
Indian cities may not be sprawling, but their density is a major concern especially in a pandemic
This pandemic sounds an alarm about the consequences of inefficient planning and management of cities and poses an opportunity to rethink and rebuild the areas that are most important to the country’s growth

Nearly a year after Kamala Mills fire, BMC finds gross illegalities, violations in compound premises
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in its ongoing inspection of the Kamala Mills Compound premises, has found gross illegalities, including rampant floor space index (FSI) misuse, and amalgamation and alterations of balconies without permission in many units.

Maharashtra cabinet approves sops for institutions of eminence; IEDUs to be exempt of Agriculture Land Ceiling Act
The Maharashtra cabinet Tuesday approved several sops for setting up institutions of eminence deemed to be universities (IEDUs).

Forest Survey of India report claims rise in 'forest cover', experts call govt's definition used for measurement flawed
A misrepresentation of the word "forest cover" has led to a flawed government conclusion that India’s forests grew by 6,778 square kilometres, say experts.

Mumbai's development plan to be put on hold: Error-ridden blueprint to upgrade city's infrastructure far from being finalised
With discrepancies continuing to emerge and people continuing to raise objections, the issue of Mumbai's development plan is not winding down just yet.

BMC's new Mumbai development plan ignores the fact that affordability, not availability, is city's real problem
The BMC's new development plan for Mumbai has two incredulous assumptions: one, that by allowing builders to build more and ‘repopulate’ the island city, homes will become more affordable and two, that more commercial buildings will mean more jobs

Budget 2018: From industry status to single-window clearance, 6 demands from real estate sector
With the hard decisions now taken, the Indian real estate sector fervently hopes that it is at the receiving end of the benevolence implied in a populist budget

Pakistan, India show improvement in index of fragile states, says report
Pakistan has shown "significant improvement" in an index of fragile states, according to a new report.

BMC Election 2017: Unaffordable housing in Mumbai is something polls won’t change
The rate of construction lags behind demand due to lack of funds and ill-thought policies and laws. What’s needed is the use of land more intensively, by reforming the land use policy, FSI, and developing a new underground mass transport system that would increase mobility in spite of high density.

Mumbai's housing crisis: Redevelopment of clusters to affect city's 'livability', reveals study
Recycling land to create housing stock is one way to solve the housing crisis in Mumbai. With high prices that show no signs of dipping, recycling is all that Mumbai has, being a city constrained by the sea, creeks and other cities bordering them.

Decongesting Mumbai: Loopholes remain in building height-road width formula
The indiscriminate redevelopment without attending to the general area in which they are taken up has messed up Mumbai.

Maharashtra budget lacks vision, no focus on growth: AAP
Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday said that the Maharashtra budget lacks long-term vision and fails to put forward a well-defined road map for the recovery of the economy of the state.

The good, bad and ugly of Mumbai's proposed development plan 2034
the DP does not clarify how higher FSI around stations would be managed to ensure that problems get solved instead of becoming worse. Would there be urban design interventions that go beyond what happens within a plot?

Higher FSI will kill the already strained infra in Mumbai and won't make property cheaper
The civic body’s move of increasing the floor space index for the entire city up to a maximum of 8 that will change Mumbai's skyline has been criticized by urban planners and housing experts as it could have a disastrous impact on the city’s infrastructure.

One of the best kept secrets of Indian real estate is out...
If affordable housing does not become the order of the day slums will become as common place in other cities, as they are currently in Mumbai. And that is not a happy thought to look forward to.

Affordable prices in the offing? Mumbai prepares for a spurt of high rises
Mumbaikars should prepare for a spurt of high rises as the city's civic body has unveiled a draft development plan for the next 20 years which envisages a city growing vertically along transit corridors with a variable floor space index ranging from 2.5 to 8.

Easier FDI in real estate means govt is inflating India's urban housing bubble
By opening the floodgates to investors once again, the government is doing the exact opposite of deflating the housing bubble.

Rs 1,200 per sq ft: Mumbai realty bribery rate is half of actual building costs
If you are wondering why real estate prices in Mumbai never fall despite the lack of buyers, look no further than a corrupt, rent-seeking bureaucracy. If the amount of money being sought as bribes by the municipal authorities for building clearances are any guide, the quantum siphoned off in corruption could pay for the bulk of basic building costs - excluding land and taxes. This means the elimination of corruption alone can bring down home prices significantly in India's urbs prima.<br />

Campa Cola case: Punishing the victims and sparing the guilty
The Mumbai municipal authorities are trying to evict residents of the Campa Cola compound, some of whose floors were illegally constructed and ordered by the Supreme Court to be razed. But they are not the guilty parties in this scandal

Ajit Pawar, Sachin Ahir meet CM over Campa Cola issue
Chavan told ministers that if any acceptable options were put forward, the state government was open to making representation in the Supreme Court. Ahir later told reporters that the issue would now be handled at the state government level in consultation with the municipal corporation.