The mundane city life makes all of us desire for a change over the weekend from the busy week day schedule. Most of the urban planners are nowadays talking about making cities more liveable. But looking at the present density and space left, it looks extremely difficult. In this article, I would like to talk about a particular case i.e. of Ahmedabad city and how the city has grown. Ahmedabad is a tier-1 city of India, having a population of more than 70 lakhs. The city is bifurcated into two parts by the Sabarmati River, the east and the west. The city has its origins rooted from the East part, but with time the city has grown rapidly towards the west.

Difference between East and West Ahmedabad

The difference between the East and the West part of the city is very evident. The Eastern part of city consists of the old Ahmedabad, with Pol housing and the recently declared world heritage monuments. Whereas, the West part of the city comprises mainly of the new developments, which includes high rise apartments, Bungalows, commercial complexes etc. On the western parts, the roads are generally wider and the densities are comparatively low. Considering the modern lifestyle, which includes heavy vehicular traffic and movements, the western part is more liveable.

Growth trajectory along the West

The city is rapidly growing on the western belt. Pointing out some of the key developments along the western belt would include, Sindhu Bhavan road, South Bopal, Thaltej and Shilaj. All these areas are high-end developments with latest construction and designs. Also, they have been developed over a very short span of time. This trend has been observed for the past 20 years now. Following the same trend it can be estimated that similar growth would come up in the next 10-15 kms.

Why people want to move out of city centre?

With time, even the western part of the city has saturated, which has created the need for the people to move further in the outskirts to enjoy the clean and natural breeze and feel close to nature. Also, with high demand and increase in real estate rates the size of houses in the cities have decreased. People have started compromising on their quality of life and started to adjust with the options available in their budget. If a person wishes to have a spacious residence in the city centre, it has almost become out of budget for most of the people.

What could be the possible solution?

The possible solution to all these problems could be owning a weekend home in the outskirts of the city which could become your 1st home in the near future. The reasons for this could be:

• The weekend home could be a your weekend getaway from the busy city life with more greenery making you feel close to nature
• With time, the house would appreciate its value, which can be seen as investment opportunity
• Such options are generally more spacious houses as compared to regular residences available in city centre.
• Being in the outskirts of the city, the per sq foot rates would be much lesser
• Such options nowadays provide lots of amenities which can be enjoyed luxuriously
• With time and growth, soon the weekend home could be used as your spacious 1st home