Other strategies which are being adopted across real estate segments include insulation of outer walls and floors, heat efficient glazing and green roofing. Sustainable alternatives are also being actively used such as bricks made of earthen materials like clay and mud, bamboo, bio-composites, block and sustainable concrete which can reduce carbon emissions by up to 50 per cent.

These efforts are resulting in greater increase in the number of green buildings which have seen a five-fold increase since 2010, with 61 per cent of India’s total Grade A office stock being green certified and Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad hold the highest share of green-certified buildings, as per KPMG and Colliers.

6. What makes a truly “future-ready” neighborhood or housing development?

A judicious mix of sustainability, adaptability, and technology holds the key to building cities of the future to accommodate a growing population and an elevated lifestyle which prioritizes environmental sustainability and ease of life. The need for a futuristic city has also given rise to the concept of "15-minute city" that envisions neighborhoods where necessities such as work, education, and healthcare, are accessible within a 15-minute by walk, private vehicle or public transit journey.

Neighbourhoods which produce little to no waste, houses are constructed using sustainable materials, taps into renewable energy to power the operations constitute the first pillar of sustainable cities. Secondly, the pace of economic growth is giving rise to design language spaces which allows room to modify or repurposed spaces to accommodate changing preferences of individuals or groups of people while enhancing comfort through smart home features.

Thirdly, greater inclusion of technology through ERP systems, drone monitoring of projects, Internet of Things (IoT) to prevent leakages and automate systems are some of the tech developments witnessing widespread adoption across the board, helping build a truly future ready neighbourhood. Over the next decade, an increasing number of developers will enhance their exposure to sustainability in order to tap into the billion dollar opportunities neighbourhoods of the future present.