SYMBIOTIC SHELTERS

10 min readJul 2, 2021

SYMBIOTIC SHELTERS-

As interesting as the idea of a solitary world is, the fact that collective living is a major contributing factor of our existence on earth, the opportunity to see the world in new light better than ever before, yet more than ever aware of its essential mystery. Inspired by the workings of symbiosis, the concept of symbiotic shelters comes into play. Have you ever wished for a small place near your place of work? Or have you ever had to move to a place for a short period of time and struggled with finding a place to live? Considering the rapid urbanization with a lot of influx of population into the cities, the problem of finding a place to live seems inevitable all these problems could be addressed with the help of symbiotic shelters. Not only do they benefit the tenants but also the landowners and the mobile home builders. Turning this arrangement into somewhat of a symbiotic relationship in itself.

Part-1: A DIAGNOSIS

i. AREA OF STUDY: BENGALURU

ii. DATA AND STATISTICS

Population 2011

The total population of the Bangalore UA/Metropolitan region is 8,499,399. The male population of which is 4,441,248 while the female population is 4,058,151.

Literacy Rate 2011

The literacy rate of Bangalore Agglomeration is 89.56% which is higher than the National Urban average of 85 %. The literacy rate for males and females for Bangalore stood at 92.61 % and 86.21 % respectively. Total literates in Bangalore UA were 6,832,072 of which males were 3,697,180 and the remaining 3,134,892 were females.

Child Population 2011

The children (0–6 age) population of Bangalore UA is around 10.24 % of the total Bangalore UA population which is lower than the National Urban average of 10.93 %. Total children in Bangalore Urban region were 870,743 of which male were 448,965 while remaining 421,778 children were female.

Sex Ratio 2011

The sex ratio of females to males in Bangalore UA was found lower with the figure of 914 females against the national urban average of 926 females per 1000 males. For children (0–6 age), girls were 939 per 1000 boys in the Bangalore Urban region against the national average of 902 girls per 1000 boys.

As a growing metropolis, Bangalore faces several problems. We shall discuss a few selected ones :

a. Population explosion
b. Urban sprawl
c. Pollution
d. Traffic congestion
e. Vacant sites concerning garbage being dumped
f. High rental value

Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, Bangalore

•Urban agglomeration

is an extended city or town area comprising the built-up area of a central place (usually a municipality) and any suburbs linked by a continuous urban area.

As per data released by Govt. of India for Census 2011, Bangalore is an Urban Agglomeration coming under the Million Plus UA/City category.

a. POPULATION EXPLOSION

The increase in the population of Bangalore is caused mainly by In-Migration and Urbanization. In-migration refers to the migration of people from other cities or rural areas to the city such as Bangalore in search of employment opportunities etc.

The graphic below represents the natural increase in population and the increase in population due to in-migration.

b. URBAN SPRAWL

Urban sprawl describes the expansion of human populations away from central urban areas into previously remote and rural areas, often resulting in communities reliant upon heavy automobile usage.

C. POLLUTION

Air pollution: A random sampling study of the Air Quality Index (AQI) of twenty stations within the city indicated scores that ranged from 76 to 314, suggesting heavy to severe air pollution around areas of traffic concentration.

Land pollution.

D. TRAFFIC CONGESTION

which leads to increased travel time — According to Bangalore Mobility Indicators 2011, the average speed of private vehicles was 25 kmph and that of public transport was just 15 kmph.

Photo taken near Yeshwanthapura , Bengaluru

E. Vacant sites

Problems of vacant sites

1. Health hazard

•Garbage heaps in vacant sites have resulted in the growth of parthenium. The sites have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and hunting grounds for snakes seeking rodents attracted by waste, says a BBMP release

•Unhygeinic pockets of the city.

•Free urination points, Stinky.

Innocent cows feed off these plastics. We drink their milk.

2. Land mafia

•With the increase in land rates, goons have found an easy way to make pots of money. They encroach upon the site, demand a ransom to vacate it.

The modus operandi of the land sharks is simple and straight: they identify vacant sites in localities where the real estate prices are high, forge documents and stake claim over the site by constructing a shed with hollow cement bricks.
Problems of vacant sites
3. Property tax

•BDA allots sites to the local residents.

The local residents have to pay Property Tax on the vacant sites i.e till a building in constructed on the site.

4. Vacancy period

•The rule by which allotees are required to construct a house within 5 to 10 years failing which the allotment would stand cancelled has been conveniently overlooked to suit the needs of land sharks. In neighbouring states this is still being enforced but not in Bangalore.

Such vacant sites creates considerable nuisance to the residents and also health hazards and breeding ground for stray dogs and mosquitoes.

The Karnataka High Court in 2012 directed the government to furnish details on vacant sites in layouts developed by the BDA. Section 13 of BDA (Allotment of Sites) Rules, 1984, stipulates that allottees should construct the house as per the approved plan within five years from the date of the lease-cum-sale agreement.

F. HIGH RENTAL VALUE

•People with transferable jobs or those who hop from job to job frequently prefer to take up rented homes near their place of work.

Today, the construction cost does not vary significantly throughout the city. The land cost and rental values vary from area to area.

INFERENCES

With growing population, there is an increased demand for housing in Bangalore.
As the city extend is growing larger, the work to home commute is also increasing in length.
With traffic congestion and rising levels of air pollution, a reduction in the work to home commutation distance is desired.
The vacant sites in the city are being polluted by garbage.
The rental values of residences is higher near the CBD and Secondary Business Districts where a majority of work places are located
On the other hand, 20% to 30% sites are lying vacant in highly potential zones near the Business districts and 50% to 60% near the SEZ and suburban areas.
The cost of construction in all the areas remains roughly the same within the city limits but the rental returns from them varies from zone to zone.
Any person who wants to generate a rental income needs to buy a plot + construct a dwelling unit on it. This involves two sets of costs.
A novel solution to the existing problems need to be derived.

PART- II

SYMBIOTIC SHELTERS: A PRECRIPTION

i. Concept-

•Symbiotic shelters project is a joint venture between land owners with vacant sites and mobile shelter providers.

Symbiotic shelters will set up the required database to connect vacant site owners, mobile shelter providers and prospective tenants.

ii. Buisness model

Sales and distribution model

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ROADMAP

Symbiotic shelters is an e-port which will have two categories. One is the technical port which provides techniques of building mobile shelters, specifications for the mobile houses, costs etc. The other part deals with e-network which will connect landlords-mobile shelter providers-tenants.

A map will be generated showing all the vacant plots in connection with Google maps and the user can easily identify the availability of vacant lands.

User can choose from amongst different modules of houses or commercial units.

User will be provided with rental value of different zones and connectivity.

PRICING MODEL

•The overall structure provides a platform wherein vacant land owners, companies with mobile shelters and people in need of houses get registered.

•Symbiotic shelters will provide the area wise database as per the registered data and connect the three entities.

•Vacant site owners can make an income through their sites without investing further on it.

•Companies/Individuals manufacturing the mobile shelters and the landlords will share the rental money.

The company/individual with mobile shelters does not need to own land. He can merely place his mobile unit on a vacant site owned by a landlord.

For the mobile shelter provider, we can calculate the break even period.

Case study

•Break even period varies with area and rental potential of the said area. Hence, the following assumptions are made.

•Cost of construction — 1000/sft

•Built up area of 1 BHK shelter unit- 350 sft.

•Cost of building the unit = 3,50,000

•Rental value- Rs. 20/ sft (Assumption for the purpose of case study)

•Rent/ month = 7000

•Rs 7000 gets divided into 3 parts:

•Landlord 30% = Rs. 2100

Mobile shelter provider 60% = Rs. 4200 ( Return on investment = 14.4% p.a.)

•Symbiotic shelters 10% = Rs. 700

Break even period = 83 months

The project focuses on three sectors:

Residential

•People who have migrated to the city for work/ short stay

•Temporary shelter until one finds a permanent settlement.

•People who want to have a spare house next to the place of work.

Commercial context

•Temporary commercial establishment/ flea markets

•Experimental commercial establishment- In case of commercial zones, wherein a vendor can analyze and research the viability of the commercial establishment through experimentation to check the commercial potential of the given zone.

•Scope for eateries

Public space context

•Co-sharing spaces

•Gallery spaces

Workshops( Summer camps, music or art classes etc.)

iii. Project potential

Map 1 shows the CBD and Secondary Business districts in Bangalore.

Map 2 indicated the average rental value per square feet for residential property.

These two graphics gives us an indication of where the businesses are located and the associated land costs in those areas. It shows us the potential zones where symbiotic shelter modules have a high potential.

iv Advantages

1.Vacant land owners can generate income without any investments.

2. Reduces daily commuting distance from home to work as one can find a shelter in the vacant sites near their workplace. Time, energy and money can be saved.

3. Stabilization of rental value.

4.Maintenance of vacant lands and city cleanliness, improving the aesthetics and health of the neighbourhood.

5.Recycled materials shall be used to build the mobile houses.

6.Flexibility in upgradaton, reduction or removal of mobile units

7.Businesses that want to set up temporarily to check the potential of a particular zone can use the symbiotic shelters instead of investing on a permanent structure.