Shifting epicentres

Satellite towns are the best way to decongest cities to meet the needs of a growing population, says Subhankar Mitra.

The immediate impacts of satellite town formation - and the primary advantages - would be an at least partial decongestion of the central city and a rise in property valuations in the satellite town. The appreciation rate would depend on what kind of infrastructure has been/is being put in place in the satellite town, and what other market drivers it features.

PRICE DYNAMICS

Since appreciation is of paramount interest from an investment point of view, this aspect deserves amplification.

Property prices are a function of demand and supply. Demand is created by a suitable combination of market drivers such as employment potential, infrastructure and overall quality of living. If a satellite town offers these in sufficient magnitude, and if there is sufficient connectivity to the main city by means of road and rail, this new area can often put a slight downward pressure on property prices in the more centralised regions while showing a steady upward trend on its own property price graph. This, however, happens only under optimum conditions, which must be created by meticulous town planning and proactive local Government support.

THE DOWNSIDE

Of course, living in a satellite town is not everyone's cup of tea. There would be a perceived disadvantage for those use their home in the satellite town to travel to their workplace in the central city, especially if the necessary degree of road/train linkage has not been created. Also, buying a home in a satellite town can lead to a sense of isolation and general dissatisfaction if the location does not feature the kind of social life and entertainment that would be seen as necessary lifestyle quotients.

Some central city dwellers would choose to move to such satellite towns in response to the available relief from city-related stress and cheaper property rates. However, the majority of metropolitan inhabitants would choose not to relinquish their foothold in the main city. Many satellite towns coming up today are of greater interest to migrant populations rather than core city inhabitants, and local developers tend to zero in on this population while planning their projects.

DEVELOPERS' DELIGHT

A classic example of best-scenario satellite town planning would be the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) of Pune, which is an industrial hub in its own right. Within the PCMC area, Pradhikaran has emerged as the location of choice for mid-to-high level management staff working in the various surrounding industries, and various local development concerns such as Pharande Spaces have recognised and focused on this potential. Areas such as Navi Mumbai and Pune's PCMC are planned developments that have their own social infrastructure as well as distinct resident profiles social character.

If satellite townships have been meticulously masterminded by the relevant town planning authorities, they will incorporate their own economic drivers such as employment opportunities, social infrastructure and lifestyle quotients.

Simply put, such a combination of factors opens up a new growth area for the real estate market. Under suitable circumstances, office, retail and residential property will work in tandem to create a symbiotic growth pattern. Moreover, once such a satellite town is established, it tends to attract various industries specific to the available workforce, further boosting this pattern. The overall effect is one of economic diversification of a possibly congested metro into new directions. This naturally spells nothing but good news for the region's real estate market.

SUBHANKAR MITRA IS AVP - STRATEGIC CONSULTING, JONES LANG LASALLE MEGHRAJ

( via - Times of India )