The Indian Economy and Its Future 100 Smart Cities Propaganda

Introduction :
Continuous Increasing population and deteriorating condition of living environment of Indian cities is no doubt a big concern for the country. India’s 27.8 percent urban population lives in more than 5,100 towns and over 380 urban agglomerations. After independence few of the cities like Chandigarh, Bhuvneshwar, Indaur, Surat and Ahmedabad came up to the mark to the better living condition . Currently Chandigarh is the only one city which comes on the top in the terms of well-functioning city. After getting independence from England it was really challenging to think a new capital city for the state Punjab since Economic condition of the country was in the very low stage. For short term it was not viable to spend such investment but in a long term the Vision of Corbusier worked and the town still sustaining in a better way.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Independent India’s first Prime Minister, laid down the founding principles of the new city when he said “Let this be a new town, symbolic of freedom of India unfettered by the traditions of the past an expressions of the nation’s faith in the future”. The city is a product of Nehru’s vision. Source : Wikipedia

In between impendence and current time, the country tried to improve the urban and rural scenarios and made several five year planes to implement but had not managed to get the ample output. Up to some extent we managed to regenerate few old and new cities like Gandhi Nagar in Gujrat and Bhubaneshwar in Odisha. Current Condition of Cities Cities fabrics of India are getting complex due to several factors of Administration and Planning . There is a huge impact of Indian economy on these cities. Most of the cities around the country struggling to fine the solution of basic problems and needs.

Current Condition of Cities

Cities fabrics of India are getting complex due to several factors of Administration and Planning . There is a huge impact of Indian economy on these cities. Most of the cities around the country struggling to find the solution of basic problems and needs.Metropolitan Cities like Delhi, Mumbai,Chennai,Kolkata,Bengaluru having most incoming population migrating from rural areas. The pressure of these population became one of the major concern about the city. The Housing needs are increasing drastically.

Source Wikipedia Most of the cities is struggling with congestion, traffic problems, Drainage, Pollution, Housing needs,Unemployment etc. Few of cities are functioning well but still lacking in many needs and struggling to solve the problems like the slum, drainage, water etc. Mumbai has one of the largest slums in Asia and the same condition exists with Delhi,Kolkata,Chennai and most other cities.

Few Upcoming Smart Cities :

GIFT AHMEDABAD Gujarat International Finance Tech-City or GIFT is an under-construction city in the Indian state of Gujarat which is about 12 kms from Ahmedabad International Airport. It will be built on 500 acres (2.0 km2) of land. Its main purpose is to provide high quality physical infrastructure (electricity, water, gas, district cooling, roads, telecoms and broadband), so that finance and tech firms can relocate their operations there from Mumbai, Bangalore, Gurgaon etc. where infrastructure is either inadequate or very expensive. Currently, two commercial towers, each of 29 floors each are under construction, while the work on a third residential tower of 33 floors will start soon. Tendering for the next bunch of towers is going on. DELHI MUMBAI INTEGRATED CORRIDOR Few years back envisioned the Delhi Mumbai corridor and now it is in the stage of finalise its futuristic smart cities – world-class, self-sustainable habitats with minimal pollution levels, maximum recycling, optimised energy supplies and efficient public transportation. The industrial hubs and eco-friendly cities along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) are expected to double employmentopportunities, triple industrial production and increase exports by four folds over the next decade.

ELHI MUMBAI INTEGRATED CORRIDOR

Few years back envisioned the Delhi Mumbai corridor and now it is in the stage of finalise its futuristic smart cities – world-class, self-sustainable habitats with minimal pollution levels, maximum recycling, optimised energy supplies and efficient public transportation. The industrial hubs and eco-friendly cities along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) are expected to double employmentopportunities, triple industrial production and increase exports by four folds over the next decade.
The $90-billion DMIC project, comprising — Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh — is being developed in collaboration with Japan as a manufacturing and trading hub. The plan is to have brand new cities along Delhi-Mumbai Dedicated Rail Freight Corridor which is under implementation. SMARTCITY KOCHI Smart City Kochi is a joint venture between Dubai and the Kerala government, has approved the concept master plan of the project. The first phase of the project is expected to be operational within 18 months which includes a building spread over 3.5lakh sqft The project will enjoy a single special economic zone (SEZ) status due to the revision of guidelines for SEZs being initiated by the Union government. HALDIA PROJECT European Business and Technology Centre plans to initiate a pilot project to demonstrate “smart city concept” at the industrial town of Haldia in West Bengal. The project would focus on lowering carbon footprint. EBTC is a European Union initiative to assist business units in India and Europe on clean technology transfer. EBTC has roped in the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the pilot project. The Future 100 Smart Cities The government plans to invest $7.5 billion over the next four years, with an equal contribution coming from state-level government, in the enhancement of physical infrastructure (water, energy, built environment, waste, mobility and ICT) and social infrastructure (health, education and recreational facilities) in 100 cities across India. The cities are identified through a “Smart City Challenge”, which makes cities compete against each other, while engaging citizens in identifying the key challenges facing the city and developing a plan to deliver smart solutions.

SMARTCITY KOCHI

Smart City Kochi is a joint venture between Dubai and the Kerala government, has approved the concept master plan of the project. The first phase of the project is expected to be operational within 18 months which includes a building spread over 3.5lakh sqft The project will enjoy a single special economic zone (SEZ) status due to the revision of guidelines for SEZs being initiated by the Union government.

HALDIA PROJECT

European Business and Technology Centre plans to initiate a pilot project to demonstrate “smart city concept” at the industrial town of Haldia in West Bengal. The project would focus on lowering carbon footprint. EBTC is a European Union initiative to assist business units in India and Europe on clean technology transfer. EBTC has roped in the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the pilot project. The Future 100 Smart Cities The government plans to invest $7.5 billion over the next four years, with an equal contribution coming from state-level government, in the enhancement of physical infrastructure (water, energy, built environment, waste, mobility and ICT) and social infrastructure (health, education and recreational facilities) in 100 cities across India. The cities are identified through a “Smart City Challenge”, which makes cities compete against each other, while engaging citizens in identifying the key challenges facing the city and developing a plan to deliver smart solutions.
Everything is going well and seems we may be able to see some live Smart Cities in near future ay be in next 10 years). But there are two school of thoughts regarding Smart Cities and we need to bridge this gap with better coordination and support plans.
First of all are we really able to understand the core fundamentals of Smart Cities and its requirement for India as a nation. Some people thinks that Smart Cities are merely a concept and ambitious plan of a bullish government, some have different perception, some thinks its merely about how a technology plays role and how we can leverage these technologies to live our life more comfortably. Like every individual, I also have my perception about these Smart Cities, it may be different from many and that’s why I thought to write about mine so that I can have more information about the same.
We are a home of more than 1.25 billion people as per record (which may exceed in reality) and are still in developing stage so why we need to waste money on these cities. In my view it’s not wasting rather a good investment for future. Since, every city is developing and due to high pressure of urbanization, this development happens quite haphazardly which in turn effect overall long-term development plans.
I agree with people who says Smart Cities are an amalgamation of different new technologies and being on same platform it will make the city more liveable. But I think its not limited to this only but is beyond technology.
Smart Cities in my perspective is a lifestyle in which we would not be required to ply long on congested roads; we will not be fighting on issues like Water, Waste Water, Waste Management; we will not have to worry about facilities like WiFi, bill payment, Banking related things. Everything will be available on door-step but at a same time it will not make us Lazy as well. Since, work places would be in near proximity, we don’t need to use our own vehicles rather public electric buses, shared taxis or MRTS can be used to reach office and back to home. We can even choose to walk due to lavish greeneries all around the roads. Secondly, for Basic amenities we don’t need to worry, we can have everything or may be more than that in our home for 24X7. Also, we can pay bills using smart cards, we need not to worry about securities, we can enjoy high speed WiFi too. But what would be its impact on external or major cities, it will certainly have good impact on external infrastructure. Assume if these Cities would not be developed, people would be forced to migrate to
other cities which have good opportunity like Metros and Mega cities. This would add huge burden on their infrastructure and will definitely create more chaos. Secondly, it may leads to more conflict based on caste, resource or due to regional resource paucity.
Smart Cities can also help in running pilot based projects like implementation of renewable energy based power plants, Zero Waste, Zero Liquid discharge, reuse of waste water for non-potable purpose. These activities will surely give major relief to external sources which thus can be utilized for agglomeration areas. These in turn will help in major carbon reduction which we can trade off for developing/ industrialization.
More importantly, since people residing in Smart Cities would not have to worry about other daily issues, they can actually devote their time on R&D activities and thus can definitely help India in growth. These cities are for every citizen and suggestion from every citizen would help it in expansion plans.
Thus in my view, we architect /planners and govt. need to think in this direction of making city more independent, more liveable, more empowered and with more responsibilities towards economical growth. They need to come out with more comprehensive plan focusing on every aspects rather than only proposing technological integration with ICT. This is my view, I request readers to please add yours valuable suggestions or justification if you defer with mine.

The Indian Economy and Its Future 100 Smart Cities Propaganda is a project of IaaC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia developed at Master in Advanced Architecture in 2016 by:

Students:
Sidharth Kumar
Faculty:

Gonzalo Delacámara

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The Indian Economy and Its Future 100 Smart Cities Propaganda

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