24 Concept of Smart Cities in India

Gajendra Singh Vishwakarma

epgp books

 

1.  Introduction

2.  Smart Cities around the world

3.  What is the concept of Smart Cities in India?

4.  Smart City’s features

5.  Coverage and Duration

6.  Strategy

7.  List of 98 Cities selected under Smart Cities Mission

8.  List and Profile of 20 cities selected for first phase of smart cities mission

 

1. Introduction

 

The world has been facing intense urban migration over the last 15 years. Due to this the cities are developing in much unplanned and unorganized manner. To overcome this issue, the developed countries have tested several solutions. As a consequence of these solutions, the “Smart City” concept has arrived. Under this concept, the old cities have been revived or redesigned and some brand new cities are being built up with modern technologies, which are fully planned and oriented to be smart cities concept.

 

Nowadays, the older cities are the more complex and overcrowded especially in China and India. Therefore both the countries are heavily investing in these cities to building up the models of sustainable urban life by the combination of the latest high-end information and communication technologies with state-of-the- art architectural design which is fully integrated into ubiquitous urban environments.

 

The core infrastructure elements in a Smart City are:

  • Sufficient water supply,
  • Guaranteed electricity supply,
  • Proper Sanitation facilities, including solid waste management,
  • Well-organized urban mobility and public transport,
  • Affordable houses, especially for the poor,
  • Sound IT connectivity and digitalization,
  • E-Governance with participation of citizens,
  • Sustainable environment,
  • Safe and secure environment, especially for women, children and the elderly, and
  • Well-organized basic facilities such as Health and education

 

2.  Smart Cities around the world

 

As per the IESE Cities in Motion Index 2017, Published by Department of Strategic Management at IESE (Center for Globalisation and Strategy) University of Navarra, Spain on the basis of an analysis report on 180 major cities based on the 79 indicators across 10 different areas that constitute the urban life. The 10 different areas are the economy, technology, human capital, the environment, mobility and transportation, social cohesion, urban planning, international outreach, public administration and governance. The list of the top 8 Smart city around the world with their major strength is as follow.

 

 

3. What is the concept of Smart Cities in India?

 

In the thoughts of any urban citizen of India, the means of a Smart City is the wish list of infrastructure and services that describes his or her level of desire. To fulfill the needs and desire of the citizens, urban planners ideally aiming toward to the development of the entire urban eco-system, with emphasizing on the four pillars of comprehensive development — institutional, physical, social and economic infrastructure.

 

The Government has taken up a new initiative of developing Smart cities. The main objective of the mission is to provide a better, safe and sustainable environment to the citizens with all the above mentioned requisites.

 

In the approach to the Smart Cities Mission, the objective is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable Environment and application of ‘Smart’ Solutions.

 

As far as, Smart Solutions are concerned. The main approaches of smart solutions are E governance and citizen services

 

1.  Public information grievance redressed

2.  Electronic services delivery

3.  Citizen engagement

4.  Citizen- City’s eyes and ear

5.  Video Crime monitoring

 

Waste Management

 

1.  Waste to fuel and energy

2.  Waste to compost

3.  Waste water to treated water

4.  Recycling and reduction of C & D waste

 

Water Management

 

1.  Water quality monitoring

2.  Leakage identification

3.  Smart meter and management

 

Energy Management

 

1.  Smart meters and management

2.  Renewable Sources of energy

3.  Energy efficiency and Green Buildings

 

Urban Mobility

 

1.  Smart Parking

2.  Intelligent traffic management

3.  Integrated multimodal transport

 

 

4.  Smart City’s features (As per the guidelines given by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affair)

 

(Source: http://smartcities.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/SmartCityGuidelines(1).pdf)

 

The major features of development in Smart Cities are described below.

 

  • Promoting mixed land use in area-based developments — planning for ‘unplanned areas’ containing a range of well-suited activities and land uses close to one another in order to make land use more efficient. The States will enable some flexibility in land use and building bye-laws to adapt to change;
  • Housing and inclusiveness — expand housing opportunities for all;
  • Creating walkable localities — reduce congestion, air pollution and resource depletion, boost local economy, promote interactions and ensure security. The road network is created or refurbished not only for vehicles and public transport, but also for pedestrians and cyclists, and necessary administrative services are offered within walking or cycling distance;
  • Preserving and developing open spaces — parks, playgrounds, and recreational spaces in order to enhance the quality of life of citizens, reduce the urban heat effects in Areas and generally promote eco-balance;
  • Promoting a variety of transport options — Transit Oriented Development (TOD), public transport and last mile para-transport connectivity;
  • Making governance citizen-friendly and cost effective — increasingly rely on online services to bring about accountability and transparency, especially using mobiles to reduce cost of services and providing services without having to go to municipal offices; form e-groups to listen to people and obtain feedback and use online monitoring of programs and activities with the aid of cyber tour of worksites;
  • Giving an identity to the city — based on its main economic activity, such as local cuisine, health, education, arts and craft, culture, sports goods, furniture, hosiery, textile, dairy, etc;
  • Applying Smart Solutions to infrastructure and services in area-based development in order to make them better. For example, making Areas less vulnerable to disasters, using fewer resources, and providing cheaper services.

 

5. Coverage and Duration

 

The Mission will cover 100 cities and its duration will be five years (FY2015-16 to FY2019- 20). The Mission may be continued thereafter in the light of an evaluation to be done by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and incorporating the experiences into the Mission.

 

6. Strategy

 

The strategic constituents of Area-based development in the Smart Cities Mission are city improvement (retrofitting), city renewal (redevelopment) and city extension. In addition, initiatives have been taken up to create smart solutions to make cities greener under Pan-city (green field development). The three models of Area-based Smart City Development are:

 

Retrofitting is the re-planning of an existing already built-up area to achieve Smart City objectives, and to make the existing area more well-organized and comfortable. It is proposed to identify an area containing more than 500 acres in the city in consultation with citizens. The city would be turned smart with active participation of citizens, and based on the existing level of infrastructure services in the identified area. This model would include more intensive infrastructure service levels with more smart applications due to the already existing structures that are an intact part of the city. Retrofitting model has benefits of shorter time frame, which enable its replication in other cities.

 

Redevelopment is meant by substitution of the existing built-up environment with co-creation of a new layout enabled with improved infrastructure. This could be done by mixed land use and increased density scheme. For redevelopment Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) has been given the responsibility to identify an area of more than 50 acres, in consultation with citizens. In India, redevelopment model has been applied on the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Project in Mumbai (also called the Bhendi Bazaar Project) and East Kidwai Nagar in New Delhi which were undertaken by the National Building Construction Corporation.

 

Greenfield development has been proposed for smart solutions in a previously vacant area (more than 250 acres) using innovative planning, plan financing and plan implementation tools (e.g. land pooling/ land reconstitution). The focus of this model is on the provision of affordable houses, especially for the poor. Greenfield developments are a solution for over crowded cities that need expansion. One well known example of green field development is the GIFT City in Gujarat. Unlike retrofitting and redevelopment, green field developments could be located either within the limits of the ULB or the local Urban Development Authority (UDA).

 

Pan-city development is meant for selected Smart Solutions to the existing city-wide infrastructure. This would involve the use of technology, information and data to make infrastructure and services better. For example, application of Smart Solutions in the transport sector (intelligent traffic management system) may reduce average commute time and cost to citizens, which will have positive effects on productivity and quality of life. Another example is the waste water recycling and smart metering which may make a substantial contribution to better water management in the city.

 

 

7. List of 98 Cities selected under Smart Cities Mission

 

Minister of Urban development Shri M Venkaiah Naidu announced the following list of cities and towns selected under smart cities mission. The State/UT wise list is given below:

 

*Jammu & Kashmir has asked for more time to decide on the potential Smart City.

 

**12 Cities have been shortlisted from Uttar Pradesh against 13 cities allocated to that State. Source: http://smartcities.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/SmartCityGuidelines(1).pdf Date of Access 01/02/2018

 

 

8.  List and Profile of 20 cities selected for first phase of smart cities mission Table 3: 20 cities selected for first phase of smart cities mission

Conclusions:

Smart city concept emphasise the need to redesigne the the old buildings and buiding new cities with all the modern facilities such as telecommunication, internet, connectivity through railwas, air and road transport, drinking water supply, continuous electricity supply, housing, etc with need of the country. With the development of smart cities we are ensuring a sustainable life for the coming generation.

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Bibliography

  • https://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/blog/2017/11/top-10-smartest-cities-world Date of Access 01/02/2018
  • http://smartcities.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/SmartCityGuidelines(1).pdf Date of
    Access 01/02/2018
  • https://easyparkgroup.com/smart-cities-index/ Date of access 10/0218
  • https://www.businessinsider.in/These-10-cities-are-the-most-prepared-forthefuture/artclesho /61567502.cms Date of Access 01/02/2018