Smart Cities Mission

On June 25, 2015, Prime Minister announced India’s 100 Smart Cities Mission.The Government of India’s Smart Cities Mission is an urban redevelopment and retrofitting programme aimed at developing smart cities that are both citizen-friendly and sustainable. The mission will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Urban Development in partnership with state governments, and it is projected to be completed between 2019 and 2023.Cities house 31% of India’s present population and generate 63 percent of the country’s GDP (Census 2011). Urban areas are predicted to house 40% of India’s population and generate 75% of the country’s GDP by 2030. Cities face infrastructure management and service delivery issues as their populations rise. India’s Smart Cities Mission is a programme aimed at addressing these issues in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

INDIA’S SMART CITIES MISSION

Vision

With an influx of people moving to cities and areas rapidly expanding, the government is seeking better ways to manage complexities, increase efficiency, and improve quality of life. As a result, cities must monitor and integrate infrastructure in order to better optimise resources and provide better services to inhabitants.

Objective

The goal of the smart city initiative is to promote inclusive and sustainable cities that provide core infrastructure to provide a decent quality of life and a clean and sustainable environment through the use of smart solutions such as data-driven traffic management and intelligent lighting systems, among others.

The following are the basic infrastructure aspects of a Smart City:

• A sufficient supply of water
• Uninterruptible power supply
• Sanitation, which includes solid waste management, is important.
• Public transportation and efficient urban mobility
• Housing that is affordable, especially for the poor
• Digitalisation and strong IT connectivity
• E-government and citizen participation are examples of good governance.
• Environment that is long-term
• Citizens’ safety and security, notably that of women, children, and the elderly
• Education and health

The emphasis is on sustainable and equitable development, with the goal of creating a reproducible model that can serve as a model for other aspiring communities.

Coverage

The mission will visit 100 cities that have been evenly dispersed across the States/Union Territories (UT) based on a set of criteria. The formula assigns the State/urban UT’s population and the number of statutory towns (a town with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board, or notified town area committee) in the State/UT identical weighting (50:50). According to this model, each state/UT will have a specific number of prospective Smart Cities, with at least one in each state/UT.

Strategy

In India’s 100 Smart Cities Mission, area-based development includes city improvement (retrofitting), city rejuvenation (redevelopment), and city extension (greenfield development), as well as a pan-city initiative.

• Area-based development that will use retrofitting and redevelopment to transform existing neighbourhoods, including slums, into better-planned residential zones, ultimately improving the city’s habitability.
• Greenfield projects are those that will create new areas in the city to accommodate the city’s growing population.
• Pan-city development entails the integration of smart technologies into the city’s current infrastructure.

Integration with Other Government Programs

The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and the Smart Cities Mission have a lot in common when it comes to achieving urban transformation. AMRUT takes a project-based approach, whereas the Smart Cities Mission takes an area-based approach. Similarly, integrating other Central and State Government Programs/Schemes with the Smart Cities Mission can yield considerable benefits. Cities must seek convergence with AMRUT, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), Digital India, Skill Development, Housing for All, and other initiatives in their Smart City Proposal (SCP). Construction of Museums funded by the Culture Department, and other social infrastructure programmes such as Health, Education, and Culture during the planning stage.

India’s Smart Cities Mission is being supported by a number of countries.

Leading economies throughout the world have expressed interest in India’s smart city objective and are eager to engage in smart city development. Spain, the United States, Germany, Japan, France, Singapore, and Sweden are among them.

• Spain has proposed working with India to transform Delhi into a smart city. Spain’s Regional Agency for Barcelona has expressed interest in exchanging technology with India.
• Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh), and Ajmer (Rajasthan) have been designated as smart cities by the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).
• Germany and India have agreed to create smart cities in Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Kochi (Kerala), and Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu).
• Japan has pledged to aid India in the creation of smart cities in Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Varanasi.
• France has chosen to support three Indian cities, Chandigarh, Lucknow, and Puducherry, with a US$1.5 billion investment (EUR 1.3 billion).
• Singapore has expressed interest in assisting India’s Smart City Mission and has offered to assist in the development of Amravati, Andhra Pradesh’s future capital. The country is also considering reengineering and updating its transportation system, as well as retrofitting older Indian cities.

Conclusion

COVID-19 has had a big economic and healthcare impact in almost every country in the world. However, in the months since the lockout, the ambition to construct 100 smart cities in India has witnessed a boost, with money almost doubling in use.One of the most pressing issues confronting smart cities is how to find them. Smart city infrastructure necessitates a significant financial commitment. India has nearly 4,000 urban local bodies and towns, with opportunities in housing, sanitation and cleanliness, livelihood, information technology, health and education, transportation, and the environment, among other things. The government is prioritising the financial and IT services industries for investment, and top economies throughout the world have expressed interest in the Smart City Mission.