GROWTH HUBS, REDEVELOPMENT, AND MHADA’S URBAN RESPONSE

Every year, the first Monday of October is observed globally as World Habitat Day, a reminder that shelter is not merely a necessity but a fundamental human right. This year’s theme, “Urban Crisis Response”, underlines the urgent need to address the mounting challenges of rapid urbanization, climate change, social inequality, and the ever-rising demand for housing in cities. For Mumbai, the city of dreams that continues to draw thousands from across the country every day, the significance of this theme cannot be overstated. People arrive in search of better education, employment, healthcare, and opportunities, but the city’s geographical spread is limited to just 603 square kilometers, hemmed in by the sea on three sides. This reality leaves vertical growth, redevelopment, and cluster development as the only sustainable means to respond to the housing demand.

- SANJEEV JAISWAL Vice Pesident & CEO, MHADA

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority, better known as MHADA, has been central to Maharashtra’s housing journey for over 76 years. During this period, it has constructed nearly nine lakh homes across the state and about two and a half lakh homes in Mumbai alone, spread across 114 layouts. While the private sector has increasingly moved beyond the reach of lower and middle-income groups, MHADA has continued to serve as a pillar of support, offering affordable housing to communities that need it the most.

As Mumbai grows, so do the needs of its people. Housing today is no longer limited to permanent ownership-based homes, there is an equally pressing demand for temporary and transitional accommodation such as student hostels, working women’s hostels, rental homes for migrant workers, and assisted living options for senior citizens.

Acknowledging this shift in urban lifestyle needs, the Central Government has introduced the Growth Hub Project, shaped by NITI Aayog’s national vision of “Housing for All” Growth Hubs represent a bold blueprint designed to significantly expand the housing stock across urban areas while simultaneously boosting Maharashtra’s economy and strengthening Mumbai position as a global financial hub. The plan is ambitious: the MMR Growth Hub Project aims to deliver 30 lakh affordable homes by 2030, with MHADA itself committed to building 8 lakh of them.