Social Sustainability of High-Rise Living in Kolkata: An Empirical Study

Abstract

Urbanisation is a global trend with rapidly increasing city populations. While high-rise apartments aren't the only solution, developing countries are quickly adopting high-rise living due to socio-political and geographical factors. The sustainability of high-rise apartments has been studied across economic, environmental, and social dimensions. The review shows that social sustainability has been less researched than economic and environmental aspects, especially in the developing world. This research seeks to find how socially sustainable high-rise apartments are in the context of the developing world, especially in Kolkata, India.
This study uses qualitative and quantitative analysis to examine social issues of high-rise living in Kolkata, comparing 61 low-rise (G+4) and 59 high-rise (G+5+) apartments. It analyzes residents' experiences based on social sustainability theories from the literature.
The empirical findings reveal a significant income disparity between high-rise and low-rise residents. The analysis shows that, on average, 79.3% of high-rise residents belong to the High Income Group (HIG), and the remaining 20.7% belong to the Middle Income Group (MIG). For low-rise apartments, on average, 70% of residents belong to MIG, and the remaining 30% belong to the Low Income Group (LIG).
The sense of community is stronger in low-rise cooperative apartments than in high-rise ones, fostering more social cohesion and trust. Popular high-rise developments in Kolkata's newer suburbs are not socially sustainable because they are unaffordable and non-inclusive. Conversely, low-rise cooperative apartments are sustainable because they are affordable, equitable, inclusive, and cohesive. The study also shows that Kolkata's religious and regional diversity does not complement social cohesion across zones.
The study concludes that while high-rise apartments are rapidly increasing in eastern Kolkata, they are not socially sustainable, serving only 8% of the population. It shows that the cooperative model of low-rise apartments is more sustainable, suggesting policies should support consolidating these societies