Need to take relook at urban planning in Covid-19 era: Housing Secy

It is necessary to relook at the way urban planning is done in the COVID-19 era, Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said on Friday.

Speaking at a virtual seminar jointly organised by CII and JLL, Mishra said the real estate industry will have to embrace technology in various aspects as the crisis has been a defining moment.

"Six months ago no one would have thought that we would need to use a virtual platform to conduct meetings. But now we have to live with this as it has become a new normal. Real estate sector, which has a large contribution to the GDP as well as employment, will also have to realign itself with the new normal and think about future investments," Mishra said.

He said with technology adoption becoming a key factor especially in the COVID-19 crisis, it is necessary that the urban planning is also changed accordingly.

"E-commerce is one sector, which has done excellent during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has emphasised the need to adopt technology in every sector. We need to incorporate technology to derive more benefits from lesser efforts. Also, the developers need to find out ways how they can deliver projects in lesser time and with minimum damage to the environment. At the same time, urban planning will have to change," Mishra added.

The Secretary further said the real estate sector will have to find new solutions and be future ready as the country is aiming to move towards becoming "Aatmanirbhar" (self-reliant).

The government has been focusing on increasing its spends to give a boost to the infrastructure and real estate sectors, he noted.

"If India aims to become self reliant, it is necessary that the country comes up with its own solutions in becoming future ready and provide a solution to the world instead of waiting for the world to give us solutions," Mishra added.