This study investigates the correlation between the variables viz. geographical, social, economic and a hybrid of the three; on residential choice. Residential choice includes choice of location, choice of type of dwelling unit and choice of ownership. The target group considered for the study is a middle income group (MIG) with á range of monthly household income between 10,000 to 50,000 Indian Rupees (INR). The motivation of the study lies in finding an optimal and sustainable allocation of land and other resources for residential functions according to the responsiveness of changing urban housing demand in metropolitan cities – particularly for middle income groups. The other income brackets, namely economically weaker section (EWS), lower income group (LIG) and higher income group (HIG), have been deliberately kept outside the scope of the study as income groups are extremely elastic in India and merit completely different approaches. Thus, affordability and enabling strategies, is of uppermost importance for EWS and LIG, while non-priced items i.e. individual preferences, image of a locality etc. are significant for HIG. Whereas, the mid range with its increasing purchasing power, forms a significant bandwidth in the 1.1 billion population of the country. It is increasingly targeted by the Multi-National-Companies (MNCs) of Fast – MovingConsumer-Goods (FMCGs), as well as, the housing-market players. The study would be relevant to various actors including among others – policy makers, real estate developers, planners and researchers. It will help policy makers formulate strategies to analyze future growth directions of a city, conditions of urban sprawl and re-densification. It will enable the real estate developers to come up with the right mix of housing typologies as well as their appropriate pricing. It can also provide key inputs to the planners for land use planning and zoning as well as re-evaluation of development control guidelines. The study will also offer a scope to review the changing responsiveness of housing demand to various parameters, over time. The study is based on the research findings carried across two metropolitan cities, Nagpur and Kolkata, over a period of two decades, 1990 -2008. Copyright©2012 IAHS.
