Adani University Hosts ‘Urban Renewal Through Redevelopment: Towards Building Sustainable Indian Cities’ Conclave

Editor’s Synopsis

The Centre for Excellence in Urban and Real Estate Development (CURED) at Adani University hosted its first chapter of the Real Estate Conclave with the theme of ‘Urban Renewal Through Redevelopment: Towards Building Sustainable Indian Cities on Saturday, March 18, 2023
This was in association with Adani Realty, CREDAI Ahmedabad GIHED, GICEA Ahmedabad and Real Estate Management Institute (REMI)
Key industry professionals including policymakers, city administrators, real estate developers and academicians participated in panel discussions and brainstorming sessions on redevelopment schemes adopted in Ahmedabad and Mumbai, two prominent mega-cities of India
Announcement regarding collaboration between Adani University and REMI on signing of an MoU to offer certification programs from April 2023 onwards was made

18 March 2023, Ahmedabad: The Centre for Excellence in Urban and Real Estate Development (CURED) at Adani University hosted its first chapter of the Real Estate Conclave with the theme of ‘Urban Renewal Through Redevelopment: Towards Building Sustainable Indian Cities’ in association with Adani Realty, CREDAI Ahmedabad GIHED, GICEA Ahmedabad and Real Estate Management Institute (REMI) on Saturday, March 18, 2023 at the Adani University, Ahmedabad. This was first of the series of workshops to be conducted on the themes like Housing Redevelopment:

Learnings from Ahmedabad and Mumbai, Slum Rehabilitation & Resettlement, and Redevelopment of Public Amenities/Infrastructure in Cities.

India is steadily moving along the path of urbanization, with projections of urban population doubling between 2018 to 2050 from 461 to 877 million. Indian mega-cities have introduced innovative measures for renewal of older areas and urban infrastructure/amenities aimed at revitalization of city-core. Geared towards the G20 initiative, the conclave focused on the three-pronged agenda of themes Policy Arena and Evolution, Enablers and Challenges for Private Developers, and Opportunities to Transform the cities into Sustainable Organisms for Growth.

Prof. Arun Sharma, Vice Chancellor, Adani University welcomed the audience and spoke about the holistic perspective of the real estate and redevelopment scenario. He stated, “As Indian economy grows, India’s culture will assert but India will also adopt western ideas, and hopefully at the intersection of those ideas will emerge a new way of urban planning and housing development which will not only be beneficial for India but will set an example for the world too”.

The programme divided into two session tracks saw participation from the who’s who of the industry. For the first session track on ‘Redevelopment of Housing ‐ Policy Perspectives and Challenges for Private Developers’, Dr. Anurima Mukherjee Basu, Adjunct Professor, FMS, Adani University set the tone and Prof. Chetan Vaidya, Former Senior National Urban Adviser, (SUD‐SC) Project Kochi supported by GIZ, Former Director, SPA New Delhi & NIUA, New Delhi made the keynote address. The panel members for this track were Prof. Chetan Vaidya, Former Senior National Urban Adviser, (SUD‐SC) Project Kochi, Supported by GIZ, Former Director, SPA New Delhi & NIUA, New Delhi; Mr. Tejas Joshi, President, CREDAI Ahmedabad GIHED, MD, Vivan Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd.; Mr. Sunil Sharma, Business Head, Gujarat, Adani Realty; Mr. Hiren Daftardar, Ex‐Deputy Chief Planner of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. On the occasion, Mr. Tejas Joshi expressed his views on the development in Ahmedabad and Mumbai, he said” We see a breakthrough in the infrastructure redevelopment scene of Ahmedabad in the next five years”.

The second session track on ‘Transforming Cities ‐ Potential to Adopt Sustainable Practices as Part of the Redevelopment Agenda’, Dr. Astha Agarwalla, Associate Dean, FMS, Adani University set the tone and Prof. Sebastian Morris Senior Professor, Goa Institute of Management Ex Professor ‐ IIM Ahmedabad made the keynote address. The panel members for this track were Prof. Sebastian Morris Senior, Professor, Goa Institute of Management Ex Professor ‐ IIM Ahmedabad; Mr. Samir Sinha Founder & Managing Director, Savvy Group, Ahmedabad Chairman, CII‐IGBC, Ahmedabad & Member National Executive Council; Dr. Vatsal Patel, President, Gujarat Institute of Civil Engineers and Architects (GICEA) Former Chief City Planner (AMC); Mr. Chintan Patel Partner, Deal Advisory National Head‐Building, Construction, & Real Estate, KPMG India. A member of the panel, Mr. Samir Sinha on being asked if green buildings cost more replied that, “Sustainable development is not only profitable but less expensive. For example, fly ash used in the green buildings is a waste product of power plants and hence not only cheaper but readily available. Second, design and operating a green building is less expensive. Every green building in Ahmedabad is able to get a higher rental and higher selling price”.

Dr. Astha Agarwalla, Associate Dean, FMS, Adani University and Dr. Maria Coelho, Academic Head, The Real Estate Management Institute made a special announcement regarding the collaboration between Adani University and REMI on signing of an MoU to offer certification programs from April 2023 onwards. The first certification program to be provided will be on ‘Sustainability and Green Building’.

Urban renewal is a process of rejuvenation of dilapidated areas in a city having physical decay and economic stagnation, caused by age-old buildings, poor accessibility, and loss of real estate value. Redevelopment projects across the world are viewed from the lenses of economic and market-led approach. However, the current thrust on urban regeneration and sustainability, together with the scale of renewal and redevelopment needed by our mega cities, provides a clear opportunity to weave sustainability into the fabric of redevelopment. Emergence of conscious and considerate urban redevelopment planning is a welcome change.

About Adani University

With a vision to educate and empower the youth, to encourage transformative research that focuses on real-world problems, and to contribute to global sustainability via excellence at all levels, the Adani Group – one of India’s largest transport and utility infrastructure conglomerates with inspiration from the infrastructure and visionaries of India – Shri Gautambhai Adani and Smt. Pritiben Adani – has established the Adani University in the enterprising State of Gujarat in India. With major thrust on education for transformation, Adani University will be engaged in building state-of-the-art futuristic institution for education, training and research that shall disseminate managerial and technological knowledge of the highest value through impactful industry engagement and multidisciplinary research. Adani University will be a research- intensive institution that seeks to address and impact real-world problems. Research, formal and non-formal programmes for doctoral, under-graduate and post-graduate degrees and certification programmes, at the intersection of disciplines, will be offered at the University.

For media queries, write to hiren.mandaliya@adaniuni.ac.in