Slums are moved to another location, high value housing is being put over there. We have social responsibilities as architects and builders, says Ratan Tata.
By Varun Singh
Ratan Tata, Chairman, Emeritus Tata Sons, while chairing a panel discussion on Realty Check, Industry impact and business continuity reminded builders and architects of their social responsibilities.
Tata said, “We have in the last few months have been humbled to realise that a disease could run across the globe totally changing the dimension of how we are and what we do. I think we have to consider this issue as being our problem and not their problem.”
“We need to concern ourselves with the quality of lives everywhere. We need to ask ourselves, are we ashamed of what we see or proud of what we see. We need to consider urban communities as one. We need to look at the possibility of ownership of slums rather than rentals. We need to focus on considerably being proud of what we’re doing. Mumbai and Maharashtra need to be proud of the transition that they make. And the transition needs to be real,” declared Ratan Tata.
He was speaking at the virtual panel discussion on the ‘Future of Design & Construction’ organised by CorpGini.
“We just go to affordable housing, slum elimination. We’re trying to remove slums moving them to another location, high value housing is being put over there.” said Tata.
He furthers added, “Slums are the residue; we’re building a vertical slum. For the first time, the close proximity, low value structures that we have built are the cause of new problems. The last few months have taught us that we’re suffering from close proximity. We have the image we want to project of ourselves and there’s a part we want to hide. We have social responsibilities as architects and builders.”
Tata continued, “The corona issue is a wakeup call of what beholds us, what our concern is as it turns around us and holds us back. I think there should be a re-examination of what we consider to have acceptable standards in terms of quality of life. Perhaps there ought to be a revision in terms of the fact that we are dealing with communities, we’re dealing with populations that needs to be a part of new India.”
According to a report, Ratan Tata said to builders and architects, “In the slums they created, there is no fresh air. It’s just a space for living, because it is done through corruption and coercion. This is what architects and developers have been satisfied with and I think this pandemic is a wake-up call of what beholds us if that’s what our concern is.”
Slum redevelopment in Mumbai forms a big part of the real estate sector. Top developers also get into slum redevelopment, where they build buildings in close proximity for slum dwellers, at the same time they build luxury homes for sale for the rich.
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