Farm & Open Spaces Add Value To Real Estate Projects

When compared to their counterparts in the west, Indian real estate developers have not yet taken to edible landscaping. But, this is just a matter of time. For long, developers have known that homebuyers have a strong preference for open spaces. Real estate developers in Indian cities like Mumbai know that open spaces are the ultimate luxury, because there is not much open space per person in many Indian cities. In the United States, incorporating agriculture in residential projects has become one of the most remarkable trends in the recent past.

Homebuyers are flocking to Serenbe, a 1,000-acre community outside Atlanta because it has edible landscaping, farm-to-table restaurants, fruits, and vegetables. Homebuyers pay far more for houses in Serenbe, relative to the price of comparable houses in the same neighbourhood. It seems that homebuyers are willing to pay a huge premium for such amenities, contrary to what developers earlier assumed. It may take long for this to become a norm in India, but, it usually takes more time for such luxuries to seep down to the masses.

Part of the appeal of such projects is easy access to restaurants and food halls, apart from food grown on the premises. People love it when they can access food without spending much time and effort. There is, of course, a newfound love for food grown in the backyard. This is interesting, because food was usually grown in one's own farm or that of a neighbour's, long ago. People did not brag about this, because they did not do this out of choice. It was rather a necessity. Cheap and quick food, as we know it, did not exist then and agriculture was primitive.

People usually had access to fresh food in their own backyard. But there were periods when food was plenty, and there were periods of scarcity. There were parts of the world where food was plenty, and there were parts of the world where food was scarce. It was not possible to do much to bridge the gap because methods of transportation and preservation were primitive. For example, it was not possible to preserve food grown in a period of abundance, to use when food became scarce. It was also not possible to transport food from a part of the world where food was plenty to another part of the world where food was scarce.

Today, homebuyers are willing to pay for more real estate where food is grown, because it is a luxury that appeals to their more fundamental needs. Earlier, households were forced to own large tracts of land and grow their own food, because they did not have a choice. They were compelled to engage in farming, even when they were skilled. But, transportation and modern forms of preservation allowed people to lower their land holdings, and to connect their land holdings.

Panegyrists of the past vastly overrate primitive agriculture. But, modernity has allowed us to have the best of both worlds. Today, people can live in high-rises and still enjoy the food grown within the premises of their housing project. It is possible to work in a profession of choice and still eat food farmed within the premises. This matters, because fruits and vegetables do not taste so good, farther they are from the farm. Economies of scale also allows developers and restaurants to provide such services at a low cost. Food grown within the premises, for example, does not cost more than other forms of greenery that developers already offer.

In the past, food and agriculture were aggregated because much of food was local. When mass-produced food became common, our living standards improved. But, the integration of food and agriculture was missing. Real estate projects with edible landscaping now offers a way to integrate food and agriculture. Strangely, laws that forbid mixed-use developments are likely to make it difficult for Indian developers to build such projects.