Investigating Neighbourhood Sustainability in a Rapidly-Growing Metropolitan Area using the Five Principles of UN Habitat: Case of Ayyappa Society in Madhapur, Hyderabad

A lot of research has been done on the sustainability of buildings, but since neighbourhood frameworks offer a more all-encompassing approach, with features like shared amenities, common streets, and interactive open spaces, this paper explores how neighbourhoods have adapted to the social and economic aspects of sustainability and what efforts can be made at the policy level to meet UN Habitat proposed principles for sustainable neighbourhood, goals. The populace in the medium and lower income categories cannot afford to acquire a home due to soaring real estate prices in urban areas. In contrast to other generations who would buy a home and settle down permanently in one location, millennials prefer to invest in travel and other assets and value flexibility and mobility. In order to investigate how the community reacts to social and economic sustainability in the existing physical setting, a qualitative investigation of a neighbourhood in Madhapur, Hyderabad, is conducted using case studies, interviews, and observations. A combination of in-person interviews and cluster sampling surveys are used to gather quantitative data in order to assess the neighbourhood’s sustainability against the UN Habitat Principles. The characteristics of sustainable communities as advocated by UN Habitat are used to evaluate the obtained data. In order to protect resources and ensure that they are available for future generations, conclusions are reached and it is concluded that Greenfield and brownfield development can be analysed. Attention must be paid towards upgrading and maintenance of existing infrastructure to make the neighbourhood a liveable space. It's been observed that as rentals are in higher demand and the rental market has expanded over the past few years, businesses’ business models and consumers’ attitudes towards consumption need to alter. Since the study is limited to UN Habitat principles further research can be extended to other parameters of sustainability like health, wellbeing, financial independence etc.