Affordable housing, technological innovation find place in New York’s top priorities

Projects such as affordable apartments, Hunter’s Point South Living and start-up hub Grand Central Tech have already been rolled out

SMART CITY

NEW YORK, having been adjudged the best smart city last year at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, has world-class infrastructure facilities, but city planners and developers are facing a different type of challenge. The challenge of accommodating every strata of the society in its mainstream space is now being accorded top priority, with the New York city’s administration engaging private developers for affordable housing and encouraging creation of spaces for community engagement, apart from the measures for technological innovation.

In one of such examples of affordable and sustainable housing for its citizens, Related Companies, Phipps Houses and Monadnock Construction have developed Hunter’s Point South Living in Long Island City, New York. The 2 buildings in Hunter’s Point comprise 925 affordable apartments ranging from studio to 3-bedroom apartments. With the aim to have lower income level people as tenants, the studio apartment’s rent is fixed at $1,561-$1,997 a month which rises to $2,729-$4,346 for a 3bedroom apartment in the same building.

In the entire complex comprising 2 buildings, 45,000 units are allocated for affordable housing, while 15,000 units are for the premium segment. Tenants are supposed to submitapplicationswiththeirincomedetails,and selection is done via lottery to avoid discretion. The developers have also ensured common space for amenities in the building irrespective of the income group with a common terrace farm, kid’s playroom and fitness room.

“We have a mix of different incomes in the building and it all is affordable. So, top level is income restricted but it is actually close to market and then we go down levels below that. It’s all a mixed income, which is part of having a diverse neighbourhood and community,” said Charlotte Matthews, vice-president (sustainability), Related Companies.

The developers are making an effort to provide affordable space not only for living but also for startups, which struggle to find new space in New York City with flexible and affordable lease terms. Grand Central Tech, a hub for start-ups, provides companies with affordable office space for a year with zero equity fee to participate.

“Places like Grand Central Tech provide companies with support services to help their transition from growth stage period. In India, there are differences in local industrial composition and infrastructure quality, so a uniform incubator for startups will not be enough. Digital solutions alone will not deliver the required result in a country like India and these need to be customised according to local infrastructure priorities and institutional capabilities,” said Simon Sylvester Chaudhuri, managing director, Smart Cities New York City and Global Futures Group.

The Grand Central Tech Hub houses many startups such as Blocpower, which uses solar and energy efficiency technology to help churches, non-profits, and small businesses to slash their energy costs.

Though technology is viewed as the first step for smart cities in the US, planners are giving increasing importance to public involvement in the process of urbanisation.

“One of the key thing is that we have made every mistake that can be made in urbanisation. We have tried to learn from that and what we have learnt is that the public involvement is key to the success because if you come up with a strategy by yourself just for the experts, there is no sticking power but if you work with a community, the business community and the neighbourhoods in your planning, you pick the priorities, they will go out and sell it. So the implementation is the key here. Getting people involved so that there is a shared commitment to the future is really the key,” said Jeff Soule, director of Outreach and International Programs, American Planning Association.

Providing basic facilities is important to achieve sustainable status for a smart city, said Chris Ward, AECOM’S senior vice-president and CEO of Metro New York. “Human requirements are the most basic things. This is what India faces. Sorting them out, how to solve each one of those problems, even if you solve one and leave the rest, say, if you have fresh, clean drinking water but if you still have a waste collection system which is not removing the waste and disposing it, then it will even ruin your water supply...if wastewater system is not working, people are not going to able to live in dense urban environment,” he said.

(The writer was in New York in the second week of December as part of a media reporting tour organised by the US government)

Urban farm on the 14th floor of Hunter’s Point South Living, New York.