Urbanite by definition means someone who loves to live in cities and towns. After independence, most of the governments that came to power in our country had an urban bias in development. All the new industries, new jobs, new trade opportunities, etc. are all created in urban areas. Sometimes even when a large industry is established outside city limits in rural areas, the towns and cities grew around it engulfing the surrounding villages. Even though the agriculture is still the main stay of Indian existence the rural upliftment was sacrificed for the sake of urbanization. The rural and urban economic divide has widened enormously in recent times. Now the view is that people who live in the rural areas are considered as less fortunate. So the farmers and other village folk started sending their children to schools so that they can have more fortunate living opportunities. Consequently, the social structure also changed in the society. First generation migrants to the cities have kept the native village connection intact. Even though they lived in an urban set up their longing was always there for the places of their birth. But the times have changed. The kids who were born and brought up in the urban habitats have no nostalgia whatsoever associated with the places of their parent’s native places. These are the true urbanites. They love living in cities and towns.
Due to the spiraling cost of land, the governments promoted the apartment culture as greater number of dwellings can come up with less space. Moreover, the new generation had less attachment to the places of their birth as they stayed around the country and the world for education and jobs. They became independent and it reflected in their preference to live in nuclear families with wife and kids. So the demand for apartments was growing more and more. Even the parents were willing to stay away from their children. It helped in increasing the demand for new houses. Easy availability of the home loans for the employed people also helped the apartment construction boom. Moreover, owning flats and renting them to others has become an attractive investment option for many. Even the tax deduction allowed by the governments on the taxable income has added to the demand for flats. Ever increasing demand for the urban dwellings also helped in increasing the apartment’s value many fold. Thus, several factors conjured up to boost the demand for apartments. More and more rural folks are moving to cities and towns where the wages are good for labour work. The situation in the villages is turning from bad to worse. Land lords with 40 acres of land also are not getting good matches if they are not moving to cities. Obviously, it is the age of urbanites. This is the age of apartments. If more demand is there the four to five storied buildings will give way to 40 to 50 storied apartment complexes in future. Well, the human evolution has come full circle from cave dwelling era to modern multilevel well-furnished cave dwelling age. Long live urbanites. Long live apartment culture.
Leave a Reply