About: Improving liveability of Small Houses, an OPEN IDEAS National COMPETITION 2018, organised by Habitat Forum (INHAF) and supported by GRUH Finance

About Habitat forum (INHAF)

Habitat forum (INHAF) is a network aiming to bring together, on a shared platform, NGOs, civic groups and communities; design, planning and development professionals; professional training institutions and young students working in the human settlement development field with a special interest in urban and rural housing for the low income groups; participatory planning and inclusive development; poverty reduction; livable, people centered, poor sensitive and environment friendly cities and sustainable development.

INHAF is conceived as an all India platform to facilitate and promote information and knowledge exchange, experience sharing, lateral learning and joint action among the partners and stakeholders. Capacity building and enhancing impact potential of the non-governmental actors, the citizen sector, for greater contribution to better policies, programmes and institution development are INHAF’s core objectives. INHAF is committed to working in partnership with similarly oriented and motivated individuals, groups, agencies and institutions in search for better responses and solutions.

Designed to cover both urban and rural settlements and committed to function in a participatory and decentralized manner, INHAF’s current activities include:

  • What has Pune and Ahmedabad done to house their poor in the past 10 years?

  • Engaging with all 9 Smart City Project in Maharashtra and other states through a nationwide coalition.

  • Engaging with the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) /HfA mission through a nationwide coalition.

  • Assessing CSR impact on NGO works.

  • Developing methodology on Poor defining poverty line in Pune city as a bottom up approach to understanding poverty.

  • Study of BRTS in Pune and Ahmedabad from a user and stakeholder perspective.

About GRUH Finance Limited (GRUH)

GRUH Finance Limited (GRUH) is a housing finance company established in 1986 with its registered office at Ahmedabad. GRUH primarily provides long term home loans for purchase, construction, and renovation of houses and operates in 11 states through its 194 branches.

The Jury

  • MARINA JOSEPH, Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), Mumbai

  • CHITRANJAN KAUSHIK, EcoFirst Servies

  • ASHOK B LALL, Ashok B Lall Architects

  • RAHUL MEHROTRA, RMA Architects

  • LAXMI NARAYAN, Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP), Pune

  • AJAY NAYAK, Educated Environments (EdEn) and The Indigenous partnership (TIP)

  • JAXAY SHAH, President, The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI)

  • KIRTEE SHAH, Habitat Forum (INHAF)

  • Civil Society Magazine: Civil Society is an independent magazine published from New Delhi. Launched in 2003, to tell stories of of change from across the chaotic landscape of post-reforms India.

  • IFJ: India Furniture Journal (IFJ) is a publication on furniture, interiors and design , with a strong business focus, bridging the gap between India and the global community.

  • Inside Outside: INSIDE OUTSIDE is India’s first, and foremost monthly magazine on interior design and architecture. Launched in 1978, the magazine focuses on well designed interiors, residential or commercial.

Online Media Partners

  • Architexturez South Asia: Architexturez South Asia since 1999, aggregates ideas and propositions concerning physical space and the related disciplines in the subcontinent. It documents processes, critical texts and nomothetic cases representing conditions obtained in South Asia.