Today, Environment Support Group, which is working in many ways for the commons of Bangalore and Karnataka, organized a lecture on ‘Rethinking the Indian city, reclaiming its Commons” by Professor Michael Goldman.

Here’s the background about Prof. Goldman that ESG gave in their invitation mail:

“Prof. Michael Goldman is a McKnight Presidential Fellow and professor of Sociology and Global Studies at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, USA. He is the editor of Privatizing Nature: Political Struggle for the Global Commons (Rutgers University Press and Pluto Press), and the author of Imperial Nature: The World Bank and Struggles for Social Justice in the Age of Globalization (Yale University Press 2005; Orient Longman India 2006; Kyoto University Press [in Japanese] 2008), based on a decade-long ethnography of the World Bank. He is currently conducting research in Bangalore on the project,“Bangalore: The Making of a World City,”focusing on the transformations of land, government,and citizenship taking place under liberalization.”

Here’s Leo Saldanha of ESG, introducing Professor Goldman:

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Getting a house in Bangalore can be a tedious task. When ads on internet classified sites or their print counter parts don’t work, the only other resort is to knock on the door of a Real Estate Agent (otherwise called a broker here). I have personally dealt with quite a few over the last few days & this is an account of that. Not as someone seeking a house for rent but on the other side as someone having a house to give away on rent.

These Real Estate agents are amazingly active. Even as our previous tenant was in the process of shifting his household items we received a call asking if the house was available for rent & what is the rent we were expecting. Who was this guy? Who gave him our number? We only made our guesses.

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‘Old is Gold’ may not apply to the construction industry. Here the old has to let the ‘new’ take it’s place in the modernization ambit…

Here is a famous landmark building on MG Road getting reconstructed, the old structure was quite stylish as seen by the arches of designer corners that once used to hold tapering wooden roof….

When it comes to Hotel tariff’s, The back office rush to the city from Global MNCs has resulted in placing Bangalore among the top 5 expensive cities in the world!! says a report.

• Moscow remains the most expensive city with average room rates of 236.06 pounds (Rs 19,433).
• New York City at the second slot (180.29 pound),
• Dubai (166.73 pound),
• Paris (165.84 pound) and
• Bangalore, which has an average room rent of 162.04 pounds (Rs 13,341) for the first six months of 2007.

The rise in rates have been fuelled by a limited supply of hotels with rooms moving in the upper end of the market to meet the demand from the expansion in the banking, finance and IT sectors.

Let me warn you, don’t compete the infrastructure here, nor even the per capita income!! The city seems to have has just started earning to spend!!

The much anticipated but never talked about slump in real estate prices seems to be arriving. A short journey around all those places which were hub of construction activity gives a good idea.

The big slump in demand is evident from all those high rise apartments that are complete and waiting for buyers. Two years ago when Prestige group launched Shantiniketan project near ITPL, it was sold out on the same day when the bookings were opened! Things are much different now and the demand-supply equation seems to be tilting towards buyers. It is easy to find a ready apartment in areas like Marathahalli-ITPL stretch, Bellandur-Marathahalli stretch and JP Nagar 7th Phase. There has been word that it is a similar story in Mysore, where land prices had shot up considerably a year ago but there are few takers of late. But of course, no one wants to talk about it, be it developers or even the media.

However, prices, though have remained stable, do not seem to have come down much along with excess supply. And there are plenty of new projects coming in too. North Bangalore is now becoming a new hub of construction activity. It might probably take a few more months or even a year of low-demand until the prices start looking down. Or if there is a fresh wave of demand like last few years, a reduction in prices may never happen.

Have you been house hunting lately? What are your experiences?

Since the time I started living in a big city(which is many years now), I have been wondering how a slum actually develops. Was this a place actually provided by city planners to the less fortunate? Is this government land that is owned by no one in particular, but slowly gets occupied by migrants and eventually establishes itself as a slum? Or is there something more than that? It all looked too complex to me and difficult to understand, until I witnessed with my own eyes, evolution of a new slum.

On the daily commute back from work, I would go on the outer ring road in the section between Jayadeva hospital and the right turn towards JP Nagar near Mandovi Motors. There was a large and empty stretch of land a short distance after Shopper’s Stop which was primarily occupied by wild shrubs and infamous ‘Congress’ giDa. The stretch was just like any other empty areas in the city on which you would bother no more than giving a passing look. Our real estate barons would have different thoughts on it but let’s not get into all that now.
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Karnataka Government has increased the guidance value. As a result, the property cost will rise :(
Here is the complete list

What with land becoming scarce (as in every other Metro) in Bangalore, one constantly reads stories of land grabbers, real estate sharks, duplicate registrations et al. But a controversy is in the making right in our locality, one that threatens to be a contentious and emotionally charged one.

A prime piece of land in our locality and fronting Old Madras Road – perhaps about an 4 to 5 acres – is fast turning into a battle ground between a well known builder/real estate developer and a group of residents. The latter have formed themselves into an ‘residence’ ( residents ) association and have plastered ‘warning’ signs all over the place accusing the builder of resorting to land grabbing.

What is more, this issue is now acquiring another dimension, a political one, what with a flag being hoisted in the periphery of the property. News reports and the trade mention that a 4 star hotel property is being planned to be built in this space. Should it be so, this is prime land indeed with both parties set to reap rich rewards. One wonders if this fracas will land itself into court in a seemingly endless battle or will be settled on ‘mutually beneficial’ terms! Round two awaited. Keep watching this space. Pics below.
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I went through the entire process of renting a home in Bangalore and just wanted to give hints on how to go about it.

For renting any place in Bangalore, you have to pay a 10 month advance on your rent. This is a de-facto rule which is valid in almost all places unless you know the landlord very well or have used some of your connections. If you don’t have that kind of money, then please look for a PG which are also in plenty all over the city. Some of these are really good with comforts like TV, AC etc thrown in. Some of them have time restrictions, so do find out in case you plan to keep late hours.

Now it has been decided that you are paying the 10 month advance. Next up you have to decide if you want to hunt around on your own or take the help of a broker.
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Thats what one gathers while reading this rediff article. It would be really good for many a people if such a thing happens. The correction has been pending for quite some time!