How AI and blockchain are transforming urban landscapes and real estate practices – Real Estate

The big new hopes of the tech industry – artificial intelligence (AI), big data and blockchain – are being felt in an unexpected new field: Indian real estate. As the world begins to rely more on these innovations, India is catching up and making room.

There are AI labs arriving at established technology centers like Bengaluru and surprise destinations like Kolkata. Hyderabad is now expected to house the first blockchain district in India. Experts point out that this signals an impending boost to the housing market there.

Samantak Das, chief economist and director of research at JLL India, a real estate consultancy, says any major technological disruption is likely to have a long-term positive impact on the economy and the economy. real estate, in particular the residential market. "We saw it as early as the 1980s with the computerization of the banking system," he says. Cities that adopted digital systems early, such as Bengaluru and Chennai, have made considerable progress. He points out that recent movers like Kolkata have been left behind in the tech services industry and are still lagging behind in the real estate market.

Blockchain district

The Telangana State Block Chain Policy Project released last year supports Hyderabad-based start-ups in the sector. It is also considering a blockchain district in partnership with Tech Mahindra which will house all the major technology companies in the field, as well as an incubator to promote research, innovation and industrial collaboration.

"The goal is to create new jobs, support startups and make Telangana and India the blockchain capital of the world," said Rajesh Dhuddu, global leader in blockchain practice at Tech. Mahindra.

Role of government

Public-private partnerships like this one are crucial to the growth of fields like AI in India, said Khurshed Gandhi, managing director of advisory services for real estate services company Cushman & Wakefield. "After 2016, major players like the United States, the United Kingdom and China have developed an artificial intelligence policy (which has positioned them as world leaders in research and industry according to the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence), "it says." We still don't have a comprehensive policy. These areas will require a lot of investment in research, but private companies are overly profit-oriented, that's where the government needs to step in, "he said.

This type of consolidation helps industries, large and small, to leverage their strengths and collaborate. Government grants and infrastructure plans become easier to implement, small businesses can consolidate and share overhead costs. It also helps to create an ecosystem with related industries in a region. Das points out, however, that infrastructure such as traffic management must be worked out in advance, otherwise the crippling traffic problems of Whitefield in Bangalore or the Bandra Kurla complex in Mumbai will be repeated.

The higher work intensity also requires a different approach to space planning, which means that a blockchain, an AI center or even a data lab might require a Much larger space, says Najeeb Khan, head of design and business strategy, India and Middle East, avant-garde construction company, Katerra. "A blockhain or AI office must be different from a BPO office. In a BPO design, there are around 60 square feet allocated per person, for the blockchain, this will be much higher as it is a large-scale innovation lab that involves multiple machines. It is something like a sophisticated factory. In addition, the type of workforce we are looking for in an AI office is also different. He is highly qualified and will dedicate a large number of hours. Design must therefore make them feel at home and at ease, "he says.

The city has everything to gain

Das admits that there are apprehensions of job losses with short-term artificial intelligence. but he explains that it will only be to replace them with more recent jobs like trainers of machines who will write algorithms for machines or of explicators who will be the bridge between machines and humans. "It is also possible that these jobs are of a higher standard, thus contributing to the entire economic chain," he said.

Regarding the immediate impact of the blockchain district on the real estate landscape of Hyderabad, it depends on where the land is allocated, says Gandhi.

“Hyderabad now has a major market, west of the city, in Gadchibowli and HITEC City. Land is very expensive here, so I guess the government could push this initiative east or south. In this case, they won't make much difference in the western market, but it will surely gradually increase in the east and the south by 15-20%, "he said.