While urbanization may be crucial to the economic development of any nation, one of its greatest drawbacks, at least in the context of our
city of Delhi, has been the acute shortfall in democratic housing stock. Therefore addressing issues of housing necessarily has to acknowledge
if not squarely address housing inadequacy especially amongst the less privileged. Indeed, even the privileged today have very few options!
The book engages with the current concerns of providing high-density housing keeping in mind the need to include the marginalized,
maximize mass transport facilities, introduce mixed-use development, and address issues of equity and cost-subsidies. In other words; create
strategies to house an optimum number, achieve a net-zero system, reduce need for travel and above all provide for a quality of life that
nurtures the best in humanity.
Ranjana Mital is a Professor of Architecture at School of Planning and Acrchitecture, New Delhi.
