Amity School of Architecture and Planning

Amity University
Rajasthan

Assignment - 2
BAR 906 – COST EFFECTIVE ARCHITECTURE

Establish “Need for Cost Effective Architecture” for

all or certain segments of Society.

Submitted by: Submitted to:

Akshay Chhajer
A20104016011 Ar. Abhishek Sharma
ASAP, AUR ASAP, AUR
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Q1. One of the outcomes of expensive urban centres is small property holdings and high residential density.
Horizontal sprawls of Slums is another phenomena witnessed in periphery or vacant lots of Urban Areas. Human
Life & Space Quality are adversely affected. Majority of the occupants are migrants who had left Rural Settlements
behind which could not provide for them. Cost of dwellings and affordability of its populace dictate the quality of
living standards achieved by any Nation. With the help of further web-based research, express your
opinion on “Need for Cost Effective Architecture” or “Low-Cost Construction and
Quality” through 1000 - 1500 words long Essay.

Ans. For understanding the need for cost effective architecture, we have to first understand the
problems giving rise to this need. Majority of time these problems occur in large cities and towns.
Problems are as follows:
1. Population density
Population in larger cities and towns is increasing day by day, and one of the major cause is
migration of people from rural settlements or small towns to these cities for marriage purpose,
better job and business opportunities, better education etc.
MIGRATION STREAM VOLUME IN MILLIONS
2011 2001
Rural - Rural 69.1 53.3

Urban - Rural 11.4 6.2

Rural - Urban 32.1 20.5

Urban - Urban 32.9 14.3

Source: Census of India 2011

From the above date we can say that nearly 32 million people have migrated from rural areas to
cities.
2. Shortage of houses
Due to increasing population density, availability of space in urban areas is declining. Giving rise
to shortage of new residential space. Majority of shortage is in EWS category.

Source: Report on urban housing shortage (2012-17) – National building organization

According to report there is a shortage of 18.78 million units of house.

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3. Increase in slum rate
“A Slum, for the purpose of Census has been defined as residential areas where dwellings are unfit for human
habitation by reasons of dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangements and design of such buildings, narrowness
or faulty arrangement of street, lack of ventilation, light, or sanitation facilities or any combination of these factors
which are detrimental to the safety and health.” - National building organization, India
Increase in population density and shortage of houses have increased the rate of slums in major
urban areas of India.
Indicator Number of households
(in lakh)
Total (Urban) 789
Slum 137
Non-Slum 652
Number of households (in %)
Slum 17.4%
Non-Slum 82.6%
Source: Housing stock, amenities and assets in slums – census 2011

According to census 2011, around 17% of total households in India are slums. Where majority are
from Maharashtra.
Now huge numbers of slum are reported from cities having population greater than 1million.
According to data collected by census 2011 nearly 38% of total slum is in cities with people over
1 million.

Indicator Number
Number of Slum Households (in lakh)
Total (Slum) 137
Slum in Million Plus Cities 52
Slum in other Cities 85
Number of Slum Households (in %)
Slum in Million Plus Cities 38.1%
Slum in other Cities 61.9%

Source: Housing stock, amenities and assets in slums – census 2011

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4. Poor quality of living
Above problems led to poor quality of living in these slums of major cities of India. Quality of life
depends on various factors:
Housing, Sanitation, education, drinking water, employment and economical condition of people.
Slums do not have
• basic municipal services - water, sanitation, waste collection, street lighting, paved footpaths,
roads for emergency access.
• Schools and clinics within reach, safe areas for children to play.
• Places for the community to meet and socialize.

Conclusion
By considering above problems we can conclude that the high costs of living in cities make it
difficult for the poor to live a life of quality and dignity. Yet, the poor in rural regions, as
in the case in India, often resort to migrating out of their villages to search for employment
and opportunity in the urban areas resulting in increase of slums.
As the major factors contributing to these problems are high cost of living and less space
availability, so it becomes the need for cost effective architecture. Problems can be solved
by providing effective solution for the space, which fulfil the function and improve the
quality of life also.
Cost effective architecture is the need of the community but it can be achieved on
individual basis. It include various factors to cut down cost.
 Simplicity in design
 Simplicity in detailing
 Clever Material Choices and Sourcing
 Cutting down the Labour Cost
 Technology Utilization

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Q2. Is cost-effective construction only required for urban settings or are they essential for rural
settlements too?
Ans. Cost effective architecture is required on rural setting too, but the need is different for rural
areas. The problems are different to address in rural areas.
In rural areas people already follow the practise of vernacular architecture. They try to build
their houses from material that is available there, but the houses made by them are not very well
equipped with climate resistant elements. Their homes are like temporary houses built to survive.
So the problems that people face in rural areas in terms of living are:

 Poor economic condition to build a pucca house.

 Structure is not very well resistant to natural disasters.
 Poor availability of services like water and electricity.
 Poor sanitation facilities.
By focusing on these problems importance of cost effective architecture can be identified. We
can provide effective solution to the space design by incorporating the vernacular and disaster
resistant architecture. We can also enhance the importance of renewable source of energy in rural
areas, by making people aware of the techniques to produce electricity on site and recycle water.

Q3. How is affordability for housing measured by your State Bodies/agencies? Prepare a table
showing different economic segments identified by your state and eligibility criteria for inclusion.
Ans. Over the past few decades, India has been witnessing increasing urbanisation and inward
migration to cities, which has resulted in a significant change in the demographic profile of its
urban centres. Developments in the affordable housing space, have been few due to limited
availability of low-cost land, increasing construction costs and low margin levels. Thus, a
considerable demand-supply mismatch has been created in India’s cities. In rural centres as well,
the housing quality has been very poor, with the vast majority of the rural population living in
kutcha houses.

In recognition of these issues, the Government of India has undertaken several initiatives to
promote the development of good quality affordable housing, with the stated goal of providing
Housing for All by 2022. At the heart of these schemes is the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
(PMAY), a Government mission to encourage the development of affordable housing through
various measures, including private partnership and provision of subsidies for beneficiary-led
individual house construction.
The PMAY was launched in June 2015, aimed at providing affordable housing to the urban
poor, but in November 2016, a rural component was added.

PMAY-U: The PMAY-U, launched on June 25, 2015, aims at subsidising the construction of
around 1 crore urban houses, by providing Central assistance to 1 crore eligible families
(beneficiaries) over the period FY2015-22.

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Eligibility and categorisation are done through income and carpet-area based parameters.

The PPP policies under the PMAY-U were added on September 21, 2017, with the Ministry of
Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation announcing six models to promote private investments in
affordable housing:

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