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Gurgaon’s better than Delhi, but way behind Shanghai
Plush condominiums, swanky office complexes of nearly 250 Fortune 500 companies, five-star hotels, skyscrapers, glitzy malls and an active night life -- Gurgaon has everything a young and upmarket professional can aspire for. Deevakar Anand reports.
Plush condominiums, swanky office complexes of nearly 250 Fortune 500 companies, five-star hotels, skyscrapers, glitzy malls and an active night life -- Gurgaon has everything a young and upmarket professional can aspire for.
Over the years, the Millennium City has become a melting pot of cultures, a place to which white collar executives from across the country and the world are flocking to fulfil their professional and personal aspirations.
So much so that a majority of the city’s residents, reveals a Hindustan Times–Cfore survey, believe that Gurgaon’s affluence and cosmopolitan culture is a matter of envy for neighbouring Delhi.
53% people say Gurgaon has better facilities to host international musicians than Delhi, 84% believe the city has better golf courses.
50% feel the millennium city’s hotels are better while 88% say its malls have an edge over Delhi’s own.
But then with growth come challenges -- of meeting the expectations of people, providing basic amenities and sustaining the global image.
The residents of Gurgaon feel in a similar way, the HT survey reveals. 62% residents feel Gurgaon is at least 5-10 years away from being in the same league as global cities such as Shanghai or Dubai.
Though there is no dearth of residential skyscrapers in Gurgaon (around 1,100), affordable housing remains a key challenge – a major hurdle for those who aspire to own an apartment in the city.
The average cost of a 1,000 square feet two-bedroom flat at a decent condominium in Gurgaon is at least Rs.1 crore.
Affordable housing, in fact, was ranked number four by residents when they were asked comment on what biggest challenge they would like to see in Gurgaon in the next 10 years.
Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda painted an optimistic picture.
"We are a relatively very young city. Development has happened at a very fast pace here. I admit there is always a scope of improvement. In the next 5-7 years, Gurgaon will be a truly global city. Civic works worth several thousand crores have been allotted and by then, Gurgaon will have attained an enviable level," he said.
