Rakhi Mehra, mHS CITY LAB, India

1. Our mission is to design innovative & scalable solutions
to foster resilient housing and inclusive cities
mHS CITYLAB

2. • Interdisciplinary skills with over 7
years experience to address
complexities in low income
urban housing
COMMUNITY
DESIGN FINANCE• Conceptualizes & incubates
projects to bring innovative
thinking and design solutions
mHS’ Background
• Partners: The World Bank, Susan and Michael
Dell Foundation, Ford Foundation,
Facebook.org, Sewa, Ashoka, MIT-JPAL,
YALE School of Management GSE Program

3. A large component of Indian cities is made
up of informal settlements organized through
the process of self-construction which
provides affordable housing to millions
today.
18,000,000
Deficit of houses in India
15,000,000
Households living in informal
settlements in India
Urban Housing Context
• Exponential urban population
growth: 590 million by 2030
3

4. HOMELESSNESS

8. Urban informal settlements evolve to multi-stories dense
neighborhoods
• Low structural quality & seismic safety
• Poor lighting and ventilitation
8

10. Main Problems:
• Unskilled construction
workforce (Self-employed
masons are untrained)
• Lack of building regulation or
guidance by municipalities
• Limited awareness of risk
amongst homeowners and
masons
• Limited access to formal
construction finance
11%
Percentage of
skilled workers in India
10

12. Social problem: Precarious structures, disaster-prone
12

13. Solution: Pilot Project
Partners: BASIX Microfinance and Baliga Trust (CBO)
Pilot project combining affordable home construction financing with
customized technical & design assistance undertaken over 18 months on
design of 18 houses in Mongolpuri, a resettlement colony in North-West Delhi
MONGOLPURI
TOTAL PROJECT
COST
Rs 60 lakhs
LOANS UPTO
Rs 2.5 lakhs
LOAN DURATION
3-5 years
INTEREST RATES
16-18%pa%
PROJECT DURATION
2009-11
INR-25000 per month
Household Income
Impact: influenced design of World Bank USD100 MN housing finance project 13

14. Technical assistance was provided at a fee
of 3.5% project cost. Engineering drawings
were communicated in a simple graphic
medium and regular site visits conducted
14
Before
After

16. COMMUNITY
OUTREACH
SITE SUPERVISION
SITE SUPERVISION
DESIGN
WITH
CLIENT
COMMUNITY
OUTREACH

17. The Opportunity

18. DIGITAL LEARNING
PLATFORM:
Interactive educational tool for
masons and construction workers
DESIGN TOOLS:
Responsive Digital Service to
support Informal/Self built Housing
INPUTS OUTPUTS
• SKILL UPGRADATION
• DISASTER REHABILITATION AND
CONSTRUCTION
TRAINING
PROGRAM
mHS CITY LAB Future: Digital Tools
• HOUSING FINANCE COMPANIES (API for
Customer relationship management
Platforms)
• END USERS- MASONS LOW INCOME
• TECHNOLOGY: MOBILE RESPONSIVE
WEBSITE OR NATIVE APPLICATION
• TECHNOLOGY: INTEGRATIVE VOICE
RECOGNITION SYSTEM (IVR), MOBILE
RESPONSIVE WEBSITE

19. Transparency
between masons &
homeowners
Valuable and comprehensive
knowledge for masons &
homeowners
Empowers users through
information
Easy to use planning
tool
Potential to target
end users for next
phase
Savings through
financial planning &
link with Finance
Field interactions with over 400 end users and a study we
commissioned to a Branding Agency, have highlighted
multiple value implications for users
Value Proposition
(Households and Masons)
20

20. Our Approach
Tested through multiple prototypes & field interactions
FIELD
INTERACTIONS
26
LOCATIONS
8
PEOPLE REACHED
500
PILOTS
5
PROTOTYPES
12
21

21. Draft Timeline (12 Month)
• 0-6 months: Field validation and tool
development
• 6-10 months: Roll out of kiosks and
partners
• 10-12 months: Project evaluation
Project Outreach
Locations: Delhi and Ahmedabad
Partner: 2 NGOS
Private Sector: 1 Company
Financial Institutions: 2
Mason Trainings/Leveraging the J-PAL
Project outreach: 5,000 people
(INSIGHTS FROM CURRENT PILOT – KIOSK MODEL) >