7 Real Estate Lessons Indian Cities Can Learn From Paris

Famous Irish novelist Oscar Wilde once wrote that when good Americans die, they go to Paris. Today's French capital, which is counted among the world's most beautiful cities, was not the same in the past. In the early 19th century, Paris' streets were narrow and crowded, its buildings ancient. Today, Paris streets are among the cleanest in the world.

A look at what Indian cities can learn from Paris and its remarkable growth as a global city:

Building for future

Plans to alter the structure of historical buildings in many parts of India have faced strong opposition. Delhi's Lutyens' Zone is one such example. Paris had its own share of blunders, but Indian cities can learn much from Paris' experience in preserving its past.

Many penniless artists and writers could afford living in Paris in the 20th century because it was affordable. Later, historic preservation laws made living in central Paris beyond the reach of many such creative men. The beauty of Paris is considered a result of preserving the past. However, Paris had not always preserved its past. Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, the prefect of the Seine Department under Napoleon III, removed over half the buildings in the city to build streets, sewage systems, and various amenities between 1853 and 1870. Modern Paris was built by taking ancient landmarks down, raising the height of existing buildings and by spending 44 times the city's budget in a single year in 1851. This made Paris beautiful, but today, preserving the city as it is makes homes expensive in central Paris. Indian cities should look at Paris while deciding whether the benefits of preserving the past outweigh the costs.

The preserve-and-grow model

La Défense, a complex close to Old Paris, is tall and has 40 million sq ft of commercial space. One way to preserve historical buildings without constraining the supply of land is to allow dense development nearby. By allowing dense development near historical spaces, Indian cities can allow people to live near beautiful places without harming them.

A city centre rich with amenities

Urban policy experts point out that while Americans prefer living in suburbs to consume more floor space, Europeans value amenities near the city centre. One of the major reasons why centre of European cities like Paris are more attractive than the centre of cities in other continents is because its land use policy allows mixed-use projects. As the central business district (CBD) is rich with amenities, commercial, and residential real estate in central Paris is very valuable.

Market-driven land use policy

Paris' land use policy is by no means ideal. But, with all its flaws, Paris has a largely market-driven land use policy. The reason is that urban planners in Paris paid attention to market forces and real estate prices, allowing great variance in floor space index (FSI) within the city. A dense city centre also helps Paris to be more efficient and compact than many cities with a smaller footprint.

Easy FSI norms

Height restrictions are stringent in Paris, but floor space index (FSI) is still high. Among compact urban blocks, FSI ranges between 4 and 5.2. Moreover, mixed-use development is allowed in most parts of the city, including the suburbs. It is also possible to divide apartments into small blocks and rent them out. This allows people with limited means to live in some of the most beautiful parts of Paris, though they are compelled to live in extremely congested spaces. Paris can do a lot better. But, Indian cities would still benefit from emulating the standards of modern day Paris.

Huge variance in FSI

Unlike in Indian cities, the variance in FSI is huge in Paris. FSI is high in central Paris and other dense areas of the city, and is much lower in other parts. This is in stark contrast with cities like Mumbai where the highest residential FSI is 2 in Bandra Kurla Complex and the lowest residential FSI is 0.5 in Gorai. The huge variance in FSI and a market-driven land use policy allows more building in areas where there is great demand for real estate.

The geographical advantage

While population density of Paris was 66,900 people per sq km in 1650, it fell to 3,640 people per sq km in 2008. The land area of Paris during this period grew from 6.7 sq km to 2,845 sq km. Paris was able to spread out because unlike India's financial capital Mumbai, it was not built across a bay, and is not situated at the end of a narrow peninsula.  Income levels in Paris are also much higher than most Indian cities. Harmful as they are, Paris can still live with building height restrictions. But, such restrictions do much greater harm in Mumbai and other dense Indian cities.