Difference Between Plotted Development (PD) and Flatted Development (FD)
Housing, because of its magnitude and quantity, remains the major and important component of any city. Occupying largest proportion of urban land, housing is also known to be the definer of the personality of the city. Urban housing comes in number of variants and typologies. However, these variants can be divided into two broad categories. These categories are generally defined as plotted development and flatted development. There is a third variant, which is a mix of plotted and flatted development. These categories have their own advantages, disadvantages, limitations and implications. Debate has been going on to understand the implication of these typologies in terms of physical, social, economic and environmental implications including cost-effectiveness and utilization of land. Accordingly, attempt has been made to understand the context of these broad typologies in the parlance of economy, cost-effectiveness, operational efficiency, utilization of land, creating housing stock, pattern of development, land ownership etc.
Plotted Development
Flatted Development
1. Pattern of Development
PD- Involves development based on and comprising of number of plots having variable size- both smaller and larger size
FD- Involves development based on plot having much larger area as compared to plotted development
2. Pattern of Land Ownership
PD- Land generally owned individually or jointly in the name of few family/friends to promote individual housing
FD- Land held in joint ownership of all stakeholders comprising of all the flat owners on the plot.
3. Pattern of development- Height
PD- Low rise– going generally up to 3/4 stories
FD- High rise –generally going 4 or more stories.
4. Land Utilisation
PD- Low level of land utilisation -with larger area going under roads, opens spaces and community facilities
FD- High land utilisation–with smaller area going under roads, opens spaces and community facilities
5. Population/Housing Density
PD—Low density and low population– due to individual ownership, depending on size of plots carved. Smaller the size of plots, higher will be the density and population. Population also depends upon individual capacity, resources or willingness to construct entire or part of building
FD- High density– due to joint ownership, depending upon combined resources and combined effort of all stakeholders to provide dwelling to all land owners, developed to full capacity using full density and floor area ratio.
6. Open Spaces
PD- Small in area – Open spaces available within plots and held in private ownership with use limited to only by the owners- Increases need for provision of large common open spaces at the neighbourhood/sub-sector/sector level for the community.
FD- Large in area- jointly held in ownership to be used widely for the benefit of all the residents. Help reduce making provision of large open spaces at the sector level.
7. Cost of Construction
PD- Generally high—due to independent construction and being low rise buildings
FD- Generally low– due to multiple and repetitive design of dwelling units and sharing of the foundation, walls and open spaces etc
8. Social Sustainability
PD- Low social sustainability– due to lower social interaction promote by individual living
FD- High social sustainability– due to higher social interaction based on community living
9. Safety and Security
PD—Low order of safety and security – due to individual living
FD- High degree of safety and security–due to community living
10. Pattern of Living
PD- Promotes individual living leading to anonymity and exclusion
FD- Promotes community living leading to higher social interaction
11. Design of Unit
PD- More flexibility in design–due to single unit and limited ownership- bases on owners choice.
FD- Low design flexibility –due to multiple units and joint ownership leading to repetitive nature of design of dwelling units- based on common consensus.
12. Cost of Maintenance of Services
PD- Higher cost– due to individual maintenance. Expensive considering life-cycle cost of building.
FD- Low maintenance cost- due to collective maintenance done by society created by the flat owners. Monthly maintenance charges paid by each flat owner. Cost- effective considering life –cycle cost
13. Creation of Housing Stock
PD- Low capacity to create housing stock- due to non-construction on plot in one go leading to lower land utilisation
FD- High housing stock- due to construction of all flats in one go – leading to higher land utilization
14. Affordable Housing
PD- Makes cost of housing high and unaffordable– due to land cost and cost of construction–. Inefficient method to create large affordable housing stock
FD- Makes housing cost-effective and affordable– due to shared land cost and lower cost of construction, best method to create large housing stock
15. Sustainability
PD- Low sustainability-due to large dependence on common facilities and services provided at the neighbourhood level.
FD- High sustainability- due to provision of common facilities and basic services as part of group housing
16. Technologies
PD- Offers limited options for using state of art construction technologies and minimising cost
FD- Offers large options for using state of art construction technologies to promote cost and material efficiency
17. Green & Energy Efficient Buildings
PD- Offers limited effective /efficient and cost-effective options– for promoting energy efficiency, rain water harvesting, ground water recharging and solid waste management
FD- Offers large effective/efficient and cost-effective options–for promoting energy efficiency, rain water harvesting, ground water recharging and solid waste management- based on community living
18. Ground Coverage
PD- Ground coverage generally higher– as compared to flatted development
Ground coverage and FAR varies and gets lower with increase in plot area.
Number of development units and population density not defined for plotted development
FD- Ground coverage generally low as compared to plotted development
Ground coverage and FAR do not change even with increase/decrease in plot area. Development largely governed by pre-defined density, floor area ratio, height, ground coverage and size of dwelling units.
19. Parking Norms
PD- Parking norms are generally not defined for plotted development.
FD- Parking norms are clearly and precisely defined–for flatted development, depending on the size and category/number of dwelling units
20. Rate of Return
PD– Offers better internal rate of return for developers/owners due to higher demand from investors, clear land ownership and faster disposal. Popular in small and medium towns.
FD – Offers comparatively lower internal rate of return for developers/owners – generally due to lower demand from investors, no defined title to land and slow disposal. Most popular in large size/metro cities, where land prices are high.
21. Completion of Project
PD— Faster Completion of projects as compared to build up flats
FD—Takes large time for completion of project- due to scale of project and large numbers of houses to be constructed and problem of co-ordination and co-operation among members of society
22. Risk
PD—Lower risk- due to quick approval and faster disposal, with low risk due to minimum construction involved and faster exit from project
FD— High risk- due to multiple approvals and slow disposal, with higher risk due to large scale construction involved and slow exit from project.
23. Affordability
PD— Plots are more affordable and cater to wider segments of society by offering numerous options to buyers due to varying sizes of plots
FD— Flats generally become unaffordable and offer limited options to buyers due to their built up nature , predefined design and area.
24. Acceptability
PD— Plots are always acceptable and liked by buyers even in adverse market conditions due to human psyche of owning land. Plots are universally accepted both in large and small towns.
FD—Flats have low level of acceptability particularly in the adverse market conditions. Flats have least acceptability in small towns and are generally favoured in the large towns.
25. Developer’s Preference
PD- Plotted development –has always been preferred by developers having large chunk of land and resources– due to early exit and making large profit with minimal effort
FD—- Flatted development– has generally been preferred by small developers having smaller chunk of land with limited resources .
26. Land Cost
PD– Low land cost in majority of cases promotes plotted development with large plot area. Plot size and Land Cost are negatively correlated with plot size going small with increase in land prices..
FD– High land cost discourages plotted development but leverages flatted development. Land Cost and building footprints are negatively co-related with flat size reducing with increase in land prices.
27. Housing Stock
PD- Plotted development –worst and most inefficient option for creating large housing stock
FD—- Flatted development—best and most cost-effective option to create large housing stock at most affordable price
28. Living
PD- Plotted development –best option for individual based/ family living for young people
FD—- Flatted development—best option for living in case of individuals, working/old age couples etc
29. Safety
PD- Plotted development –low level of safety and security
FD- Flatted development– High level of safety and security
30. Self- sufficiency
PD- Plotted development –less self-sufficiency-high dependence on neighbourhood level facilities
FD- Flatted development—More self-sufficiency- due to provision of common facilities- parks, shops, community spaces, crèche, school etc within the society complex